NUMBAHH ONE.

Daina Hectors awoke to the sound of, well, nothing. This was what she heard almost everyday when she woke up. Her house was always quiet, because she was an only child, her father worked everyday from 6 am till 10 pm that night, and her mother had left when Daina was 13. Neither Daina nor her father knew why she left. They had awoken one morning and found a note on the kitchen table. It had said, "Allan and Daina. I'm leaving, don't come after me. I hope you will always have a good life, enjoy it to the fullest." No one has heard from her since.

Daina got out of bed, showered, and got dressed. She walked next door to one of her best friends house, Two-Bit Mathews, to see if he wanted to hang out for a bit.

Daina walked right in the Mathew's house. She always did this. The Mathews were like family to her. Ms Mathews was in the kitchen, trying to hurriedly feed her youngest child, 4 year old Ashley Mathews.

"Hey Ms M, where's Two-Bit at?" Daina asked.

"I honestly have no clue. I need him to babysit Ashley though. One of my co-workers called in sick and I have to go to work soon. If you find him anywheres, please tell him to get his butt home." she said exasperately.

"Well, I'll watch Ashley for awhile if you want. We can go on a search-and-rescue mission for him, right Ashley?"

"Yeah!" she screamed excitedly.

"Are you sure?" Ms Mathews asked.

"Yeah, of course. Ashley's a good kid with me. You don't mind if I take her over to the Curtis' for a bit though? I'll take her to the park afterwards, maybe Ponyboy or Soda would come."

"Yes, thats fine. Oh, thank you Daina, you're a life saver!" Ms Mathews hugged Daina, and ran to her room to get ready for work.

After Ashley gave Ms Mathews a kiss goodbye, Daina got Ashley's coat, put it on her, took her hand, and they walked two blocks over to the Curtis' house.

Daina walked in and hollered, "Anybody home?"

"Yeah, in the kitchen." somebody said.

Daina let Ashley lead the way into the kitchen, where Ponyboy Curtis was sitting at the table, doing homework.

"Hey Daina, Ashley." Ponyboy said.

"Hello Ponyboy. You wouldn't happen to know where Two-Bit is at, would you?" Daina asked.

"Nope. Soda, Steve, and Darry are all working. He might have hitched a ride over to the hospital to check up on Dallas."

"Oh, well his mother was looking for him, she wanted him to babysit Ashley, but I said I would until we can find Two-Bit. What are you doing there?" Daina pointed at Ponyboy's homework.

"History, I just don't understand it." Pony said, frustrated.

"I'll help you, just let me get pipsqueak here occupied with something."

Daina took Ashley into the living room, turned the tv onto a childrens cartoon, and sat her on the couch so she could watch it. Daina went back in the kitchen and sat down.

After helping Ponyboy finish with his homework, Daina asked him, "Pony?"

"Yeah?"

"This may be a sensitive topic, but I've been wondering this since last month when everything happened. How did Dallas survive the shooting?"

Dallas Winston was a tough guy. A month ago, after Johnny Cade had died, Dally had lost it, robbed a grocery store, and was shot down by police. The gang had been there to witness the tragic event, but Ponyboy had fainted, so they had rushed him home. They hadn't been there to see the ambulance come and get Dally. The next day, Darry had gotten a phone call telling him that Dallas had survived, but he was in surgery. He had had life threatening injuries. Darry had sent Steve and Two-Bit over to the hospital to wait for Dally to get out of surgery, while Darry and Sodapop stayed home to watch Ponyboy.

A week later, Dally had come out of a coma, induced by the surgery. He had woke up a changed man. He was still somewhat violent, had an even worse hatred for the Socs, but he had a better appreciation for life. Ponyboy had showed Dally the note that Johnny had written while he was in the hospital, and it had brought tears to Dally's eyes. He had finally realized that Johnny was in a better place now, and he had slowly learned to get on with his life. Nobody knows what gave him the strength to live through the shooting. Daina had asked him once, but he had simply ignored her.

After thinking for awhile, Ponyboy said, "I don't know, Daina. I've never asked him, for fear of getting my head kicked in."

"Dainnnyyyy." Ashley whined from the living room.

"What?" Daina asked.

"I wanna see Sody. Where's Sody?"

"Soda's at work right now hun. He'll be home soon. Do you wanna go to the park for a bit?" Daina asked.

"Yeah!" Ashley clapped.

"You coming, Ponyboy?"

"Might as well.

Daina, Ashley, and Ponyboy walked to the park, and played there. Just as they were about to leave, they saw Two-Bit walking towards the Curtis' house.

"Two-Bit Mathews!" Daina screamed. "Get over here."

Two-Bit ran over. "Hey y'all, whats happening?"

"Nothing is happening, but your mother is peeved at you. You were supposed to babysit Ashley today and instead, you ran off!"

"Aw c'mon Dain, don't get your panties all in a bunch. I just went to see Dal. He's doing way better, the doctors said he's being released tomorrow. He asked me to ask you to go to the hospital tomorrow so he has someone to leave with him." Two-Bit explained.

"Yeah, I'll be there, I'll have to borrow your car though. Anyways, your mom is expecting you to be home, watching Ashley, by the time she gets home."

"Shoot kid, she won't be home till at least 8. I've got plenty of time. Let's all head back over to Ponyboy's house and get some grub."