Ponyboy POV

Something is wrong with me. I've been getting taller and taller, and my voice cracks all the time. I can barely get a few words in before my voice hits a higher octave, so I refuse to talk unless absolutely necessary.

That's not all that's wrong with me. I go out somewhere and I see a girl that is actually pretty, then I come home and dream about her. When I wake up, my bed is covered in sticky stuff. I don't know if Soda's noticed, because when I wake up he's gone.

And last but not least, my... anatomy, has been getting really hard lately. Sometimes it grows! I don't want anyone to see it, so I stay in my room most of the day. Usually, the gang leaves me alone and I leave them alone, but today, Darry wants me to come out and be with the 'Family'.

"Come on, Ponyboy. Rise and shine!" Darry says. I pretend to be asleep, but he doesn't buy it. "I know you're awake, Ponyboy. Get up!"

"No." I grumble. Fortunately, my voice stays stable.

Darry cocked his head to the side. "Hold on a minute, okay?"

"Whatever." I mumbled and Darry left the room. There was only a moment of peace and quiet before the door was kicked in and Darry and Soda appeared. I groaned loudly.

Soda sat on the bed beside me and felt my forehead. "I don't think he's sick, Darry." He said, hand still heavy on my head.

I swatted it away. "I'm fine. Just leave me alo-" My voice broke into a higher pitch, so I stopped talking.

Soda cocked an eyebrow questioningly, and smiled. "See? He's just hit puberty. Our little brother is growing up!"

My face grew warm, as did Darry's. "Oh." Was all Darry said. Then he pulled Soda by the arm and took him outside. He closed the door and in a hushed tone, they conversed.

"What are we gonna do? I wanted to explain all this before it happened!" Darry whispered.

"Well, it's a little late for that. We're just gonna have to do it-" Soda started.

Darry cut him off. "When? I have work and-"

"Are you working today?"

"No...but-"

"But what, Darry? You're brother is confused and scared of himself. How are you gonna live knowing you could of made this a little easier for him?" Darry didn't answer. "That's right, so let's just go in and make it quick."

The door opened again and they found a seat. Soda on the bed and Darry on a chair. The room was settling into an awkward silence. Soda looked at Darry and urged him to start talking.

Darry sighed and began. "So, Ponyboy, I'm sure you've been noticing some... changes in you're body." I blushed and nodded. "Well, it's perfectly normal. We all went through the same thing."

I nodded and Soda picked up where Darry left off. "It's called 'the awkward stage'. Everything changes. Your height, your thoughts, your dreams...your size." I felt my ears get hot at the last item on his list. "But it's okay and perfectly normal."

"Speaking of dreams..." Darry wondered. "Have you had any... strange ones lately?"

My eyes widened and I was ready to crawl under the floor boards. Soda answered for me. "Yes, he has."

I looked at Soda surprised. "How did you know?" I ignored the crack in my voice.

Soda glanced at me weirdly and said. "Those are called 'wet dreams', Ponyboy. When you dream like that, you...what's the word Darry?"

Darry sighed. "Ejaculate, Soda."

"Oh, ejaculate." Soda repeated.

"What's that?" I asked, worried. Did it hurt? Have I done that? Maybe that explains the sticky sheets in the morning.

"Well, think of it like a seed. A hot, white, sometimes clear, seed. When you get those dreams, a hole bunch of seeds come out." Soda explained.

"Where does it come from?"

Darry was turning red too, and I thought I saw a hint of blush on Soda's cheeks, but probably not. "Where do you pee from, Ponyboy?" Soda asked and when I got the meaning, I looked away.

"Oh." I said. "Why a seed?"

"Because," Soda thought for a minute. "When the seed gets placed into a girl, it grows into a baby."

"You mean during sex?" I asked.

For the first time in a while, Soda blushed, clear as day. "Yeah, Kiddo. Where'd you learn that?"

"Two-Bit gave me 'the talk' a while back."

"Oh." He turned to Darry. "Twenty dollars says he was drunk."

Darry sighed, long and hard. Was he holding his breath the whole time? "What did he say?"

"Well, he didn't really say anything, just told me some really crazy and highly inappropriate stories." I explained. "He gave me some advice to. Like 'Blonde girls that are... well endowed, are great for one-night stands,' and 'If she finds you the next day, deny everything and call her a dumb ass, blond drunk. Yell, 'I never had sex with you'. Scream, 'even if I did, I would have used a condom!'"

I was going to continue, but Darry all but begged me to stop. Soda looked sick. "Well, at least you know how crazy things can get." Soda tried.

"So you know you're capable of getting a girl pregnant?" Darry asked. I nodded. "So you're not going to have sex?"

I had to think about this for a minute. Was I going to? It seemed fun, and those dreams, man...those dreams...

The girl. I had no idea what her face looked like, as it changed every time I dreamt like this. I had no idea what her name was. It didn't matter, I loved her. Or at least that's what I thought when I made love to her. Maybe I had sex with her? Are making love and having sex the same?Whatever.

She was warm, so warm. I love being inside her; to be able to fill her up. It was me she was clawing her fingernails into. It was me she was kissing roughly to ease the pain. It was me she was moaning for; me she wanted.

"Ponyboy, Ponyboy-"

"PONYBOY!" Someone yelled. It was Darry of course. I came to with a start.

"What?" I asked, not fully over the fantasy.

Darry looked at me disapprovingly and Soda was trying not to smile. "I asked if you were going to have sex." Darry said, voice firm and demanding. His face was actually pretty scary, it made me want to jump back.

"No, Sir." I said. I only say that when I'm in deep trouble.

He didn't look convinced, but he still answered. "Good, because I'm assuming we both know what would happen if any girl walked into this house, waving a drugstore pregnancy test in your face saying, 'The condom broke, goddamn it! I'm pregnant, and you better be a good dad!'"

My face grew hot once again as I nodded. Me and Darry stared at each other for awhile and then he got up and left. "Dinner will be ready in 15 minutes!" He called, as the door closed behind him.

I leaned back into the pillow and began daydreaming again. The dream got so hot, that I even bucked my hips a little. That's when I remembered Soda hadn't left the room yet.

He laughed a little then ruffled my hair, causing me to jump a little. "You are a Curtis after all!" Soda cried. "I knew you'd grow out of it!"

I slapped his hand out of my hair with mock anger. "I swear, if you touch my hair again, I'll rip your arms off!"

Soda stepped back, shock clearly written in his features. Then I couldn't hold it in, I laughed. I could barely breathe!

"Wise guy, huh?" Soda said, then he jumped on me. And thus, began our wrestling match. The match felt like it could go on forever; at least it did until Soda's arm rubbed against something it shouldn't have.

I stopped trying to hold Soda back to let out a deep moan. It was loud, too! I quickly slapped a hand over my mouth and stared at Soda with wide eyes as he looked back at me, an eyebrow raised. "Is there something I should know?" He asked.

I shook my head, fiercely. "No!"

Soda didn't buy, I could tell, but he got off me anyway. "Come on, dinner should be ready by now." He said, walking towards the door. He opened it quickly and shut it again. He ran, full-speed toward our bed and pulled the sheets off. The movement gave me a heart attack. "I knew it!" Soda yelled.

"Knew what?" I asked, a little annoyance dripping into my tone.

"That!" He was pointing to the tent made in my pants. "You know you could have told me."

"I didn't even know I-" I stopped before I could embarrass myself further.

"So, who is she?"

"Who's, who?" I asked a little annoyed.

"The girl who gave you that." I was becoming uncomfortable, being exposed as I was, and a pulled the blankets back over me.

"Nobody." I grumbled, looking out the window.

"I told you about Sandy." He said, in an innocent voice.

He had me there. I sighed, "You know Cherry Valence from school?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah! She was the head cheerleader when I was in school." He said. Then to himself he whispered, "Man, could she do the splits or what?"

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing! Um, Valence...continue."

"Well, a few weeks ago, when me, Johnny and Dallas went to the movies, we were introduced and then we started talking, and well..."

Soda chuckled and then punched me playfully. "Oh, I see." He always got everything. "So are you gonna tell her?"

Is he crazy? "Are you crazy?" I asked.

"Why?"

"Cherry is a Soc, Sodapop! I'll get killed if I even stand next to her!" I yelled, my voice rising octaves the more stressed I got.

"Oh."

I sighed and laid back down. "Yeah." I rolled to face the wall. "I just want to be alone right now."

"Okay." Soda rubbed my head and walked out.