Glad to hear from me? Well, this is a short-ish story. For a little closer.

-Jasmine

As the rain hit his bedroom window, Ponyboy Curtis wished he were somewhere, anywhere, else. He rubbed his chest where he had woken up one morning and found a scar. It was like a knife wound; Pony had seen a scar from a knife on Two-Bit's arm once but he never said how he'd got it. Neither of his brothers knew about his scar and, frankly, he would like to keep it that way.

As much as he hated to admit it, Ponyboy hid a lot from his brothers; even Sodapop, who he supposedly told everything to. Stuff like when, on his fourteenth birthday, he had gotten the legendary, "First Kiss" and a whole lot more behind the gym. Stuff like how he had a tattoo that he never remembered getting, only that it was part of a big inside joke. Stuff like how there was always one person on his mind. A person he had never met before and didn't know. He knew what her name was, too. Though, he knew what she looked like and would recognize her in a second. Was this a little weird? Sure, but Pony wasn't taking this too seriously. He was a teenage boy; having a mystery girl always on his mind isn't that weird.

This girl had been on his mind for about a month now. A month since the tattoo, and a month since he found the scar. A lot happened in a month; a lot of weird feelings.

Ponyboy walked into the living room to find Two-Bit in the arm chair and Steve lounging on the couch.

"Hey, guys," he greeted and sat down on the arm of the chair. He looked at the coffee table. They had gotten the new table a few days ago. Once night they all just woke up to find it broken in half. Darry had been mad; it was a gift from their Great Aunt Frances.

"Hey, kid," Steve greeted.

"Afternoon, Pony!" Two-Bit yelled happily.

Pony frowned and turned to his rusty haired friend. "Quit being so loud, Two-Bit, I'm gonna go deaf by the age of 17."

Two-Bit smirked. "What!" he yelled.

Pony rolled his eyes. "Smart ass."

Steve snorted. "You finally feel my pain."

"I'd rather be a smart ass than a dumb ass," Pony muttered and stalked off into the kitchen.

"You... annoying... shut up..." Pony heard Steve mutter. He rolled his eyes because there was no point in pushing Steve; his brain might explode.

"I hate the rain," Pony heard Steve mutter to himself.

"Rain?" Two-Bit asked. "Why?"

"Yeah," Pony added, "what's so bad about the rain?" Steve's face scrunched up.

"I don't remember why; I just... don't," Steve explained.

"Well that's not completely morbid!" Two-Bit said cheerfully, giving Steve a pat on the back.

"And not to mention an utterly random and mind-boggling point of miscellaneous facts on the life of Steve Randle," Pony commented.

"Why must you just ooze all your annoying nerd words on everything?" Steve asked.

"Pardon?"

"Exactly!" Steve yelled out, getting up from where he was laying on the couch. "Any normal person would have just said 'what!'"

"Yeah, well, at least I don't have a giant nose!" Pony snapped.

"My nose," Steve said, wagging a finger in Pony's face, "is a perfectly normal size!"

"Is that what your Mom told you?" he asked.

"Don't you bring my mother into this," Steve hissed out.

"Now, now..." Two-Bit chided, "let's play nice..."

"He insulted my mother!" Steve defended.

"I was only stating the clear fact that you have an abnormally large nose. I'm not bringing your mother into this at all. In fact, according to common heredity, it appears to me that you most likely got this horrid huge-ass nose gene from your father."

Steve took a dangerous step at Pony. "Why, you little..."

"Distraction!" Two-Bit yelled. Steve and Pony seemed to forget their argument and both starred at their friend in wonder.

"Why... Two-Bit... why...?" the youngest greaser asked quietly.

"What is it now, Two-Bit?" the big-nosed greaser also wondered.

"Look!" Two-Bit whined and pointed out the window. "Lookie! A truck!" This, quite effectively, got the attention of the other two.

"A truck?" Pony inquired. "What truck?"

"What?" Steve asked with a large, fake smile plastered on his face. "The brilliant Ponyboy Curtis doesn't know about the truck?"

"Shut up, Steve, you didn't even know about the truck until Two-Bit pointed it out," he told him.

"Oh, yeah?" Steve challenged. "I know exactly what that truck is."

"Enlighten us, Stevie boy!" Two-Bit added in.

"Fine!" Steve yelled. "It's a moving truck."

"It is not," Pony told him. The three looked into the yard of the shabby house across the street.

"That thing has been on the market for like a year now..." Two-Bit remarked. Suddenly the door to the van opened and a man got out; he opened the truck to show stacked up boxes and many lose items. Next came out a small, red-headed girl. Pony could hardly see through the rain, but he knew... she had gray eyes.

"Ha!" Steve rejoiced. "I knew it! In your face, you little twerp!" Pony waved a hand in the odd teenager's face.

"Whatever."

"I'm smarter than Pony!" Steve sung out. "Ha! Ha! Ha!"

"I'm going over there," Pony said.

"Come on, Pon, it's clearly a moving truck; just give it a rest," Two-Bit told him.

"No, no, it's not that. The girl..."

"Does Pony have a crush?" the rusty-haired greaser asked in a high-pitched, gossipy voice. Pony's ears turned red.

"No... Let me go." Pony ignored Steve's laughter and Two-Bit's jokes and hurried across the street. The girl was just about to walk inside the house when Pony called out to her.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Hey, you!" The girl gave him a confused look.

"Um... who are you?" she asked.

"Ponyboy Curtis. Don't ask about the name. I live across the street."

"Um... okay?"

"I know you."

"Um... I've gathered that... I don't know you..." The girl turned around and tried to go outside but Pony's voice stopped her again.

"Wait, Meg!" Pony yelled. The girl gave a confused look.

"No one calls me Meg; it's Megan."

Yup. That did just happen. Also, to clear things up, it really is Meg. She just put into the book but doesn't remember anything.