Author's Note: This story was originally written by Funghost4000, so I would recommend reading her part first or else this won't make much sense. I hope this chapter does her story justice. Sorry it's so short. Enjoy!

I woke up to Soda shaking me furiously.

"C'mon, Pony, Dar and I got the day off today!" he said excitedly. With that I shot up like a bullet. "Alright, kiddo, get ready. I'm makin' pancakes this mornin'!" he laughed and left me to get dressed.

At the table sat Darry, Johnny, and Dawn. The two of them stayed here overnight because Darry insisted that they shouldn't go back home to their abusive families. Neither of them protested; Dawn's decision on not ever going back was final, and Johnny couldn't leave her. At the stove, Soda was still flipping the pancakes. Turns out, they were blue this morning.

"Hey, Pony," Dawn greeted me, smiling. I took a seat in between the other empty chair and Johnny. He was smiling almost as much as her this morning. I could easily tell that Dawn made Johnny so happy these days; before we met her, he was rarely in a good mood.

"What're you two doin' today, Johnnycakes?" I asked him.

Almost as if he were in a daze, he answered, "Just a walk to the park."

"If you want we could all get some ice cream or something later, though," Dawn offered. Even though she'd been through so much, she really went out of her way to please us. Just another thing she had in common with Johnny. Man, those two were perfect for each other.

"I think that's a wonderful idea, Dawn," Darry said, finally looking up from the newspaper he held in front of him. "Pony needs to get out more, seeing how it's July already."

Soda then came over with the blue pancakes and gave each of us two. "Two? Soda, I ain't a little kid no more," I complained. Even though Soda's cooking looks like it came from another solar system, it tasted even better than Mom's. Two pancakes weren't nearly enough.

"Pone, you can have seconds; I've made enough for all of us to have thirds," Soda replied with a grin, sitting in the only empty chair.

"Oh, glory; I'm starved," Johnny sighed, his eyes getting googly at the sight of the food.

I was actually looking forward to today.