"Hey Soda, what do you think you're doing, pickin' up Socs? Haven't we learned our lesson from your brother?"
I rolled my eyes at Darry, knowing he wasn't being serious. Darry was never strict with me, not really.
Ponyboy lit a ciggarette."What's she like?"he asked.
I kicked off my shoes and threw my jacket towards the couch, missing. I yanked my shirt off and plomped down on the couch."Like any other Soc I guess...well, not really. She was cool I guess.
"Pretty?"Darry asked me.
"Yeah. A real looker. Hey, you'll never guess!"
Two-Bit looked up from Mickey Mouse."Huh?"
I busted out laughing."It's your little sister!"
He gagged."Celeste?"
I nodded.
"What kinda name is that? It sounds like stylist."
"Poor girl."Pony said kindly.
"Poor boy."Two-Bit countered.
"Huh?"Pone asked confuzzled.
"I said poor boy!"Two Bit yelled and tackled Ponyboy.
I decided against saying anything else about her."So, the Socs, they been hangin' 'round here any?"
Ponyboy grinned wildly."Naw, we wooped 'em real good this time!"
"That's right little buddy."Darry said. He had gotten into a habit of calling Pony little buddy too now.
"Wait wait wait, if she's a Soc and Two-Bits a grease..."Pony asked, not wording his question right.
"I live there when I got to, and only then."Two-Bit grumbled.
I saw Ponyboy was studying."What'cha doing?"
"Math."
"Need help?"I grinned to myself, knowing that was my worst subject.
He looked up."Do you know what 5 to the 3rd power plus, in parenthesis, 7 to the 3rd power times 100 is?"he asked me.
I stood up and walked over there, grabbing the pencil.
"So, 7 times 3 is ...22...22 times 100 is 2200, then 5 times 3 is...15...2200 plus 15 is 2215."I said, throwing the pencil back down."See, it's easy."
Ponyboy just stared at me."Are you sure you made it to 10th grade?"
I creased my eyesbrows. What did I do wrong now?"What did I do?"
He sighed."Exponents means to multipy the big number by itself however many times the little number says to. So it'd be...34425, I think...And Soda?"
I tried to follow along with the marks his pencil was making, but couldn't quite."Huh?"
"7 times 3 is 21 dip crack."
"Don't you know not to let Soda-dope help you with homework?"Darry muttered.
"Are you sure Pony?"I asked him.
He gave me a sarcastic look."Okay, Okay, your right.
"I'm going to grab some chocolate cake and head outa here."
"Where you going?"Pony looked up from his book.
"I meant go to bed."
"It ain't that late kid."
"I know, a long day at work though."
After I grabbed some cake like i said, I lied down in bed.
"I need a tutor or something, it doesn't matter if I am a drop-out."
'Sure the hell do.'I heard a little voice in my head say, and I smiled, dozing off.
