"Johnnycake? Hey, Johnny, c'mon, wake up." Someone was shaking me by the shoulders, real rough. I groaned and rolled over, pulling the pillow over my head. My tongue was thick in my mouth and my head felt all foggy like my room would get when I'd try to sneak a smoke and forget to open a window to let the air in. The last thing I wanted to do was get up.

"Mmmpphhh..." For some reason, my whole body felt stiff, like I'd swam for a long time and had gone right to bed without even getting out of my swim suit. "It's Saturday, ain't it? Let me sleep in..."

Whoever it was shook me harder, which made the whole bed shake, too. "Johnnycake, it's the middle of the afternoon! Now c'mon, we need another player for football!" He made a sort of anxious noise before snatching up the pillow and whapping me over the head with it.

"Aw, shoot, leave me alone." I covered my head with my hands to protect myself. Whoever it was sure as hell wanted me to play. "Ow, that hurts! Can't you just get Ponyboy to play instead?"

"He's already playin'!"

Turns out it was Soda who was pulling at my arms and tryin' to get me up. Suddenly the room spun and before I knew what was happening, he'd grabbed me and lifted me up out of the bed so he could fling me over his shoulder. Soda's not that much bigger than me, but he's easily twice as strong as I am. I'm the littlest of the gang next to Ponyboy, but I don't mind it so much, though I sure would have liked to have gone back to sleep right then.

"Soda, quit it! I'm up, I'm up!" I struggled to get away as he carried me down the hall towards the Curtis' kitchen. It isn't that uncommon for me to spend the night at their place. Darry likes me enough that he doesn't say anything when I turn up at their house late at night looking for any bed that's not mine to sleep in. The only problem with crashing at their house is Darry usually makes me go to school with Ponyboy the next morning. I hate school almost as much as I hate getting up early, and that's a lot. That's probably why I don't go too often. It's not like I don't like to learn, it's that I'm too dumb to remember any of it for very long. I'm real slow and that frustrates teachers. Pony's better at getting the stuff they try to make us learn. He's always got his nose buried in a book or writing something down, trying to figure out things I can't even begin to get. I wish I could get grades half as good as his. Soda's not real book smart, which is why he quit school a while back, but we all know Darry could've gone to college if their folks hadn't died in that accident. Ponyboy thinks it's his fault Darry can't go to college like he wants to, but there's no use feeling bad over it 'cause that won't change things.

"Too late! You're playin' whether or not you're awake. It just makes it easier for us to win if you're not!" Soda wasn't bothered by my thrashing around at all. The only thing my struggling did was make him hold on tighter. He was grinning from ear to ear when we reached the kitchen where Ponyboy, Two-Bit and Steve were drinking Pepsis. I couldn't see straight hanging upside down, but I could make out Steve sitting on the counter and Two-Bit slouching against the refrigerator. Pony was at the table, one arm slung over the back of his chair as he finished the rest of his drink. Two-Bit grinned when he saw Soda haul me in. He messed my hair, making faces at me as I hung from Soda's shoulder.

"Mornin', sunshine!" he teased, chuckling as Soda adjusted his hold on me."You done getting your beauty rest, Cinderella?" It felt like all the blood had drained to my head. "You better let 'em down, Soda, he looks about ready to puke."

Steve grinned. "You know what'll take care of an upset stomach?" By now Ponyboy had grabbed the football and was making his way towards the back door. "Three-on-two football!"

"Geez, Steve, you know three-on-two ain't fair," Soda argued as he carried me to the back porch while Two-Bit and Pony tossed the football back and forth. The screen door banged shut behind us as we stepped out into the lawn. Gosh, but it was bright outside.

"I was thinkin' you and me would be on one side and Matthews and the munchkins'd be on the other." Things went right side up as Soda let go of me and let me drop onto the grass. I rolled over and sat up. It took a second for my vision to clear; I'd been hanging upside down for longer than I'd thought.

"Munchkins nothin'," I heard Pony grumble. He doesn't like Steve much, but that's only because Steve doesn't like him back. Steve always seems to throw these awful looks at Ponyboy whenever he thinks Soda ain't lookin'. As far as I know, he doesn't have a problem with me, but I try to stay on his good side anyway. Better safe than sorry, I think.

"Yeah, alright." Looking satisfied, Soda nodded and held out his arms for the football. "Toss it here, Matthews, we get first play."

"Hell no, Curtis. There's no way you get the ball first if I've gotta play with a fuckin' handicap," Two-Bit shook his head, digging his fingers into the football. "If I get the twerps, then that means I get first dibs on the skin."

Ignoring him, Pony ambled over to me, holding out a hand. He hoisted me to my feet, patting me on the back. "S'okay, Johnnycake, we could whip 'em, even without Two-Bit," he muttered. He sounded more like he was convincing himself than me, but I understood what he meant.

"Yeah," I grinned at him, wondering why we always got stuck on a team with Matthews. "Yeah, sure we could."

I never was any good at football. I'm way too small. There ain't much I'm good at, come to think of it. It was so warm outside that day, too, which just made it worse. By the high point of the game, my jeans were covered in grass stains and I was beat. Playing football on a tired, empty stomach ain't a good idea.

"Glory, Matthews, don't you know a thing about football?"

Somehow Steve and Two-Bit always manage to get into a fight whenever they play against each other. They're good at working together to gang up on everyone else when the two of them play on the same team, but they can never seem to agree on something when they play on different ones. It's almost like the rules change depending on who's on what team.

"Shit, Randall, you shouldn't be talking! You actually call that last move a pass?" Two-Bit knew there was nothing that got Steve more worked up than being bashed for his passes.

"Damn straight I do!"

"Well, I think you've cracked!"

"Oh, yeah?"

Without much warning Steve lunged at Two-Bit, and the two of them fell to the ground like rocks. Two-Bit pushed Steve off him and tried to shove him away, but Steve grabbed Two-Bit's jacket and pulled it over his face. "Say mercy!" The whole scene looked pretty ridiculous, what with Two-Bit's arms flailing around as he tried to get a hold on Steve.

"Hey, hey! Break it up!" Soda grabbed Randall and tried to haul him off Two-Bit but lost his balance, falling over backwards and taking Steve with him. The three of them ended up wrestling each other to see who could pin who down for the longest. It didn't last long before Two-Bit won and they flopped down in the grass. We were all tuckered out, anyway.

"What in the Sam Hill are you knuckleheads doing?" I glanced up to see Darry climbing out of his car, which was making a sort of tinkering noise as he shut off the ignition and came to stand out on the driveway. "Christ, can't I go to the store for five minutes without you tearing up the backyard?"

"Hey Superman, wanna play football?" Two-Bit asked Darry lazily, lifting his head up to get a better look at him. He was on his back in the grass, staring up at who knows what.

"If he plays, I'm out," Steve added in. He was propped up on his hands looking at his feet. Soda laughed as he layed next to Steve with his hands behind his head, his eyes closed. "I'm serious! You think I'm dumb enough to try and tackle the Man of Steel?"

"I could take 'em," Soda said, his eyes still closed and a grin on his face.

"You want to run that by me again, little buddy?" Darry challenged, shutting the car door and motioning for Pony to toss him the ball.

I don't think I need to tell you that Darry whipped Soda and Steve without trying very hard. He didn't need help from Pony, Two-Bit or me. It wasn't even a close game. Soon after it ended, Two-Bit said he had to get going or he'd be late for something. No one ever really knows what Two-Bit does when he's not hanging out at the Curtis', but then again no one cares enough to find out. Steve and Soda were planning to take the Evie and Sandy to the drive in, which meant Pony wouldn't be going with them. Darry headed in to make an early dinner, so it was just me and Ponyboy left outside.

I snatched up my jean jacket that I'd tossed near a tree during the game and slipped it on. It was getting chilly and I noticed for the first time that the sun was setting. Maybe I hang around Ponyboy too much, but I've been starting to like sunsets as much as he does. Something about them makes me feel relaxed. I guess that's the difference between me and Dally. I like sunsets and he likes slashing people's car tires.

I patted the pockets of my jacket, looking for a pack of cigarettes. "Want a smoke?" I offered them to Pony and he took one, pulling out his lighter and cupping his hands to light the end of the weed. He tossed me the lighter and I did the same, taking a long drag. Smoking always makes him look older, as if he was my age, and I'm only a year younger than Dally. I know I don't look it, but I've been 16 for almost 9 months now.

We stood in silence for a little while, just being real quiet. Me and Pony seem to be the only people we know who can do that. Two-Bit can't keep his mouth shut to save his life, and Soda doesn't like to sit still for very long 'cause he gets bored easy. Dally don't get what's so great about silence, and Steve would rather be somewhere with Evie rather than watch the sun go down. But to me, nights like this beat out sleeping in the vacant lot a few blocks away, or sleeping in my room because I know I'm welcome here all the time and I can be as quiet as I like.

Pony flicked the cigarette butt onto the ground, kicking at a stone nearby. "C'mon, let's go inside. Looks like it's gonna be dark soon." The sun was almost down now, and the colors in the sky were just about faded. I nodded and dropped my cigarette, grinding it into the pavement with the heel of my shoe. We climbed the steps and went in just as the sun disappeared behind the clouds.