A/N: This may seem totally unimportant and irrelevant, but I have to tell the story because I'm SO excited and proud. My high school's homecoming parade was tonight. Me and three other girls made a float for choir that looked like the carnival scene from Grease, and all the girls on the float dressed up as Pink Ladies. Even though we built our float with limited cash and only had four people actually work on it, the choir totally kicked butt. We won the award for Best Club Float! Best moment of my senior year so far.
"We need to meet somewhere and come up with a plan," said Ponyboy.
"What's wrong with here?" asked Dallas.
"Darry would take me to another doctor if he came in and heard us talking about Johnny's parents gettin' abducted by aliens." Ponyboy pointed out.
"Yeah, he might," agreed Two-Bit. He tipped his head to the side, thought for a moment, and then snapped his fingers. "The school!"
Dallas shook his head. "Uh-uh. No way. Forget it. I'm not goin' anywhere near a school."
"But the school has chalkboards," said Two-Bit. "We can draw diagrams and make up our strategy on them." He stood up. "Before we do that, though, let's stop by the DX. I'm thirsty and maybe we can convince Soda and Steve to join us. The more people there are, the easier it is to conquer the aliens, at least that's how it works on Mystery Science Theater. By the way, Dal, is Steve's cousin from Kansas still in town?"
"I think so," said Johnny.
"Wait a minute. What do we need her for?" asked Dallas. "She couldn't do a damn thing if the aliens came after us."
Ponyboy liked Steve's cousin Glenda, but he had to admit that Dal had a point. Glenda was five feet tall and a hundred pounds soaking wet. Because of that (and much to Glenda's irritation), Two-Bit had christened her with the nickname Munchkin. Sure, Johnny was small too, but he was a decent fighter for a kid his size.
Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow, as though his friends were being stupid on purpose. "There's always a pretty girl in those alien movies."
Johnny, Dallas, and Ponyboy stood up, then the four boys left the house. They walked several blocks to the center of town, where the DX was located. As they got closer, the boys could see what was going on at the DX. Steve was working on a car, Sodapop was surrounded by a group of giggling girls, and Glenda was sitting on the curb drinking a bottle of Coke.
"Hi, Johnny," Glenda said in a friendly tone. Taking on a more serious octave, she added, "Steve told me about what happened. How's your head?"
"Fine, I guess," Johnny mumbled. Talking to girls, even ones related to his friends, made him nervous.
"Hey, Soda!" called Steve. "Here come the hobos."
"Excuse me for a minute, ladies," said Sodapop, which caused the girls to giggle shrilly again.
He walked over to the Coke machine, got Cokes for his friends, and then joined them.
"What's goin' on, guys?" asked Sodapop.
"Well, we figured we'd stop by and see if you wanted to hang out with us," said Ponyboy.
"I'm sorry, Ponyboy, but I can't. I'm workin' right now." said Sodapop apologetically.
"Hey, Steve," said Two-Bit. "Would it be all right if we borrowed Munchkin for a couple hours?"
"I sure wish you would," said Steve. He liked Glenda even less than he liked Ponyboy.
"I guess I'll go," said Glenda. "What are you guys planning?"
"Oh, nothin' much," said Two-Bit with a shrug.
"We're gonna find the aliens that kidnapped my parents," said Johnny.
At these words, Glenda's bottle of Coke slipped from her fingers and smashed on the sidewalk. It had been partially full, so Glenda muttered some decidedly un-ladylike things as she tried to blot the cola out of her skirt.
"Are you sure he's okay?" she asked, indicating Johnny. "It kinda sounds like he's hallucinating."
"I don't know what that big word means," Dallas started, "but whatever it does mean, Johnny ain't doin' it. You got that?"
"Yeah," said Glenda. She stood up. "Ready when you guys are." She turned and waved to her cousin. "Bye, Steve. I'll see ya later."
Steve didn't even wave back.