Truth be told, I wasn't really excited about telling Pony about Maddie. I missed her, a lot. She was my best friend and when she left I really did take it hard. Though I sucked in a deep breath and turned back to Pony.

"Maddie is my best friend. She always will be. I was little when it happened, around 8. I would go to her house everyday after school. One day when I was there a fire started. Her parents never made it out. The burned to death in there. Maddie and I were almost out. Then the roof fell in. It was going to hit me and she pushed-" I stopped. I was now crying. The horrible day burned into my memory. I could still hear her pained screams echoing in my ears. I took a deep breath and finished my story, "she pushed me out of the way and the roof fell on her. She died in there and I got out. I still remember what she had said. She had yelled at me to run, that she would be okay. That she was going to stay with her parents." I stopped for a moment and then finished, "I took it hard, I didn't talk to anyone. People would tell me that they were sorry for my loss but I just wanted to yell at them. They didn't know her! They shouldn't pretend to know what I was feeling. I would stay in my room or go out and work on the fields. Then one day my mom locked me in my room and wouldn't let me out until I had a total change. I then saw what I had become. I hated myself. Maddie wouldn't have wanted me to be like this. She would have wanted me to go back to normal and live my life the best I can. So that's what I do now." I finished and looked at Pony he had tears in his eyes. I smiled and put a hand on his arm.

"Your turn. It'll make you feel better." I told him. He gave me a weak smile and asked,

"Where do I start?" I gave a quiet laugh.

"How about at the beginning." I told him. HE then told me his story. He told me everything. I don't know how long we were there but I knew it must have been a while. The only light in the room now what the small lamp on his desk. He told me everything from getting jumped at the movies to Dally killing himself. It was a terrible story and I found both of us crying by then end. I felt bad for Pony, he sure had went through a lot.

"So are you ready to go face your family?" I asked. He smiled, a true smiled and nodded. I was glad, now all I had to get through was school. Wow, in all this drama I had almost forgot that was the real reason I was here!

I went to the door and knocked loudly.

"Soda! Let us out!" I yelled. There was thumping and soon the lock clicked. The door was thrust open and Soda yelled, "BE FREE!" I laughed and walked out, Pony in tow.

We went down to the living room and both sat on the couch.

"Hey guys." Pony said. They all seemed surprised but said nothing except greeting in return.

"Hey, what time is it?" He asked. I pulled up my sleeve and looked at my wrist for a second then proclaimed,

"You know, this really helps when you're wearing a watch!" Pony started to laugh. It was a cute laugh. All the others looked at us, they seemed really happy to see that he was laughing. I liked his laugh and you could tell that all the others missed it.

Darry stood up and asked me,

"Hey, Zoe, can I talk to you in the kitchen for a second?" I nodded and fallowed him. He then turned to me, a big smiled on his face. Before I even had a chance to say anything I was pulled into a tight hug.

"Thank you so much." He told me. I finally got my breath back after the bone crushing hug and responded,

"It was no problem." He gave me a knowing look.

"We heard y'all. You guys yelled a lot." He told me. I couldn't help but smile at that. I gave him a hug back.

"Thank you for giving me a chance to be in America!" I told him, Pony had told me what it was like for them and how short they were on money, "I can get an after school job and help with the bills." I added. He looked down at me.

"You don't have to. You've already gave us enough, we have Pony back now. That's the best thing anyone could have given. Plus, the exchange group give us a monthly check to help pay for you." He told me. I thanked him one more and we both went back into the room.

I sat down next to Soda on the floor. He looked at me.

"So I never did get to show you around town." He said. I smiled at him.

"We could do that now." I told him. He gave me a look,

"You do know that it dark out now, right?" He asked. I looked out the window and suddenly remember.

"Oh." I said, a sad look on my face. He laughed ans said,

"You guys were in there for a long time."

"Yeah, what were you two doing in there? Hum??" Two-Bit asked. I blushed as did Pony, though he still managed to say back,

"You wish. All we did was talk." To which Two-Bit said,

"Don't you mean, you wish!" Everyone laughed as both of us laughed more. We talked for a bit more and we all got made fun of. I was glad to see that Pony was talking again, he didn't talk a lot but something told me that he never did in the first place. Then Darry stood up and clapped his hands.

"Okay, school tomorrow. Pony, Zoe, time for you to go to bed." We sighed an stood up to go upstairs. Steve then looked at Darry and asked,

"Mind if I stay the night?" Darry looked at him.

"Do I ever?" He asked back and Steve laughed and went to go lay on the couch that Two-Bit had freed when he had left an hour ago, "Looking for Fun." I didn't want to know what that meant. I went up stairs and changed into my Pajamas. I got into bed with a smile on my face. Pony then came in and laid down in his bed and turned out the light.

I was just about to go to sleep when Pony turned to me.

"Hey Zoe?" He asked.

"Yes?" I asked him.

"Thanks." He said, "For everything." I smiled.

"You're welcome, now go to bed, we have a big day tomorrow." I told him. He nodded and we both went to sleep.

Tomorrow was going to be.... different. Though I was still looking forward to it.

.ZoeAnnPetro.

Okay! Sorry it took so long and it's real short. I'm not really sure what I want to have happen at school yet though I do have a few tricks up my sleeve! Tell me what you think and thanks to all who reviewed last time! I swear that I'll try to update sooner and make the next chapter longer. Any ideas, let me know!

-Jasmine

ps. I just realized that Zoe's initials are ZAP! Ha! Never thought of that before!