All the boys stampeded into the kitchen except for Pony who stayed behind to talk to me.
"First of all, that was amazing", Ponyboy praised me while grinning, "I've never seen anyone talk to Dally that way. Ever. Second of all, are you alright?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"You just seemed really uncomfortable."
"I'll be fine, "I assured him.
"Why don't you sit between Soda and I during dinner? That way we can avoid more conflict and besides, we seem to be the ones you get along best with here so far."
"Okay", I said as we walked to the table. All the boys had sat down and were waiting on Pony and I so they could finally eat. When we sat down they dug in. Dinner was chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. I don''t like vegetables so I smothered the green beans in the mashed potatoes.
"So, Lily, tell us about your family", Darry said from across the table.
"Well, I have two younger siblings. They're twins. Ten years old. And my mom and dad."
"Are you sure you're from this side of town?", Soda asked with his mouth full.
"Chew with your mouth closed, Soda", Darry and I chastised him simultaneously.
That made everyone laugh.
"But seriously", Sodapop said again, "Are you sure you're from the Greaser side of town?"
"Yeah. Why?", I questioned.
"Ya just seem too well mannered and…", Soda said trying to think of a description, "Non-Greaser-like."
"Well, aren't you eloquent", I joked, smirking, "I've just never really found any appeal to drinking or smoking and that kind of stuff. Besides I've seen what alcohol can do to a person."
Soda's eyes widened, "Do your parents… you know…"
I quickly shook my head, "No! I have friends that have alcoholic parents. I'm lucky enough to have parents that love me. Those are rare to find in these parts."
Everyone seemed to visibly relax at that.
"Who's ready for cake!", Two-Bit exclaimed.
A chocolate cake was taken out of the ice box. Darry cut everyone, including me a slice. I bit into mine.
"This is so good! Who made it?", I asked.
"Darry", Pony said. He was talking while chewing, but had his hand in front of his mouth so it wasn't disgusting.
Darry was one of the last people I would have expected to make the cake. I suddenly pictured him in a "kiss the cook" apron and started hysterically laughing.
"What is it, Lily?", Ponyboy asked, obviously amused at my outburst. I told him which made him start laughing. Then he told everyone else which made everyone, even Dally, start laughing. Soon enough the kitchen was roaring with laughter. I wiped the tears from my eyes when it had calmed down.
"Hey, Lily", Ponyboy said turning to me with a giant smile still on his face, "You wanna go outside and watch the sunset with me before we go to the movie?"
"Of course!", I exclaimed, "I love sunsets!"
That seemed to be exactly what Pony wanted hear. He took my hand, not looping our arms together as we had been doing earlier, which made me blush. My face felt hot as we walked from the kitchen to the back steps. Pony opened the door for me. Considering what most boys our age were like, I was surprised at how gentlemanly and chivalrous Ponyboy was.
"Why do you always open doors and stuff like that for me?", I asked without thinking. "I'm not complaining", I quickly added, "I was just wondering".
We sat down on the steps as Pony turned to me with a smile some playing on his features, "Mom and Dad engrained into our heads form an early age to be respectful to women."
"Your parents were smart people", I told him, "You definitely got that from them. Soda and Darry did too. Which one do you look more like?"
"Surprisingly neither, really", he answered. "Soda looks like Mom, but with Dad's eyes. Darry looks like Dad, but with his own eyes. I guess I'm just that special", he smirked at the last sentence he said.
"It doesn't matter", I said, matter-of-factly, "You're handsome either way. Just in different ways than your brothers."
Pony blushed, his ears turning red, "You really think so?", he questioned me.
"Yeah", I said blushing, "Your lucky you got some nice genetics. Mine don't look too good." To me, that was true. I hated my eye color, it looked to dark and sad. My hair color wasn't anything special. I had acne that I hated and made me want to constantly cover up my face. I wasn't as skinny as I wanted to be. My nose was too big and my eyes were too small. I couldn't even laugh or smile without it looking like my eyes were closed.
"That ain't true", Pony shouted, "You're beautiful and don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise."
"Really?", I asked him doubtfully, tears coming to my eyes, "Do ya really think that?"
"Of course!", he cried, "Who ever told you that you weren't?"
"Can we talk about something else?", I begged, "And besides, the sun is starting to set". The sun had started to get close to the horizon, turning the sky a beautiful mixture of pinks, oranges, yellows, and purples. I looked over at Ponyboy who had been staring at me. The colors of the setting sun illuminated his face and made his green eyes pop.
"Oh, and I almost forgot. Happy birthday".
Ponyboy took a small box out of his pocket.
"Pony, you didn't have to get me anything! You don't need to spend any money on me!"
"But I wanted to. Besides, how many times do you turn 14? And don't worry it's not a diamond or anything expensive like that. I definitely don't have that kind of money. I think the stone is called cubic zirconia or somethin' ".
"Thank you", I said as he opened the box. It was an elegant, thin silver necklace with a small stone pendant. It was simple, just like I liked my jewelry to be.
"Here", Pony said, taking the necklace out of the box, "Lift up your hair and face the other way".
I did as he said as he fastened the necklace around my neck. I dropped my hair so it flowed down my back again.
"Really, Pony", I said to him, "Thank you so much". I pulled him into a tight hug, putting my arms around his neck. He seemed surprised for a few seconds then hugged me back, wrapping his hands around my waist. When we pulled back he was looking at me very intensely. Then he quickly leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"Lily", Ponyboy started, his face flushing and him looking kind of nervous as he took my hand in his, "I wanted to ask you a question".
"Shoot", I told him.
He took a deep, shaky breath, "I was wondering if maybe…I don't know…if you…"
"Pony", I laughed, "Just spit it out already".
He took another deep breath, "I was wondering if maybe you wanted to be my gal".
I smiled widely at him, "I would love to be your girlfriend, Pony".
"Really?", Pony asked in disbelief.
"Yes, of course", I reconfirmed with a laugh.
I had never seen Ponyboy smile this wide before. He leaned in closer to me, moving one of his hands to my waist and the other to my cheek. Then he leaned in even closer, closing the distance between us. He kissed me softly and sweetly. We weren't making out. It was innocent. Pony was kissing me romantically and gently, our lips not moving much, but moving in sync. One of my hands was on his shoulder while the other was cupping his face. After about 20 to 30 seconds, we pulled apart, touching our foreheads together.
"That was my first kiss", Ponyboy admitted, a small grin ghosting is face.
"That was mine too", I told him, "How'd you get so good if you've never done it before?"
"I don't know", Pony responded chuckling lightly, "Just natural talent, I suppose".
Everything was perfect in this moment. Pony and I were together and had both just had our first kiss. The sunset cast a warm glow on us, making everything more romantic. As we watched the end of the sunset, we held hands and I leaned my head on his shoulder. I couldn't remember the last time I was that happy or content. And to think, we hadn't even finished our night together.
No criticism please! Just tell me if I've made any spelling errors and I'll fix them right away! Stay gold! - AthenaRavenclaw13
