Chapter Seven: Pony and Taylor's First Date
Taylor and I finished up all our homework in study hall. It really wasn't much, and we didn't have any tests to study for, anyway. So Darry would probably let me go out of my date with Taylor. We met up with my brothers at the DX Station after school. Steve must be on his lunch break. Darry and Soda were playing a little game of "Would You Rather" when we got there.
"Okay, Darry, would you rather win ten-million dollars in the lottery or have a genie in a bottle?" Soda was asking.
Darry thought for a moment. "Would I be allowed to wish for more wishes if I had the genie in a bottle?" he asked.
Soda shook his head. "Nope."
"Then I'd win the lot—wait, why am I even playing this childish game with you?!"
"Because it's fun! Oh, hi'ya, Pony! Taylor!"
"Hey, Soda," Taylor said. "What's up?"
Soda looked up. "Eh, the sky."
Taylor giggled. "Man, you are crazy."
"So, what's goin' on between you two?"
Taylor and I looked at each other, then back at my brothers. "Well, Taylor and I were planning on going out on a date tonight."
Soda grinned. "Ah, I knew it! I knew it! My baby brother is going out on his first date with a girl!"
"Hey, cool it, little buddy," Darry said. "Pony, don't you have homework to do?"
"We already finished it up at school," Taylor answered before I could.
"Well, okay, then. You two have fun." We were about to start off, but he stopped us. "You two need money for a date, don't ya'll?" Darry said, then reached into his pocket and pulled out thirty bucks, and handed it to me.
"Hey, thanks, man," I said. "We'll be home by seven."
Soda started pushing us. "Now you two greasy love doves go have fun: go get a Pepsi, see a movie, take the girl to a nice dinner or maybe a dance. Ahh, young love."
"Don't stay out too late," Darry said with a little chuckle.
"And don't wait up for us," I told him.
Taylor and I headed downtown, slowly walking backwards and looking tuff with both our fists in our jacket pockets. "So, Taylor, you wanna see a movie?" I asked.
She shrugged. "I guess, if you want to. Hey, wait a second." Taylor looked in the window of the jewelry store. Something had caught Taylor's eye—it was a golden locket with a silver butterfly on it, along with two silver flowers and pink one. Taylor was really amazed by it. I thought she might like that a gift until I saw the price: sixty dollars. Sixty bucks for that?!
"It looks real nice, huh, Pone?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah," I said. I was thinking of where I could get the kind of money to buy that locket for Taylor, then I remember where Darry hid his stash of money.
After that, Taylor and I went to see The Hustler at the movie house, then we went and got some pizza at the Sunset Club. I found out that Taylor and I have a whole lot in common: we're addicted to Pepsi, we love seeing movies, we love reading and writing, we love sunsets, and we even don't use our heads! It's kind of like...we were made for each other.
When one of her favorite songs played in the other room, Taylor talked me into coming and dance with her. Taylor and I went dancing when "I've Had the Time Of My Life" played. I was real impressed about how well Taylor could dance. I tried getting some moves down, but I would accidentally miss a step. I nearly stepped on her foot twice, but she quickly moved it.
"No, Pony. Give me your hand," she'd say, laughing. I took Taylor's hand and put my hand on her hip. She put hers on my shoulder, and we began dancing. I didn't notice that all the other teens were in a circle and watching us, and a spotlight landed on me and Taylor. They all looked impressed by our dancing; they were smiling at us and whispering to one another about how we looked so cute together.
"I guess we are having the time of our lives," Taylor said. "I don't think I've ever had this much fun with a guy in my whole life. I...I feel like I've known you my whole life."
"Same here," I said. "And about that thing with Chase Alan that you mentioned before, just know that one day you'll meet that right guy, one that'll take care of you and love you no matter what."
"How do you know I ain't looking at him?"
I smiled at her. "So...are we like...boyfriend and girlfriend now?" I asked.
"Does this answer your question?" Taylor leaned in a kissed me on the lips for one second. I wasn't expecting that at all. I couldn't describe how I felt. Now I knew how Soda felt when he was in love with Sandy.
I stroked Taylor's hair, and she touched the side of my face. Then I kissed her again. All the other teens were cheering and "whooing" for us, but we didn't even care. One of them actually whistled at us! After a couple more seconds, we pulled away. Taylor touched her lips, then smiled at me. She rested her head on my shoulder as we slowly swayed each other...
At seven o'clock, I walked Taylor home. We were holding hands together. "Thanks so much for this Ponyboy," Taylor said. "You want to come in for a Pepsi real quick?"
"Sorry, I can't. Darry needs me home right away," I answered.
"Okay. Goodnight, Pony." We kissed again, then quickly pulled away when a worried Ms. Samson came out. Thank goodness, she didn't see me and Taylor kissing. That would've been bad.
"Taylor Rosaline Samson, where have you been?!" she demanded. "You've had me worried sick, young lady!"
"Aunt Ellen, I'm sorry. I was with Ponyboy and I kind of forgot to call."
Ms. Samson glared at me, then back at Taylor. "You and I are going to talk about this, Taylor. Inside. Now."
She nodded. "Bye, Ponyboy."
"Bye," I said as she walked in.
"I'll be keeping an eye on you, boy," Ms. Samson muttered at me, then followed her niece inside.
That didn't make me feel so hot. I hoped Ms. Samson wasn't going to get mad at Taylor. I walked on home, thinking of Taylor and that kiss we shared. Taylor gave me her home phone-number when we left the Sunset Club, so I was gonna have to remind myself to call whenever I got the chance. When I got back to my house, Darry and Soda were continuing their game of "Would You Rather".
"Would you rather get thrown into a lake full of hungry allegators or sky-dive into the desert?" Darry asked.
Soda cocked his eyebrow. "Those are weird options," he said.
"They're the only ones I can think of, little buddy."
"Then I would sky-dive into the desert. I don't like allegators. Hey, Ponyboy! So, how'd it go?"
"What, my date with Taylor? It was great," I said.
Soda studied me for a moment. He grabbed my face and looked at me like I was the most interesting thing he's ever seen. Then he gasped when he released me. "Shut up! You totally kissed her!"
"What?! No, I—wait, how can you even tell?"
"I can tell by the look on your face," Soda said. I was still very confused.
"You kissed her?!" Darry asked excitedly.
I sighed. "Fine, you caught me. I did kiss her."
Darry and Soda looked at each other and grinned. "Nice job, little man," Darry said, messing with my hair. "I thought I'd never see the day. Looks like you've got yourself a perfect girlfriend. You and her are pretty much alike. She seems to make you real happy."
"She does. I really care about her." Then I remembered the locket Taylor really liked. "Hey, Dar, can I borrow sixty bucks?"
I asked him that question right when he was drinking his coffee, and Darry ended up spitting his drink out. "Sixty bucks?! What do you need that kind of money for?" he asked.
"Well, there was this locket that Taylor really liked, and it was sixty dollars. I wanted to buy it for her."
Darry thought for a moment, then nodded. "All right. Turn your heads."
He didn't have to tell me and Soda that. We already knew where Darry hid his stash of money: in a false-bottom in the icebox (really weird place to hide money, if you ask me). I remember when Soda wanted to buy a forty-dollar silver bracelet for Sandy, and he asked Darry for that kind of money. Without meaning to, I saw Darry pulling the money out of a false-bottom on the icebox with Soda's back turned when I went to get a Pepsi. Darry didn't know I saw. Soda always knew about that hiding place. We never even stole money from there. Darry would notice and would probably kill us. I don't steal, anyway.
"Okay, you two can turn around now," Darry said. Soda and I turned around. Darry put the money in my hand. "There you go, Pone. Now go get your girlfriend that locket."
"Thanks, Dar." I grabbed my jacket and headed out the door.
