Disclaimer: I do not own, or claim to own, The Outsiders. Full credit goes to S.E. Hinton. I am just borrowing her characters.

Time went on.

Some days it went incredibly slowly. I would look at the clock and realize that barely a minute had gone by, but on other days the time flew and I found myself staring at the calendar in my kitchen, counting down the minutes until Soda would be home. The calendar was covered with red slash marks, all leading up to a day that was circled thickly with pen. It was the day I would get my best friend back, just one short month from then.

Thirty more days.

Nothing completely out of the ordinary had happened over the course of the five months since the boys had left, there was just a visible absence of both Soda and Steve.

One thing I had noticed was that Ponyboy was spending a lot more time with Michelle. It was sweet to watch, the way their friendship was slowly blossoming into something more. I could tell that Pony wished Soda was there to talk with, so I did my best not to bring the new developments in his relationship to the spotlight. I think he was waiting for Soda to get home before he really admitted to himself what was happening.

I missed Soda horribly. I didn't often cry about his absence, but there were time I would find myself saying his name and expecting he would be there, or wishing desperately that I could just pick up the phone and hear his voice. I was hard, but I knew it was tough for everyone so I did my best to stay positive when the boys were around.

I still spent time at the Curtis house, not willing to be apart from the rest of my friends and Soda at once. Pony had started teaching me how to play poker a few weeks back, and while I wasn't great at the game, I knew how to manipulate my way to a win.

"I think I'm going to win," I said casually one afternoon as Pony and I sat on the floor, a deck of cards in front of us. He let out a scoff.

"Sure about that, Katie? You don't have much left to bet."

I tried to keep my face blank, but I knew my bluff had to be obvious somewhere on my face. "Definitely," I said, trying to give off an impression of confidence that I didn't really feel. He searched my face for a few moments, before setting his cards on the ground.

"I fold," he said. I'm sure my shock registered, but I quickly gained my composure. We laid down our cards. He had a full house- I had a pair of sevens. "Aw, man!" Pony groaned, putting his head in his hands. "I fell for it again!"

"It's okay, buddy. Maybe I'll share my winnings if you ask nicely," I said with a sweet smile.

"I swear you're cheating," Pony insisted with a grumble. He looked towards the kitchen where Darry was located. "Whaddya think, Dar? Think Katie's a cheat at cards?"

Darry rolled his eyes "I'm not gonna get involved. I'll see y'all later. Think you can handle being by yourselves for a coupla' hours?"

I shrugged absently. "Probably. Can't promise something won't be broken when you get back, though." Ponyboy nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, Dar. Can't promise anything. Where you going anyways?"

"Gotta go price out a job," he said, slinging his jacket over his shoulder. "Try not to get in too much trouble." He walked out of the house, shutting the door behind him.

I looked at Pony. "Looks like we have a house to ourselves. What do you wanna do?" I ruffled his hair, and he shrugged free of my grasp.

"I'm going to have a shower. And then, I'm going to beat you at cards," he said, heading towards the bathroom.

"Yeah, right!" I called. The door shut, and I sat down on the couch.

The phone began to ring from the kitchen. I had planned it ignore it, until I heard Pony's call of "Get the phone!" from within the bathroom. I sighed, standing up and grabbing the phone.

"Curtis residence."

"Katie?" The voice asked. My heart temporarily stopped beating, and I gripped the phone unusually tightly.

"Sodapop?"

Tell me what you think,.

Till next time-

Bee.