XXXXXX

"Alright, here we go. Three…"

Sodapop reaved up his engine before taking a quick glance at the car next to him.

"Two…"

He gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"One…"

Soda took a deep breath and waited for the towel to drop to the ground. When it did, he and Victor Roberts, his challenger stepped on the gas pedals of their cars as they began their drag race while everyone else who stood watching began to cheer them on.

Tires squealed, engines roared as the two cars twisted and turned, the two drivers were neck and neck as they raced down the dirt road, Soda's competitor seemed to be having trouble keeping control of his machine.

The dirt road they were on curved and both drivers took special care in negotiating the path. They both managed to turn the corner and go back on the road to the finish line. It was the last leg of the race and both drivers knew the stakes. One the last turn however, Victor completely lost control of the car while going for a high speed turn.

The car flipped over once before settling as Soda crossed the finish line. A collective gasp went through the crowd when the car flipped and some of them ran over to help Victor out of the car. Steve however stayed put and ran over to congratulate his best friend.

"Yeah, buddy." Steve said while giving him a slap on the back. "Still unbeaten in drag races."

"Thanks, Steve."

Others who hadn't gone over to the rolled car went over to the two boys. One of the kids who was holding the money handed it over to Soda. Both he and Victor had put up twenty five dollars as a bet to who would finish the race first.

"So, where are we hanging out tonight?" Steve asked while throwing his arm around Soda's neck.

"I can't be out too late tonight."

"Why not?"

"I have other plans tonight...kinda."

"Okay." Steve began, then remembered something. "Hey, have you heard back from the DX yet?"

"No. Have you?"

Steve shook his head. The two of them had put in applications for part time jobs at the DX gas station a few days ago.

"Maybe we should go there and ask about it."

"Not now Steve, we're celebrating."

While Soda and Steve went off to find someplace to hang out, Ponyboy was standing outside in his backyard lighting up a cigarette while staring up at the late afternoon sky. As the wind blew lightly, causing the tall grass to sway and dance softly in the breeze, he began thinking about summer vacation which started today.

Pony's mind then went to all that had happened over the past months, during the school year. He remembered breaking up with Karen so he could ask Cherry out, only to find out that she was never attracted to him at all, only using him to get a good grade on their history project. To say it was uncomfortable being in that class with her for the rest of the year was an understatement.

He thought back to everything else, Darry leaving for college, Two-Bit finally getting a job…and Dally.

Dally had left town.

Shortly after the death of Johnny's dad, Dally suddenly just vanished without a trace. No one, not even Buck knew where he went. Deep down, Ponyboy always had the feeling that Dally would leaving, it's just that he would have at thought that Dally would tell them at least.

If there was one good thing to come out of everything was that Johnny was doing a lot better in school, and his home life had improved after his dad died.

Once the sun went down, Pony threw his cigarette to the ground and lightly stepped on it before turning around and heading in the house. He climbed up the stairs to his room and threw himself down on the bed.

As soon as he got comfortable, he stared up at the ceiling as he began thinking about his sixteenth birthday tomorrow. Pony smiled as he remembered Soda telling him he planned something special for him.

Turning over on his side, Pony's eyelids grew heavy and he drifted off to sleep.

XXXXXX

"Ow!"

"Be careful, Soda."

"Why can't I turn on any lights?"

"I don't want to wake mom and dad."

"How is a light gonna wake them up?"

"Just shut up. You were supposed to be awake and ready when I got here."

"You were an hour late."

"I got held up. Just take your bag to the truck."

Once Sodapop went around him and carefully made his way down the stairs, Darry slowly opened the door to Ponyboy's room, seeing his youngest brother asleep on top of the covers. He went over to him and lightly shook his shoulder.

"Hey Pony." Darry said, keeping his voice down. "Ponyboy, wake up."

Ponyboy groaned as he began waking up. He looked at the hand that was shaking him before looking up to see his oldest brother standing over his bed.

"Darry? What in the world are you doing here?"

"Happy birthday, kiddo."

Pony lifted his head to look at the clock on his nightstand. It was one o'clock in the morning. Pony groaned again as he covered his head with a pillow.

"Why are you waking me now?"

"Come on, we've got to go. I want to be up there by morning."

"Go where?"

"You'll see." Darry then grabbed Ponyboy's ankle and dragged him out of bed. Pony hit the floor with an 'oof' as Darry went around and grabbed a backpack out of the closet and began packing things for him.

Pony was still half asleep as he made his way out of the house to Darry's truck. Once he got to the truck he saw Sodapop in the back, asleep already. He got in the passenger side and buckled up as Darry got in and started the engine.

"What's this all about?"

"Just go back to sleep, Pony." Darry said. "We'll be there by the time you wake up."

Once he began driving Darry took a quick glance over at Pony and saw that his younger brother had taken him up on that and Sodapop continued to sleep in the back seat.

Usually, it was a rule of the Curtis family that during road trips since the driver had to stay awake, everyone else had to as well. But since he had sprung this trip on them at the last minute, he didn't mind.

Continuing to focus on the road, Darry continued driving west happy that he didn't have to deal with traffic.