Please, please review. I love to know that people are reading and to hear what you think of the story, it encourages me to keep going. Thanks so much to those who faithfully review each chapter! It means such a lot. This chapter is a bit of a filler with things happening that have to happen for the plot to move on later so I hope it's not too bitty.

Chapter 29

Birthday, buses and scores

Darry was making scrambled eggs when I went into the kitchen the next morning. I was itching to ask him all about his date.

"Morning Becky." He turned and smiled at me.

"Morning Dar. You're in a good mood, so I'm guessing last night went well?" I asked.

I could see his shoulders tense up at my question. He really didn't like talking about anything personal with me. I guess he still just saw me as a kid and he had obviously never talked to his baby sister about girlfriends and stuff before. I think he barely even talked to Soda about it.

"It was fine." He said non-commitally.

I rolled my eyes, I wanted more information than that, but I was gonna have to drag it out of him. "So, you got on okay with Rose?"

"I told you, it was fine, we got on just fine." He still had his back to me, stirring the eggs.

"Well, are you gonna see her again?"

"Probably. She asked me to her sister's birthday party on Saturday."

"That's great Darry!" I enthused as Darry tipped the egg into a dish on the table. "So, did you kiss her?" I asked with a grin.

Darry glared at me "That's none of your business Rebecca and I'm not gonna answer that. Now can we change the subject?"

That's a yes then, I thought to myself, still grinning. If he hadn't kissed her he'd be all too willing to offer that up. "Okay then, about my birthday..."

"Yeah, are you still alright about me going off with Pony?" he asked, sounding anxious.

"Yeah, of course. I don't want Pony to miss out on that, it's much more important."

"I promise we'll celebrate your birthday on the Saturday or Sunday instead."

"Sure, I really don't care if we don't do anything, but I had an idea for a gift." I said nervously. I wasn't sure if the $40 for the Denver trip was gonna be too much, even if everyone contributed and I wasn't sure if Darry would be happy for me to go anyway.

"Oh yeah?" Darry asked curiously, sitting down and piling his plate with food.

"Well, there's this school trip for us 8th graders and I'd really like to go, but I don't know if we can afford it, so I was thinking instead of getting me any gifts, you guys and the gang could maybe put some money towards it so I can go?"

"What trip? Where to and how much does it cost?"

"Hang on, I have a letter about it in my bag." I rummaged through my bag and brought out the letter handing it to Darry as Soda came into the kitchen and sat to eat.

"Morning all!" he said with characteristic enthusiasm.

"Morning Sodapop." Darry frowned as he concentrated on the letter.

"What's all this?" Soda asked taking the letter from Darry to read.

"An idea for Becky's birthday gift." Darry explained to Soda.

"Wow, it sounds cool. Wish I could go, it's been a while since I've been around horses. I miss it." Said Soda wistfully.

"$40?" Darry mused rubbing his chin. "What do you think Soda? I guess if all the guys contribute we should be able to cover it. You sure that's what you want?"

"Sounds like a great idea." Soda said.

My heart flipped, they were actually saying 'yes'! "Yes Darry, I really wanna go, it sounds amazing."

Darry smiled at me. "Well, I think we can manage it, as long as you promise to stay out of trouble while you're there. I'm not sure if I like the idea of you being away from home for a whole week with a bunch of other 8th graders."

"There'll be teachers with us Darry. We won't be getting up to anything except riding horses and stuff."

"Okay." Darry said.

"You really mean it?! I can go!" I jumped up and leapt onto Darry's lap giving him a huge hug. I was so excited that I was actually going to Denver and it hadn't even been very difficult to get Darry to agree.

Darry laughed and hugged me back before pushing me off his lap. "Well, if it means that much to you." He shook his head and smiled at my exuberance. I gave Soda a peck on the cheek too before I sat back down and tucked into my breakfast, but I couldn't get the grin off my face all morning. Now all I had to do was figure out a way to meet up with Matt while I was there, but I knew where there was a will there was a way. I hoped I could manage it without getting into too much trouble.

Tara was going on the trip too. Her Dad, who she never saw and only ever called on her birthday and at Christmas, had sent her some money. He travelled around picking up construction work and was always either completely broke or flush with cash depending on how things were going. He had obviously done well in the Fall and had sent her $50, so she was gonna pay for herself to go on the Denver trip. It was all we could talk about at school the next day. I was planning to go to the bus station at the weekend to try and get a timetable. There must be a bus from the small town where our ranch was into Denver. I would have to slip away and miss the rodeo on the last day, but maybe I wouldn't be noticed that way with so much going on. Matt's competition was being held in South High School, which was in the Washington Park neighbourhood of Denver. It was at least on the right side of town for our ranch, which was on the edge of the Arapaho National Forest in a small town called Bailey. I wanted to get as much organised as possible before I mentioned anything about it to Matt. In fact, I was even considering keeping it a secret and just surprising him by turning up. I had another couple of months to get sorted anyway.

I was glad that it was Friday the next day and almost the weekend so that I could get on with my research into bus routes! I had momentarily forgotten that it was the day that the exam scores were being sent out. After school Tara came back with me and we hung out in my room gossiping and listening to the radio. Around 5.00 Soda arrived back with as much noise as was usual for him.

"Hey guys, I'm home!" he yelled slamming the door.

"Hi Soda!" I called from my room, "We're in here."

Soda came and poked his head round my door. "Oh, hi Tara, I didn't know you were here. You staying for dinner? I'm just about to start making some hamburgers."

"Can she stay?" I asked.

"Sure, if that's alright with your Mom Tara?"

"Yeah, I'll just give her a call to check, but I'm sure she won't mind, thanks Soda."

"Sure. What are you two up to?"

"Nothing much, just hanging out."

"Where's Pony at?"

"He had track, Darry's picking him up on his way home."

"Oh okay. By the way, there's some kind of official looking letter come in the mail, addressed to 'The parent or guardian of Rebecca Curtis'. Soda held up a brown envelope which he was holding.

My face fell as I remembered the exam scores. "Oh no, it's the exam scores." I groaned.

"Oh, that's what it is, I thought it might be something from the state. I'd rather exam scores than that." Said Soda with relief.

"Well, that's cos they're not your exam scores Soda! I just hope that Darry is not gonna be too mad."

Soda smiled "He won't be mad, he knows how hard you worked and I'm sure you've done just fine anyway Bex."

"I'm glad you're sure!" I grimaced.

"You've done okay I'm sure." Tara reassured me.

"Yeah, you're smarter than you look!" Soda grinned and I stuck my tongue out at him, still feeling nervous.

"Hand it over then Soda. I guess I'd better open it and get it over with." I held my hand out to him.

"It's right here." He handed it to me and I ripped it open before I could change my mind. Relief flooded me as my eyes scanned the paper and I saw a whole list of A's and just one B in English. I couldn't believe I had even made an A on that Biology exam, which I had thought I'd flunked. Darry would probably still not be happy with the B, but I thought he would be pretty pleased with the rest. I smiled and let out my breath, which I hadn't realised I'd been holding.

"So don't keep us in suspense." Soda said and I handed him the piece of paper.

"That's great Bex! Wow! If I ever had grades like these Mom and Dad would have thrown a party! Darry will be real proud and so am I." he reached down to give me a hug.

"Thanks Soda, I'm really relieved."

"Wow Bex, there's no way I'll be getting anywhere near those scores on mine. I'll be happy if I get just a few A's. You're so smart, it's not fair – smart and beautiful!" Tara teased nudging me in the ribs and I nudged her back.

"I'm sure you will have done just as good as me. Bet Darry still won't be happy with the B though." I rolled my eyes.

"Come on Bex, you were flunking English a month ago, he'll be real pleased you managed to pull off a B." Soda said, heading off to the kitchen to make dinner. Tara and I followed him out so that Tara could call her Mom and ask if she could stay. Her Mom agreed and Soda yelled from the kitchen that he could give her a lift home later.

We were watching 'Dream of Jeannie' when Darry and Pony got home about 10 minutes later. Of course the first thing Darry did was ask about the results, you could trust him not to forget something like that!

"So, anything in the mail I should know about?" he asked with a smile and raised his eyebrows at me expectantly.

I rolled my eyes "Here Darry." I handed him the envelope and saw a grin come over his face as he saw the scores.

"That's awesome Rebecca! You really deserved that after all your hard work. You even managed to pull your English score up. I am real proud of you Baby." He ruffled my hair and wondered off into the kitchen to see how Soda was getting along with dinner.

"Well, that went well." I commented to Tara. "I really thought he was gonna have something more to say about the B in English, normally only perfection will do with him!"

"That's cos he knows you can do it Bex. You're some kind of genius or something ain't ya? That's why you got put up a year."

"Shut up Tara! I ain't no genius." I slapped her playfully on the arm. "You know I had to work my butt off to get those results and I still didn't get all A's did I? I think I can just put my success down to the quality of my study partner." I grinned.

"Well, I didn't like to say…" Tara smiled back and we laughed.

"Dinner's up!" Soda yelled from the kitchen and we giggled as we heard Darry telling him not to yell and to come and get us.

Tara went home around 9.00 after a pleasant evening spent in my room discussing boys (namely Matt and some guy called Craig in our Spanish class that Tara was crushing on) and rodeos. Tara had never been riding before and I hadn't been for years, not since I was little and Soda had hurt himself. Since then Dad had stopped him doing barrel racing anymore. He loved horses and I wished he would take it up again now that Dad wasn't there to worry about him getting hurt again. Soda seemed happy enough though, he always made the best of things, it was just in his nature. After he dropped Tara off he was just going out to pick Sarah up for a date. They were still going strong, though I wasn't sure if it was love or if he just always had to have a girl on his arm. He never had a shortage of girls around him at the DX, fluttering their eyelashes and flirting, but to his credit he never gave any of them the time of day now that he was with Sarah. You could count on Soda to be faithful, unlike Sandy. I would never forgive her for the way she hurt Soda but I got the feeling that as much as he liked Sarah, he wasn't ever gonna love anyone as much as he had Sandy. I hoped I was wrong.

I was so pleased that Darry now also had a girlfriend on the horizon. Rose called him later that evening and Pony answered the phone.

"Hi, Ponyboy speaking…..Yes he is, I'll just get him, can I say who's calling?...oh, hi Rose, I'll just get him." Pony was grinning all over his face. "Hey Darry!" he yelled. "It's your girlfriend on the phone."

Darry came out of the kitchen glaring at Ponyboy and snatched the phone from him cuffing him on the back of the head. "Hi Rose, just give me a minute, I just need to move the phone somewhere more private." He gave Pony and I both a stern look as we both laughed. It was funny for Darry to have a girl calling and funny to see the way he got so embarrassed about it all. Darry stretched the cord as far as it would go so that he could talk in his room away from the ears of his immature siblings. I guessed Rose was calling about her sister's party the following evening. I was going to the drive-in with Pony and Two-Bit. Steve and Soda were going on yet another double date, probably at the Dingo or maybe at Sarah's place if her Mom was working and she had to babysit.

Darry came back with the phone about 15 minutes later looking happy but trying not to reveal too much to me and Pony.

"So, is it all still on for tomorrow night?" I asked. I knew Darry wouldn't want to impart too much information about it but I had to ask.

"Why is my social life suddenly of such great interest to everyone?"

"Come on Darry, it's been so long since you had a social life, we're just happy for ya, that's all. We want things to go well with you and Rose." Pony said.

"Well, thanks, but I'll let ya know if there's anything worth talking about. And yes, I am going out with Rose tomorrow night, but just to her sister's birthday party, not a big date or anything, just a party. You guys are all out tomorrow night anyway, so you won't miss me." He smiled.

"We'll try not to." Pony said sarcastically.

"Talking of which, Bex you make sure you stay close to Two-Bit and Pony tomorrow. This is the first time you've been out since running into Caro and nobody wants a repeat of that."

"I know Darry, I will." I certainly didn't want to risk another encounter with Caro, not without the backup of my brothers or the gang. My bruises were only just going down and I didn't want a whole other set to replace them.

The next morning I persuaded Darry to drop me off at the library under the proviso that I would not leave until someone was there to pick me up an hour later. It had taken all my efforts to persuade him that I didn't need Pony or anyone else to accompany me, but thankfully I had succeeded in the end. I told him I had some research to do for a history essay, but I was really planning on popping to the bus depot which was right next door to get hold of the bus timetables for Denver. As soon as he had driven off I made my way across the street to the depot and into the ticket office.

"How can I help you?" asked the lady behind the desk.

"Erm, well I need to find out about bus routes between Bailey and Denver, Colorado, do you have any timetables I could have?"

"Colorado…" she muttered to herself, obviously trying to remember where they would have such information. "Let me just check." She walked over to a big filing cabinet in the corner of the reception and started rifling through. I kept my fingers crossed, hoping she would have what I needed. "Aha!" She said triumphantly holding up a booklet. "Here it is." She sat back down at the desk and started flicking through the booklet. "Here's the one. Looks like there's a bus goes every hour from Bailey general stores and goes into Denver. Whereabouts in Denver do you need to get to?"

"To South High School Maam."

"Well, you're in luck, this bus stops right outside South High School. Takes about 45 minutes to get there."

"Thank you Maam. Can I take the timetable with me?"

"No, sorry Miss. This is our only copy, but I can write the information down for you to take away. Let's see, it goes every hour at 30 minutes after and arrives at 15 minutes after the hour at the High school. First bus is at 7.30 in the morning. Buses go back to Bailey from the High school every hour on 45 minutes after the hour and the last bus goes at 6.45 in the evening. There I've written it all down for you. It's the number 12 bus and the fayre is a dollar for the return trip. Anything else I can help you with?"

"No Maam, that's everything I need. Thank you so much for your help."

"That's a pleasure Miss. Hope you enjoy your visit to Colorado."

"Thank you, I'm sure I will. Bye Maam."

I left the office, having to restrain myself from skipping! That had been a lot easier than I thought it would be and it was only 45 minutes to the High School from Bailey. I could be there, see Matt and be back all in a few hours and hopefully go unnoticed. I hurried back into the library and found some history books on the Civil War, so that I at least had a few notes to back up my cover story. I put the piece of paper the lady had given me safely in the front pocket of my bag, though I was sure I could remember everything she had told me anyway. I still hadn't decided whether to tell Matt I was coming or to make it a surprise. There was no way he was gonna expect me to turn up there in Denver and it would be fun to see the look on his face if I just showed up. I smiled to myself as I thought about it and my stomach squeezed in excitement at the thought of seeing Matt and being able to hug him and kiss him again. Two and a bit months was a long wait though, so I would have to contain myself till then.

I called Tara that afternoon, while Darry, Steve and Soda were outside working on the truck and Pony was off somewhere with Two-Bit and I told her the good news about the buses. She was pleased, but what she wanted to talk about was my upcoming birthday party the following Friday. I had conveniently put that out of my mind for now and was happy to let Tara be in charge as long as she stuck to my instructions and kept it small and low key.

"So, Melanie, Susie and Trish can all come on Friday and they are gonna bring a couple of guys with them, then I also asked Damon and Michael from our home room. They seemed keen and said they'd bring something to drink."

"How many people are Trish and the others bringing? Not too many is it Tara? I don't want it getting too big. You did tell them they have to leave by 10.30 didn't you?"

"Yeah, don't worry Bex. I'm sticking to what you told me. The girls are just bringing 4 other guys and that's all, okay? I haven't mentioned it to anyone else."

"What about that guy Craig from our Spanish class you were talking about?" I asked.

"I was gonna ask him but I chickened out."

"That's not like you Tara! Go on, ask him. I bet he'll come."

"Okay, I'll mention it to him on Monday, but he may want to bring his friend Brett who he's always hanging round with, so that will mean 2 more people at least."

"Well, 2 more is not gonna be a big deal, but that's gotta be it."

"Great. My sister has got some drinks and stuff left over from a party they had at her work and she says we can have them, so that's the refreshments sorted. You've got plenty of music haven't you?"

"Yeah, Soda's got tons of records too, so that's all fine. I'm still a bit nervous about all this. I don't want to even think about Darry getting wind of me having a party without asking his permission. He will not be happy.

"He's gonna be away Bex, how's he gonna find out? Soda won't be back till midnight if he's going to the races. It'll all be fine. We'll have fun and your brothers will never know a thing about it. I can't wait!"

"I guess it will be fun and no-one telling us what to do for once will also be refreshing! Anyway, I'll see you later at the drive-in, is Two-Bit picking you up?"

"Yeah, I'll see ya later. Be good and if you can't be good, be careful!"

"And you, bye!" I said with a laugh.

The rest of the weekend went by too fast. We had fun at the drive-in. I saw Caro and those girls there, but they were off in the distance and they made no attempt to come near us. All the same I was glad to have Two-Bit and Pony there as protection. I was sure they wouldn't dare to try anything with them around. Darry was out till after midnight at the party, which was most unlike him. I was asleep when he came in, but woke up when the door slammed shut behind him. I heard him talking to the guys in the living room, who were no doubt winding him up, but it sounded like he had actually had a good time. He was seeing Rose again on Monday and going to the movies with her. They were really getting on well and seeing a lot of each other.

At school the new semester was starting up in earnest now and it felt like hard work. I went to Tara's after school and called Matt again. This time I got him to call me back on Tara's number so that her Mom didn't throw a fit about the phone bill. It was so good to talk to him and I filled him in about the exams and the anticipated birthday party. I just wished he could have been there too and then I would have been so much more excited about it. I decided not to mention the Denver trip to him. Tara agreed with me that it would be fun to keep it as a surprise and just turn up there, but to try and get as much information out of him as possible about the competition, so that I knew when he was gonna be available. It would be nice to see him perform, but it would be a complete waste of a bus fayre if I only got to see him on stage and had to leave without actually talking to him. So I plied him for as much information as possible without sounding suspicious and said I would love to see a copy of the competition program with his name on it cos I was so proud of him. He didn't seem to think that was too strange thankfully and said he would mail me a copy when he had it.

Friday night came round quickly. Darry and Pony had gone early that morning for the competition, Darry had got the day off work for it. Soda had made me pancakes for my birthday breakfast, which was sweet of him, as he really was not great at getting up in the mornings. Him and Steve left at 6.00 that evening and Tara turned up at 6.15 with a car load of sodas and beer as well as nuts and chocolate and potato chips. It was more than enough to feed us, there should be only 14 in total, including me and Tara.

Tara insisted I dress up for the occasion, though I would have been happy to stay in jeans. On her insistence I wore the same green mini dress I had worn to Matt's party and Tara did my hair and make-up. We were all ready by 7.00 and I started sorting out the best records from Soda and my collections. I put on an Elvis record and started putting the snacks into bowls. Everyone started to arrive just after 7.40 and I found myself with a beer in my hand dancing to Hound Dog with Brett, who was Craig's best friend. He reminded me a bit of Two-bit, so he was good company, but there was nothing more to it than that. Tara was on her second beer and was getting much more up-close and personal with Craig, who seemed to feel the same way about her as she did about him. I smiled as I saw him twirl her around and then pull her in for a hug. Melanie, Susie and Trish were all dancing too. They had brought another friend called Amy with them as well as 3 older looking guys, who were maybe Pony's age. They were all smoking despite my pleas for them to only do so on the porch, but I had given up arguing. The older guys had already been drinking before they turned up and were making short work of the beers that Tara's sister had provided. There were only 2 6 packs left now as well as some cider that Craig and Brett had brought with them. Personally I was planning to move on to drinking Soda once I had finished the beer in my hand.

"You got any party games planned?" asked Colin, one of the guys, who seemed to be friendly with Trish.

"No, I didn't think anyone would be up for pass the parcel." Tara said with a laugh.

"No I had some other kind of games in mind. What about spin the coin?"

"Spin the coin?" I asked.

"Yeah, one person spins a coin on the table and calls out someone's name and that person has to stop the coin before it falls down. If they don't make it, they down their drink."

"Sounds boring." I said, not too sure this was a good idea.

"It's fun, go on, let's try it." Said Sam, one of the other guys, who seemed to be glued to Susie's side.

"It's worth a try." Said Tara with a grin, she was already a little worse for wear having downed her third beer.

"Okay, let's clear the table." I said "Who's got a coin?"

Colin slammed one down on the table. "I'll spin first." He said. We all gathered around the coffee table and Colin brought out a bottle of tequila that he had obviously been saving for the occasion. Craig grabbed some glasses from the kitchen and Colin shared out the tequila. "Everyone got a drink now?" Colin asked. "Here goes." He spun the coin and called out "Birthday girl!" I was expecting him to call out Trish, so I wasn't ready and before I could get to it the coin fell flat on the table. "Down your drink!" I knocked back the glass of tequila and nearly spat it out, it was very strong and it tasted foul. Then it was my turn to spin the coin. "Tara!" I called out and she deftly caught the coin before it fell down. She spun next and called me again. "Hey, that's not fair!" I complained as the coin fell flat again. I gulped down another shot and this time called out Trish, who had to take a drink, but again she called me out. I gulped down my third shot.

"Another drink for the birthday girl!" Sam called out and my glass was refilled. The game carried on in the same vein for some time and I was called out twice as much as anyone else and the chances of my ever catching the coin before it fell on its side dwindled as the alcohol went to my head. I was now on my seventh shot of tequila and that was a lot for me, especially as I had never drunk before. I guess this was everyone's way of getting me to have fun on my birthday and I did feel kinda relaxed and mellow, but I was also felt dizzy and very unfocused. After about 20 minutes the game kinda fizzled out and someone turned the music up to get the dancing going again. Most people had had too much to drink by now and there were 3 couples making out, including Tara and Craig. I was feeling pretty zoned out on the couch and Brett came over to talk to me.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I dunno." I slurred. "I feel pretty weird."

"Do you wanna go out for some fresh air? It might help." He suggested.

"Yeah, can you help me up?" I giggled. He pulled me up off the couch and then steadied me as I swayed on my feet, putting his arm around me to guide me to the porch. I really had had no intention of drinking anything at all and now here I was drunk. I needed to sober up fast, before any of my brothers came back. At least everyone seemed to be enjoying the party. The guys that had come with Trish and the others were starting to get a bit rowdy though and I was afraid they were gonna do something stupid soon. I would have to kick everyone out if it got any worse. It was already 10.00 anyway. We made our way out onto the porch and the cold February air did bring me to my senses a bit, but I felt really queasy and suddenly knew I was gonna throw up.

I put my hand over my mouth "I think I'm gonna be sick." I said and Brett quickly dragged me to the edge of the porch as I threw up into the bushes at the edge. "Sorry." I groaned.

"It's okay."

"I never drank before." I explained to him. "I wasn't planning on it tonight either, but everyone was getting at me, so I gave in."

"I know. Hey, is that someone you know?" he asked as Two-Bit came up the porch steps. Suddenly I felt sick again, but this time for a different reason.