The next morning I woke up. I went to the bathroom in my room, and took a shower. I then got dressed, and put my hair up in a braid. I then was headed to the kitchen when I saw that Dally and Two-Bit had come.

"Hey Coke, Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks, Two-Bit."

"Oh yeah, Happy Birthday, Coke. Hey where's the cake? I'm hungry. Haven't eaten anything."

"Cake? You guys made me a cake?"

"Of course. You can't have a birthday without cake, and don't worry, Dally, it's coming," said Soda.

"What flavor is it?" I asked.

"What else? Chocolate of course, but it's better than the ones we usually eat for breakfast."

"Do we have to eat it for breakfast? I mean, can't we have a party for me instead, and eat it then?"

"Um.what do you say, Darry?"

"I guess. That is if she wants one, but who else is there to invite?"

"Well, um.can I have two parties Darry? One today, and one for when Ponyboy and Johnny come home?"

"No, sorry you gotta pick today or another day. We don't have enough money to have two parties."

"Okay fine. I'll have one when Pony and Johnny come. That way everyone will be here."

"Okay, there she made her choice. Can we eat the cake now?"

"Shut up, Dallas!" I said. "We are not eating the cake till later. Actually nevermind, I am sorta hungry. Let's eat the cake now."

"You heard the girl. Bring the cake," Two-Bit said.

Soda brought in the cake. It was the most delicious cake I had ever seen. It was covered in chocolate. Then I thought, 'If I eat this cake my face is totally going to break out.'

"You sure this cake is for me?" I asked Soda.

"Yeah, why?"

"Because it looks more of cake fit for you and Pony." He just gave me a smile. He put the cake down and everyone sang Happy Birthday to me. I then cut the cake and everyone ate.

"Well Steve and me better get to work now. Sorry, Coke. Wish I could've stayed."

"Don't worry about it. Neither you or Darry can afford a day off."

"Okay. Well, I promise that as soon as I get off work I'll take you somewhere."

"Look Soda, don't worry about it. You and Darry have done a lot already. Just go to work, and don't worry about anything. Where's Darry?"

"No idea. After making the cake he just.disappeared."

"Is he alright?"

"Um.we'll talk later." He gave me a look that meant, 'There are too many people here.'

"Okay then, bye."

"Bye, Coke," Steve and Soda said.

"Bye." They left for work. That's when I noticed that Darry was outside, but he left as well. I had a feeling that I knew what was bugging him. He missed Ponyboy, and I mean who could blame him. The thing was that today it affected him most because it was a gathering, and I had brought them up in conversation.

"So.where y'all wanna go?" Two-Bit asked.

"Um.I dunno."

"Aw.come on. You're the birthday girl."

"Stop calling me a girl! I'm seventeen, not ten."

"Okay.okay sorry. Well anyways, where do you wanna go?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Alright, a drive-in it is."

"Um.how 'bout no."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't wanna. How 'bout we go to some bar, get a couple beers, play strip poker, and pool. What you say, Dally?"

"Sounds fun enough for me."

"Alright then, come on," Two-Bit said.

We all went to the nearest bar. The owner was Charlie, and we were good friends with him. He gave us beer even though he knew we were under age.

"Hey! How y'all been?" asked Charlie.

"Great. Coke, here has a birthday today."

"Oh hey! Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks!"

That whole afternoon we spent our time there. It was fun, and I was also worn out. It was about 8 o'clock when I got home. I bid them good-bye and they left. Soda was in the living room when I went in, and Darry had already gone to sleep.

"How's he been?"

"Not good, but he doesn't want to talk 'bout it. That's what's bugging me. The reason why he feels so bad though, I think, is because before he left he hit Ponyboy. He never saw him afterward and was unable to say sorry. It's been real tough on him. I just wish I could do more to help."

"He'll get over, and besides you still got your own problems to deal with. Just leave him alone. He'll get over it. That's Darry."

"Yeah, I know but."

"Leave him. If it'll make you feel better, I'll talk to him, but I think it would be better to leave him alone."

"Yeah, okay.I guess that I should leave him. He'll get better, he just needs time to think things over."

"Yeah, well I'm getting kind of tired so I'm gonna got to bed. 'Night."

"Night."

I went to sleep after a long day, but I was being waked up in the middle of the night.

"What the hell? I was sleeping," I said drowsily.

"Yeah I know, but I wanted to see you before your night was up." It was Dally.

"What you mean? I saw you earlier."

"Not by myself I didn't, and besides nothing special happened during the time."

"What you mean by special?"

"Well.you know. I didn't get to kiss you, touch you, hold you in my arms."

"It's not like you've ever done that before, and what makes you think you're going to do it now?"

"Because I always get what I want."

"Really? I wouldn't say so."

"Aw.come on you know you want me to."

"Even if I did want you to, I would never tell."

"So, you do want me to."

"I never said that."

"It sounded like it."

"No it didn't. You just put words in my mouth."

"Maybe I should put my tongue in there instead." He came over to my bed, leaned over me, and started to kiss me. I kissed him back. He got on top of me and started unbuttoning my shirt. He kissed me around my neck and lower. He was now down to my stomach, and he went on lower. The next thing I knew he was gone, and it was morning.