Steve: Stupid Tagalong Kid

Disclaimer: No I don't own anything here except Ben, Jake, and Kathy so far. Everything else and everyone else belongs to S.E. Hinton

*Thanks to Blatty, Karlei Shyanner, MaverickGirl, Blame-it-on-the-penguins, and Roxy for reviewing my story so far! I'm glad you like it!

*I'm gonna put who's POV it is as the Chapter Title. Like this one is Steve…see? Does that work for everyone?

            When Soda came back from the customer, he asked where Ponyboy had gone. I felt like screaming. Ponyboy, Ponyboy, Ponyboy. That was all I ever heard from Soda. When I saw him some mornings, he was tired beyond belief. And when I asked him why, what did he say? "Yeah, I'm tired. I was up all night. Ponyboy had a nightmare." SO WHAT IF THE STUPID KID HAD A NIGHTMARE?! He's 14 freakin' years old! Of course, I never said that to Soda. Instead, I just smiled sympathetically and said, "Oh, that's too bad." And then Soda would drone on and on about how he was scared and worried for Ponyboy. This got me frustrated too. If the stupid kid was having the freakish nightmares recur all the time, they should take him to the doctor! And if they already did, then they shouldn't have to wake-up for him every single time he has one! I thought it was bad before Ponyboy and Johnny ran to Windrixville…it's even worse now.

            "Steve?" Soda cut into my thoughts.

            "Yeah?" I asked, jumping.

            "I hate to tell ya, buddy, but the shift's over."

            "Oh, right…" I got up and left with Soda looking at me strangely. When we opened the door of the Curtis house, who did we see first? Ponyboy. I really disliked that kid. Everywhere Soda and I went (and yes, I can do my grammar correctly when I want to), Ponyboy was sure to follow. What was wrong with the kid? Didn't he have a life? Friends? A girlfriend? Anything?! I guess not because he went everywhere with us…well except when we went out with Evie and Sandy. Then again, we didn't that very often anymore. Ever since Sandy left, Evie had been mad at her and Soda had been really upset. So we just went out ourselves; just me n' Evie. I tuned into the conversation in the living room now.

            "I had a talk with the Coach today," Two-Bit said. Ponyboy looked at him disbelievingly, "About what? Water boy of the basketball team?" Two-Bit rolled his eyes and slapped Ponyboy across the head playfully. Why did everyone think that kid was so funny? I sure didn't…Okay, so maybe that one thing that he just said was a little bit funny, but still.

            "Seriously? About what?" Soda asked, plopping down onto the couch next to Ponyboy. I sat on the floor.

            "About switching groups."

            "Hey you two never told me which groups you're in!" Soda said, remembering. Darry had now come in and said, "Yeah, what groups are you two in?"

Two-Bit looked at me, then over to Ponyboy, then offered his group, "I'm in the Tree-huggers!"

Darry looked at him, "Where are you going, the forest?"

            "Actually, yeah."

            "Oh. What about you, Steve?"

I shrugged, "The Summits. We're going up on a mountain."

            "That's really tuff!" Soda exclaimed, probably wishing he was still in school. I sighed. I wish he was still in school too…

            "What about you, Pony?" Soda asked, calming down. I looked over to the youngest Curtis and watched him look up from a book he was reading, "The Summits." He answered simply and casually. Damn, that kid was a pretty good actor. I didn't know how he could stand it. I was about to blow-up. I knew that kid wasn't too fond of me either. But Soda looked excited, "Tuff! You guys get to be together!"

            "Yeah…Great…" Ponyboy and I said at the same time, trying to be cheerful.

I muttered under my breath, "Great having a tag-along kid with me for a whole week." But I didn't mutter under my breath enough. Everybody heard. Ponyboy looked surprised at first, but then his eyes flashed.

            Soda, on the other hand, was not a happy camper, "What did you say?"

I sighed, knowing that Ponyboy's and my little "secret" was out.

            "Pony, he didn't mean that," Soda told his little brother. That was it. That was the last straw. I exploded, "I DID TOO MEAN IT, OKAY?!?!!?! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW, YOU LITTLE BRAT?! YOU HAVEN'T GOTTEN THE CHANCE TO TAG-ALONG WITH ME N' SODA EVER SINCE SANDY LEFT! NOW YOU HAVE YOUR CHANCE TO ANNOY ME ALL WEEK LONG!!!!!!!!" I screamed. Soda looked hurt. I felt sorry, but I couldn't help not liking his kid brother. My head was pounding and from the looks of it, Ponyboy was doing his best not to blow-up at me. It didn't work.

*I'm going to rate it PG-13 for now because of the language going to be used. Anyways, did you like that? Review please!!!!!*

Luv alwayz,

Crazy4nc128