We walked into the house and sat down at the dinner table. Slowly everyone arrived and sat down. "Who will say Grace?" asked my Dad. "I will." said Ponyboy. We looked at him amazed, that he had spoken. He was usually so shy! My dad smiled at him. "Go ahead Pony." he said. All heads bowed. Ponyboy prayed:
Dear God,
Thank You for this day and for letting us be here. Thank You for this meal and thank You for keeping us safe.
Amen.
"Amen!" we all said and dug in. The food was deliciuos and I could tell the boys loved it. My Dad stood up. "Now girls, did you tell the boys we have a lights out curfew at 9 PM?" Gabby and I shook our heads and looked around. "Well boys," began my father, "We have a curfew at 9 PM around here because we get up early. Alright?" The boys agreed and Pony, Johnny, Soda, and Darry volunteered to do dishes. My mom came up to me and whispered, "I like them! They do dishes!" She smiled at me and then at Ponyboy's back. I blushed again and she knew I liked him. She smiled and chuckd under my chin and went to take a bath before bed. It was 8:30 then. We all went up to our rooms, which Darry and Dally showed the guys where theirs were, since my mom had given them the Grand Tour when we were on our hack. It was Dally, Darry, and Two-Bit in one guest room, Steve and Soda to another, and Pony and Johnny to the last one. Gabby came into my room right before bed, like she always does, to talk. As soon as she came in she shut the door. I grinned. "You like Sodapop." I said as soon as she sat in my overstuffed armchair. I stretched out on my full-sized, canopy bed. "You like Ponyboy!" my sister laughed. "But yes I like Soda. He's so handsome!"
"So is Pony." I said dreamily and fell asleep with the thought of Ponyboy Curtis.
The next morning I walked quietly into Ponyboy and Johnny's room and then said loudly, "Goood Morning Sunshines!" Pony and Johnny sat up in bed quickly and looked at me. "What time is it?" said Pony, who by the way was looking good even with messy hair. "It's 6:00 AM, my sweet!" I said. I surprised myself by saying that. Ponyboy looked at me his eyes big then smiled. Johnny looked between the two of us and got up and tackled me, grinning his head off. "You dork!" I shrieked. Pony joined us wrestling on the floor and sat on me pinned to the floor. I blushed so deeply as Johnny sat on the floor and laughed. Ponyboy looked at me then blushed too and rolled off of me. I jumped up. "Come on guys! We better go check on Gabby and Soda before we go down." We walked by Dally, Darry, and Two-Bit's room and heard snoring. I rolled my eyes. "You guys go get Gabs, Soda, and Steve while I wake these guys up." I walked into the room and kissed Darry's cheeks until he woke up. "Good morning my Sunshine!" I exclaimed. He smiled and kissed my forhead. I jumped up and ran to Two-Bit. I knew Dally would be the hardest to wake up. I shook Two-Bit. "Sunshine!" I whispered loudly, "Wake up!" he rolled over and grinned at me. I smiled back and jumped down to the bottom bunk where Dally was. I shook him gently. "Dally..Sunshine." I whispered. "Wake up time!" Dally's eyes suddenly popped open and he flipped me over him against the wall and started tickling me to death. "Dally!" I managed to gasp. "Quit Dally!" I shrieked as he slowly stopped tickling me. "Morning Kid!" he said brightly. I jumped over him and ran to the door. "I gotta go get Steve's lazy butt up. I bet Gabs can't do it!" I yelled and rushed into Steve's room and onto his bed. I tickled his chin and kissed his head. "Stevie!" I whispered. "Stevie wake up! It's me! Your favorite cousin in the world!" His eyes popped open and he tried to grab me but I was too fast. "I've already gotten that from Dally this morning. Come on cousin! Get up and we'll go eat." Soon all of us were at the table. "Good morning my Darlings!" my mother sang in her sing-song voice and looked at us all. "Hungry?" she asked. "You bet!" we all said. She smiled and dished out biscuits, eggs, bacon, sausage, gravy, and ham. "Wow!" Steve exclaimed. "Aunt Kay you are an awesome cook!" My mom bowed "Thank you Stevie!" she sang, "But your Uncle Jake cooked the biscuits, gravy, and ham." We all ate up and went into the living room. "So what's on our agenda today baby?" asked Two-Bit. I sat down and thought. "Whatever you want today. Today you can split up and go anywhere. To town, whatever. If you want to ride though you'll have to take either me or Gabs with you." I said. "Well," said Two-Bit. "I'm going into town and I need your car Dally. Unless you want to come too." Dally, Two-Bit, and Darry all decided to go to town. Gabby, Soda, and Steve hung out and Ponyboy, Johnny, and I stayed in the barn for a while. We sat in the hayloft for a while talking about horses. "I'm going to the bathroom." said Johnny suddenly looking at Pony. "I'll be right back." He walked out and Ponyboy and I sat in silence for a minute. "So..."I said. Ponyboy finally grinned. I smiled at him and he looked into my eyes for a minute. Just then Johnny came back and we blushed. Johnny acted like he didn't notice and the rest of the day went very peacefully.