1Disclaimer: I still own nothing. No, wait, I own Shannon. YAY!

Hey guys, sorry for the delay in updates, but I was stuck–majorly. Anywho, here's the new chapter. It's not all too great, but it's the best I could come up with. The last line for the last chapter was really hard to live up to. Lol. Hope you guys like it...

Oh, by the way, I can't do responses this time cause it's all in my inbox and my email thingy is busted. Thanks to all who reviewed! It was greatly appreciated.

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"Hey, Pony?" I groaned and closed the book, looking up to see Darry standing in the doorway. I knew he'd be coming to talk with me sooner or later.

"Yeah." It was more of a statement than a question. We both knew what he was doing here. Darry sat down on the edge of my bed.

"Look, Pony, I don't wanna lecture you..."

"Yeah, but you are. Look, Darry, this is a big thing for me. I mean, I'm not really all that interested in girls yet, but it's kinda nice to get attention from one, and a nice one at that. You dig?" I hoped Darry would understand. I would've hated for something like this to come between us.

"I get it, Ponyboy...Have fun, okay?" I smiled and jumped on the bed, knocking him over. I was so glad that he'd understood. Darry and I rarely ever fight,and this just seemed like a stupid thing to fight about, anyway. The front door closed loudly and Mom called from the hall. Dad wasn't far behind her.

"Boys! We brought dinner!" Darry and I jumped from the bed so fast, you'd have thought it had caught fire or something. Soda thundered sown the hallway, slipping in his stocking feet. He hates shoes.

"What did ya bring?" He asked, stopping to catch his breath.

"Fried chicken, beans, potatoes, and corn bread." Mom said, looking through the bag. Soda and darry and me grinned. We love chicken.

O O O

"So, what'd your folks say about the party?" I glanced sharply at Johnny.

"How'd you know about that?" I didn't remember telling him anything about it.

"Ran in to Two-bit last night..." Johnny trailed off. He never was one to talk much.

"Oh. They said it was okay, long as Darry drove me." Johnny and I were walking to school again. I wished we could have driven that morning, because it was kind of chilly and my sweatshirt wasn't really helping to keep me warm, but my only choice would have been to go with Soda and Steve and I didn't really fancy seeing Steve again for a while. We walked in silence for a little, both just trying to keep warm, until a grey Mustang pulled up next to us. I jumped onto the sidewalk to avoid being hit, and some Soc guy stuck his head out. "Greaser!" He threw a cigarette at me and the car zoomed off, down the street. The cigarette hit my face and if you don't think that hurt, you're crazy.

"Pony, you okay?" Johnny put out the cigarette with the heel of his tennis shoe and stopped to looked at my face. I rubbed the spot where it had hit me gingerly, stopping when it started to burn my skin. The blasted thing had been lit! "What were the odds that the lit end hit you, right in the face? I swear, Ponyboy you got the worst luck sometimes." He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed to me. I wiped a few tears from my eyes and touched the burn on my cheek again. "You know, it only makes it worse if you keep messing with it like that."

"I know. I know. It just hurts, is all." I sniffled a bit and wiped a tear from my face, not wanting Johnny to see me cry. It just didn't seem like something to cry about, especially not to Johnny. He took it worse than any of us from his folks and never let out a single tear. A little cigarette burn was nothing compared to what Johnny had.

"I ain't gonna make fun of you for cryin', Ponyboy." Johnny said softly. I swiped another tear from my face and turned away.

"I'm okay. It just doesn't make you feel too hot, you know?" Johnny nodded solemnly. He knew better than anybody. "Listen, Soda invited me to the movies tonight with him an' Steve. You wanna come?"

"Yeah, sure. Think anybody'll mind?"

"Nah. Besides, I don't wanna go alone. Steve'll be there and you know how him and Soda get sometimes..." Johnny smiled.

"Yeah." And that was it. We spent the rest of the walk in silence, each immersed in his own thoughts. I wished Johnny was coming to that party with me the next day. Spending an hour or so with a bunch of Socs wasn't exactly my idea of fun. It would have been good to have a buddy, but Johnny wasn't invited. Johnny was scared of Socs anyway.

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Hey, guys. Sorry the chapter's so short, but I only have fifteen minutes on the computer right now. The next update should be like tomorrow. I'm gonna try and write at school. Once again, sorry for it being so short. Hope you enjoy.

Sincerely,

Sodapop Curtis DX