1Disclaimer: The only thing I own in this story is the plot and Shannon, but I would gladly trade them for Sodapop or Ponyboy or Two-Bit any day.
Thanks again to everybody who reviewed. Sorry for the delay in updates.
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I woke up on Saturday with a terrific headache. The racket Sodapop was making wasn't helping. No offense to Soda, but he just can't sing, especially not in the shower where it echoes. I got out of bed and went into the bathroom to take some Tylenol. Soda's off-key voice was echoing through the whole house, making my head throb even more. "...GLORIA! GLORIA!..." He loves that song. I popped a few pills into my mouth, about four if you want to be exact, and put the bottle away. "...Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!...She comes around here just about midnight, ha!..."
"Aw, put a sock in it, Soda." I called through the curtain. Soda just laughed.
"...She make me feel so good, Lord!..." I left the bathroom. Gosh, if the guy who wrote that song ever heard Soda singing it, he would've had a heart attack. I walked into the kitchen where Mom was making pancakes for breakfast.
"Mornin', Ponyboy." She smiled and poured the batter into the frying pan. "You sleep well?"
"Good enough." I mumbled and sat down.
Soda's voice floated into the kitchen, "...G-L-O-R-I-A GLORIA!..." Mom chuckled.
"Even when he was little...couldn't sing a single note, but boy did he try! I swear, he was the most tone-deaf child you ever met–or heard, but he loved to sing..." She went on, talking mainly to herself about Soda and me and Darry when we were little. I just sat and listened. I love stories about when we were little, or when Mom and Dad were little. Those were the good old days. "Ponyboy, do you know what time that party ends?" Mom asked. I chewed on the edge of my fingernail.
"I was thinking I'd just call Darry when the party was over. I'm sure they have a phone." Mom sighed and flipped the pancake onto a plate. Chocolate chip–my favorite.
"Alright, but if you can't get to Darry, you give your father and me a call, you hear? Or you can call Two-Bit or Steve, but I don't want you walking alone from the West side."
"Don't worry, the kid'll be careful. Won't you Ponyboy?" Soda said, walking in with a towel around his waist. He rumpled my hair and picked up my half-eaten pancake. "Thanks."
"Sodapop, give your brother his breakfast back, I'll make you your own." Soda grinned.
"Hey, y'all." Darry walked in, scratching his head and yawning. I thought it was unusual for Darry to be up late, usually he's up real early. He picked up a plate and sat down. Turning to Sodapop, Darry said, "You have got to close the bathroom door when you take a shower. You just ain't that good, little buddy." He ducked Soda's swing and everybody laughed.
"Hey, where's Dad?" Soda asked. We turned to Mom.
"Yeah, where is he?"
"He went to the store."
"Oh."
"Okay."
Dad came in about half an hour later with two big grocery bags in his arms. "Darry, can you go out to the car and get the rest? Soda, you help him." Darry nodded and he and Soda went outside.
"What can I do?" I asked. I didn't want to be the only one not helping.
"You can help me put all this away."
"Yes, sir."
"Hey, Dad! One of the bags broke!" I heard Sodapop call from outside, and I thought he's probably the one that broke it.
"Howdy!" Two-Bit called, slamming the front door.
"Hey, Two-Bit." I called from where I was putting cans away.
"They got you workin' huh, kid?" He asked, hopping onto one of the counters. Johnny followed him in.
"Hey, Johnny," I said and turned back to Two-Bit. "You could help, you know. You eat all this stuff, too."
Two-Bit grinned like a chessy cat and hopped of the counter. "Shoot, kid. I can't do that. That'd defeat the whole purpose of eatin' other people's food."
"Whatever." Johnny helped me and Two-Bit went into the living room to watch Mickey Mouse on the television. Soda came in with Steve a minute later and they started to empty the broken bag. "Gosh, Soda. How'd you break the bag?" Soda shrugged.
Steve glared at me and snapped, "He didn't break nothing. It was real heavy!" So much for forgive and forget. But, then, Steve's never really liked me, and i don't really like him, so I guess we're even.
"It's okay, man. He just asked a question." Soda tried to calm him down.
"Yeah, well he doesn't have to be so damn nosy."
"I ain't nosy!"
"You shut up, kid!"
"Shut up yourself!" Steve raised a fist, but Soda jumped between us–just in time.
"Cool it guys, okay? Y'all both need to shut up." That stopped us, but Steve was still glaring at me. I glared right back. Johnny was just standing against the counter, watching us with wide eyes.
"Yeah, sorry Soda." I grumbled. "Come on, Johnny. We don't need to hang around that trash." I looked right at Steve as I said that.
"I said, that's enough!" Soda grabbed my shoulder, not roughly. It was just enough to get my attention.
"Tell him that." I went to watch TV with Two-Bit. He was cracking up over some little gag.
Two-Bit left after a little while to go hunt some action–girls, beer, anything that interested him at the time, and Dallas Winston dropped by. "Anybody seen Shephard lately?" We all just shook our heads. Sometimes I wondered how Dally and Tim Shephard could be friends. They were always doing stuff like stealing from each other and slashing each other's tires. I just didn't get it.
"Dallas Winston, you better not get yourself into anymore trouble. You only just got hauled in a month ago for fighting in that gas station." My mom came in with her hands on her hips. "You hear me, boy?"
"Tim and I just got a little business to talk through, Mrs. Curtis." Dally ran his hand through his white-blonde hair. He respected my mom, which was really something, cause Dallas Winston didn't respect anybody.
"I'd like to believe it, but that's what you said the last time. And the time before that. You just have a knack for getting in trouble, young man." Dally grinned in spite of himself and ran his fingers through his hair again. My mom could make anybody smile if she tried. She was golden, my mom was–pure gold.
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Sorry again, but this chapter's kinda short. The next one will be soon. I hope. It will be the entire party, so it'll be pretty long. PLEASE REVIEW!
