Disclaimer: well…you know the drill

AUTHORS NOTES (VERY IMPORTANT) : sorry it took me so long to update, but my sister recently had her baby (everything went fine in case you were wondering. Beautiful boy. I'm very excited) and so me and Mom are going up to Kansas City quite often to go visit, so that's why it took so long to update. Don't think I've forgotten about you, I haven't! ) It may take me a while to update over the summer, because I have camp, family trips, baby visits, grandma visits, farm visits, etc etc so I really haven't forgotten about you all! I fully intend to finish this story before Christmas (Oh Lord let's not start thinking about Christmas already), because it should end up being pretty long. We'll see! Just thought I would let you all in on the scoop! R&R please! Enjoy!

Chapter 8

I hauled myself out of bed when the alarm went off, and tapped Ponyboy on the shoulder. He didn't budge.

"Come on Ponyboy, get up! We got to go apply for that job at the Phillips down the street," I said, shoving him clear off the bed. He fell right off and landed with a thump.

"Ow! Hey!" He said, his face appearing over the edge of the bed. "Whad'jya do that for?" He asked, looking bewildered.

"Sorry, kid. We gotta get ready for work…or what we hope will be work, anyway. Remember? We got to go apply for that job at the Phillips down the street." I said. "Ooh…de ja vue." I said jokingly. He obviously didn't get the little joke, but he got up off the ground nonetheless and drug himself into the bathroom. I heard the shower start running, and I pulled on a nice clean shirt. It wasn't the nicest one I had, but it wasn't a torn-up shirt either. It had a collar and three buttons, and was maroon with green and blue stripes across the chest. Mom had gotten it for me, and I had never found a use for it before now. I sighed and pulled on a pair of my nicer jeans, and my good brown loafers. I looked into the mirror one last time and combed out my hair with my fingers before heading into the kitchen for breakfast. Darry was in there, too, making eggs on the stove.

"I made extra eggs so you and Ponyboy can both have plenty. Hope you're hungry," He said, bringing the pan over and dumping a third of them on my plate. I picked up the grape jelly and spooned it over the top, and then picked up my fork and dug in. I was just licking the last remains of the jelly off my fork when Ponyboy opened the door to bathroom and stepped out, covered in a towel. The steam poured out of the shower behind him.

"Gosh, Pony! Use enough hot water!" I said jokingly, aiming my fork at him. He laughed sarcastically, then disappeared into our room to change. "Put on something half-way decent!" I called to him. I heard a faint muffled reply, and assumed it was an OK.

Pony and I reappeared from out of the Phillip's station, both grinning from ear to ear. He had hired us both. I was getting $3.00 an hour and Ponyboy was getting $1.75. We started the next day. I had gotten a job in the body repair shop, working on body construction and repair, and the paint job guy was gonna teach me how to do detail paint work, so that way I could cover for him if he had to take off. This would be great. Too bad Steve was still stuck at the DX. Pony had gotten the job pumping gas and wiping windshields. The other auto-mechanic in the place had promised to teach him how to change oil, so he could get a little extra for that. There was a rule around there that whoever changed the oil in a car should write it down and they would get an extra $1.00 for the extra time. The guys that currently worked there were also Greasers, although I had never met them before. One of them claimed to be from Brumly's gang, and I never caught where the paint work guy belonged. Maybe a free-loader.

"Man, that sure was easy." Ponyboy said, walking with a little spring in his step. The interview had been a big blur to me. All I had really heard was "OK, you're hired!"

"Yeah, actually it was surprising……" I trailed off, gazing at one of the houses. Ponyboy looked at me, then followed my gaze. I noticed him blush a bit, then he muttered,

"OK, well I'll go on ahead." He stumbled forward, then turned onto Johnny's street, before realizing that Johnny wasn't there anymore, and then heading for home. I watched him until he was out of site around the corner, then turned back to Teresa's house. Or what I assumed was Teresa's house, anyway. She was outside letting her dog go to the bathroom when I walked up the drive with my hands in my pockets.

"Hey Sodapop!" She said cheerily, waving at me.

"Hi Teresa. What are you doing?" I asked, jamming my hands deeper into my pockets. I had never gotten this flustered around a girl before.

"Oh, just, ya know. Hanging out."

"Oh. That sounds like fun." She laughed, then said,

"So why are you looking so happy?"

"Ah…me and my brother, Ponyboy just applied at the Phillips down the street there," I pointed, "and we both got good paying jobs."

"Oh, so you're working two jobs, then? I bet that's a huge help to your older brother."

"Um, actually, I lost my job at the DX. We could hardly afford to send Ponyboy to school anymore, so we decided he was old enough to help out for his tuition. Plus I know Darry really wants him to go to college."

"And Darry is the older one, and Ponyboy is the younger one?"

"Right. 21 and 15." I said.

There was a long awkward pause.

"Well, looks like Coco's done. I should prolly go check on my spaghetti. It's my turn to cook dinner tonight." She said, picking up her dog.

"Ok, yeah. I'll see ya around, then?"

"OK. See ya around."

"OK. Bye!" I turned to head back toward the house.

"Oh, wait. Sodapop?" I looked back over my shoulder, stopped walking."Do you think maybe I could come by and meet your brothers sometime?" She asked cautiously. "….Ya know, since I know you and all…..I understand if its inconvenient….." She looked uncomfortable now.

"No. Yeah, you can come by anytime. We live down-"

"Yeah, I know where it is." She said, cutting me off. I nodded, then waved and started walking again. This time she didn't stop me.

Wait a minute…how does she know where I live?... I thought, confused. I was snapped out of it when I reached the house, much sooner than I expected. I opened the door and let it slam behind me. Ponyboy wasn't home yet, and I didn't really care where he was at that point. I had to get busy cleaning so if and when Teresa stopped by, she wouldn't think we were pigs. )