1Sorry I haven't updated lately. We just got out of school for summer, so I'll have plenty of update time now. THANKS TO EVERYBODY WHO REVIEWED!
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The lunch bell finally rang. I shot out of my seat and ran to the coatroom to get my lunch bag before anybody else could get there. I don't know why, but I don't like other people to be there before me, like I think they're gonna take my lunch or something. Sodapop was right behind me, as usual. We grabbed our lunches and made our way back to our desks in record time. Just as I sat down, I felt somebody's hand close on my shoulder. I jumped. It was Ms. Whitmer. "Steve, what have I told you about running in class?"
"Don't do it?" I didn't want to get in trouble, not with Ms. Whitmer. I liked Ms. Whitmer. She cared about everybody in the class and not just like how teachers are s'posed to care about you. She cared about you as a person, too. You don't get a lot of teachers like that. Ms. Whitmer sighed.
"Please, don't run in class. You could hurt yourself." She walked away and I turned to Soda. He grinned at me. I just had to grin back. Soda's grins are contagous. I'm not sure how you spell that. It's one of our spelling words this week, so I guess I'd better learn.
"C'mon, man. I wanna tell you somethin'." Soda pulled my arm and led me away.
"So, what's up?" I asked. I hopped on a desk and started swinging my feet. Soda did too.
"Ponyboy got sick an' my daddy's worryin' bout him. He keeps gettin' worse and Daddy's scared 'cause we don't got the money to take him to the hospital 'cause we just bought the new car. I don't want nothin' bad to happen, Steve." I thought for a minute. I had never been crazy about Ponyboy. I guess that's 'cause he's Soda's little brother and Sodapop cares about him so much. Nobody ever really cared about me, except my mom, till I met the Curtis's. That was all I really wanted was for somebody to care about me, so I was kind of jealous of Ponyboy 'cause his family cared about him so much. Still, I didn't want anything to happen to him. He was only a little kid, and I did like him.
"Don't worry, Soda. Ain't nothing gonna happen to the kid. He's okay. Shoot, he's been sick 'afore, ain't he?" Sodapop smiled.
"Yeah, I guess so–come on, let's go put glue on David's chair!" I followed him, smiling. I wasn't smiling inside though. Inside, I was about as far from smiling as you can get.
"G'bye!" I yelled, running out of the classroom at top speed. Soda followed me. The first day of school was over! "Man, am I glad we still got Ms. Whitmer as a teacher. Same as last year." I said.
"Yup!" Soda said happily. He's just about always happy, except when he's not. We zoomed out of the school, completely forgetting about the car. "Hey, Darry! Darry wait up!" We were half way to Soda's house by the time we caught up with Soda's older brother. Darry was a real tuff guy. He was strong, and funny, and really good at football. We played all the time in the vacant lot by Soda's house. Darry was fourteen and in ninth grade. That was high school. I couldn't wait till I got to high school. Darry stopped and waited for us to catch up. He was walking home with Two-Bit, who's another one of our friends. Two-Bit was just about he funniest guy you'll ever meet. He was in seventh grade, which is only two years away from high school.
"Howdy, y'all!" Two-Bit said brightly. He was grinning so widely it must have hurt.
"Hey." Darry said quietly. I could tell right away that something was wrong, but I let Soda handle it. Two-Bit and me fell a little bit behind the other two so they could talk. We came up to the Curtis house pretty soon. Mrs. Curtis was in the kitchen with Ponyboy. Boy did he ever look sick. I knew why Sodapop was worried now. The kid looked terrible.
"Hi, boys." She smiled at us and put a plate with some toast on it in front of Ponyboy.
"Hey, Mom." Soda kicked his shoes off.
"Hi, Mrs. Curtis."
"Hey,"–Ponyboy coughed–"y'all." We all greeted him.
"Hey, is Dad home?" Soda asked, plopping down on the couch. I sat next to him and Two-Bit hopped right in front of the TV. He turned on some Mickey Mouse cartoons and stared at the screen. Somebody could set off an atomic bomb and Two-Bit wouldn't notice when he was watching Mickey Mouse.
"Not yet." Darry sat down at the table and rested his head on his hand. "What's wrong, Darry?" Mrs. Curtis pushed a piece of toast against Ponyboy's mouth. "Come on, baby, just eat something." Darry shrugged. "You'll feel better."
"Uh-uh." Ponyboy moaned.
"Ponyboy, you need to eat something. The doctor said you need to eat something."
"No." Ponyboy said stubbornly and burst into tears.
"His fever's been high all day and he won't eat or sleep." Mrs. Curtis explained. Sodapop jumped up and ran over to Ponyboy.
"Will you eat for me, Pony?" He asked, jumping up and down. Soda couldn't ever stay still.
"Nooo."
"Aw, come on! For me? Pleeeaaassee?" Ponyboy shook his head. For an seven year old, he sure was acting dumb. But I guess it was just 'cause he was so sick. Darry helped Mrs. Curtis carry him to his room and Soda came back to the couch. For the next half hour, we were watched Mickey Mouse and all his buddies wrestle lions, eating corn, and racing down hills in runaway trailers. Two-Bit was hanging onto every word like he hadn't seen the same episode a million times over.
"Hey!" The door opened and Mr. Curtis came in. I liked Soda's dad. He was real nice and funny and he never got drunk or hit his kids or anything. Him and Mrs. Curtis never fought like my parents.
"Daddy!" Soda jumped on him. He always got excited when his dad came home from work. I wish I could say the same, but the only place my dad ever came home from was the bar.
"How was school, Pepsi-Cola?"
"Great!"
"Oh, really?" He tossed Sodapop on the couch and started tickling him. I watched them, wishing it was the same way with me and my dad.
"Hey, can Steve stay over tonight?" Soda asked, gasping for air.
"Will your mom be okay with it?" Mr. Curtis asked me. I swallowed hard. I had been trying to forget all day, but it wasn't working so good.
"Mom ain't here anymore." I muttered. The TV turned off and Two-Bit turned around. I was as surprised as everybody else.
"How come?" I was trying to think of something to say when Mrs. Curtis came to my rescue.
"Boys, dinner!"
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PLEASE REVIEW!