When I woke, I could tell it was late in the morning because the sun had heated up my room. I pushed the hot covers off of me, sat up, and looked over at Casey. She was still sound asleep. I climbed out of bed and walked quietly across the hall to find Ponyboy in the same condition as my friend. I decided to get a drink and brush my teeth; I always brushed first thing in the morning because I hate the feeling of my teeth not being clean.
As I walked through the kitchen, my feet welcomed the coolness from the linoleum floor. I shuffled through the doorway into the dining room when I noticed a something out of place. I jumped in fear when I realized I was not alone. Sitting there on the couch was a tall boy, dressed in khaki slacks, a blue oxford shirt, and his red and white letterman's jacket. "Owen!" I yelled in shock. All of a sudden, I remembered I was wearing pajamas, my hair was disheveled, and my teeth were not clean.
Owen evidently didn't care what I looked like because he offered up a smile and stood up to greet me.
"I stopped by the gas station to ask your brother Sodapop how I could convince your other brother to let me take you on a date tonight," Owen slowly began to walk towards me, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jacket. "Sodapop pointed out to me that Darry allows you to do anything you want during the day. I figured I should take you out when the sun's still in the sky. Then Soda told me to just stop by and let myself in," Owen stood in front of me. He spoke in a sultry voice, "So I did." The boy slowly leaned down to kiss me.
Seeing his intentions, I jumped back and threw my hand over my mouth. "Uh…uh, Owen!" I said, "Kissing me would be a bad idea. I haven't brushed my teeth yet.
Owen pulled his hands out of his pockets, "Oh, c'mon, Scout, it's no big deal! Give me a kiss."
"No!" I said and backed away playfully. Owen tried to pursue me, but I ran around to the opposite side of the dining room table. I giggled and held my hands out to convince Owen to stay on the other side of the room. "Owen! Owen just let me brush my teeth and then I'll kiss you. I swear!"
Owen cracked a crooked grin. "No … I'm gonna kiss you… morning breath and all!" Owen began to move around the dining room table. I moved in the same direction as he did then he suddenly changed directions hoping to catch me off guard.
I shrieked, "Owen! Don't you dare!"
"You don't honestly think you can get past me, do you?"
"No, but I think you should honestly let me by you!"
"Not without a kiss!" Owen demanded. He placed his strong hands on the dining room table and leaned forward a little. I darted from the backside of the table towards the bathroom door. I gleefully yelled out as Owen lunged to grab me and I slipped by. In one smooth motion he read my final move toward the bathroom and grabbed a hold of my wrist. His strength was more than I had anticipated and in seconds I found myself wrapped up in his arms. "Looks like you're mine!"
"No Owen! You need to let me go!" I laughed and turned my face away from his. That was when I noticed the audience staring from the kitchen doorway. " Um…hey you guys." My ears burned red with embarrassment. Hearing my words Owen looked in the same direction and immediately let me out of his grasp.
"Hey to you two," Casey said slowly and curiously raised her eyebrows. She then walked past me into the living room, and turned on the television. Avoiding conversation, I walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth.
Outside the bathroom doorway, Owen seemed a little embarrassed as he spoke, "Hi Ponyboy. How are you doing?"
"Fine," Pony simply said as he walked into the dining room staying on the opposite side of the table from Owen.
"I heard you have court on Tuesday. I hope everything works out for you."
"Yeah, right," Ponyboy said, not believing the Soc. He then tilted his head in question. "What happened to your face?"
Hearing the question I held my breath, worried for Owen's secret. I looked out the bathroom door and watched Owen shove his hands into the pockets of jacket and shrug his shoulders. "Oh, nothing. My mom's just got a bad temper is all." A look of shock showed on my brother's face. Owen turned toward Casey and changed the subject of the conversation. "You don't mind if I take Scout away from you for the afternoon, do you?"
Casey looked over from where she was sitting on the couch, "Not if you promise to take me with y'all the next time."
"I promise."
I grabbed the hairbrush and pulled my hair back into a ponytail. After checking my appearance in the mirror, I was satisfied with how I looked. I walked out of the bathroom and turned towards Owen. "I just need to get dressed and I will be ready to go."
The boy looked my way. His blue eyes sparkled, "Okay, but wear something nice."
"Why? Where are we going?"
Owen cracked a smile, "You'll see, when we get there."
I disappeared to my room and quickly dressed in a skirt and sweater. I slid my loafers on and headed back to Owen's side. Before I could get there Ponyboy stopped me in the kitchen. I looked into my brother's eyes and checked for anger or disappointment. Instead, I saw the soft caring glow they used to hold before so much of our lives fell to pieces. He said, "You two have fun."
I felt relief flood my body, and I smiled. "Thanks, Ponyboy." I walked out to the living room knowing things between Pony and I were going to get better again.
Owen led me outside to the side of a shimmering blue and white striped Chevy Camaro convertible. I turned to the boy as he held the passenger's side door open for me. "Wow! Whose car is this?"
"Mine! My parents ordered it for my sixteenth birthday in June, but it just got here a week ago."
"Soda would love this car!" I said as I sat inside and admired the dashboard and soft blue leather seats.
Owen walked around to the driver's side. "I know. I let him sit behind the wheel at the DX Station, and I promised to take him for a ride sometime."
I looked at the boy with a grin, "That's really nice. You have no idea how much he loves cars, especially a new sports car like this one." Owen pulled away from the curb. I slouched a little in my seat hoping the wind from the top being down wouldn't mess my hair up. As we traveled across town the houses began to look nicer, bigger and the lawns were greener. Then we turned down a lane and drove between two large rock pillars. I read the gold embossed sign as we passed. Tulsa Golf & Country Club. Members Only. "Owen! We aren't actually going inside the Country Club are we?"
Owen looked over at me and rubbed his forefinger on my soft cheek, "This is where I am taking you for lunch."
My jaw dropped open and I looked over at Owen, my eyes showing uneasiness, "But…. I haven't ever been to a place like this."
"Don't worry! You'll do fine. There aren't any special rules or anything. Besides, you're just naturally elegant."
I appreciated the compliment, but as we pulled up to the valet parking attendants, I remembered the mark that Owen's mother had left behind. Wanting to be discrete, I whispered, "What about your bruise? Everyone will see."
Before Owen could answer he pulled the car up to the parking attendant who greeted him. "Good morning, Mr. Jasper."
"Good morning, Jake," Owen replied as a second attendant opened my car door and graciously offered his hand to help me up from the seat.
Jake opened the car door for Owen and continued his chatter. "I see you've been rough housing with your friends again. Looks like they sure got you good this time."
Owen smiled at me, and tipped the man, "Well, Jake, you can't win them all!" The attendants politely laughed as my date walked to my side of the car and I took his arm.
Together we walked into the foyer of the Country Club. In all my life I had never seen something as exquisite as the entryway was. The floors were shiny white marble and large chandeliers hung from the high ceilings. Owen led me to the coat check where the employee took our coats and opened a dressing room for the young man. Owen briefly excused himself into the room and he emerged a moment later wearing a dark blue blazer and tie. I quickly realized there was a dress code and I worried the Country Club members would somehow know I was dressed in second hand clothes when we walked to our table. Inside the dining room I was enamored by the large picture windows, framed in mahogany wood. The chairs matched the window frames and the crystal glasses on the table sparkled like diamonds in the late morning sun. As the maître d' pulled my chair out for me to sit I had to consciously remind myself to keep my mouth from falling open in awe.
My date noticed my amazement, "It's a beautiful place, isn't it?"
I looked across the table at Owen and smiled. "It sure is. I have never seen a place as remarkable as this. Thank you for bringing me."
"Thank you for joining me," Owen's white smile sparkled like the water glasses. "I've been coming here almost all my life. I fear I may have started to take its beauty for granted."
"I can certainly see how that could happen," I said softly and secretly wished someday I would be able to take the same room for granted as well.
Owen ordered for the two of us and during the course of the meal and dessert I was introduced to a few dozen people who stopped by the table to say hi. All of the club members believed Owen's lie about the bruise on his face, and a few of the visitors who stopped by our table recognized my name from the papers and congratulated me for my heroism and bravery. As they walked away, I wondered if they were disgraced at Owen and I together, but each time I looked at my date's infectious smile I told myself it didn't matter.
When our dessert was complete, Owen led me to the back to the kitchen to introduce me to the wait staff and cooks. I found his worry free attitude about social class lines to be charming. I was impressed that Owen knew the name of every wait staff and every cook. As we toured the rest of the country club building, Owen told me he always made it a point to meet every new employee.
"So, are we headed back to my house?" I asked as Owen pulled his car away from the country club.
"No."
"Where are we going?" I asked. My date only smiled. I looked at him with an inquisitive grin. "Where are you taking me?"
He didn't answer and a few minutes later he didn't have to. Even though it had been dark the night before, I recognized the mansion that Owen called home. He pulled the car up to the front door and turned towards me. "You have always welcomed me into your home, now I want to welcome you into mine."
Outside the mansion, I waited for Owen to open my car door and lead me into the massive home. The interior was decorated in expensive fabrics and furniture. This time I let my jaw drop open in wonder as I sighed, "Wow!"
Owen took off his jacket and helped me to get mine off, "My parents and sister are gone for the weekend, so you will have to meet them some other day." Owen tossed the coats onto a nearby chair and led me into the parlor off of the main hall. "This is a portrait of my family, now."
I stepped forward to take a closer look at the family of four, dressed in black suits and dresses. "So, that is your little sister, Olivia?"
"Yeah."
I studied the little girl's face and compared it to the rest of the family. She looked out of place. Owen and his parents had light colored hair and blue eyes. Olivia's hair was a definite brown that matched her even darker eyes. Without thinking I blurted out a question. "Is she adopted?" I turned to look at Owen and without saying a word I realized she wasn't adopted, but she also wasn't Owen's dad's little girl. I instantly wished I hadn't brought up the lack of family resemblance. "Oh… Owen, I am so sorry I asked."
"Don't be. You're an intelligent girl, I would have expected you notice the obvious." Moving to a new subject, Owen grabbed my hand, "Come on. I'll give you the nickel tour."
"I don't have a nickel."
"Hmmmm," Owen faked that the absence of money was a real problem. "I guess I can let you work it off with a kiss."
"Sounds like a good deal," I tiptoed and gave the boy a quick kiss on the cheek. "Okay, I'm ready for the tour."
Hand in hand, the two of us moved from one well decorated room to the next. Upstairs, Owen stopped outside one room where the large wooden door was shut. I looked up at the boy and noticed his face turn a pale color as he slowly spoke, "This… this is Oliver's room." He opened the door and we stepped a few feet into the room. "Everything in here is just as it was the day he died. My mother has the housekeeper clean it, but she's not allowed to put anything away. I haven't been in this room for almost a year." I looked around the room at the tinker toys and train set on the floor. I stayed quiet. I didn't have the luxury in my life to keep my parent's room just as they had left it. Oddly, I was glad I was poor and had to get rid of most of their things. I couldn't imagine having a daily reminder of their existence. Owen and I left the room and headed down the hall to the last room on the tour. "This is my room," Owen raised his arm to welcome me inside.
I stepped into the room with the large pieces of wooden furniture and the blue plaid bed linens. My eye was drawn to a large chest at the end of Owen's queen size bed. "That is a beautiful hope chest."
"It's lined with cedar wood. It smells great. Lift the lid," Owen said as he sat down on the bed.
Slowly, I knelt in front of the chest and opened the heavy wooden top. The smell of cedar wood was strong and sweet, and a pile of newspapers caught my eye. I looked at the headline of the top paper: Juvenile Delinquents Turn Heroes. "You've kept all of the newspapers with stories about me?"
Owen nervously jumped off the bed, and stood by the hope chest. "Yeah… I've kept them. I … they are the only pictures I have of you, other than the school yearbook."
I stood up and looked at him. I was still confused as to why he had fallen for me over all of the other girls who begged for his attention. Owen grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him. "There's something I want to ask you."
"What?"
He turned towards me and took my hands in his. "Scout? I know we have only known each other for a couple hectic months, but I know you're different than any other girl I have ever met." I felt Owen's hands begin to sweat as his voice held a hint of nervousness, "when I look at you my heart pounds with an excitement I've never felt before. That's how I know you're the right girl to ask this question to. Will you be my girl?"
My pulse began to pound in my head. I felt my knees begin to weaken and knew I had to answer, or I would probably pass out. "Yes, of course I will!"
Owen smiled in relief and reached across his bed. Scooping up his red and white letterman's sweater from the bedpost, he handed it to me. "I want you to have this so everyone will know you are my girl now."
I took the sweater and put it on. It was long and warm. I rolled up the sleeves, and rubbed my hand over Owen's name that was embroidered on the chest. "I really don't know what to say? I've never been someone's girl before."
"You already said yes, you don't need to say anything else." A large chime rang into our conversation. "It's the door bell," Owen said. He grabbed my hand and led me downstairs to the front door. Slowly, he pulled the door open a foot or two to find his best friend Pete standing outside on the portico. "Pete! What's happening?"
Pete had his hands shoved in the pockets of his letterman jacket. "O, A bunch of us are getting together for a game down at Morison's field. Get your stuff. Let's go." Owen opened the door wide enough to reveal me standing in the foyer. A sly smile graced Pete's face and he took a few steps backwards. "Oh, looks like you're busy. I'll catch you later."
"Hold on, Pete!" Owen yelled out and turned towards me. "Scout? How 'bout it? Do you want to play football with us?"
I hesitated. I was uncertain of how the other boys would react to me playing football with them. I spoke uneasily, "I don't know?"
"Please?" Owen begged a little. I looked away from him and noticed Pete grimace.
"Oh, no offense, but the guys aren't really going to …"
"Don't worry about it!" Owen stepped out of the door and put his hand on Peter's shoulder. "Scout plays tackle football all the time in her neighborhood. She can handle herself." Owen looked towards me with a grin, "So, are you going to play? Please?"
"Well, I'll have to change first…"
Owen immediately interrupted so I couldn't say no. "No problem! Go get in the car and I'll go change then we'll go by your house so you can get ready. Pete, we'll see you there." With a huge grin Owen handed me my coat and darted up the stairs taking two steps at a time.
Shyly, I pulled my jacket overtop of the letterman's sweater and stepped out of the house on to the front steps next to Pete. Making note of the sweater Peter light heartedly teased me, "You better be careful. At the speed Owen's going he might ask you to marry him next month." I laughed with Owen's best friend and the two of us walked down the stone steps. Pete opened the Camaro's passenger door and helped me in. "I'm really glad you told him yes. He really needs a girl in his life to care about him. He doesn't get much of that at home." Pete shut the car door, winked and walked away.