Author's little bit of Authorness: I own nothing except for Skye, Micky, and Larken, but I have to be nise to them because they're in shape and could quite possibly kick my $$. Also I'd just like to say that I love updating, and I love this story but even if you've already reviewed, please review again because it makes me happy and when I'm happy I update more. : ) Also the alarm clock conversation is Inspired by a vaguly similar one in Gilmore Girls. Just thoguht I aught to mention that.

"Late again, Miss Skylar?"

Skylar giggled, when he really wanted to, Ponyboy could sound just like their Socials teacher.

"Can you please explain to the class why you arrived late and disrupted us all?"

"Out of pity?"

"She didn't like that answer better than any of your other ones" Pony reminded her, "You should chose some that would make her feel sorry for you like: 'My sister is dying on her bed and-"

"Noooo."

"Why not?"

"That one only works once."

"Better it works once well then three times not at all."

Skye shrugged.

"I think this is an inhumane and cruel punishment."

"What?"

"Well putting bricks in my backpack is frowned upon, so instead she gave me a grand total of three hard cover books that I have to read and compare."

"Only the first chapters."

"But they're so big!"

Skye wrestled off the backpack and dropped it on the side of the road, then kept walking. Pony grabbed the strap and dragged the thing behind him as he followed her, and then gave it back to the reluctant girl.

"Why were you late anyway?"

"Well first my alarm clock went off, and I threw it against the wall."

"Why?"

"Micky had put it right next to my ear and it scared me."

"So you threw it against the wall."

"Yep."

"And then?"

"I fell asleep again."

"Who woke you up after that?"

"Larken."

"Did you throw her against the wall too?"

Skye laughed, "I tried."

"Did it work?"

"I'm awake aren't I?"

"I've wondered, to be honest."

"My sleepwalking self does not have this kind of personality."

"Have you ever noticed our conversations border on insanity?"

"Border… cross. It's all the same in the long run."

"Wanna go to your house or mine?" Pony was sort of looking forward to seeing Larken and Micky, whose conversations were always the sort he'd laugh over the day after.

"Mine."

"Okay."

"Hey Larken."

"Hia Ponyboy." Larken was in their minuscule living room, she was sitting in the middle splits and leaning forward, reading what looked like a school paper.

"Hey Pony." Darry sat behind her, pointing something out, "I thought you guys were going to our house to do your homework today."

"Ponyboy mentioned you're out of chocolate cake, and we just happened to have some, so our house is the obvious choice." Skye grinned. She slide down into the splits like Larken and laid right down onto her stomach, "What's this?"

Not for the first time, Pony noticed their living room had only a tiny bit of furniture, whenever they did homework or read, or talked there, it was a time for stretching.

"The bills."

"I see… Actually no- I don't, please explain."

"I'm seeing if we can pay them all."

"Oh." All the colour rushed out of Skye's face. "And?"

"We're doing well, actually. I don't know how we managed before we moved here, the sheer amount of classes we did should have put us in debt, I swear." Lark stood and shuffled the papers together, then left them on a broken coffee table shoved into a corner, that meant they were in the 'to be forgotten' area of her life, officially now.

"Well we had Mom."

Ponyboy looked up from his text book. "What ever happened to your mom? You don't talk about her at all."

Darry hit himself on the forehead but Larken just shrugged, "She's dead."

"Larken!" Skye protested, 'She's not-"

"She is to me." She said it like you would say, 'The sky is blue' Like it was a cold hard fact.

"Well I have homework." Skylar stood up and shook her legs out, then she went to pull out some plates, "I'm also craving cake, it's amazing the stuff you crave when you know you have no lunch, and therefore no food during the lunch period, I honestly thought I was pregnant."

"Oh Dear God," Micky stared wide eyed at her sister, halfway through the door and obviously frozen to the spot.

"It works better if you hear the whole conversation, sister dear." Skye said, surveying her sister's reaction. "Remind me to liquor you up before I tell you when I'm really pregnant."

"That's nothing compared to what she looked like after we told her where babies come from." Larken reminded, giggling as she took the chocolate cake to Pony and Darry.

"I can't hear you, the stork deliverers all children, and the world is flat. It works for me, and it makes me happy, which means that it makes things easier for all of you if you agree and let me live in my happy naïve world." Micky dropped her homework in the living room, and disappeared into the bedroom all the sisters shared. It became obvious that she wasn't coming out any time soon.

"Well I'm not sure I have all that much appetite left." Pony said into the book he was reading.

"I have to live with them." Micky yelled through the wall separating her from them. "My appetite is permanently vacationing in Maui!"

"Says the girl who gave us the step by gory step description of how you dissected a sheep's eye ball." Larken reminded, "At dinner."

"I change my mind." Skye said cheerfully, slipping once again to the floor, on her stomach, heels together, "We should have gone to your house."

"Hey," Steve banged the door behind him, and then Soda burst in after him.

"Hey." Larken threw a book at her sister, "This is yours, you forgot it this morning."

"It would have helped if you gave it to me this morning." Skylar snapped, already grumpy after only beginning to read the three different chapters she had to.

"Ah." Soda surveyed the two girls, Larken as she made dinner, and worked on an essay at the same time and Skye as she sat cross-legged, four books and a notebook around her in a circle. He took the wooden spoon from Larken, "Go finish that."

"I need to finish making dinner."

"I'll finish making dinner, you finish your essay."

"Thanks, Soda." Larken kissed his cheek quickly. Pony saw Darry frown

Mother always did say Larkie was a pushover, either that or a sucker for pretty guys.

Mother never did understand her oldest.

"Anyone happen to know how old Columbus was during his third voyage?"

"Uh…"

"Or if he ever married?"

"Um…"

"Or where I left my textbook that was supposed to answer these questions?"

"You told me you left it with the librarian because it was falling apart."

"That's right."

"Yep."

"Ug!" Lark let herself fall forward, forehead touching the ground, "I'm gonna fail."

"You aren't going to fail."

"I'm gonna fail and work at a grease joint the rest of my life, flipping burgers, 'May I take your order please?'"

"How about a big serving of maturity fries?" Micky's legs were flat against the wall. Her face scrunched in concentration as she tried to read her Social's book upside down, convinced the hieroglyphics she was supposed to be translating were the wrong side up.

"Someone's had too much coffee, and been up since waaaaaaaaaaaay too early, and is going to sleep waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too late." Skylar absently flipped the pages on her three books, then doodled in the inside covers.

"Actually, I think we have a book on Columbus in our house. I swear I saw it lying around some where." Pony helped Soda spoon out the pasta into bowls and pour a cheese sauce over them.

Steve looked up from the sketch of a car he was making, "Yeah, Two-bit was using it as a pillow yesterday."

Larken stared, "Ooooo, could I borrow it?"

"No, we mentioned it just to rub it in your face." Darry offered Lark his hand to help her up from the floor, "If we run, we can probably get back before dinner gets cold."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Larken threw her arms around Darry, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Let's go." He made his way to the door.

"Thank you." Larken sprinted after Darry.