Pony's POV

The next morning I took extra long in the shower trying to get all the grease out of my hair. I stood in front of the mirror, wearing khaki pants and a button up shirt Rachel had bought me. I don't look like a Soc, I don't look like a Soc. I don't….Who was I kidding?

I pulled the khakis off in disgust and slid my jeans back on. I rummaged through the closet a little more and finally found a blue plaid shirt. It definitely was NOT my style, but it wasn't quite so rich looking.

Just then I heard scraping outside my door followed by a soft whine. I had to smile as I opened the door and a little white ball came bounding in. Princess was Rachel's toy poodle a far cry from the rottweiler I had dreamed about. She was full of energy and life and had grabbed hold of my heart the first day.

"Sit Princess." I commanded, partly because I could and partly because I wanted her to stop bounding under my feet. She sat at rapt attention, her little tail still thumping the ground.

Princess knew more tricks than any dog I'd ever seen and I found it rather fun to help her show off. "Dance Princy." She shot up onto her back legs and began prancing around the room.

"Freeze." I enjoyed seeing how long she could stand on her hind legs before she fell. Quite a while usually. Watching her reminded me of how Two-Bit had gone on and on about getting a dog that one day. That day Rachel had first come by to talk to Darry and Soda.

My countenance fell and Princess fell with it. My shoulders drooped as I plopped onto the bed. Princess slunk over and began whining, probably wondering what she had done to make me stop paying attention to her.

"It's not your fault Princy." I muttered as I scooped her up and planted a kiss on her head.

"Ponyboy! You're going to be late! Come on!"

At the sound of Rachel's voice, Princess struggled to get down. I placed her on the floor and watched as she bounded out of the room. If only I could have that much energy.

I shot myself another quick look in the mirror and wrinkled my nose. I still thought I looked horrible but I couldn't do much about it now.

Soda's POV

I flew over to the ice box and took a swig from the milk carton. I was starving, but there was no time for breakfast. I'd barely had time for a shower.

"Come on Soda, hurry up or we'll both be late." Steve was by the front door, urging me on.

"I'm trying Steve, I just have to find my shoes."

He gave me an exasperated look. I couldn't help it that my shoes had a way of disappearing every night. And I couldn't help it that Darry had decided not to wake me up this morning. When Steve came to pick me up for work, I was still sound asleep, which was because I hadn't gotten to sleep until sometime after 3:00 this morning. It was hard to sleep without Pony beside me.

The clock stuck 8:00 and I heard Steve groan. "Well, no need to hurry now buddy, we're already gonna get chewed out."

"It's not my fault Darry didn't wake me up." I snapped as I yanked my shirt off the back of the couch and fumbled with the buttons. "And you could try helping me look for my shoes. We still have five minutes" Mr. Hall always gave us a five minute grace period.

"Well aren't you Mr. Grumpy today."

I shot him a look that clearly said I wasn't in the mood.

"Fine, I'll help. But five minutes ain't too long"

When I finally reached the last button on my shirt I realized it didn't have a hole. Blast it. I began furiously trying to unbutton the thing when Steve started laughing. "Need some help there? We only have two more minutes you know"

He had made no effort whatsoever to look for my shoes. "Just go." I mumbled, giving up on my shirt for the time being. "No need for both of us to be late."

"No, I'll wait." Steve Randall was a real good buddy. I decided that it wasn't fair for him to get yelled at because of me.

"Go! Go! Go!. Tell Mr. Hall I'll be there in a minute." I urged him out the door and then rushed down the hall to my room.

As I entered, I jammed my toe on the door and cried out in pain. Could this day possibly get any worse?

I hoped about on my good foot trying desperately to remember what I had done with my shoes last night. Let's see, I had….left them on until I got into bed so…I picked up the blanket that had fallen onto the floor and sighed with relief.

"Stupid shoes." I plopped onto the floor and winced as I yanked the left on onto my injured foot. Now where was the right shoe? It had to be nearby. I started to run my hand under the bed but pulled it back when it met with an inch of dust. When was the last time we had cleaned under there? Probably never.

My effort had at least resulted in bumping out the end of my shoe. The toe caught an old letter and pulled it out. Hmm, must have fallen off Pony's desk or something. There was no telling how long it had been under there.

I picked it up with the intention of placing it back on his desk when the envelope caught my attention. It was addressed to Darry. So why did Pony have it? And why was the return address from the Court of Tulsa, Oklahoma? My curiosity got the best of me and I pulled out the letter.

Everything in my world stood still as I read the letter through thoroughly and then thought it over. It finally all made sense. "Darry!" I hollered, running back down the hall. "Darry! You have to.." Oh yeah, Darry wasn't here. That was ok, I would just call Pony and then when Darry got home I could tell him everything was settled.

I could hardly contain my excitement as I went back through the letter until I found Rachel's phone number. The phone rang and rang and rang. Why wasn't anyone answering? After the 20th ring I slammed the receiver down in frustration. Instantly it rang and I jerked it up. "Ponyboy?"

"Um, no." It was Steve. "Haven't you found your shoes yet?"

"My shoes…?" What did Steve care about my shoes?

"Yeah, your shoes. And Mr. Hall wants to know why you haven't made it to work yet. It's 8:30"

"Work!" Soda you idiot! Of course no one was answering the phone. Pony was at school and Rachel was probably working.

"Yes, work. And you better hurry up Soda. I'm trying to make excuses for you, but it's getting a little hard."

"I'm leaving right now." I hung up the phone and rushed out the door.

Work? Who cared about work. And who cared about being late and getting chewed out? I knew what had been bothering Ponyboy. I knew why he had left! And since I knew, I could fix the problem! I would call Pony as soon as I got off.

Steve met me outside the DX station. "Sodapop Patrick Curtis! Look at you!"

"What?"

"Look at your shirt. You never re-buttoned it. And where on earth is your right shoe? What's wrong with you?"

I grinned at him sheepishly. "I'll go back and get it."

"No. Just fix your shirt. You don't have time to get your shoe, maybe Mr. Hall won't notice."

Just before I entered Mr. Hall's office something hit me. Why was Pony is school today if Steve wasn't? Maybe I had my days confused. I turned to Steve. "What day is it?"

He gave me a bewildered look. "Friday. Why?"

"How come you aren't in school?"

"Because it's teacher in-service day or something like that. Now GO!"