Chapter Six: Trust

Pony POV

It'd been a month since Cam had moved in, and we were all used to each other by now. It was April, and I was doing a lot of track. On this day, Two-bit had ditched, so Cam had stayed at practice because Darry didn't want her walking home alone.

Practice ran late that day, and the coach had really worked us. I was exhausted when I walked out of the locker room.

"You look like shit."

"Such a nasty word for a lady to say."

She rolled her eyes and got up. She'd been sitting in the grass next to the school.

"Shut up! My dad cussed like a sailor."

We walked home just talking about nothing. It was kind of surprising how easy it'd been when she moved here. Soda had been worried that she'd think she was better than us, and she never acted like that.

Soda POV

"I'm home!"

Darry came out of the kitchen.

"Hey, how was work?"

"Good. It was a slow day."

I noticed no one else was around.

"Where's Pony and Cam?"

"She's in her room, and he's sleeping. Said the coach really worked them today. He was exhausted."

Cam walked out of the hallway.

"Hey."

"Hey, you look tired."

She shrugged.

"Um... Darry, I need to ask you something."

He sat in his recliner.

"Okay. Shoot."

"Some friends from school asked me to hang out tomorrow. It's Saturday, so I was wondering if that was okay."

"Who are they?"

She looked down.

"Kara, Lesley, Davis, Mikey, Ryan, and Curly..."

We both tensed.

"Some of the boys you mentioned are in the Shepherd gang..."

"I know, but we're just having a bonfire..."

I could tell that Darry didn't know what to do. She had only hung out with the five of us, she hadn't been with anyone else.

"I don't trust them..."

She sighed.

"Darry, you know I'd come home if I needed to... Please?"

"Fine, but I want you home by 10:00."

"I thought you let us stay out till midnight on the weekends."

"That's if you're with one of the gang."

She sighed again.

"Okay. I'll be home by 10:00."

She walked back to her room.

"Why'd you agree to that?"

"Because she has a right to have other friends. Pony hangs out with Curly sometimes and comes home if he senses trouble, I think she'd do the same."

I didn't like it. I knew I had to do something.

Cam POV

The next day, I hung out with my friends. We went to the pond and hung around town. That night, we were having a bonfire in Curly's back yard.

"So, you like Tulsa so far?"

"Yeah, I do. I've never lived in the city, so..."

"How do you like living in the Curtis house?"

I smiled.

"I like it a lot, Mikey. It was always just me and my parents. It's good to be around kids my age."

"Like me?"

He scooted closer to me and I could feel myself blushing. He chuckled. I'd gotten really close to Mikey. It killed me that he was in the Shepherd gang.

"No, you're bad news."

He put his hands on his chest in mock hurt.

"Ouch!"

I laughed and he put his arm around me. Everything had been going great, until we heard someone yell ow from the bushes. Curly went over to investigate, and pulled out the culprit from the bushes. My eyes went wide.

"Ponyboy?!"

Soda POV

I'd told Steve and Pony about Cam's plans the next morning. They both looked at each other. Pony spoke up.

"And...?"

"I want us to follow her."

Steve rolled his eyes.

"You're not really doing the whole 'big brother watching over my shoulder' thing, are you?"

"I wouldn't if it wasn't the Shepherd gang."

Pony scoffed.

"This is stupid. She'll be fine."

I glared at them.

"We're doing it."

We followed them to the pond and around town.

"Soda, they haven't done anything but hang out. This is getting ridiculous. We should just go..."

"We can't. I don't trust them, Steve."

"You don't have to. Tim doesn't mess with girls on this side of town and he doesn't let his gang. If she wanted to go home, they'd take her home."

"Shut up!"

We finally ended at Tim's house. They were having a bonfire, and we were watching from the bushes in their backyard. Pony whispered to us.

"This is the stupidest thing I've ever done! Darry's gonna wonder why all of us are gone when Cam's the only one who said she was going anywhere. We need to leave."

I ignored him. That's when I saw her and Mikey talking real close. Then, I saw him out his arm around her, and my blood boiled. I whispered.

"That bastard!"

"Ow!"

I'd accidentally hit Ponyboy. Curly came over and pulled him out of the bushes.

"Ponyboy?!"

She walked over to him. Curly was standing there shocked.

"What are you doing here, Curtis? Come to join the party?"

I thought Pony would cover for me and say he was.

"I'm here because Sodapop's stupid."

I groaned and Steve and I stood up.

"Thanks a lot, Pone."

"What're you guys doing here?"

The group of friends she'd been with were all staring at us. Curly went back to the fire to watch with everyone else. I walked towards her.

"I can explain..."

"Explain what? That you were spying on me? Thanks a lot, you guys!"

She turned to the group.

"I think I need to go. I'll see you guys later."

Curly nodded.

"We're all going to the drag race at The Wood tomorrow. Meet here at 5:00 if you wanna go."

"Will do."

Mikey walked over.

"I had fun."

She smiled.

"Me, too."

I grabbed her arm.

"We need to go."

She yanked her arm away, told Mikey bye, and started heading home. They didn't live too far from us, but she was ahead of us the whole way. When we all walked through the door, Darry looked at the clock.

"It's only 8:30. I thought you'd still be out."

"I would be if it wasn't for them!"

She pointed to us. She told Darry everything that had happened.

"Please tell me you didn't put them up to it?"

He shook his head and glared at us. Ponyboy spoke up.

"It was Sodapop, and he didn't give us an option!"

I groaned.

"Again, thanks a lot!"

Cam glared at me.

"You're a jackass!"

"I didn't want you getting in any trouble with them!"

She crossed her arms.

"Okay, tell me one thing that we did today that was trouble?"

I scoffed.

"Mikey and you were getting pretty close at the fire."

She glared.

"And what's wrong with that?"

"You don't need to be dating anyone!"

Steve snorted.

"That's the pot calling the kettle black."

"Shut up!"

"Okay! That's enough!"

We all looked at Darry. He had stood up by now.

"Cam, have you eaten tonight?"

She shook her head.

"Steve, Pony, take her to The Dingo to eat."

No one argued and he gave them some money. Once he heard them pull out the driveway, he looked at me. I rolled my eyes.

"What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to tell me what was going through your head."

"You're the one that let her go out with them!"

He rolled his eyes.

"Only three of them are in Shepherds gang, and the others were just greasers."

"Yeah, I'm sure you would've liked seeing Mikey Kingsley's arm around her..."

He sighed and ran his hands down his face.

"Sodapop, you can't do this. I know that she's your sister, but she's literally the exact same age as you. You've got to trust her. If she makes a mistake, she'll get punished for it."

I grunted.

"I hate to do this, but you're grounded."

I stumbled back in shock.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. The only place you can go for a week is work, and I will call and get your schedule."

He'd never grounded me before.

"You... You can't do that!"

"I'm your guardian, so I can."

I stalked off to my room. I couldn't believe that I'd just been grounded.