Since i haven't put on up in awhile...

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Outsiders. All rights go to S.E. Hinton

That is all.

The next morning I woke up on Ponyboy's chest. His index finger was tracing circles on my shoulder. I sighed happily. Hold the phone! Waking up on a guy's chest?!

I sat up slowly, thankful I was wearing clothes. "Good morning," Ponyboy said before being over-come by a massive yawn.

"Um, did you stay here all night?" I asked the obvious.

"Yeah, your mom came in after you had fallen asleep. Told me to keep the door open." He smirked playfully. "Oh, I should probably call Darry."

"Tell him you slept on my couch." He grinned brightly before untangling himself and walking out the door. I flopped back onto the pillow and giggled to myself. I snuck out the door and heard more than one voice. Ponyboy's and what sounded like Sodapop's.

"It's a Saturday, give the girl a break!" Ponyboy complained.

"We wanted to make sure you were being safe," Two-Bit said innocently and Steve spit the orange juice he was drinking back into the mug.

"Ew! Bad mental image! Bad mental image!" Sodapop cried in anguish.

I covered my mouth with my hand to stifle my laughter. Ponyboy's ears were the color of a fire hydrant.

"You guys! It's not like that! We're just friends!" he tried to explain.

"Friends with benefits…" Steve muttered.

"That's it!" Ponyboy grabbed a pillow of my sofa and chased Steve around the house.

I walked into the kitchen a poured myself a glass of orange juice. It turned dead-silent. I turned around and everyone was starring at me. "What?" I asked.

"We wondered why you two left so early last night…now we know you were-" Steve began to say from the other room. "Ow! Quit hitting me Ponyboy!"

I laughed and smiled at the boys. "You're in a good mood this morning," Johnny pointed out.

"Well, why not?" I replied.

Two-Bit and Sodapop exchanged an odd look and grinned.

"So you slept well?" Dallas asked.

"If they slept at all…" Steve called. "Ow! See look what you did Ponyboy!"

All of us went into the living room to find it (and the two boys) covered in tiny, white feathers.

"Carmen! School!"

I rolled over and pulled my pillow onto my head. It was ripped of moments later.

"It's your job to go to school, Carmen."

"I quit!" I said groggily. My mother chuckled and let the pillow fall to my carpeted floor with a soft thud.

"Get up. You're going to be late. Two-Bit, Johnny, and Ponyboy will be here soon to walk with you," I could hear the grin in her voice.

I rolled onto my stomach and pushed my bangs back. My mother leaned against my sky-blue wall and picked at her fake nails. She was in her uniform again and her hair was pulled tight against her scalp in a high ponytail.

I dragged my body out of my warm bed, every muscle screaming in protest. Downstairs I could hear my mom's radio playing and the smell of coffee and bacon drafted up to me. Ah, mornings. Normally I enjoy them…if they don't contain school.

I had torn through my closet last night, pulling everything onto my floor. I eventually decided on a loose black skirt that twirled around my shins, and a white button up shirt with the collar up. Of course I kept my black-and-white Converse on. I had slung my neon orange backpack on to my right shoulder and plopped down at the dinning table for a quick breakfast with Mom, before she was off to work.

"And so, Newton's Third Law of Motion clearly states…" Mr. Lankan, we don't give a damn. My first two classes were fairly interesting. World History and English. I had Ponyboy in my English class and Johnny in history. Physics? No one. The fifty-something, balding man walked past my desk, rattling of other useless things I already knew. Next was lunch…thank goodness! I was about to pop a brain vessel when the bell rang.

I met up with Two-Bit on my way to the lunch area. The lunch area was a section of grass-covered land with two trees and a handful of metal tables. "Let's head to the DX. Pony and Johnny Cake are probably already there." Two-Bit had informed me only certain kids sat in certain areas. He used terms like 'Socs' and 'greasers'. I later found out I was a middle-class girl hanging with greasers. And the Socs bugged the crap outta me.

We walked in semi-silence to the gas station. Johnny and Ponyboy were waiting for us, both with cigarettes hanging out of there mouths. I grabbed them, dropped them on the ground, stepped on them, and continued through the door. Sodapop was laughing when I walked over the counter and smiled.

"Do all of you smoke?" I asked, concern seeping into my voice.

"Nah, not all the time." He shrugged like it was no big deal.

My mom went through half of her college career wanting to be a nurse. I heard horror stories about smoking. Livers that looked like bacon slices…black, tar-filled lungs. I shuddered at the thought.

Ponyboy came over to my left side and Johnny my right. "Lunch time!" Two-Bit pulled a brown bag from behind the sale's counter and pulled out sandwiches and chips.

Lunch went by too fast. I was dragged back (against my will) to the prison known as school. The white Spanish-styled building was now my own personal hell on Earth.

Geometry went by almost as slowly as Physics. Then gym. We started out with baseball. I had Steve, Ponyboy, and Johnny on my team, against Two-Bit and a bunch of people I didn't recognize. One girl on my team seemed familiar. I realized she was in my science class! She high-fived me when I got a home-run. She seemed nice enough.

Ponyboy was fast! He scored four home-runs and practically won the game all by himself.

We were laughing about how much fun the game was and what class we had next. Creative writing.

"Hey, I'm good at writing!" I said.

"In your diary," Ponyboy countered. How the hell does he know I keep a diary? He must have seen the look on my face because he quickly explained.

"Well, that one night…I found it. I didn't read it though! I swear!" he was blushing but he sounded genuine enough that I didn't question him.

"What about your abilities as a writer?"

"I like to write," he answered simply.

Ring! Time to go home! I thought merrily. Ponyboy and I filed out of the school with the rest of Tulsa's youth.

"My place?" he asked me.

"Race you!" I yelled as I took off down the street. I could hear his shoes slapping the ground in rhythm with mine.

He of course won…by about a mile. We were both sweaty and tired when we stumbled into the house.

Ponyboy disappeared into the hallway and came out without his backpack. "No one's home yet."

A house alone with Pony…I had to literally shake my head to keep my imagination from running into the gutter.

We ended up reading for almost an hour before the phone rang shrilly.

Ponyboy scampered up from the couch and grabbed the phone.

"Hello?" There was a pause while he waited for whoever-it-was to answer. "Yeah, we're home." Pause. "Yes 'we'. Carmen came over." Longer pause. This time Pony's ears got red. "Shut up Soda, it's not like that." He sighed after Sodapop replied and hug up the phone with a "Yeah, fine. I will."

"What was that all about?"

"Soda's staying at his girlfriends' place tonight…wanted me to cover for him."

"Oh…" I couldn't think of anything else to say to that.

"Come on." He ordered grabbing my hand and yanking me out the door. Ponyboy hauled me down the street into a familiar clearing. He silently pointed to the west and sat down, pulling me with him.

We watched as the blazing orange sky, turned dark and mysterious with the sunset. It was amazing! I had never noticed how the shades grew darker until they were blue-black.

"Beautiful, huh?" Ponyboy asked. I nodded.

It was a romantic thing. Only couples did this kinda thing…right? Or was I being paranoid. I had seen sunsets in California but never understood the breath-taking majesty of the…until Ponyboy showed me. He smiled dreamily at me and said quietly, "I knew you'd like it."

Ponyboy helped me to my feet but didn't let go of my right hand. That's how we walked to my house. Where he left me, swooning in the after-shock of his presence.

Is a kiss in the near future? Declarations of love? Or a suprise twist that no one expected? Haha! I felt evil today so i wrote up a new chapter. I will only add it if i get 10 more reviews. You want the chapter? You must review!