Happy Friday!

I hope you enjoy chapter twelve. :) When you get done reading, please review. Three reviews for chapter thirteen. :) Reviews help me write, and they all make me smile.

The floor boards squeaked underneath Daniel's weight. He grabbed a pillow from his bed and launched it at his younger brother. Johnny was awake as soon as it hit him in the back. He rolled over and looked at his brother.

"Get up, tadpole. Mom wants to get going," he said. Johnny rubbed his eyes and sat up slowly.

"Why'd you call me tadpole?" Johnny asked, looking at Daniel. He shrugged his shoulders and sat on his bed.

"I don't know. Maybe it's because that's what Dad use to call me," Daniel answered, staring at the worn out wood.

"What happened to Dad?" Johnny asked curiously. Daniel looked at him sadly.

"He was shot. He was walking to his car one day, and this man came up to him demanding money. He didn't have any, but the guy didn't believe him, so he shot him. He was in the hospital for a week. I watched him die . . ." Tears rolled down Daniel's cheeks. He impatiently wiped them away and stood up. "Be out in five or else Mom is leaving without you." He said, exiting the room.

Johnny looked at the door sadly. He couldn't imagine what Daniel had gone through. He couldn't imagine the pain that he felt. He couldn't imagine watching a parent die.

He kicked the thin fleece blanket back and got out of bed. Johnny stepped into the joined living room and kitchen. Daniel was sitting on the couch absentmindedly nibbling on a piece of toast.

"How'd you sleep last night, dear?" Lucille asked, pushing a plate of toast towards him. Johnny shrugged his shoulders and grabbed a piece. He tore off little pieces and slowly ate the bread. He wasn't very hungry for once. "Daniel, are you almost ready?" Daniel looked up from the floor and nodded his head. Johnny stared at him, thinking about what he said.

He was shot . . . I watched him die.

Is that the reason Daniel didn't like him? Did he for some reason feel Johnny was taking his dad's place?

Johnny finished off his bread and slipped his dirty, black Converse on. Lucille grabbed her purse, and Daniel put his Nike shoes on. Lucille looked at each boy happily.

"You two ready to go?" she asked. They both nodded their heads and walked to the car silently.

XxXxXxX

Ponyboy sat in his English class and stared at the board, waiting for his teacher to give them the assignment. Mr. Syme finished attendance and stood up.

"Okay, class . . ." he said, moving towards the middle of the board. All the students stopped what they were doing and watched him. "We're going to begin class differently today. I want you all to write a short story . . ." the class groaned. "I don't care how long it is, but it has to be at least five sentences. To make it easier, I'm going to give you a question to write about." Mr. Syme turned around and picked up a piece of chalk.

Ponyboy watched as he wrote the question. He was confused. He didn't understand why the class was complaining over writing a short story. It was better than their normal warm-up which consisted of answering twenty difficult English questions. Pony was smart, but even he had trouble answering them.

Mr. Syme moved away from the board to reveal the question. Pony read over it, and he finished it with a big smile.

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

Ponyboy grabbed a sheet of paper and a pencil. This was easy. He'd go to Reseda. He'd go see Johnny. That's exactly what Ponyboy put too.

If I could go anywhere in the world, I wouldn't go very far. I would go to Reseda in California. That's where my best friend is. The other day he moved, and I already miss him so much. He moved out there with his biological family. He's originally from Newark, New Jersey, but he was adopted, and he lived in Tulsa . . .

He went into great detail about Johnny. Surely, Mr. Syme would get bored reading what he had to say, but Pony didn't care. After they were finished, a couple kids raised their hands to share. But not Pony. He was too shy.

XxXxXxX

Johnny looked out the window at the building they were approaching. Daniel looked too, and he didn't look the least bit pleased.

"Why are we here?" he asked curiously.

"That lady with the dog said this was a great place to get cheap clothes that are in good condition. It's like Goodwill, but it's not," Lucille explained. She placed her keys in her purse and got out.

"Come on, tadpole. Your new purchases await," Daniel said, following his mother's actions. Johnny sighed. He didn't know what was worse: Daniel ignoring him or Daniel calling him 'tadpole'. Lucille and Daniel didn't even wait for Johnny. They were already in the store looking around. He got out of the car quickly and hurried to go find them.

"How about this shirt, Johnny?" Lucille asked, holding up a plain, white, button up shirt. Johnny shrugged. Daniel sighed impatiently.

"Just get him clothes. He'll have to wear them eventually," Daniel suggested. Lucille looked at him.

"Daniel, be patient. It won't take long," she turned her attention back towards Johnny. "Why don't you pick out some clothes that you like?" Johnny slowly wandered around the store, scanning the racks of clothes.

He didn't know what was wrong with the clothes he had now. He wore them everyday back in Tulsa, and nobody seemed to mind. Here, it was like he was dressing for himself, and the people around him.

Johnny came to a rack with several plain colored shirts. He looked through them, and when he was finished, he had a total of four new shirts. One was white, one was dark blue, one was brown, and one was back. He held them tightly and quickly found his mother.

Lucille looked at his choices with a big smile.

"Is that what you want?" Johnny nodded his head happily. Lucille took them from him, and they went to check out.

Daniel stole the keys from him mom and ran to the car. He opened the driver's side and got in.

"Can you tell he's eager to drive?" Lucille asked chuckling. Johnny smiled and got into the back seat. Daniel started the car, and Johnny was a little nervous. He had never seen his older brother drive, and Johnny was afraid he was going to kill them all. They all got buckled up and situated. Daniel pulled out of the parking lot, and they began the scary drive home.

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