The next morning, Cherry wished that she could just stay in bed all day, rather than get up and go to school. She was still upset about her confrontation with Soda, and wished she could just forget about the whole thing. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy, but she truly wished that it was.

Cherry hadn't said a word to either Two-Bit or Lily about her conversation- or more like argument- with Soda, even though she was currently living with them. She tried to act like she was fine and that nothing had even happened, but she wasn't quite sure if she was convincing enough to the two siblings she was currently living with. She at least hoped that she was putting on a good show for the two, since at the moment, she really was not in the mood to discuss the events of the night previous to the present time with anyone.

"You seem real quiet, Cherry," Lily commented as they walked through the halls, "Everythin' alright?"

"Oh, yeah," Cherry lied, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Lily nodded slowly. "Did you know that one of the most common lies in the entire world is the words, I'm fine? Interesting, isn't it?"

"Gee, you sure are subtle."

"I try. Now what's goin' on?"

Cherry looked down for a moment. "I don't really wanna talk about it, Lily."

"I heard that those who don't talk 'bout their problems and just bottle it all up go mentally insane after a little while, then they just have a breakdown and go nuts."

"You really won't let this go, will you?" Cherry asked.

Lily shook her head. "No, I will not," she answered honestly, "Now, what's goin' on?"

The school bell rang, signaling all the present students to evacuate the hallways and to get to their classes. Cherry looked over at her friend then said, "I'll tell you everything at lunch. I promise."

"Deal," Lily agreed hesitantly, "But you have to tell me everything."

-/-/-

Evie watched as Layla slept on a blanket on the couch cushion. The baby girl's tiny torso and body rose slowly and gently in accordance with her breathing pattern. The sound of her breathing was soft and gentle, sounding like a soft sigh. The girl with hair like a raven gently ran her hand over the baby girl's hair, which was the same exact shade of jet black. Her hair, though dark, matched perfectly with the color of her light eyes, which was a mixed shade of blue and green.

"Hi, Layla," Evie said in a near whisper, "I know you're sleepin', but I just want you to know somethin'. I know you'll never 'member this, but I'm still gonna say it… I know I'm a lot younger than most mom's. That's not your fault, it's mine- but I still love you. I don't regret deciding to keep you, and I'm happy your daddy decided to stay with us. Now I can't promise that life'll always be perfect, but me and your daddy are gonna do our very best to make sure that you're always happy. But even when things get hard, and things don't look so good, just remember that me and Daddy will always love you- no matter what. Ok?"

Layla, who was still asleep, gave a small smile in her sleep. Evie let out an amazed chuckle, then leaned down to kiss the baby girl's forehead. "You'll always be happy," she whispered again.

-/-/-

"So, she's gonna tell you what's up at lunch?" Ponyboy asked his girlfriend curiously.

"Yeah," Lily answered as she nodded, "She's been actin' real strange since last night."

"So has Sodapop, actually. Think it's related."

"After what's happened? I don't doubt it for a second."

Ponyboy nodded in agreement. "Maybe I could try talkin' to Soda about what happened," he suggested.

Ponyboy was the most worried about his one older brother, with Darry and Steve right behind him, their little group of friend's right behind them. The youngest Curtis brother had noticed the dramatic change in his brother first, when it had first happened. Of course, he'd grown worried at first abou tit, but that worry had quickly grown to a major concern for his older brother. He tried to ignore it at times, but no matter how hard he would try, he couldn't shake the concern that he felt for his one elder brother- but this didn't exactly shock him.

The school bell rang again, and the two came to attention. "You'll be okay?" Lily asked her boyfriend.

Ponyboy nodded in confirmation. "Yeah," he said, "I'll be fine. I'll see you later."

The two then shared a quick but intimate kiss before turning away from each other to walk to their next class for the day.

-/-/-

Just like promised, Lily and Cherry met up at lunch. The two girls didn't sit with their usual group of friends so that they could talk in private. They had informed only Ponyboy about what they were talking about, and that was only because he and Lily had been talking about it earlier in the hall. He would cover for them for their absence from the table, saying that they were in a section of the library, the older of the two tutoring the younger in French, since both chose that as their foreign language for the school year.

The cover was half true, but only for the fact that the two girls were meeting in the library. They would meet in the library to talk for the fact that nearly no one went to the school library during the lunch hour, maybe with the exception of- at most- somewhere between five to ten people. But even with this factor in mind, it was a large library, so the chances of the two girls being interrupted were very slim… especially since they chose to talk at a table in a small cavity of the bookshelves in the library that were labeled with a sign that said: Mathematics.

"So what's goin' on?" Lily asked curiously, "What's got you all upset or somethin'?"

Cherry let out a heavy sigh. "I talked with Soda yesterday," she answered quietly.

Lily's eyes widened for a brief moment. "Oh, wow… well, what happened?"

"We kinda argued a little. I felt bad 'bout it though, cause we were at Steve and Evie's house."

"Do ya think that they set it up for you two to both be at the house at the same time?"

Cherry shook her head. "I don't think so cause Evie didn't know I was coming," she claimed.

Lily nodded in understanding. "I get it," she confirmed, "Are you gonna try to talk to him again at all?"

"I honestly don't know. I mean, we only talked for a few minutes and we yelled at each other. Accused each other."

"So you're saying that you want to, but you're scared that you'll get into another argument?"

"Exactly."

"Well then, why don't you two agree to meet together- somewhere public, but not too public. That way, you two might not yell, so you won't get embarrassed out in public. And maybe two of the rest of us could go with you two, so then if things start to get too heated or outta hand, there's gonna be more than one mediator to get you two under control."

Cherry pondere over the suggestion of her blonde friend. She had to admit that it was a pretty good idea, once you took all the situation problems into consideration. It was definitely a safer option; it gave the two specific reasons for the two not to get into another "he said/ she said" type of argument. Then, even if something did start to happen, two would be right there to break it up before anything major was about to occur. It was a wise idea, one that would be idiotic to say no to.

"I'm ok with it," Cherry agreed, "Who do you think the two might be?"

Lily shrugged lightly. "Not sure yet," she answered, "We'd have to see if Soda would agree to it, first. If he does, maybe Kathy and Dallas? Mostly cause the two of 'em are the strongest, and dealing with the least amount of crap right now, you know?"

"Good point. Plus, they're both brutally honest so that might be a good thing in this case."

Lily nodded. "Then it's settled. I'll just talk to Ponyboy and see if he can talk to Soda and try to get Soda to agree to it, and there we go."

As the two girls got up from their seats at the table and left the library to go and meet up with everyone in the cafeteria of the school, Cherry couldn't help but think incredulously: What did I just get myself into?

I am pretty sure this story should be ending very soon. I don't know how many chapters are left just yet, but when I do know, I will let you know. I kinda wanna finish all my stories on this site, but I know I can't cause my one Outsiders story won't be done for a while, and my Expendables story is still new and I know it won't end totally soon. I seriously just wanna finish it all right now.

My dad's birthday is this week, as well as my parents wedding anniversary. I bought my dad Spaceball's on dvd for his birthday. Then for their anniversary, I wanted to get them both Serial Mom, but couldn't find it, so I bought my parents both their own two gifts. I bought my dad his favorite Elton John album: Madman Across the Water, and his favorite Frank Zappa album: One Size Fits All. I'm so proud of myself for finding those three, cause they were so hard to find, oh my gahd. Then for my mom I bought her season three of the new Hawaii Five-O, and a Whitney Houston cd, one of those the best of type things. Season three of the new Hawaii Five-O has some of the best guest stars, like the ones I always miss on television as reruns at like three in the morning with C. Thomas Howell, Peter Weller, and Dog the Bounty Hunter.

Anyway, I don't know what else to say or talk about, so that's it, I guess. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and peace from all the hippies of the world. =^-^=