Hi guys. Please keep reviewing. This one might be a little long, but we're getting ready for the big date!
"Wake up Tali! Your safe! It's okay! We're all safe!" It was a whole bunch of voices. I sat up & opened my eyes. All of the gang was sitting on the bed or standing around it. Soda's arms were wrapped around me.
"I'm...sorry. You...guys go back to bed." I whispered.
"Are you okay?" Johnny asked, his black eyes wide with fear. I nodded.
"Yeah. I'm okay." I reassured. All of the guys, except Soda, left.
"What time is it?" I asked him.
"Um, it's 4:30 Wednesday morning." he yawned.
"I'm sorry I woke everyone up." I apologized.
"It's okay. Really. It was just a nightmare, do you remember what it was?" he asked. I shook my head.
"That's okay." he reassured. He hugged me tighter.
"I'm not gonna be able to go back to sleep." I told him.
"Okay. What do you wanna do?" he asked.
"I don't know. What about some chocolate cake?" I asked. He nodded.
"Be right back." he got up & left. He came back in with two plates of cake. He sat down on the bed.
"So… you wanna tell me what it was?" he asked. I shook my head no.
"Come on Tali. You need to tell someone. Please." he almost whined.
"Ok. It was about the gang in Jersey & the gang here. They came down & you all made me pick. I picked you guys & we had a rumble. It was terrible." I sobbed.
"Oh baby. It's okay. We would never make you choose." he comforted. We were done with the cake & put the plates on the nightstand.
"Soda?" I asked, drifting to sleep.
"Yeah?" he replied.
"Don't ever leave me." It came out more of a question.
"Never." I fell asleep, feeling more safe then I had in a long time.
I woke up and the birds were singing. I've missed so much school. How am I ever gonna make it all up? I wondered.
"Darry I don't wanna. They make me sick!" I could hear Pony shout from the living room or kitchen. I got out of bed & walked into the living room.
"Okay. I'll call the doc & see if we can get you some new pain pills." Darry nodded.
"Thank you." Pony said. Darry went to the phone. Pony looked at me with a sick face.
"You okay?" I asked. He shook his head & ran into the bathroom. I ran after him. He was throwing up into the toilet. I ran to the kitchen & got him a glass of water. I went back to the bathroom & flushed the toilet. I crouched down next to him & gave him the glass. Soda was at work & Darry was on the phone, so I had to turn into my nurturing self. Pony was sitting next to the toilet crying.
"It hurts. My ribs hurt & the pills make me sick. I hate this." he cried.
"I know. It's okay. Darry's gonna take you to the doctor. It's gonna be okay." I whispered, giving him a hug. Darry ran into the bathroom.
"Ponyboy, are you okay?" he asked, concern filling his voice. Pony nodded.
"I got you in. They had a bunch of cancellations. Let's go." he said. We got up off of the floor & Pony gave me a hug.
"Thank you." he whispered. I nodded as we walked back into the living room.
"I'll drop you off on the way Tali." Darry decided, as we walked to the truck. We drove over to my house & I got out.
"I'll more than likely be back sometime. I need Pony to check my homework." I told Darry. Pony laughed. They left & I walked inside. Parker actually went to school, & he was gonna bring back my homework. Paxton was laying on the couch.
"Hey! How ya doin'?" he asked, as I slumped into dad's recliner.
"Good. I want this cast off though." I told him. He shook his head.
"No. Not that. Darry called us this morning saying that you had another nightmare. He said you talked to Soda about it." he answered. No! I don't want to talk about it with him. Not now.
"I told him about Julian & the rest of the gang. That's what the nightmare was about." I whispered.
"Oh Tali, I'm sorry." Paxton replied, getting off the couch & giving me a hug.
"I'm gonna go to my bedroom. Can you tell me when Park gets home?" I asked. He nodded. I walked up the stairs & Rain followed. I got to my bedroom & started looking through my closet. I found a box labeled Memories. I brought it out & put it on my jumped up & started sniffing it. I took the book that was on top out. I started flipping through the pages. They all had pictures of the Jersey gang. Somebody knocked on my door.
"Come in!" I shouted, stuffing the box under my bed. Parker came in with a big bag full of my binders.
"Here's all your homework. I told all your teachers that you were real sick & that you'd be back next week." he explained, handing me the bag. I groaned.
"I'm gonna go to the Curtis' & do it. You guys are too loud & I wanna help Pony with his." I told him.
"Okay. Have fun." he replied. He left & I changed into a t-shirt, leather jacket, jeans, & a pair of converse. I grabbed the bag & left. When I got over to the Curtis', I didn't expect anyone to be there. I walked into the kitchen & started to work. I had a science & an english project.
"Howdy!" I jumped & threw my book at whoever it was. I looked up. It was Two-Bit.
"Holy shit Tali! Jesus! That hurt." he whined, holding the book in one hand, & his nose in the other. I got up & took the book from him.
"Sorry." I mumbled. I got up & took the book from him. He grabbed a tissue & stuffed it in his nose. He grabbed a beer & walked out, turning on the tv. I took my book & sat on the couch in the living room.
"Where are the other Curtises?" Two-Bit asked.
"This morning Pony got sick from the pills, so Darry took him to the doctors." I explained, as he grabbed another tissue. The two brothers came through the door.
"So?" I asked Pony.
"They gave me a new kind. He said that this wouldn't make me sick." he said, happily. I nodded.
"What happened to you? Did you get jumped Two-Bit?" Darry asked. I looked at him. His eye was black & his nose was still bleeding.
"Nup. Not jumped, I scared Tali & she threw her book at me." he explained. Darry looked at me.
"Good aim." he congratulated. I laughed. We played a couple games of poker before Soda & Steve came home.
"Hey baby." Soda greeted, kissing me. A sound of gagging arose from Two-Bit & Steve. I looked at Two-Bit.
"Do you want me to throw another book at you?" I threatened. He shook his head violently. Me & Pony went into the kitchen to do the rest of our homework.
"What does Soda want for his birthday?" I asked Pony. He looked at me.
"Anything that has to do with cars...I really think anything you get him will be good. He really likes horses too." he told me.I nodded & we went back to doing our homework. After about another hour, I looked up at Pony. His head was swaying & he looked sick.
"Pony? Are you okay?" I asked, getting up & moving closer to him.
"I...I don't...know." he quavered & passed out cold as I caught his head in my hands.
"Darry! Soda!" I shouted. They came running in.
"What happened?" Darry asked.
"I don't know. I looked up & he looked really tired." I reported.
"Is he gonna be okay?" Soda asked quietly.
"Yeah. He's just sleeping. We're gonna have to cut those pills in half." Darry reassured him. He lifted Pony up & took him to the bedroom, & we went into the living room. Darry came back out.
"He's out. The doc said that if that happened, to cut em' in half." he explained. We all nodded.
"I don't wanna wake Pony when I go in there. He needs his sleep." Soda said. I thought about this for a couple seconds.
"Why don't you spend the night over at my house?" I suggested. Soda looked at Darry & he nodded.
"As long as it's okay with Tali's dad." he agreed. I nodded as well. Soda snuck into Pony's room to pack a bag, & came back a couple minutes later.
"Are you sure he's okay? I accidentally turned the light on & he didn't even flinch?" he asked, sounding worried.
"Yeah. He'll be fine. Let me go check on him, & I want you guys gone by the time I get back." Darry ordered, getting up. We said bye to the guys & left. We walked over to my house & walked through the door. Parker & Paxton were wrestling with each other.
"Howdy." Paxton greeted.
"Howdy." Soda said. They both stopped & got up.
"Soda's gonna sleep over here tonight. Pony got sick & needed his sleep." I explained. The twins nodded. Soda yawned loudly.
"We're gonna go on up to bed. We've had a long day. Goodnight guys." I concluded.
"Good night guys." they said, again in unison. Me & Soda laughed as we walked up the stairs. I looked back at the guys who had a puzzled look on their faces from the inside joke. We got to my bedroom & we fell asleep before any talking or anything could happen.
