Soon after the "Dehydration Incident" Pony and I got our grades back for our art projects. I got a 95, which I was very happy about. My score had mostly been boosted because of my writing rather than the actual drawings.

Ponyboy got a 105 with extra points because of his artistic ability and his way with words. Needless to say, he was pretty happy with his grade. Darry was too.

Speaking of Darry, everyone had noticed his happier mood in those last few weeks.

One day when I was at the Curtis' I found out the reason.

I was staying for dinner that night and when I asked Darry if he needed any help making the food, he said yes, which he didn't do very often.

"I've been meaning to talk to you, Lily."

"What about?" I asked hesitantly.

"I kinda got a problem."

"What kinda problem?"

"Well…", he muttered while cutting some vegetables, "there's this girl…"

My eyes widened to the size of saucers. "You have a girlfriend?"

"Shh!" he hushed me quickly. "She's not my girlfriend…yet."

"Yet?"

"I kinda like her, but I haven't asked her out."

"You 'kinda like her'?"

"Okay", he relented, "I really like her."

"What's your problem then?" I was confused.

"Doll, I haven't had a girlfriend since high school and that was four years ago. I don't really remember what to do."

I nodded. "Okay, but what can I do to help you?"

"I dunno", he ran a hand down his face, which I had seen Pony do many times too, "you're a girl. You might know what I should do."

"Well, first off, you need to tell me about her. I'm not sure if I can help, but I'll try my best."

"Her name's Ruth and she's a year younger than me. She's got blonde hair and the prettiest dark green eyes. She'll be in her last year of college next year."

"What's she going for?"

"She's majoring in engineering and minoring in math at OU, but she's from here. I don't remember her real well from high school, but I remember hearing her name mentioned. She was on the swimming team."

"What's she like?" I was excited for Darry. He finally found a girlfriend.

He almost turned to mush just thinking about her. "Glory, she's amazing. She's so sweet and nice and helpful. She loves what she's going to school for and she's passionate about it. She doesn't care that I'm a greaser and she respects that I have to take care of my brothers."

I cocked my head a bit. "Is Ruth not a greaser?"

"She's middle-class."

"I think that you should just ask her out. She'll probably like it better if you're straightforward about it."

"Thanks, doll", Darry said, giving me an affectionate, yet quick squeeze.

"It's what I'm here for", I smiled.

We continued making dinner for a while before I thought of something.

"Darry?"

"Yeah?"

"How'd you meet Ruth anyway?"

"Well…", he rubbed the back of his neck, yet another thing that I had seen Pony do before, "I kinda…sorta…almost dropped a hammer on her head."

I stopped what I was doing and looked up at him. "You did what?"

"I know, I know. It didn't hit her, though."

"How the hell did you manage to almost drop a hammer on her?"

"I was working on a roof about a month ago and when I swung back as I was nailing in a nail, the hammer flew out of my hand. Ruth was walking down the sidewalk in front of the house."

"Darry, just…just be more careful."

"Will do."

I couldn't help but smile while asking, "Is that why you've been so giddy the past few weeks?"

"I have?"

"Oh, absolutely. Everyone's noticed."

"This should be interesting to explain", he sighed.

"Will it ever."

XxXxXxXxXx

About a week after my conversation with Darry, it was Two-Bit's graduation day. It was a Saturday and I had come over early that day, especially since I needed to help the boys look presentable.

The man of the hour himself barged into the house at noon, clad in an unbuttoned white dress shirt, too small dress pants and an unknotted tie hanging out of his pants pocket.

"GUESS WHAT TODAY IS!" he yelled excitedly and if the house hadn't already been awake yet, they would have been by that.

We all couldn't help but smile, though.

Two-Bit's mom and sister walked through the door after him.

"Hey, Lizzie", I greeted, giving her a quick hug, "how're you doin'?"

"As good as I can be while living with this idiot", she smiled, jerking her thumb towards her brother.

"Has Ashlynn been behaving herself at work?"

"Yep, she's been great."

"Good, because if she weren't, I'd have to have a talk with her."

Mrs. Mathews walked over to us. She was quite short, probably about 5'3 and was a little plump. But she had this cheerfulness about her that just made you want to be her friend. Her eyes were more blue like Lizzie's and she had Two-Bit's rusty hair. "It's wonderful to have a girl in the house. We're the only civilized ones here."

Two-Bit, Soda, and Steve all turned towards us and said a simultaneously insulted, "Hey!"

Mrs. Mathews, Lizzie, and I laughed at them and soon my name was called.

"Lily?" Steve shouted.

"Yes, Steven?" I was the only one who could call him that without getting my face pounded in. We had deemed it an example of "kid-sister privileges".

"I need help!"

"Oy vey", I muttered under my breath before yelling back, "With what?"

"I need my tie tied and Darry's in the bathroom."

Darry was the only one who knew how to tie a tie and had ordered all of the boys to wear one, even if they had to borrow it.

"Coming!" I yelled to him before turning to Mrs. Mathews and Lizzie. "The ever-present responsibilities of a preschool teacher."

I heard them laugh as I walked into the kitchen, only to see Steve with some kind of half-unraveled, half-tied tie around his neck.

"Steve, what the hell did you do?"

"I don't really know, to be honest", he chuckled.

I rolled my eyes and kicked a chair out from under the table, making Steve sit in it by yanking him by his tie. Sitting on a chair in front of him, I carefully unraveled the tie and put it back around his neck, straightening it out and tying it properly before tightening it slightly.

"There", I huffed, heading back into the living room, where I could (hopefully) get away from my tie-tying duties.

"I don't believe we've ever met", Mrs. Mathews said with a warm smile. "I'm Mrs. Mathews."

"I'm Lily Smith, though you probably already figured that out."

"And how do you know these hooligans?"

"I'm Ponyboy's girlfriend."

She turned to her daughter. "This is the girl that you were talking about, Lizzie?"

"Yes, Mom."

"All good things, I hope", I broke in.

"Of course! It's just that I almost didn't believe that it was true when she said that Ponyboy had a girlfriend. He's still a little boy in my mind."

"Well, here I am", I smiled. I still hadn't even seen my boyfriend since I had gotten to the house. The gang told me he was getting "gussied up" in his room and had holed himself up there since breakfast.

"Here you are", Mrs. Mathews agreed with a laugh. "And might I say that you're just beautiful."

My face flushed a deep red color. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Darry! I need you to-" Ponyboy came out of his room and started to yell to his brother, stopping when he saw me. "Wow, you look great, darlin'."

Just as my previous blush had started to fade, another came on, turning my face bright red yet again.

"Thank you, honey." I was wearing my best dress, a light blue one that came to my knees with short sleeves, Mrs. Curtis's heels, my necklace, ring, and a pair of silver stud earrings. I had put a little bit of makeup on and Dutch-braided the two front sections of my hair, tying them in the back to create a kind of half-up-half-down kind of look. I was wearing a black sweater with the top two buttons buttoned to hide the scars on my arm and collarbone. "You look pretty good yourself."

He was wearing a tucked-in white dress shirt and dress pants, his tie in his hand. His hair had been greased back and from the smell, he had just put on his cologne.

"What were you comin' out here screaming about?" I laughed.

"I needed Darry to tie my tie."

"He's in the bathroom right now. Here, I'll do it." I put out my hand for the tie, which he gave me and I leaned up, popping up his collar and wrapping the tie around his neck, tying it and tightening it before smoothing his collar back down.

He gave me a peck on the lips and thanked me before going into the kitchen with the rest of the gang.

"You're cute together", Mrs. Mathews observed.

"Thank you."

"Good gracious", she laughed, fanning herself with her hand, "I feel old. It seems like just yesterday Pony was a four-year-old playing with his blocks and now look at him! All grown up!"

"Time really does fly", I laughed.

Just then, the door opened again and the girlfriends filed in. Rachel was in a bright yellow dress that complimented her skin-tone with her hair up in a bun. Evie was in a navy dress with a pair of 6-inch silver heels that I never even wanted to try walking in. Ashlynn was wearing a peach dress with a pair of tan-colored flats and her hair in a curled ponytail.

I greeted each one with a hug and we talked until Darry came out of the bathroom a few minutes later. I excused myself and walked over to him.

"Darry, will Ruth be here soon?"

The day after Darry had asked me for advice, he had asked Ruth out. The gang went wild when they heard. Darry invited her to Two-Bit's graduation so we could all meet her and we were all anxious for it.

"I think so. She said she'd be here around-"

As if on cue, the door opened once again and a girl walked in. She was very pretty with wavy blonde hair and a small figure. She couldn't have been much taller than me, maybe 5'5 or 5'6 at the tallest. She was in a green dress with small grey heels.

Darry's face immediately lit up and I knew that this was Ruth. He walked over to her, gave her a hug, and kissed her cheek before pulling back and standing next to her with an arm around her shoulders.

"Everyone, this is Ruth. Ruth, this is everyone."

We all gave her our varied greetings.

"It's great to finally meet y'all", she smiled. I could tell she felt a little overwhelmed, which I understood since there were 10 people in the room that she had never met before.

She introduced herself to the gang before wandering over to the girls and introducing herself. Everyone introduced themselves and said how they knew the boys and Ruth and her had a small conversation before the next girl introduced herself.

"I'm Lily", I told her. "Ponyboy's girlfriend."

"He's Darry's youngest brother, right?"

"Yeah, he is."

"How old are you two?"

"I'm fifteen, going on sixteen this September. Pony's turning sixteen in July."

Ruth grinned. "How long have y'all been together?"

"It'll be two years this fall", I said, tucking a stray hair behind my ear.

"That's great. You don't see many young couples that last this long. You must be doin' something right."

I laughed. "I sure hope so. How's Darry been?"

"Oh, he's awfully sweet."

"He is", I agreed. "He seems a little scary when you first meet him, but he's just a big old softy. All of the gang is that way, really."

"They all seem very nice. Especially your boyfriend and Sodapop."

"I would hope Pony would be nice. If he wasn't, I'd have to knock some sense into him later", I laughed.

"What's this about knocking sense into me?"

I turned around to see Ponyboy.

"I was just saying how you better be being nice to Ruth because if you aren't, I'm going to knock some sense into you."

He smiled and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Gee, thanks, darlin'. I'm really feelin' the love."

I laughed and leaned on him a little. "Don't worry, honey. It wouldn't be anything permanent. Only a bruise or somethin'."

Pony rolled his eyes with a smirk and kissed my head before walking into his room.

"Are you really gonna him 'im?" Ruth questioned with a laugh.

"Probably not. If anything, I might give him a hit upside the head, but he'll be fine", I grinned.

"It's time to go, y'all!" Darry's voice boomed across the house a moment later.

Everyone streamed out of the house. Rachel, Two-Bit, Mrs. Mathews, and Lizzie piled into Two-Bit's car, Steve, Evie, Soda, and Ashlynn went into Steve's car, and Darry, Ruth, Pony, and I got into Darry's truck.

On the drive to the school, Pony and I talked in the backseat about allergies. (How we reached this topic, I wasn't quite sure.)

"I don't have any", he said.

"I don't either", I told him. "But Ashlynn is awful with pollen. Remember that day last month when it poured out and we had to run to your house?"

He nodded.

"She wasn't there that day because there was lots of pollen in the air and she was coughing and sneezing the whole night before."

"That's gotta be rough."

"Yeah", I agreed. "When we were little, we sometimes had to cancel or reschedule playdates because of it."

"That musta sucked."

"Yeah", I chuckled a little, reminiscing.

(Flashback)

"We're going to Ashlynn's house! We're going to Ashlynn's house!", I singsonged.

A 4-year-old me was prancing around the kitchen at 7 in the morning; a time almost incomprehensible for me to wake up at as I reached my teenage years. My mom was pouring the milk in the waiting bowl of Cheerios on the kitchen table that was meant for me.

"Peanut, I know you're excited, but you have to quiet down a little. I just got Anna and Henry to settle down", she told me calmly.

My eyes widened and I instantly stopped in my tracks. I'm a big sister, I thought to myself. I have to be good to the babies.

The twins were almost one and I would be turning 5 fairly soon.

"Can I see them, Mommy?" I asked as I tip-toed up to her and looked up to her face.

"Eat your breakfast first. Then you can see them."

I smiled and hopped into my chair as carefully as I could, not wanting to disturb the twins. The cereal was done in less than 5 minutes.

"Can I see the Anna and Henry now?"

My mom smiled down at me softly, tiredly. It must have been exhausting for my parents to raise three kids under 5 when they were only in their mid-twenties themselves. Especially since they were living on the rough, poor side of town.

"You have to be quiet though, okay?"

I nodded vigorously.

She picked me up in her arms, sitting me on her hip, and carried me into her and my dad's room where the twins slept in their crib.

My dad was getting ready for work when we walked in, pulling on a flannel button-up over an undershirt.

"Hi, Daddy!", I greeted, leaning out of my mom's arms slightly to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, Gracie", he grinned. My dad had always called me "Gracie", a variation of my middle name, Grace, as a nickname, especially when I was younger. It was his mom's name.

"Daddy, guess what!"

"What?"

"I'm gonna go see Ashlynn today!"

"That sounds exciting! What're you ladies going to do?"

"I think we'll play with dolls and dress-up", I responded.

"That sounds fun!" he said as he kissed my forehead before turning to my mom. "Do we have anymore oatmeal, Sweetheart?"

"I put it on the counter."

"You're the best", he told her and gave her a peck on the lips.

"Babies", I insisted when he left the room a moment later.

"Don't you worry, Peanut. The babies are right here, just waiting for you to see them."

My mom carried me over to the crib and I leaned onto the bars so I could get a look at the twins.

They were still sleeping soundly (probably a miracle for my parents) and I didn't want to wake them up.

"Hi, Anna. Hi, Henry", I whispered and cautiously ran a finger over each of their cheeks. Then I practically crawled out of my mom's arms and kissed each of the twins on the forehead, hoping they wouldn't stir. Luckily, they didn't.

That was when the phone rang. Mom carefully set me down and rushed to the phone so it wouldn't disturb Anna and Henry.

"Hello?… Hi, Laura…Why? Is everything alright?… Oh, that's awful. I hope she feels better soon…Bye."

"Who was that?" I questioned. It was what I asked every time one of my parents talked on the phone.

My mom crouched down to my level. "Peanut, that was Ms. Young, Ashlynn's mommy."

"Is she excited for the playdate?"

She sighed. "Lily, Ashlynn can't have a playdate today."

I was shocked. "What? Why?"

"Well, Ashlynn has something called an allergy. It means that she gets sick sometimes when the pollen comes out in spring and summer."

"What's pollen?"

"You know when we go into the garden and there is that powder in the middle of all the flowers?"

I nodded.

"That's pollen. It helps new flowers grow and bees use it to make honey. But for Ashlynn, when the flowers bloom and there's lots of pollen, it makes her sick. She was coughing and sneezing all last night and still doesn't feel very good."

Tears were welling up in my eyes.

"So I can't see her today?"

"I'm sorry, Peanut, but no, you can't see her today."

I started to cry and my mom wrapped me into her arms.

"What's wrong?" my dad asked, walking out of the kitchen.

"Ashlynn has allergies, so they can't have the playdate."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that, Gracie", Dad said, crouching down to my level as well. "I know you were looking forward to it."

I nodded and sniffled as tears continued to run down my face. He hugged me too and my tears soaked the shoulder of his flannel.

"You know what we could do?" he asked.

"What?" I questioned into his shirt.

"After I get home from work today we can all go and get some ice cream. How does that sound?"

Raising my head at him, I nodded slowly. "I guess that's okay."

He smiled at me and kissed my cheek. "And while I'm gone you can stay with Mommy and the babies. Maybe she'll play dolls with you."

"While the babies are sleeping, we can play dolls all you want, Peanut", she assured me.

I smiled a little.

"There's that smile", Dad grinned as he stood up. "I'm off to work, okay? Be good for Mommy and the babies, alright, Gracie?"

"Alright, Daddy", I grinned despite my still watery eyes.

My dad went into his and my mom's room to kiss the twins before coming back to give me another kiss on the cheek and my mom one on the lips.

"I love you guys", he said as he grabbed the car keys and walked out the front door.

"I love you too", My mom and I both said back.

(Flashback over)

"Lily? Darlin', we're here."

I was broken out of my reverie by Pony saying my name.

"Oh, sorry."

"Don't worry about it", he smiled and got out of the truck, holding the door open for me.

Everyone met up on the school lawn and sent Two-Bit to where he needed to be before walking to the gym and sitting down in the chairs that had been set up.

"So what were you oh-so deep in thought about?" Pony asked from his spot next to me.

"That conversation about allergies just made me think about a time when I was little and one of me and Ashlynn's playdates had to be canceled because of her allergies."

He chuckled and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

People continued to file in until all the chairs were full and lots of people were standing.

"Are there supposed to be so many people?" I asked Pony.

He looked around before answering. "I think so. There were about this many people at Darry's graduation too."

Soon, the graduates started walking across the recently-set-up stage and accepting their diplomas.

"Keith Mathews", the principle's voice boomed onto the microphone.

We all stood up and started clapping and cheering like crazy people. Steve and Soda even tried to stand up on their chairs before Evie and Ashlynn pulled them down. Mrs. Mathews had started crying a little, Lizzie consoling her with a laugh.

Two-Bit ran onto the stage with his signature goofy grin plastered on his face and shook the principle's hand as he grabbed his diploma. When he walked off stage, he pumped his fist in the air and jumped around, making us all laugh.

"Ladies and gentleman", the principle spoke after everyone had received their diplomas. "Welcome your class of nineteen-sixty-seven!

All the graduates threw their caps into the air and cheers and applause erupted from the crowd.

After the ceremony ended, everyone went to the back field where there were refreshments (meaning there was water and cookies).

"You did it!" Rachel exclaimed, running into her boyfriend's arms. He twirled her around with a laugh before setting her down.

"Can you believe it? Ol' Two-Bit Mathews survived high-school!"

"I'm so proud of you, son", Mrs. Mathews said and hugged him tightly.

"Thanks, Mom", he smiled at her and turned to his sister. "What 'bout you, sis?"

She shrugged, but you could see her mouth forcing back a smile.

"Oh, come here!" Two-Bit chuckled and pulled her to him, grabbing her into a hug.

I leaned on Pony's shoulder and smiled at the scene.

"That'll be us in two years", he reminded me.

"I can't wait", I replied with a grin.

XxXxXxXxXx

The graduation was over and we had all made our way back to the Curtis' house for an "afterparty", which basically meant that we would all have dinner together and some celebratory drinks (alcohol) would probably be passed around. Rachel, Ashlynn, and I were in the kitchen after dinner, sitting at the table to get away from all the chaos in the living room.

"You know what?" Rachel asked.

"What?" Ashlynn questioned.

"I think we should all have a sleepover."

"A sleepover?" I inquired.

"Yeah!", Rachel exclaimed, "It'll be fun!"

"Who is the 'we'?"

"All of the girlfriends."

"Why?"

"Oh, won't y'all just can it and play along?" Rachel teased. "Because it'll be fun! We're never all together and I for one don't know Evie and Ruth that well, so we could get to know them better."

Ashlynn and I looked at each other, then back at Rachel.

"I guess it could be fun", Ashlynn shrugged.

I nodded.

"Well, I was gonna make ya do it, whether you wanted to or not", Rachel laughed. "Let's go tell 'em."

When we went into the living room, we were met by an interesting sight: Soda and Steve were pretending to waltz with each other while Pony kept yelling out corrections from his spot on the couch. (It was nice to see that what I had taught him over a year-and-a-half before had stuck with him.)

Two-Bit was a little intoxicated and was sloppily and loudly humming a strange tune that sounded something like a waltz, but wasn't quite there.

Darry was sitting in his chair with an unopened beer in his hand and an expression on his face that couldn't seem to decide whether it was disturbed or amused.

Ruth, on the other hand, was sitting on the arm of Darry's chair and was clutching her stomach in laughter.

Evie was giggling loudly from her place next to Ponyboy and Two-Bit's mother and sister were just standing on the wall, laughing as well.

"Did I miss something?" I asked after a moment.

"Honestly, darlin', I don't even think you want to know", Pony told me before yelling out the instruction, "Steve, your arm's supposed to be on his waist, not on his shoulder!"

"So, I'm guessing Soda's the girl?" Ashlynn leaned over and asked me with a smile in her voice.

"I guess so", I laughed.

All three of us were in hysterics until the boys stopped. After a few moments of trying to get our breaths back, we went over to Evie and Ruth. Rachel beckoned them into the kitchen and when we were in there, she told them her plan.

"That sounds like fun", Ruth admitted. Evie nodded in agreement.

A date for the sleepover was set and agreed upon and it was decided that we would be having the sleepover at Ashlynn's house after everyone who worked was off. It was really happening.

XxXxXxXxXx

On the set day at the set time, I was knocking on Ashlynn's door.

Footsteps could be heard running to the doorway and moments later, Ashlynn stood in her now-open doorway with a grin on her face.

"C'mon! C'mon!" she waved me in hurriedly.

I laughed at her eagerness before doing as I was told.

After about 20 minutes, everyone was present and we were all sitting in Ashlynn's room, some of us on her bed and some on the floor.

Since Ruth was the oldest out of all of us, I had expected that talking to her would be a little awkward. Luckily, that wasn't the case. We all talked and laughed like we were old friends.

"Let's do something fun!"

"Like what?" Ashlynn asked.

"We could play Truth or Dare", she suggested.

"Sure", I said. "Why not?"

Ashlynn and I moved from her bed to the floor where we all sat in a circle.

"I'll start", Rachel told us. "Ruth, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Hmm…" Rachel thought. You could almost see the gears turning in her head. "I dare you to prank call Darry."

Ruth nodded before turning to Ashlynn. "Where's your phone?"

"I'll show you." Ashlynn stood up and Ruth followed her. Rachel, Evie, and I followed after them.

We all watched as Ruth dialed in the Curtis' number and held the phone to her ear. Someone picked up the phone and we could hear their muffled voice on the other end.

"Hello", Ruth greeted, attempting to lower her voice to a deeper pitch. "Who is this?… Hello, Steve Randle. Does Darrel Curtis happen to be with you?… I need to have a word with him… Hello, Darrel. How are you?… I'm calling to confirm your order of thirty-seven cats."

All of us had been giggling throughout the introductions, but when she mentioned the cats, we all started hysterically laughing. It was obvious that it was hard for Ruth to keep her composure. She cleared her throat to try and keep herself from laughing before she spoke again.

"…Yes, sir. Thirty-seven of them. Could you just tell me your address to make sure we're sending them to the right location?"

Darry must have forgotten to move the phone away from his face and cover the part of the phone that you talk into because we just heard a resounding yell of, "Which one of you assholes ordered thirty-seven cats?!"

We all broke, even Ruth. We were in hysterics. I had sunk down to the floor and was on my hands and knees. Rachel was leaned against the wall, while Ruth was leaning on the table that the phone was on. Ashlynn was doubled over, clutching her stomach, as was Evie.

"Wait", we heard Darry say, "who is this?"

"Hi, Dar-Bear", Ruth said in-between laughs. "How're you doin'?"

"Ruth, why are you calling me and asking about an order of thirty-seven cats?"

"Because I had to prank call you and that was the first thing I thought of."

We could hear Darry sigh. "Okay, baby-girl. Have a good night."

"You too. Bye", Ruth giggled before hanging up the phone.

"That was amazing!" I laughed.

Laughter echoed through the house as we walked back to Ashlynn's room.

"Okay", Ruth started, "it's my turn now." She looked around the circle, searching for her victim. "Evie, truth or dare?"

"Truth", Evie told her. Her voice was a little louder than it was when we were with the gang.

Ruth thought for a bit, rubbing her chin manically. "Tell us the most embarrassing story you have about you and Steve getting caught in a…compromising position."

Evie's cheeks flushed pink as she started to answer. "Well…once we were at the drive-in in his car. We were making out during the movie and I guess we were being kind of loud. Neither of us had shirts on and our hair was a mess and we both had hickeys when this employee came over. He was a kid, only fifteen at the latest and he had been told to tell us to knock it off. He was blushing and stuttering the entire time and Steve and I were mortified."

"You scarred the poor thing for life!" I laughed.

"Well, Steve was the one who said that 'it'll be fine' and 'we won't get caught', so I blame him for that", she told us, deepening her voice slightly when she quoted her boyfriend. She looked around at us, "Ashlynn, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Umm…how'd you meet Lily?"

Ashlynn looked at me and smiled deviously. "We met when we were two at dance class. I've been stuck with her ever since."

I faux gasped and lightly hit her in the arm. You suck."

"Love you too", she laughed. "Now, Lily, my friend…truth", she stopped dramatically, looking at the rest of the circle before whipping her head back to me so quickly, her ponytail hit me in the face, "or dare."

I copied her head-whipping action and answered. "Truth."

"First of all, you're a sissy", she remarked, making the rest of the girls laugh. "Second of all, when was the last time you wanted to slap me upside the head?"

"Probably last week when I said 'bonjour' and you responded with 'cómo estás'. Like your entire career of taking a second language class just went down the drain", I laughed.

We continued like this until we somehow managed to start asking the weirdest questions and coming up with the strangest dares. There was a point where it was Rachel's turn and she chose me.

"Truth or dare?" That part was simple enough.

"Truth", I answered.

She thought for a second before asking, "What bra size are you?"

If I had been drinking or eating anything, I would have choked on it. "What?"

"I asked what bra size you are", Rachel repeated.

"Why the hell do you want to know?"

"Because why not? We're all girls here. We've all got the same parts."

"A double-D", I said quietly as a blush creeped onto my cheeks.

All of the girls except for Ashlynn (since she already knew) erupted into a chorus of "what?"s and "how?"s.

I had been a Double-D since about my fifteenth birthday and it wasn't fun. They felt almost disproportional to the rest of my body and made everything harder.

"You don't look like a double-D", Ruth argued.

I smirked and stood up before doing the same thing that I had done when I had told Ashlynn and she hadn't believed me: I took my shirt (or in the case at hand, a sweatshirt with a camisole underneath) and pulled it taut to my body so my full chest size was visible.

"What about now?" I laughed.

"I see it now", she admitted.

"How the hell are you a double-D?" Rachel asked. "I'm only a few years older than you and I'm only a high-B."

"I dunno", I shrugged. "Genetics are weird."

"Ain't that the truth", Evie muttered, making us laugh.

After hours of truth and dare and telling funny stories, Ashlynn turned on the radio in her living room because she decided that we should have a "dance party" before we went to bed. So, there we were at 11 at night, singing and dancing along to Nancy Sinatra.

"These boots are made for walkin' and that's just what they'll do. One of these days, these boots are gonna walk all over you", we all sang, pointing in various directions as though the couch or lamp were the ones that we were blaming.

A few songs after that, Respect by Aretha Franklin came on, which was, as expected, very interesting. Ashlynn, Rachel, and I stood on the couch and very dramatically sang into imaginary microphones. There was also a lot of shoulder dancing involved.

"Ooh, your kisses, sweeter than honey.

And, guess what, so is my money.

All I want you to do for me is give it to me when you get home.

Yeah, baby, whip it up when you get home.

When you get home now.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Find out what it means to me

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Take care TCB…", we all sang loudly, dancing the entire time. We could only hope that we didn't disturb the neighbors.

Soon, we all got ready for bed. I wore the sweatshirt that I had on since it hid my scars and was comfortable and a pair of pajama shorts since it was hot. The sweatshirt was the one that Pony had given me months before to hide the hickey he had given me, which I had then proceeded to keep.

All of us piled into the living room. Evie, Ashlynn, and I squeezed onto the couch since we were the smallest, Ruth would sleep in the recliner, and Rachel would sleep on the floor.

"You don't have to sleep on the floor", Ashlynn told her. "We can get something together."

"I'm fine sleepin' on the floor. Don't worry 'bout me. I have blankets and pillows and stuff, I'll be good."

"If you're sure…", I trailed off uncertainly.

"I'm sure", Rachel grinned.

"G'night, y'all", Ruth said.

"Good night", we said back. Everyone was out in 10 minutes flat.

Yay! Another chapter! It's nice getting these up faster and I'm hopeful about how much I'll get up this summer. All rights to "These Boots Are Made For Walking" got to Nancy Sinatra and all rights to "Respect" go to Aretha Franklin. I love y'all and stay gold!- Athena Ravelclaw13