On a Tuesday in late February it was my Dad's thirty-eighth birthday. When I walked through the door that night after work, I was pounced on by my parents.
"What's goin' on?" I asked, slightly concerned.
"Gracie, your letter came", Dad said excitedly.
"My letter?"
"Your letter from Brown", Mom clarified.
My eyes widened. "It did?"
Both of them nodded.
"C'mon, let's go see what it says", Mom urged. And with that I was pulled into the kitchen.
"Anna! Henry! Get down here!" Dad called.
I could hear their footsteps pounding down the stairs and running towards us.
"What's goin' on?" Henry asked.
"Lily got her acceptance letter to Brown", Mom said happily.
"We don't know that I got accepted", I reminded her. "I was probably rejected. There're lots of better people they could've picked."
"If you weren't accepted then they're missing out on an amazing person", Dad told me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Even if you didn't get into Brown, there're lots of other colleges that would be more than happy to take you."
Anna and Henry sat down at the table on one side of me and my parents settled themselves on the other side.
Anna reached over and handed me the envelope from the center of the table. The university's emblem stared out at me from the corner of the paper.
"Well, what're you waiting for, Gracie?" Dad asked. "Open it!"
I nodded and took a deep breath before tearing open the seal and taking out the envelope.
My hands were shaking as I opened up the letter and one went over my mouth when I read the first sentence.
"Dear Miss Lily Smith,
It is our pleasure to inform you that you have been accepted to Brown University as a student of the class of 1973…"
As I scanned the rest of the letter, I found that I had gotten a full ride scholarship.
"What?" Mom asked frantically. "What does it say?"
"I got in", I whispered before talking a little louder and taking my hand from in front of my mouth. "I got in."
"Did you really?" Henry asked incredulously.
"Yeah", I nodded as I started to cry. "I did."
Mom pulled me over to her and squeezed me tightly. "You did it, gigola. You did it."
Dad joined in on the hug almost immediately, as did the twins a few moments later.
"This's the best damn birthday present I think I've ever gotten", Dad laughed, causing us all to do the same.
"Thank you", I said.
"Who're you thankin'?" Anna asked.
"All of you", I smiled widely, even though tears were pouring out of my eyes.
"For what, Gracie?" Dad asked as he wiped the wetness from my cheek with the pad of his rough thumb.
"Everything", I laughed.
"This's all you, Peanut", Mom said. "You did this all yourself."
"Well, I never would'a gotten here without y'all", I insisted. "Just…just thank you so much."
We all just stayed there in our little huddle for a while, until Dad spoke.
"You wanna go tell Ponyboy?"
"Of course."
"Then go. Don't be out too late though and be careful."
I nodded and kissed everyone on the cheek before running out of the house and to the Curtis'. Luckily, I had remembered to keep my switchblade in my pocket, so if I were to get jumped, at least I would have something to defend myself with.
I burst through the front door, only to find my boyfriend standing in the doorway of the bathroom with wet hair, a towel around his waist, and wide eyes.
Not caring about his attire, I ran at him and jumped on him. He staggered back and held me up with one hand, using the other to hold his towel.
"Ponyboy, I got in!" I shouted as I squeezed my arms tightly around his neck.
"What do you mean, darlin'?" he asked with a slight laugh.
"I got accepted! To Brown!" I practically yelled after loosening my grip to look him in the face.
"Oh my God, Lily, that's great!" he exclaimed and pulled me tightly to him.
"What's goin' on in here?" Darry asked as he walked out of his room. Soda came from the living room.
"I got accepted to Brown!"
"Congratulations, Lily-flower", Soda laughed. Pony put me down and scurried into his room to get dressed, so I hugged Soda, then Darry.
After a minute or so, Pony came back out of his room and kissed me gently before tilting his head down quite far so he could rest his forehead on mine.
"You got in", he whispered.
"I got in", I agreed with a smile.
When we pulled away, I looked up into his green eyes. That was when the situation hit me full force. Not the specifics like what I would be majoring in or where the school was or what it was called. Just the general fact that I was going to college.
"I'm going to college", I whispered, almost in disbelief. "I'm going to college, Ponyboy."
He and his brothers laughed and he squeezed me tightly. "You're goin' to college, darlin'. I knew you'd get it. I just knew it."
"Did you really think you wouldn't be goin', doll?" Soda laughed. "You're like the next Einstein."
"I wouldn't say that", I laughed with a slight blush.
"Name all of Henry the Eighth's wives in order", Darry told me.
"What?"
"Just do it."
"Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr", I said. "Why?"
"See?" Soda exclaimed with a laugh. "You are a genius."
I would have continued arguing with him, but I knew that I would never win, so I just dropped it.
"Fine, I'm a genius", I laughed as I rolled my eyes.
"Haha!" Soda yelled triumphantly, throwing a fist in the air. "I win!"
"Whooptie friggin' do" I said sarcastically.
"Oh, you're gonna get it now", Soda said. I made a mad dash to get away from him, but he caught me, picked me up, and dropped me on the couch, where he proceeded to tickle me, Pony and Darry soon joining along.
"Stop it!" I yelled through giggles. "Uncle! Uncle!"
They finally stopped and I lay there on the couch trying desperately to catch my breath.
"I love you", Pony offered with a smile, sitting down next to me and pulling me onto his lap.
I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help but smile. "I love you too."
The next day on the walk to school, I told Ashlynn the news. A week after that, there was a similar ordeal, but with Pony as the protagonist instead of me.
I left my house and was immediately tackled by my boyfriend. He pulled me flush to him, picked me up, and spun me around.
"Hey, honey", I greeted with a laugh. "What's got you in such a good mood?"
Ashlynn was standing on the sidewalk behind Pony with an amused smirk on her face. Her expression told me "Just wait".
Pony put me down, but not all the way, so I was still standing on tip-toe. His face was stretched into a wide smile worthy of Sodapop or Two-Bit.
"I got my acceptance letter to Princeton, darlin'. I'm goin' to Princeton! On a full ride!"
"Oh my God, Pony!" I exclaimed and squeezed him. "That's amazing!"
"We did it, Lily", he whispered in my ear after nuzzling his head in my neck.
"We did it", I agreed with a smile.
"Would I be ruining the moment by asking if I could join in?" Ashlynn asked with a laugh.
I turned to her and waved her over. She joined Pony and I in a hug and I tightly gripped her around the waist with my left arm, my right circling around Pony's middle.
XxXxXxXxXx
The night before Two-Bit and Soda had to leave, we had a small party at the Curtis' house with the gang and the girls. Evie and Steve left Andrew with Ms. Young so they could come over alone.
We had all visited the cemetery on Johnny's birthday, and Soda and Ashlynn went by themselves one day to go to Mr. and Mrs. Curtis's graves.
We had dinner and the famous Curtis chocolate cake before sitting around the living room and talking. Two-Bit we insisted we all play one last game of truth or dare before they left.
Many interesting things were learned, including, but not limited to: Two-Bit had once gotten a broken nose from getting hit in the face by a girl whose skirt he had flipped up and Soda had stitches in his head from an incident where he and Darry had been wrestling in the house and the former had hit his head on the corner of the coffee table.
"Lily, truth or dare?" Evie asked.
"Truth."
She thought for a moment. "Umm…when did you first know you liked Pony?"
Everyone else either faux-gagged or made kissy faces at me after this was asked.
"When I knew I had a crush on him or when I knew I loved him?" I asked for clarification, even though my face was tinted red.
"Hell, why not both?" Evie laughed.
Realizing that I had just dug myself into an even deeper hole, I sighed deeply and leaned my head on my boyfriend's shoulder.
When I first realized that I had a crush on Ponyboy was about a week or two into freshman year. He walked me home from school every day, which I found incredibly sweet.
I had been doing my math homework for over an hour and decided that I needed a break, so I put down my notebook and walked over to my bookshelf. As I scanned the spines, one caught my eye: a little picture book of Cinderella's fairy tale.
I pulled it off the shelf and lay on my stomach on my bed, flipping it open. It had been my favorite book when I was little and I had made my parents read it to me every night before I went to bed. The thought of a handsome fairy-tale prince sweeping me off my feet was one that ran through my head quite frequently as a child. Even then I was a hopeless romantic, I guess.
It didn't take me long to get through the entire thing, maybe 5 minutes at the most, and after, I started to daydream.
What would my Prince Charming be like? I thought. I had always thought about the person just as a thing whenever I had thought about it, not as an actual person with traits and a personality. I had never thought of someone real.
A list started forming in my head.
He has to be kind and sweet. And he's gotta be smart. I need someone that I can hold an intelligent conversation with. He has to be humble, chivalrous, respectful, and caring. He can't be self-centered or arrogant and he can't be a bad boy. I'm not looking for Dallas Winston.
My thoughts stalled there, and I couldn't put my finger on why, though they got back on track fairly quickly.
I'd prefer if he was taller than me and had eyes that weren't brown, even though it's not like there's any controlling that…
A figure suddenly started to form in my mind piece by piece. When the image in my head of what I thought of as my Prince Charming was finally complete, it shocked me.
It was Ponyboy Curtis.
I backtracked in my thoughts. Why did Ponyboy show up as my Prince Charming?
You know exactly why, my thoughts seemed to answer. And although I tried to deny that, I knew it was true. He was everything that I had listed. Smart, kind, sweet, chivalrous. He was even taller than me and had green eyes.
My stomach dropped a little before some butterflies started to form.
There was no denying it; I had a crush on Ponyboy Curtis.
Of course, I didn't relay this entire tale to the group. I shortened and made it vaguer.
"A few weeks after school started in ninth grade, I just realized he was everything that I wanted in a guy", I answered with a blush.
"And when you knew you loved him?" Evie asked.
"After he ran away", I said quietly. "I wanted him back with me and missed him more than I had ever missed anyone in my life. I guess that's when I knew." Pony pulled me close to him and gave me a soft kiss on the crown of my head.
"Well, ain't that just the sweetest thing you ever heard", Two-Bit said with a chuckle.
"Damn right it is", Pony muttered into my hair.
"C'mon, y'all" Soda exclaimed. "Let's get the radio on. Maybe there'll be some groovy song on."
"Sodapop, please don't use that word", I pleaded.
"What? Groovy?"
"Yes! That one!"
"Why not?" Ruth asked.
"Because I despise it with the burning passion of a thousand suns", I retorted.
"Well, then", Steve laughed. "I guess we shouldn't say it."
Then he and Soda both screamed out "GROOVY!", resulting in me feeling a very strong urge to smack them both upside the head. Luckily, Evie and Ashlynn beat me to it.
"Ouch!" Soda yelped as he rubbed the back of his head. "What the hell was that for?"
"You know damn well what that was for, Pepsi-Cola", Darry told him with a smirk.
And with that, Soda stuck his tongue out at his older brother and turned on the radio.
One of the first songs that came on was "Pony Time" by Chubby Checker, which absolutely killed me when I looked at my boyfriend. I was laughing so hard that I started crying.
"Oh, c'mon. Really, darlin'?" he asked. "I had to go through this enough when that song came out."
"I'm sorry, honey. I just can't help it", I laughed and buried my head in his chest.
"You're lucky I love you", he said, but started laughing too.
"I love you too", I told him.
Even after the song ended, I still needed a few minutes to compose myself, but once I finally did, I was alright.
We all just talked while the radio played. I wasn't really listening to songs very closely, but I noticed songs by artists like The Beatles, Johnny Cash, The Mamas and the Papas, and The Beach Boys playing.
When the first few notes of "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison rang out, I started to hum along to it like I every other time I heard it. Ponyboy and Two-Bit seemed to have other plans. As though they had some telepathic connection, they both looked at each other, and pulled Rachel and I up from our seats.
"What are you doing?" I questioned Pony with a laugh.
He didn't answer, but started dancing me around and when Van Morrison started singing, my boyfriend did too, albeit quietly and just to me.
"Hey where did we go?
Days where the rains came.
Down in the hollow, playin' a new game.
Laughin' and a-runnin, hey, hey.
Skippin' and a-jumpin'.
In the misty morning fog with
Our hearts a-thumpin' and you,
My brown-eyed girl.
You, my brown-eyed girl."
Pony looked right into my eyes during those last two lines. Suddenly, I realized what they were doing. Pony and Two-Bit were dancing with Rachel and I because we were their actual "brown-eyed girls".
It was awfully cute and caused me to start blushing and giggling a bit. I could hear Rachel and Two-Bit's loud, joyous laughter from a few feet away and couldn't help but smile.
During the "Sha la la la la la la la la la la te da" part, I turned to look at the rest of the gang, only to find Ruth standing up behind Darry as she forced him to wave his hands up in the air to the beat as though he were a little kid. He was laughing and telling her stop, though we knew he didn't really mean it since he wasn't pulling away.
XxXxXxXxXx
The next day, Soda and Two-Bit had to leave. All of us were at the bus station. We had all taken the day off, and even my family, Rachel's family (who I hadn't seen in years and consisted of her parents and sister, Mary), and Mrs. Young were there. Ms. Mathews was sobbing along with Lizzie and Rachel. Rachel wouldn't let go of her boyfriend and he was rubbing her back and whispering soothing words into her ear.
Ashlynn was latched onto Sodapop as well, sobbing into his chest.
"I know, sweetheart", he muttered in between kisses pressed to her forehead. "It's okay."
The early-spring sunlight bounced off of the new ring on her finger and made patterns of light on the sidewalk. It was a promise ring like the one Pony had given me but gold and with a small cubic zirconia on it. He promised her that after he got home, they would get married.
Ponyboy hugged me to him and rocked me back and forth as we stood. My face was buried in his chest and I was trying to focus myself on anything but reality; trying to disembody myself. But it wasn't working. I was feebly attempting to hold myself together, but all it resulted in were silent tears streaming down my cheeks, the occasional hiccup and sniffle, and a blasting headache.
My mom was tearing up as she tried to console Ms. Mathews, but to no avail, which was understandable. Her son was going off to war and quite possibly never coming back. I felt that her distress was justifiable.
The gang was an absolute mess.
Evie was coddling Andrew close to her chest as she cried. Andrew started crying too, his reaction triggered by everyone else's.
Steve was trying to keep a stiff upper lip, but his eyes were filling up with tears. His hand was clasped tightly with his wife's.
Darry was going right along with him, with a blank expression on his face, but a wobbling lower lip and glassy eyes as well. Ruth was right next to him, resting her head on his arm.
The second Ashlynn left Soda's side to embrace me, Darry and Steve both attacked him and instantly started bawling. It was rough to see two men absolutely breaking at the possibility of losing even more family. They usually put on his tough, larger than life persona, but at that moment it absolutely collapsed. It was like a row of dominoes; once one was knocked over, all the others fell too.
Ashlynn's arms crushed my waist in a vise grip, but I ignored it and hugged her tightly. I felt Pony move from behind me and looked up to see him joining the group huddle that the boys had made. Rachel came over to Ashlynn and I after a moment, leaving Two-Bit to join the boys as well.
It suddenly occurred to me that that was the entire Curtis gang. It was crippled and broken, but it was there nevertheless, holding itself up. One of the many reasons that I hoped neither Two-Bit or Sodapop died in the war was that the gang was holding on by a frayed thread. If anything else happened, it would immediately snap.
Soon, everyone joined into one big huddle around Soda and Two-Bit. Nobody said anything. We all just stood there, holding each other and crying.
"Hey, why're we all cryin'?" Two-Bit said, though he was speaking through tears of his own. "We'll be back before you know it and you'll wanna get rid of us."
The group let out a weak laugh.
"Keith, your jokes are gettin' worse and worse as time goes on", Lizzie said with a slight smile.
"You know it, sis."
There were only a few minutes before the bus would come. Soda and Two-Bit would be taken to the airport and brought over to Fort Jackson in South Carolina for a few weeks before being shipped off thousands of miles away to Vietnam.
The huddle dispersed and Two-Bit took Rachel's hand and spoke in an even louder voice than usual.
"Look, I know this's the crappiest damn situation possible, but I want you to listen to me, Rachel. I love you and I know it's gonna be hard, but we're gonna make this work. When I get back- and I'm gonna come back- you and me're gonna live a hell of a life together. Okay?"
She nodded at him as tears poured down her cheeks.
"So, Rachel", he began, sliding down to one knee on the ground and keeping her hands in his, "before I leave, I gotta ask you a question. Whaddya say to marryin' me?"
Everyone gasped, including Rachel. She sunk down onto the ground next to him and held his face in her hands as she nodded slowly, deliberately. "Yes."
She pulled his face to hers in a kiss while we all cheered.
After a minute or so, the newly engaged couple stood back up and hugged each other tightly.
Our celebration didn't last long, though, because shortly after Two-Bit proposed, the bus arrived.
The mood instantly plummeted and we started to cry again. Sodapop and Two-Bit came around and hugged each of us tightly.
I was sobbing into my hand with Pony's arm holding me tight when Two-Bit came over.
"C'mon, doll, you don't gotta cry", he smiled mournfully, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You don't need ol' Two-Bit with you. You're a big girl."
"Keith, you're like my brother", I whispered through my tear-filled voice as I hugged him. "Of course I need you."
He pulled away slightly and patted my cheek affectionately. "Well, whatever happens, you'll always be as much of my kid sister as Lizzie is. You got that, kid?"
"Yeah", I muttered with a nod.
Two-Bit pulled me into another tight hug before pulling away and kissing my forehead. "I'll miss you, Lily."
"I'll miss you too, Two-Bit", I told him and gave his cheek a chaste kiss.
He smiled at me before moving on to Ponyboy.
The cycle continued until Soda got to me, causing me to burst into yet another round of tears.
"Oh, Lily-flower", he cooed as he wrapped me up in his arms. "It'll be okay. It'll all be okay."
"No, it won't, Soda. You and Two're goin' to fight in this damn war and you may never come home."
"Look at me, doll", he said and tilted my chin up slightly. "We'll be fine over there. We'll get through. While we're over there, you shouldn't be woryin' about us. You're goin' to Brown. You'll be studyin' hard and doin' great things. You gotta take care of Ashlynn and Pony, though. You think you can do that?"
"Yeah."
"Good", he smiled. "You'll always be my first and only kid-sister and you're the best one I could ever ask for. We all love you, doll."
"Thanks, Soda", I smiled a little through my tears.
"There's that smile", he beamed in typical Sodapop fashion, though his eyes were tired. "I'll make sure to write y'all as much as I can and remind that dufus over there to too."
I laughed a little and hugged him tighter.
"I'm gonna miss you, Soda."
"Same here, Lily-flower", he sighed and leaned his head down slightly to kiss my cheek.
Only a few minutes later, everyone had been said goodbye to and Sodapop and Two-Bit were climbing onto the bus.
"I love you", Ashlynn sobbed, reaching up to hold Soda's hand through the window. Rachel was doing the same with Two-Bit.
"I love you too, sweetheart", he smiled sadly at her as tears streamed down his cheeks. "I'll be home before you know it."
The bus started up and Soda gave Ashlynn's hand a final squeeze before letting go, Two-Bit following suit.
"I love y'all", they both called to us before the bus started to move, driving down the road.
We all blew kisses and shouted our goodbyes until the bus could no longer be seen.
Immediately, Ashlynn, Pony, and Rachel all completely broke. They were shattered.
Rachel's family and Ms. Mathews and Lizzie rushed to her side as I rushed to Ashlynn and Pony's.
The three of us sat on the ground. Ponyboy was sobbing into my right shoulder as Ashlynn was bawling into my left. I was crying too, but trying to keep it under wraps for their sake.
Ms. Young came over after a minute and held Ashlynn to her, leaving me with just Pony.
His crying was heart-wrenching with sharp sobs and inhales that I knew were going to make his throat feel like hell later. His entire body shook and trembled under my touch and his arms were wrapped around my waist in a python-like grip.
"Shh", I cooed into his ear. "Shh, baby. I know. I know. It's okay. They'll be okay."
After a while at the bus stop, and probably looking absolutely insane, we all went home. The second I was alone in my room, I burst into tears and sunk to the floor with my back to the wall and my hand covering my mouth, muffling my sobs.
Suddenly, there was a knock on my door.
"Yeah?" I asked in a scratchy voice.
"You okay in there, Gracie?" I heard Dad's voice ask.
"Yeah", I responded. "I'm okay."
I guess I didn't sound very convincing, because he didn't go away.
"Can I come in?"
"Sure", I told him, standing up shakily and opening the door.
"Oh, sweetheart", he sighed and pulled me into his chest, where I continued to cry. "I'm so sorry."
I cried until I felt like I couldn't cry anymore.
"This damn war's takin' all our boys", Dad said. "and it breaks my heart to see all these boys gettin' torn away from their families, especially Ponyboy's, but Sodapop and Two-Bit'll be okay. They're good men. They'll get through."
I simply nodded.
They'll get through, I told myself in an attempt at convincing my own thoughts. They'll get through.
Hello, my good people! I'm sorry this chapter was sad at the end, but it was what felt right to write. I'll try to update fairly regularly, but school takes up a lot of my time. I love y'all and stay gold!- AthenaRavenclaw13
PS- "gigola" is "lily" in Italian