Chapter 6

This is my last update for a little while. I'm going to camp this week, and they don't allow cell phone use. -_-

So yeah. Enjoy (:

(I take it back. These POV changes are going to have to happen a lot more often than I originally thought!)

Chapter 6

Ponyboy's POV

I don't really know how everyone's working around this whole baby thing. I know Darry's been avoiding me for this past week. I knew he could never stand me, but completely shutting me out isn't gonna help anyone. Everyone else is pretty much in to help.

Now me and JT are getting ready for school. I always smile when I look at her. I can't help it. It's so funny to think I love her, and she's having my kid, and we're okay with it. Maybe I could marry her one day...

"Ponyboy, I wanna talk to you," Darry says. Finally. I think to myself this will be an apology. Boy, was I wrong.

"I don't think JT ought to stay here," he says quietly.

"What? Why?"

"We don't know how to take care of a baby, and we can't just keep taking people in. We ain't some motel service, Ponyboy. It ain't fair for me and Soda to work even harder to support a mess we ain't even in."

"Then I'll quit school and get a job. It can't be that hard taking care of a baby," I argue.

"You're staying in school. Ponyboy, we can't just keep letting people in. It's her problem and not our business."

"It is our business, Darry! It's my baby and your niece or nephew. Soda's too. We're a family, and we stick together. You wouldn't kick out family, would you?" Darry stares at me with shock written all over his face. JT comes in the room. Me and Darry stare at each other before I start to turn the other way.

"C'mon JT. We gotta go to school," I say. She grabs her books and dashes out the door behind me.

"Ponyboy? What was that all about?" she asks, walking quickly to catch up to me.

"Nothing. Forget it."

"I can't. Just tell me."

"It was just Darry being Darry again," I tell her. She sighs.

"Alright." We walk for a few feet in silence. She speaks up again. "I really feel bad about this..."

"About what?"

"Everyone's turning on us. I feel like they think they can't get near me or anything because I'm 'fragile' or something. I don't know, Pony. It's like they can't accept it like me and you did," she explains.

"Don't talk like that. They're excited and scared at the same time. I am, that's for sure. I've never really held a baby before. Pretty soon, I'm gonna have to do it all the time. It's a big change for all of us."

"I guess so. I'm scared too. I've never really been around a baby much either, but soon I'm gonna be a mom. I wish I could ask my own what to do," she says.

"Then why don't you?"

"She's in Texas. It's bad enough my dad died on her. Now having a teenage daughter having a baby ain't much better on her. She probably won't care if I told her at all."

"Maybe not."

"Yeah. Whatever... Hey where's Two-Bit and Johnny?" she asks.

"Probably already there. We're late. C'mon, let's get going." I grab her hand. She blinks, startled, then smiles.

"Let's go."

•••

JT's POV

After school, me and Pony decide to walk to the DX to visit Soda. I don't think I've ever been there before. Might as well go. I've got nothing else to do.

"Hey Soda, your kid-brother's here," Steve announces.

"Hey Pony. Hey JT," Soda says.

"What're you two doing here?"

"Had nothing to do," Ponyboy says.

"Y'all get a Pepsi or something. Let me finish up this car, and we'll be inside," Soda tells us. I follow Ponyboy inside. He grabs two Pepsis and opens them. He then slides one down the countertop to me. I sit behind it on a stool. This place sure is empty on the inside, but it's nice and cozy.

The car outside honks as they drive away. I look as Soda and Steve are horseplaying around as they make their way inside. Soda puts extra money in the register for our drinks.

"So how was school today?" Soda asks. Pony looks to me with a smirk on his face. I begin laughing, and he joins in. Soda and Steve look at us confused.

"What'd we miss?" Steve asks.

"Okay so we were at lunch, and a soc walks up to our table messing with us," Pony begins. "We were telling him off, and JT decides to get in his face and dump her water on his pants. Boy, he sure was embarrassed."

"You did that?" Soda asks incredulously. I nod proudly.

"I guess that's how all pregnant girls are. They get mad real easy," Steve mumbles. I frown at him. "See?!" I laugh again.

"Yeah. I don't think he'll be messing with us no more," I say.

"You bet. Hey, what's up for tonight? I hear Dally's down at a rodeo. We should go," Soda says. We walk outside as he locks the building.

"JT, you ever been to a rodeo?" Steve asks.

"No, but I used to work at the stables back home for a summer job. I watched them practicing the jumping for fancy competitions. That's about it," I explain.

I remember those summers too. There was one horse in particular that I really liked. She liked me too. But dad made me stop going down to the stables because of a new employee I never met or even heard of. After that, I spent years without being around another horse. I was devastated.

"I think Dally would like of we showed up," Ponyboy says.

"Let's go on home and down to the rodeo then!" Soda replies happily.

"Hey Steve," I say. He looks at me. "When you said girls like that get mad real easy, were you making fun of me?" I ask.

"No. I was just saying. Speaking of which, how does that work anyway? A person inside a person...? It's too weird to be real." He laughs as Soda hits him playfully in the back of the head.

"Yeah that's real smart Steve," he says.

"Yeah," Pony adds. "You ought to be given a medal."

"Smart-ass kid," Steve mumbles.

"Well, trust me. It's real, and it's obvious." I look down. I've gotten that little baby bump now. At least it's not getting in the way... yet.

We finally get home, and Soda makes our announcement that whoever wants to go to the rodeo is going with us. Everyone's pretty excited to go. Even Darry decides to go for once. Lately, he's been real good about going with us places more often. I guess no one's complaining.

We leave around dark. The scary thing is, that's when all the weird people come out. I don't know. I've just always thought that. Back home, that's where the people at the campgrounds close to our house got really drunk and tried to sing karaoke. I don't know what kinda party that was, but it sure scared me when I was little.

Darry drives with me and Ponyboy in the cab with him. The rest of the boys sit in the bed of the truck, laughing and having a good time. I feel like the three of us sitting in the truck feel awkward, especially Ponyboy since he's sitting beside Darry.

"I was, um, I was thinking today, and you know, I think it's real nice that it was you, JT, instead of some other girl. I'm gonna help you two out any way I can, and I want to say that I'm sorry for being mad about this whole thing," Darry says.

"It's alright," I answer. "I couldn't blame you for being mad. My dad would've done the same thing... And I'm sorry for yelling at you."

"Yeah, me too," Ponyboy says.

"Well you're both right anyway. JT, I'm not your brother, and I'm not trying to be. I'm just trying to look out for y'all, you know? You ain't got anybody else close. And Pony, it's gonna be my niece or nephew so I gotta learn to help out, you know? I'm okay with it."

"Thanks Darry. It really means a lot," Ponyboy says.

"You know, I would hug you, but you're driving, and I don't want to get in a wreck," I comment. He laughs.

"I'll take a rain check," he says. Darry parks the truck, and everyone gets out. I can smell the popcorn and horses from here, and it's not because I'm pregnant. Noise roars from inside from the drunk, wild rodeo people. We walk to the entrance.

I know rodeos are the only things Dallas doesn't set up or cheat in. It's the only thing he does honestly, and he works hard in them as far as I know. That's when you know he loves something- he doesn't cheat.

We walk in a try to make our way around people. Two-Bit spots Dally at the end of the building. We follow each other in the dimly lit, crowded place. Dally smiles when he sees us.

"Hey guys! What're you doing here?" he asks.

"We thought we'd come watch you," I answer.

"Hey, thanks. Y'all find you somewhere. I'll be sure to look for you," he says.

"Good luck out there," Darry tells him.

"Thanks."

I stay behind as they go find somewhere to hang out. I walk up to Dally. Seeing him with a sincere smile on his face makes me think about him some more. He really likes doing this, and I can tell.

"Hey, Dal."

"Hey, JT. Who's idea was it to come down here?" he asks.

"Well I heard it was going on. I talked them into it."

"Yeah? Well I'm really glad you're here. I could really use an audience of my own." I laugh. "Hey I wanna show you something. Follow me." He grabs my wrist and leads me through the crowds. We step outside and walk to a small stable nearby. It's lit with small lanterns hanging on nails. He leads me to one in particular.

He clicks his tongue and taps on the wooden beam. A horse the color of mud steps closer to the gate. A black glossy mane and tail top off the dark look. I look closer. Instead of dark brown, almost black eyes, there are light sky blue, almost grey eyes. They look fierce and reckless. I smile as the horse touches my shoulder with it's nose. He nips at my hair and pulls it. Dally nudges him away. That kinda hurt...

"This is my favorite. He's a quarter horse Buck's been raising," Dally says. "He's a cool ol' guy."

"What's his name?" I ask.

"They ain't named him anything really."

"That's a shame. A really nice horse without a name..."

"Yeah, but you see his eyes? They're really light, huh?"

"Yeah," I answer. The horse huffs and stomps at the ground. He holds his leg in the air as if it's hurt. "I think something's wrong."

"What do you mean?" he asks.

"I don't know. He's holding up his foot like it's hurt. Care if I take a look?"

"I don't know JT. He's real mean sometimes. I wouldn't-"

He stops talking as I open the gate regardless. I should listen but whatever. The horse begins backing away from me.

"Come here, boy," I tell it quietly. "I'm not gonna hurt you." I hold my hand out and gently stroke his glistening coat. I slowly bend down and bend his knee.

"What's the damage?" Dally asks, closing the gate behind himself.

"He's got a piece of broken glass somehow wedged in his hoof." Dally takes a look and gently removes the glass.

"Shoot JT, half the guys here wouldn't know to check. How'd you know?"

"I used to work around horses."

"I'm glad you took a look at it. Otherwise it could've messed him up."

"He's real pretty."

"I've been trying to come up with a name, but I can't think of one to fit him," Dally says. "I thought Unstoppable would work because it seemed like he'd never quit once he kept going, but that's only 'cause he's wild."

"I like that, but... What about Texas?"

"Why?"

"I don't know. It's just... something about his eyes. They remind me of the clear blue skies you could see there. I visited there once. My mom's in her 'dream house' there now. His eyes look just like the sky as the sun breaks over the horizon. The misty blue and grey color... It fits him."

"Alright. Texas it is," Dally says with a proud smile. I walk to the gate. Texas nudges me again.

"You like that name, don't you?" I ask. He huffs again. I smile.

"We ought to get going. Rodeo's about to start." I kiss Texas before we turn to walk off. "Man, that horse sure does like you. You'll have to come down here with me sometime."

"I might have to." We walk back inside. I give Dally a quick hug. "Good luck, and stay safe."

"Thanks JT. I'll be looking for y'all." I start walking to go find the others. Someone grabs my hand. I try to shake them away.

"It's just me, JT," Ponyboy says.

"Oh sorry! I didn't see you," I tell him.

"It's alright. Where were you? I was getting worried."

"I was with Dally. He was showing me this horse. Wait a second. Ponyboy, you got worried about me?" He blushes.

"Well yeah. I could never let anything happen to you... or both of you, I mean," he says with a sideways smile.

"You're cute," I tell him. I gently kiss his cheek, sending him to blushing even more. "Thanks, Pony."

"It's nothing."

"No, really. You're the only guy that's ever really protected me."

"What about others?"

"They were jerks. And just to be clear, am I your girl?"

"Do you wanna be?" he asks. I laugh.

"A little bit, yeah."

"I'm not stopping you."

"Great," I answer happily. He holds his grip on my hand as we walk to the others.

"Ooh Ponyboy," Two-Bit teases. Steve cat-calls.

"Shut up," Pony answers, his face burning red.

"You got both of 'em blushing like sinners in church. My, my, my!" Soda joins in.

"Y'all leave 'em alone," Johnny says with a smile on his face.

"Yeah cut it out," Darry adds.

I look around and notice this is a different rodeo. I know some socs at school were talking about riding barrel races in rodeos, but this is different. There ain't a sign of soc here. It's just the, as a soc would say, trash kind. I guess we like it better that way. It's more fun and interesting.

People start cheering louder as people ride out and wave and show off. I laugh as Dally winks at us and tilts his hat. I have to admit, he looks kinda different with a cowboy hat on.

They begin making their way through the whole show. Riders prepare themselves for falls, are pulled away, and usually treated for injury. Then they do the riding show like barrel races and other stuff. Dally doesn't miss a beat.

Buck and Dally are riding partners. I know Dal was telling me about it once. He said he always tried his best not to get hurt, but there aren't any promises he won't. That's always made me nervous anyway. I don't like when my friends get hurt.

Dally ended up winning second or something like that. I couldn't hear over the crowd. But I know he's happy about it by the smile on his face.

Dally comes to find us after he finishes up something he had to do.

"Way to go, Dally. You did really good," Darry says. Dallas smiles proudly.

"C'mon let's get outta here. This place is wild tonight," he suggests. We agree and begin walking outside. Ponyboy continues to hold my hand. It makes me blush something awful, but I like it.

"Hey kid!" someone calls. All of us turn around.

"What do you want?" Dally asks cooly as an obvious drunk guy steps closer, his four friends not far behind.

"I know you rigged that race." My eyes widen. No one ever accuses Dally of cheating because everyone knows what happens when you do. Last time, word got out what Dallas did. No one ever approached him about the subject again. This guy's awfully brave.

"He didn't rig nothing. You're just pissed 'cause he won fair and square," Two-Bit says.

"Did I ask you?" the man asks coldly. Ponyboy begins to put me behind himself, holding my hands at his sides. I'll admit I'm scared. I don't know what's about to go down.

"I ain't looking for trouble," Dally says. "So just back off alright?"

The guy shoves Dally's shoulder. Hard. "You damn cheater."

"I didn't do nothing."

"You're a liar. You rigged that r-" He's cut off by a sharp, hard swing to his mouth. The man stumbles back and pulls his hand away from his bleeding mouth. Dally begins walking away, clenching and unclenching his fists.

"He knocked out two of his teeth!" someone says softly in awe. We walk to the pickup in silence. Then everyone erupts in cheer.

"Way to go, Dal!"

"Yeah you really gave him what he had coming for him!"

"Just a lesson- I never cheat, whether or not I admit it," Dally says. The boys laugh.

"Alright! Let's go home. It's getting late!" Darry says, hitting the top of the truck. We sit like we did before. I feel myself falling asleep as I lean my head down on Ponyboy's shoulder. Then the truck stops and instead of waking me up, I feel myself being carried inside. I open my eyes and smile up at Pony.

"Hey sleepyhead," he says.

"Hey."

"Aw!" Two-Bit mocks. "Looky here!"

"Cute," Steve mumbles sarcastically. I look at them and stick my tongue out before putting my arms around his neck. He sets me on my bed once inside.

"Hey, Pony. Will you sleep in here tonight?" I ask. He nods.

"I will later. Right now I gotta go get made fun of." I laugh.

"Alright. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, JT."