Summer Lovin' ✰ Ponyboy Curtis

Lying

"Hey!" Ponyboy exclaimed, walking in the house. I hadn't seen him since this morning. It was crazy to think he didn't even know that I was hurt. Or anything that happened. He barged in, but as soon as he saw me, his smile faded. "Oh my God! What happened?" He ran over to me, and knelt down beside my face.

I smiled slightly at the sight of him. It was still hard to imagine that he was my boyfriend. I mean, he's so nice and cute, while I'm just... me.

"Uh, some Socs beat me up as I was walking home. I'm okay, though. It looks worse than it feels," I assured him. It wasn't a total lie, I'm sure I looked a lot worse than I felt. But it still hurt bad.

"Oh my God! Who was it?"

"I'm not sure. Thank God Dally chased them off."

"Dally chased them off?" He repeated, looking over at Dally.

"It was nothin'," he said, glaring at me.

"Oh no, you saved me, Dally! He chased the Socs off, and ran up to me. He asked if I was okay and then carried me home."

"He carried you home!?!" Ponyboy asked, laughing.

"You better shut your mouth, Ponyboy, before I shut it for you," Dally threatened.

"Yeah, I've never heard that one before," Pony mumbled, rolling his eyes. "Are you sure you're alright? You're gonna have some tuff scars."

"Yeah, I'm okay. Been hurt worse than this."

He reached out to touch my eye, softly. I flinched a little, bouncing backwards. "Sorry," he apologized.

"It's alright."

. . . 

I woke up to people shouting and cheering. My eyes drifted open, and the ceiling of the Curtis house started to appear. I rolled over, and the boys were watching a movie on the floor. I didn't recognize the movie, but it seemed like something amazing just happened and that's why they were yelling.

"Shh! You guys woke her up!" Ponyboy scolded. He had his nose in a book, not paying attention to the movie.

"Oh, sorry, kid," Sodapop apologized.

"It's okay."

"How are you feeling?" Darry asked.

"I'm feeling better. I'd better get home, though, my dad's probably worried about me," I said.

"Here, I'll walk you home," Ponyboy volunteered.

"No, that's okay."

"No, Pony is going with you. You remember what happened last time?" Darry demanded.

"Good point," I mumbled, "thanks."

"No problem."

We slammed the front door, and walked outside.

"Look, I'm really sorry about what happened. It's all my fault, I should've been there. I wasn't thinking, I shouldn't have let you walk by yourself," Ponyboy rambled.

"Hey. None of this is your fault, okay? You didn't do anything wrong," I assured him.

"No, I blame myself for your black eye. I shouldn't have let you walk by yourself."

"Stop it, it's not your fault!"

"But if I was walking with you, I could've protected you and--"

I cut him off by kissing him on the lips. I pressed my lips against his, my hand on his waist. I let go, and he looked shocked.

"Sorry. I had to shut you up," I told him.

He chuckled a little and his face went bright red.

"Uh... I was gonna ask you something," Ponyboy blurted out.

"Okay. Shoot."

"Uh... do you wanna go out? Like... on a date? Because I mean, we haven't really... like gone on a... date before—I guess..."

I smiled and chuckled at his stammering. "I'd love to." 

He flashed a smile at me, and we continued on our way. 

As he walked me home, all I could think about is that I am going on a real date with Ponyboy Curtis.

. . . 

I twisted the knob to my house and I stepped inside, with Ponyboy next to me. My dad jumped up from the couch, throwing his newspaper to the ground.

"Where have you been?" He asked, glaring at Ponyboy. He got angrier when he saw my face. "And what the hell happened?"

"I'm sorry dad. I was walking home and--"

"It was my fault, sir," Ponyboy cut me off.

"You did this?" Dad snapped.

"No! God no, sir. I would never hurt her."

"Then how is this your fault?" My dad asked.

"It's not, dad," I assured.

"Yes it is, Jennifer. She was walking home, and I wasn't with her. I would've protected her from the Socs that jumped her, but I was home instead. I'm very sorry, sir," Ponyboy explained, nervously. 

My thumb brushed across my lip repeatedly. 

"Why were you walking by yourself?" Dad snapped.

"I dunno, dad. I just didn't think, I'm sorry. One of my friends helped me and carried me back to their house, and I was there."

My dad didn't take his eyes off Ponyboy, he was glaring at him. 

"I'd better go. I'm really sorry again, sir."

"Yeah I'm sure you are," he mumbled.

"Dad," I scolded.

"Bye," Ponyboy said, walking out.