Ashley Curtis... Ponyboy's sister...

Mornin', birthday gal. - chapter 56

I felt as if my eyelids were sewn shut. I didn't feel like openin' my eyes. I was tired as hell. Last night, I didn't have any time to sleep. 'Cause I wasn't tired. But, now I am. I rolled onto my other side in bed and heard something. But, I ignored it. I think it was a chuckle or something. I put the blanket over my head and groaned.

The blanket was yanked off of me. I groaned, still refusing to open my eyes.

I felt someone breathin' down my neck and I tried to brush them off with the waving my hand. And it would've worked, too,... If I were a magical fairy... Or Michael Bay...

Too bad I'm not either of those things.

I felt the bed sink.  Someone was probably leanin' on it. I tried to wave them away once more, but the person picked me up.

I groaned, again. "Put me down.

They didn't listen. I didn't bother struggling.

The person shook me awake. I finally opened my eyes to see Sodapop holdin' me, Darry sitting on the bed, beside where I had been sitting, and Ponyboy shaking me awake.

I smiled. "What is it now, guys?"

Soda grinned. "Happy birthday, sis!"

My grin widened. "Aw, guys."

I gave Sodapop a hug and Ponyboy and Darry joined in.

After the hug, I told Soda to put me down so I could walk downstairs. He ignored my request and carried me down the stairs. This time, I struggled. Darry and Pony were laughing as they followed Sodapop down the stairs.

Once we reached the couch, Soda put me down. I tried to stand up, but Ponyboy sat down next to me, trying to keep me from standing back up. I chuckled and rolled my eyes as Darry and Soda went into the kitchen.

Ponyboy had his arm around me, trying his best to keep me from running after them. The 3 of them were chuckling like crazy.

"Guys, hurry!" Pony screamed, stifling a laugh. "I don't think I can hold her back for much longer!"

A second later, Sodapop and Darry walked back in, holding a chocolate cake with a few candles on it.

They started singing happy birthday and I grinned. They put the cake down on the coffee table while they sang the song and sat down next to Pony and I.

They finished off the song and I blew out the candles. Sodapop put some cake on his finger and he wiped it on my nose.

We ended up chasing  each other around the house, trying to smear frosting all over each other's faces.

After we were all covered in enough chocolate, he dug into the cake.

Sooner or later, the whole gang walked in. The first 2 were Steve and Two-bit. Steve ran in and started messing up my hair. I rolled my eyes as he and Two-bit started cracking jokes. Most of them were about age, but others, not so much.

A few minutes later, Dally and Johnny walked in. Dally snuck up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder, making me jump. When I saw him, I smirked, sticking my tongue out at him. He sat down beside me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

Steve made an elongated "Oooooooh" sound and Sodapop and Two-bit whistled. I thumped Soda and Two upside the head.

At about 1 in the afternoon, Dally and I left the house to go do something. I didn't know what, yet. He said that we were heading to the park, but we were headed in the opposite direction.

We soon pulled up at the movie house. He held the door open for me as we left the car. I looked up at him, confused. "Are you okay, Dallas?"

He smirked and we went inside. We were watching some movie. I think it was a horror movie.

We went inside and sat down. He turned to me. "Now, lil' lady." He said in his normal deep voice, acting like Elvis. "If ya get scared durin' the movie, I'll comfort you."

I smiled. Truth be told, I don't get scared during scary movies. I used to watch them with Pony and comfort him during the scary parts. But, I didn't feel like tellin' him that. I put an arm around him and got ready to do my best Soc impression. "Oh, Dallas. I get sooo scared during horror movies." I leaned in closer to him. "Can you... Protect me?..."

I batted my eye lashes and he chuckled. "I would be delighted." he said in a snooty accent.

We just stayed there, lookin' at each other for a while. Then, the movie started.

There was creepy music playing and I scooted in closer to him as the music got louder.

Throughout the movie, I pretended to jump and shield my eyes every time someone got killed. By 3:30, the movie was over. I left the theater in Dally's arms as we went to the car.

When we sat in the car, I looked up at him and smirked. "Ya realize that I wasn't really scared of the movie, right?"

He grinned, looking at the steering wheel. "Yeah. You're too tough for that." he looked up at me. "But I still liked comforting you."

I could feel my cheeks begin to flush and I chuckled. "So," I said, changing the subject. "We heading back to the house?"

He smirked and shook his head. "Darry said that you and I could go do something until somewheres around 5."

I nodded and we began driving to the next location.

Sodapop's POV

"Move it or loose it!"

"I'm trying! It's pretty hard to put the decorations up without a ladder."

"Steve! Where did you put the balloons?!"

"In the kitchen, Two!"

"Thanks!"

That was us tryin' to get ready for the party. Darry was yelling and us while he tried to make the cake.

I was on the ladder, putting up streamers and stuff. It was 3:30. We had to be done by 5 and we had a long way to go.

I hopped off the ladder and took a step back to admire me work. I grinned. "Nice."

Two-bit tossed me a bag of balloons. "You're not done, yet, sweetheart."

I rolled my eyes and started blowing up some balloons.

Johnny ran in the door. He was out of breath.

I put my arm around him. "What's wrong, Johnnycakes?"

He looked nervous. "A... A Soc... He found out about the party."

Now, I was nervous. I turned to Darry. That would make it 3 nervous guys.

Darry grabbed the phone and the phone book. He flipped through the book for a while, then, dialed a number. "Hi... Yeah, this is Darrel. Darrel Curtis... We need a few guards... A party..." He glared at Johnny, smirking. "Yeah, that one... Yeah, y'all can come if ya bring a few-... Yup... No!... Look, you in or not?!... Be here at 4:45." He hung up. I looked at him, confused.

He gave a slight grin. "I got someone takin' care of it."