「look at the stars」 | Johnnyboy

T e n .

"C'mon, guys." Angela grinned wildly, leading the two boys down a road they were unfamiliar with. They cautiously followed.

"Where are you taking us?"

"Yeah, Ang, what gives?" Ponyboy laughed, side by side with Johnny.

"You'll see!" She turned her head to show how she'd dramatically widened her eyes, teeth still showing. They chuckled in unison, going with the flow reluctantly.

☪ ☪ ☪

"We're here." She revealed after about thirty minutes of walking, gesturing her hands in front of her. Both boys looked toward her object of attention now, Ponyboy's mouth opening slightly.

"Whoa." Johnny spoke for him, brown eyes appearing bigger than usual.

"Cool, right?"

"Mega cool." Ponyboy agreed, nodding. In front of the three of them stood a large, plump tree - the branches looked almost gold in the sunlight, and a few feet up sat a tree house; or what looked to be one, anyway.

"How'd you find it?" Johnny breathed audibly - perhaps from the view, though maybe from the heat.

"Me and Curly—"

"Curly and I," Ponyboy corrected, mouth splitting into a small smile. Even at the age of thirteen, he was a smarty - to an extent. He had book smarts, and a little street smarts. Common sense, however, was something he was a bit slow with.

"Curly and I," she began again, "were walking around and ended up coming here. 'Turns out the state owns this property, but it's kinda like this place is just... here. Free to everyone." She lifted her shoulders, smiling widely at them. "To the three of us."

"What if we get in trouble?" The thought occurred to the oldest of them as his dark hues darted between them.

"Then... we run?" Angela suggested, sliding the bag off of her shoulders and starting to climb up the nearly rotted steps. One of her hands wrapped around the dangling rope for support while the other clutched to the wood. When she got to the top, she peered down at them. "Are you guys coming?" The boys shared a wary glance before they began to follow her lead; Ponyboy in the lead, Johnny close behind.

As they sat in the miniature home, the conversations began - childish, at first. It ranged from friendship pacts, to time travel, to space, to different kinds of candy, to Indian tribes, to all of the adventures they were bound to go on one day.

"No, no, no, like — what if it happened?" The girl's eyes were serious, but she couldn't stop the fit of giggles that escaped her lips. They were talking about a variety of food falling from the sky, currently being spaghetti.

"Ew, noooo!" Johnny tried his hardest not to show his amusement.

"I think it'd be pretty cool." Ponyboy deadpanned, but a beam then finally found its way to his face.

"Would not." Johnny and Angela spoke in unison, causing Pony to gape and cross his arms over his chest.

"You two are ganging up on me? I can't believe this."