It wasn't until after school that I found out what Abigail had in mind. Something I neglected to mention sooner is the fact that our landlady was also our great-aunt Annabelle—who knew full well that we both had magical abilities, from what Abigail told me. Abigail somehow managed to talk her into letting the boys stay in a couple of the available apartments for the time being. Ponyboy, Darry and Sodapop would most likely have one to themselves while Two-Bit, Steve, Johnny and Dallas stayed in one of their own.

Aunt Annabelle did warn us, though, that they would have to find some way of paying rent sooner or later if they planned on staying there long-term. I knew Darry would get on that immediately, and so would Sodapop and Steve, but Johnny and Ponyboy would need to attend school with us. Two-Bit decided to come along, too, since he enjoyed school so much. Dallas obviously refused to do either one.

The next issue was figuring out how to hide the fact that they were characters from a well-known story that was required reading in most elementary and high schools across the USA.

In my mind, we had a few options. One, we could have some of them keep using their real first names—Johnny, Darry, Steve and Dally—since those names weren't that uncommon, but use alternate last names. Two-Bit could probably do the same, since his real first name was Keith. If we did that, though, Ponyboy and Sodapop would need to be given entirely new names to go by.

A second idea would be to let everyone keep using their own names, while telling anyone who asked that they were simply named after the characters. I wasn't sure how well that would work, especially considering that would have to involve giving them all fake last names, but it was an option, at least.

In the end, I decided to work a little magic. The spell I ultimately cast made it so that no one had to change their name whatsoever, because the magic would prevent anyone else from realizing the truth. A second spell provided them with ID they could use while they were here, so we didn't have to go through any legal crap.

Ah, the joys of coming from a magical family!

My magic did have its limits, though. I couldn't exactly make money appear out of thin air, so Darry, Steve and Sodapop would still need to get jobs, as stated before—though Steve would do part-time so he could still attend school, too. They had time either way; my great-aunt gave them a couple of months to do that before she would begin asking for rent from them.

Magic also came in handy when it came to providing the gang with furniture and appliances for their formerly empty apartments—though they'd need to stock up on food and Abigail kindly offered to help them out with that as soon as it was brought up. To say Darry and the others were grateful for that would be an understatement, for sure.

Now that all the serious stuff was mostly dealt with, Lana and I could focus on actually getting to know our beloved new friends for real!

Right off the bat, I noticed that Dallas seemed to gravitate toward Lana in particular and I think Johnny noticed it, too. "He sure does like her," he said to Ponyboy and I as a bunch of us were walking over to the park near my place.

"No kidding," I agreed, "It's kind of lucky that he went for someone who doesn't have a problem with dirty jokes, I will say that—I shudder to think what might've happened if it were Leanne."

Ponyboy raised his eyebrows. "Leanne? Who's that?"

"Oh, just this girl at our school," I replied, "One look at her and you might think she was a Soc—though that kind of thing isn't anywhere near as cut-and-dry here—and she used to bully the hell out of me and my friends. I mean, she still teases me, but recently I found her human side..." I realized I was rambling.

Pony and Johnny didn't seem to mind, though. "What are things like at your school?" Pony asked curiously. Johnny remained silent, the usual nervous and suspicious look not fading from his dark eyes, though he, too, listened to my answer with interest.

"They're alright," I replied, "Not as much bullying goes on as you might think, but it's definitely there. Leanne's the leader of this group of about five or six, and then there's Vanessa." I shuddered at the mere mention of her name. "I don't really want to talk about her. The only thing I'll say is that you should try to avoid her as much as you can. As for classes, well, the teachers are pretty cool as long as you behave yourself, and even then they're not so bad. So, y'know...it's school-like," I finished with a small grin.

"Personally, I'm excited for you guys to meet the rest of our friends," Lana added as we finally got to the park and looked for a place to sit and relax. We found a good-sized tree with a wooden bench sitting underneath it and headed in that direction, with Johnny, Dallas and Lana taking up the bench and Ponyboy and I on the grass next to it. "I have a strong feeling Two-Bit'll get along with Jessica and Andrew, in particular."

"Two-Bit pretty much gets along with everyone," pointed out Ponyboy, "Well, everyone who ain't a Soc."

I knew that Two-Bit, like the others, wasn't a fan of Johnny's parents either but I obviously refrained from saying so, instead replying with, "Yeah, that makes sense. Like I was trying to say earlier, though, no one here really identifies as a greaser or a Soc; social class just doesn't seem to matter as much to most people anymore from what I can tell. Basically, none of you guys would have to worry much about getting jumped or anything."

Both Ponyboy and Johnny looked pretty relieved to hear that. Dallas' expression didn't change much, though glancing at him made me remember something. Ponyboy had said in the book that Dally had nothing specific to hate besides the Socs, who would always win no matter what since they seemed to be the lucky ones, but now that Dallas was here with us, he literally had no specific thing to direct his hatred towards...yet.

I had a feeling he'd run into Leanne's friends sooner or later despite not attending school, and that they would become something he hated.

Either way, I couldn't help but suspect he might be a little bit bitter that he had one less way to blow off steam now—but if that was the case, he definitely didn't show it.

Suddenly, all five of us heard a new voice, one that the boys hadn't heard yet but that was extremely familiar to Lana and I. "There you guys are; I've been looking all over for you!"

It was Jessie, sprinting toward us at an impressive speed.

"Glory, Ponyboy, she's almost as fast a runner as you are," remarked Johnny, just as Jessie reached us.

"Where have you guys been all afternoon?" she asked us.

"Just taking care of some stuff, that's all," replied Lana, "What about you?"

"Not too much, mostly finishing up some pixel art," she replied, "Hey, I don't recognize you three. What's your names?"

"I could ask you the same thing, doll," Dally replied, his tone suggesting he might be trying to flirt with her.

"Easy, buddy, I'm not into the whole dating thing," Jessie replied, but she wasn't all that bothered by the attempt, more amused by it as she merely smiled and added, "I'm Jessica. Most people call me Jessie or Jess, though."

"Dallas Winston," he returned. Jessie raised her eyebrows, even more so when I added, "And that's Ponyboy and Johnny."

It was then that Lana and I realized it.

The spell hadn't worked on Jessie.