When Ponyboy and I finally got home, I attempted to quickly walk to my room before Pony could start sharing what happened this morning with anyone but Ponyboy pulled me back by my shirt before I could escape. "Not so fast El," he said with a stern tone that he rarely uses. "Don't think that what happened today with you and that Soc won't be discussed with Soda and Darry," he said with a somewhat harsh voice. I groaned with annoyance. Giving Ponyboy a cold grimace, I yanked myself out of his grip and headed to my room.

I waited in my room for a while, working on some homework and dreading the arrival of my two brothers. When they found out they would be livid, no question. A little while later I heard the front door open and Darry and Soda chatting amongst themselves. "Ellie! Can you come in here please?" I heard Ponyboy say from the living room. I slowly got up and shuffled my way down the hall. Darry and Soda had ended their conversation and now they were just looking at the two of us with confused expressions.

"What's going on?" Darry asked while crossing his arms. Soda just stayed silent beside him.

Ponyboy looked at me, expecting me to speak. "Well are you going to tell them or am I?" He asked, impatient. What a dick. I've never seen him so upset about something so ridiculous. It's just a dance with a boy. What's the big deal? He may be a Soc but that doesn't meant that he's a monster.

"Will one of you just say what this is all about?" Darry asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Is everything okay? Are you hurt?" Soda asked, sounding nervous.

I shook my head, "No Soda I'm fine, everything's fine."

Ponyboy intervened, "No everything's not fine because Ellie is supposedly going to that school dance with some lousy Soc this weekend." He said in a very irate tone.

Darry turned his gaze from Ponyboy and looked at me with wide eyes. "You what?" He said in great animosity.

"It's not that big of a deal Dar," I replied. "It's just a dance it's not like I'm marrying the guy!"

Darry grew more irritated. "You are not going anywhere with some boy from the other side of town. You're only fourteen!"

"That's not that young Darry! You just can't believe that someone who isn't like us is a good person. I'm tired of not being able to do anything that I want to do. Please, let me go." I begged. I tried to use my "I'm your baby sister and you love me so please let me do this" voice but I wasn't sure he was convinced on allowing me to go.

"Maybe we should let her go Dar," Soda said after a moment of silence. When Darry gave him a cold look he quickly added to his statement. "We could have Ponyboy or Two-bit go too and keep an eye on her, from a distance," He added when I opened my mouth to object.

Darry stood there for a second, thinking before heaving a sigh and turning towards me. "Fine you can go," He said in defeat. I smiled and hugged Darry.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" I squealed. He hugged me back and laughed softly. When I let go he turned serious again.

"But I have some rules," He said. "First, I want to meet this boy before you go. Second, you go straight to the dance and back. No stopping anywhere. And third, you stay close to your brother and Two-Bit. No runnin' off or anything like that. Got it?"

"I got it. Don't worry, you can trust me." I said, trying to reassure him. He smiled and I ran back to my room and fell onto my bed. Nothing broke my smile for the rest of the night.

The days leading up to Saturday seemed to drag on for eternity. I could barely focus on anything else, and I think Darry could tell too, although he didn't seem as thrilled about this dance as I was. I can't blame him though. Ever since my parents died, he's been kind of a helicopter parent. I think he's just afraid of messing up in some way. To be fair, it's gotta be stressful taking care of your three younger siblings while simultaneously working two jobs. I kinda admire him for that.

Speaking of siblings, I kind of gave Ponyboy the cold shoulder for a few days before the dance. I mean, he did rat me out. Even though it all worked out in the end and Darry let me go, I thought Ponyboy was more trustworthy than that.

I had been so focused on Connor that I almost forgot to pick out a dress for the dance. I didn't want to ask Darry if I could buy a new dress because I knew that we probably couldn't afford it. But I didn't mind, I just decided that I would find a dress around the house. I searched through my closet, trying to find something that would work but all I had were dresses from when I was younger since I rarely wear them. I would rather wear jeans.

Realizing that I wouldn't find anything in my room, I headed over to Darry's room, or what was once my parent's room. I knew that we still had some of my mom's clothes in there and I figured that I could find something. As soon as I opened the closet door, memories came flooding back. I remembered the days I would sneak into her room and put on her clothes and makeup and strut around the house. I Wanted nothing more than to be her. I still do. She was a better person than most people ever dream to be.

My moms clothes hung in front of me in a light layer of dust. I paused for a second, looking at each piece of fabric. It broke my heart to look at them, untouched and unused. I quickly tried to shake away my emotions and started looking through the clothes.

After a few minutes of searching, I had almost given up on finding a dress that I could wear until I saw one last dress on the end of the row. It was a white dress with a flower pattern on it. Mom's favorite dress. She wore it whenever there was a special occasion and she always looked beautiful in it. I had completely forgotten it existed. Or, maybe I didn't want to remember it. I took it down from the hanger and held it close to me. It still smelled like her. I smiled into the dress and wiped my eyes. I missed her.

When I few moments went by, I pushed away my emotions and started to try on the dress. I loved it. It fit me well but I couldn't reach the last part of the zipper so I went to ask for help.

I walked into the living room and asked the boys, "Can one of you guys help me zip this please?" Soda was the first to stand up and he helped me zip it all the way. I turned around and faced them, raising my eyes and shoulders. "What do you guys think?"

They were all silent for a moment before Ponyboy said quietly, "She looks like mom."

"Yeah she does," Darry replied just as quiet. It was almost as if he was about to cry. My cheeks felt hot. I suddenly felt really embarrassed.

"You look beautiful Ellie," I head Soda say with a soft smile on his face. I returned the smile and headed back to my room.

I kind of felt bad. I didn't mean to get them so emotional or anything. I mean, it's just a dress. And I didn't look anything like my mother. She was a bright blond, medium height, and had Ponyboy's greenish grey eyes. I have long light brown hair, blue eyes, and I'm rather short for my age. I didn't look anything like my mother. She was beautiful. I could never be like her. I then took off the dress and put in on my dresser, making sure to fold it neatly so I wouldn't become wrinkled.

The rest of my night consisted of homework, dinner, and a messy game of football outside with the gang. It was kind of muddy outside so by the end of the game we were covered head to toe with dirt. But we didn't care. We were having fun. And we were together. Little did I know, that would be one of the last times we were all together for a very, long time.