1 Chapter One

Hope's POV

Hope sat on the hood of her brother's car waiting for school to start. She was nervous about being in high-school at 14 but she was happy she wasn't the only one there. Hope heard Pony was really smart and couldn't wait to meet him since he was Soda's brother and him and Steve were inseparable. "I think you and Pony will get along and at least I know he will keep an eye on you." Steve said worried about his sister starting school here with a bunch of socs around. Hope nodded knowing what he was thinking without him saying it. "Hey guys." he said when some of his friends got there. "Pony, Johnny this is my sister Hope... I'm sure Soda's mentioned her to you Pony?" he asked and Pony nodded then locked eyes with her smiling slightly. Hope smiled back thinking he was even cuter than Soda was and everyone who knew Soda knew he was gorgeous. "Ready for class?" Pony asked drawing her out of her reverie and she nodded getting off of her brother's car and walked inside with him looking around as he showed her around then they both went to class and sat next to each other.

Pony's Pov

Pony knew that Steve had wanted him to lookout for his sister and at first he admitted he didn't want to but now he was looking forward to it. She was gorgeous and he found himself already crushing on her though he wouldn't admit it even to himself. Pony glanced at her every now and then during class and wondered what to talk about whenever they walked from class to class. As the bell rang he still didn't know what to say so he grabbed his stuff and walked out with her. "So Soda tells me you like watching sunsets and to read?" Hope said catching him off guard but he grinned nodding. "Yeah I love it." he said and Hope smiled. "Me too." she said and as they got to their next class. Pony was glad to have some stuff in common with her and now the could find something to talk to her about. They sat down and both kept glancing at each other and locking eyes when they did. "So what else do you like besides sunsets and reading?" Pony asked and Hope looked at her desk. "I like dancing, singing and drawing." she said and Pony looked over at her. "I like drawing." he said and she looked back at him. Pony thought again how pretty she was and how much he already liked her.

Hope's POV

Hope walked home with Pony and Johnny that afternoon while Steve went to work to help Soda close up. She had a better day than she thought she would. Then again she never thought she'd have a crush on someone that she had just met but Pony was sweet, smart, and really cute. When they got to the Curtis's Pony unlocked the door and they went inside to find Two-bit already there eating a piece of cake and drinking a beer."Hey Pony. Hey Johnny...hey Hope. " Two said as he noticed her standing behind Pony. Hope sometimes thought Two-bit was annoying but he was one of her brother's friends so she didn't say anything. "You two already know each other?" Johnny asked wondering if him and Pony were the last two to meet her. "We met a week ago..Darry and Dally don't even know about her I don't think." he said and Hope knew he was right. Steve tried talking about her in front of Darry but he was always busy and he dreaded her meeting Dally. He couldn't stand Dal but he was one of the gang so he had no choice but to tolerate him and he knew Dally wouldn't try nothing with his little sister but he didn't want his bad influence rubbing off on her. Pony went to the kitchen with Johnny to get some snacks but Hope didn't want anything. She sat down on the couch stretching out trying to get her stomach to calm down. It was starting to hurt a little and she didn't want it to still br hurting when Steve came to get her. She loved her brother but he was wat to over protective and sometimes she wished he'd stop worrying so much. Pony and Johnny walked back out and sat down by Two-bit but instead of watching tv with him they pulled out their homework and got started. Hope watched them for a few minutes before taking put her literature book out and started reading the pages the teacher had mentioned. That had been her only class without Pony and was her only homework she had so she got done pretty quickly. Pony looked like he had math so it took him and Johnny longer before they finished. "Why are you nerds doing homework? Can't you have a little bit of fun?" Two rolls his eyes looking at everyone. Hope barely glanced up at him. "I like reading and when I get home I just want to go te bed and not worry about doing homework so..." she said shrugging. "I just want to be finished before Darry and everyone else gets here so he doesn't jump down my throat when I want to hangout." Pony said and Two nodded in understanding. Hope finished reading and then sat there watching TV with Two-bit until Pony and Johnny got done with their homework.