Young Blood ⏤ Ponyboy Curtis | ✓

25 | sparks fly

Wintertime arrives in Tulsa like an unwanted presence, curling under raised collars of jackets and filling the air with a cold bite.

The air is icy and cold as Billie walks to school. Her hands are in her jacket pockets to warm them up and her collar is raised, shielding her neck from the winter air. Billie hates the cold, despite the cold weather meaning Christmas is approaching.

"Billie!"

Billie turns around, where across the road, Ponyboy is running across the street to her, his hands in the pockets of his denim jacket as well.

"It's so cold," he grumbles, frowning as he rubs his hands together before shoving them back in his pockets.

"Yeah," Billie agrees, trying to ignore how cute it was that Ponyboy's nose is red from the cold.

"Sodapop says I'm being silly and that'll warm up during the day," Ponyboy says as the two walk side-by-side on the sidewalk. "But I just hate the cold."

"I hate the cold too," Billie admits. "The only good thing about winter is Christmas."

Ponyboy has a faraway smile on his face. "Yeah. My mom used to make gingerbread cookies for us every year for Christmas." The smile drops from his face as he adds, "we haven't had gingerbread cookies since we lost Mom and Dad."

"When we were younger, Angela and I would bake a cake for Christmas," Billie tells Ponyboy. She's learnt to fill the silence whenever Ponyboy's parents are brought up. She knows he doesn't want to dwell on his parents too long. (That part, she can relate to. She hates thinking about her mother's presence which haunts her, even in death. The part of having loving parents, she can't relate to.)

Their father hadn't come back after Tim kicked him out. The next day, she heard from Scott that their father had stumbled onto their front porch, drunk out of his mind and begging for a place to stay. Hazel had slammed the door in his face, disgusted by the way he treated his children.

Now that Thanksgiving had past and their father hadn't shown up, Tim had visibly relaxed, not worried that their father would appear on their doorstep once again. Billie felt like she could breathe again, not worried that her father would be on their doorstep when she arrived from school and would have to brace herself for insults sent her way.

"You don't do it anymore?" Ponyboy asks Billie, turning to look at her as they cross the road.

Billie shakes her head. "No, it stopped once we got older."

Billie had always loved baking with Angela. It was something they could do together to spend time together. Billie always loved spending time with her older sister. But Angela grew bored of it once she became a teenager and the tradition ended abruptly.

"I wish I could eat one of my mom's gingerbread cookies again," Ponyboy says wistfully, looking away. "Sodapop asked once year for Darry to make them but he refused."

"It would be nice to bake a cake with Angela again. Even though she nearly burns the cake every time," Billie replies with a smile on her face.

"Maybe you could help me bake the gingerbread cookies my mom made." Ponyboy turns to Billie with a shy, almost hopeful smile on his face. His smile widens as Billie smiles at him.

"I'd like that." She'd never decline spending time with Ponyboy. The thought of baking with him made her heart skip a beat in her chest, as cliche as it sounded. She didn't think she could ever like somebody as much as she likes Ponyboy. She thought it was something that she only read in books or watched in movies, but here she is, hopelessly crushing on Ponyboy Curtis.