𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 ❥ 𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐲 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬

𝟢𝟣𝟢

"give me a sign, if i'm on your mind."

𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞'𝐬 𝐩.𝐨.𝐯.

     It was the day of Johnny's 17th birthday and I was determined to execute it perfectly, even if I wasn't talking to my co-party planner.

     I was putting my books away in my locker as soon as the dismissal bell rang. The rest of the afternoon was for putting the finishing touches on the party while Dally took Johnny somewhere as a distraction.

     "Hey Valerie."

     Liam leaned against my locker as usual, so I wasn't surprised to see him. He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek as a greeting and slung my backpack around his shoulder.

     "Hey Liam." I smiled.

     We started our usual walk to my house. It was peaceful and nice but I sort of missed the walk home with the others. We talked about the usual; school, basketball, and the upcoming break.

     By the time I got home everyone but Johnny and Dally were setting up for the party. Usually birthdays aren't celebrated like this but we all silently agreed that Johnny deserved a party more than any of us.

"Hey Val! Pony's in his office ordering everyone around." Annie said one I walked inside. "I think he's going a little too power hungry, so go humble him for us."

I raised my eyebrows in amusement. "His office?"

"The pantry." Annie explained. I nodded and walked into the kitchen, weaving through the old boxes of decorations from my past birthday parties.

"Delancy. Two-Bit. Could ya move move that a little to the left?" Ponyboy asked while he sipped on his drink of iced tea.

"What's going on here?" I asked once I reached them. Pony just winked at me and beckoned Steve and Darry towards us.

"Would you fellas mind making Val and I some more iced tea?" He grinned. To my surprise Darry and Steve gave him a glare, but started pouring out glasses of the drink.

I took a seat next to Pony who was staring at his clipboard, trying to look busy.

"Now how in the world did you get those 2 to listen to you?" I inquired.

"Told them they better listen to me since I'm the only one who can perfectly execute Johnnycakes party." He shrugged.

"I applaud you," I chuckled. It seemed like the anger from our last argument was wearing off as we talked and ordered the others around.

At some point Soda and Steve walked up to us with the birthday banner for the party.

"So, what do you think? Looks good right?" Soda had asked while holding it out proudly.