"Move!" Ponyboy yelled, trying to squeeze past Two-Bit.
"No way man!" Two-Bit said, trying to wedge past Ponyboy. "I got here first."
"I'm carrying more stuff than you!" Pony tried to shove Two-Bit by slamming his shoulder into him.
"Ow!" Two scowled at Pony before returning the shove.
"Are you two actually fighting over the front door?" Dally asked. He sighed, standing behind them with a box of food. Two-Bit was carrying a tent, and Ponyboy was carrying all four bags of bedding, as well as you can carry four bags of bedding. The two were stuck in the doorframe, trying to push past one another.
"Ponyboy Micheal, you quit being a kid and move aside." Darry said. He stood by Dally. Darry was only an inch shorter than Dally, but he had an impressive build, like a professional body builder or a movie star.
Ponyboy groaned, and pulled out of the doorway. Two-Bit cheerfully carried the tent outside, and Ponyboy fumbled, dropping half the bags.
"Jeez, Pony." Dally said.
"It's not that hard." Darry said, becoming slightly annoyed with his kid brother. Pony glared at the ground as he attempted to pick up the bags. But, with two already under his arm, he wasn't having a great time.
"Here." I picked them up. "I've got them."
"Thanks." Pony said. We carried them out to Two-Bit's car, Dally following behind me with the box of food. Dally put the food in the backseat, and me and Pony dropped everything in the trunk. Two-Bit slammed it shut.
"Well, that looks like everything." Two-Bit sighed. "Boy, what a work out. Woo!" He hollered, bouncing back for the house.
That guy lives in a cartoon. I thought admirably. I looked over at Pony. He was smiling a bit, looking after Two-Bit, and I knew he was just as fond of Two. Dally was starting back for the house, grimacing in the heat of the sun.
Pony and I wondered back to the porch as well. Darry was instantly all over Pony, double checking that he had everything and reminding him to stay with the group and to be careful with fire and to check himself for ticks on the daily. Soda was looking at me, and I wondered away from the group over to him on the far side of the porch.
"Hey, Soda." I said, feeling like he had something to say.
"Be careful, Johnnycake." Soda said. He had a straight face, and I stared at him expectantly. He suddenly cracked a grin. "Keep Pony out of trouble for me, alright?"
He still had the wrong impression.
"Yeah, okay." I said. Suddenly Darry was beside me, dragging Pony by the arm.
"Did you hear?" Darry asked me. "I want Pony to share a tent with you, alright?"
"Uh, sure." I said. I figured that's how it would be anyways.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Soda was saying. Darry frowned at him.
"C'mon, nothings going to happen, it's Johnny." Darry said. He was trying to reason with him, but Soda was still convinced I had something for Ponyboy, and Darry respected me too much to expose the truth. I felt my face grow hot. They were arguing about my feelings, and Ponyboy was completely naïve.
"Don't you think putting the smallest two in a tent together is a bad idea?" Soda said, rather genuine. "Dally and Two-Bit are strong, if something happens, they should be closer to them."
Darry thought, realizing he was right. "I guess so." He looked at Ponyboy. "I want you to share a tent with Two-Bit, alright?"
"Okay, I guess. Unless Johnny wants to share a tent with Two." Pony looked at me, and I swore I could read his mind. Ponyboy personally didn't want to share a tent with Dally, there are a lot of things he dislikes about him. Despite Dally still being his good buddy, he was much more fond of Two-Bit. Two was a good friend, a little insensitive with his jokes, but still smart about it.
He was more comfortable around Two-Bit, and didn't want to force me into sharing a tent with Dally, who was much more likely to say something totally offensive or get moody. But he also knew I was more fond of Dally than he was, so he wasn't really sure what I'd prefer.
"That's fine." I said quickly, my face hot. I knew Darry was eyeing me, but to be honest, I just didn't want to cause anymore debating.
"Are you sure?" Darry asked carefully. I nodded stiffly, which only made me more embarrassed. I hoped he didn't think I wanted to share a tent with Dally more than Pony or anything. Before this mess I wouldn't mind, but I'd honestly much rather sleep in a tent with Pony, or even Two-Bit. I was just too scared to say no.
"Alright, I'll tell Two-Bit." Pony said. He pulled away from Darry, eager to have an excuse to get away from him.
"You be careful now." Darry told me with a stern look. I nodded.
Two-Bit was pretty eager to leave, and it wasn't much longer before we were driving down the street with the radio on high. Dally and Pony were in the backseat, the box of food between them.
"Jesus, Two-Bit!" Pony hollered from the backseat. "Can't you turn that down?!"
"No can do!" Two-Bit shouted, cruising along. "It's not everyday you hear your favorite song on the radio."
"Yeah, especially not one that's ten years old." Dally said dryly.
"What?!" Two-Bit called over the music. I heard Dally sigh, and Two cackled before singing along with the song.
♪ I laughed at love, 'cause I thought it was funny
You came along and moved me, honey
I've changed my mind
This love is fine
Goodness gracious,
Great balls of fire! ♪
Two-Bit continued to sing along to the playful 50's song, and I couldn't help but notice how it added to Two-Bit's cartoonish behavior.
*** *** *** ***
"So is this where we're staying?" Dally climbed out of the car, Ponyboy following him out. The door on Pony's side was jammed.
"Yeah, it's got plenty of trees, all surrounding this spot here." Two-Bit said, pointing to the surrounding trees.
"I thought we were going to a camping resort or something." I said, nervously eyeing the trees.
"Awe, it'll be fine." Two-Bit said. "There's a stream in those trees over there. Dally, come give me a hand with these tents."
Dally and Two started to go through the trunk. Two-Bit had drive the car off the road and through the grass, and now the road was in the distance. We were stopped in a large clearing between trees. The grass was half dry, and the sun kept the space hot.
"How did you find this place, Two-Bit?" Pony asked as Dally dumped one of the tents into his arms.
"Eh, friend of a friend told me about it." Two grinned mysteriously.
"Hey, Johnnycake." Dally called.
"Yeah?!" I stiffened.
"Why don't you get the eggs and milk from the back seat. Put them in the stream."
I opened the car door as Pony staled off with a cotton tent. "I've never done this before." I said, rummaging through the box of food.
"You're doing great." Dally said dryly, walking past towards Pony. I sighed, frustrated.
"Two-Bit, where is the milk?"
"Hm?" Two-Bit came around and stood by the door of the car as I climbed out with the eggs. He looked in the car.
"Oh, the large flasks." Two reached into the middle seat of the car, pulling the flasks out of the box. He showed me the flasks before nodding at the box. "There's big tin container in there. Put the package of eggs in there."
I handed the eggs off to Two-Bit and rummaged through the box. "What's the point in putting all these things in different containers?" I asked, looking over the tin container.
Two laughed. "Wow, you really have never done this before." He handed back the eggs. "Milk comes in glass, and eggs come in cardboard. And we have to stick it in the stream to stay cool."
"You think the water might have a bad affect on the cardboard?" I asked curiously.
"Maybe, but it's mostly because it's so delicate." Two-Bit explained. I closed the lid over the carton of eggs, and he closed the car door. "It wouldn't be very hard for an animal to break glass or rip open cardboard."
"That's nice." I mumbled as we made our way across the clearing. "I'm sure we don't have to worry about animals getting into our cotton tents either?"
Two-Bit laughed nervously. "Well, they are very thick tents. You know how heavy they are, they're military style tents, Johnny."
"That's comforting." I said, though I think it was sarcastic. "You know, I've never really been outside of the Tulsa city limits before. What kind of animals could even be out here."
Two-Bit and I were walking into the trees now. Two hummed thoughtfully. "Well, there's things like owls, foxes, skunks..."
"And what else?" I asked, wide eyed.
"Well, I mean there's also all kinds of snakes, bobcats..." Two-Bit paused, and I groaned. He muttered. "Black-bears..."
"What?!" I exclaimed.
"Jesus, calm down, you'll jostle the eggs!" Two-Bit said. Then he chuckled. "Don't let that bear part get to you. It's not that likely to see one so close to the road, Tulsa is just notorious for having a lot of bears in the area."
"Could have mentioned that!" I said. We were standing at the stream now. Two-Bit was crouched on the ground, moving rocks in the stream to clear a little dip for the eggs and milk.
"Alright, hand me the eggs." Two-Bit said. He put the eggs in the little pocket of the stream, putting the flasks of milk on top. He stood, wiping his hands on his T-shirt.
"Alrighty, that should do it!" He said. We started back for the clearing. He looked over at me. "But really, don't worry about those bears. Dally talked Tim into letting us borrow a shot gun, it'll be in the tent with me and Pony. Dally's got his gun, and for once, it's actually loaded."
"You can't shoot a shot gun!" I said as we walked back into the opening.
"I know how it works!" Two-Bit argued. He playfully whacked my arm, not hard or anything, before looking up at Dally and Pony a few feet ahead. "Looks like they're already setting up tents."
Dally and Pony were trying to put together the supports for one of the tents. They called us over to help. Dally had taken off his jacket in the heat of noon, which was new because he'd typically leave it on unless he was wearing a long sleeved T-shirt. But he had it off, and his short sleeves rolled up like Ponyboy's and Two-Bit's were.
We managed to put up both tents and start a fire before Two-Bit's stolen dime-store watch said it was 3PM.
Also, I should mention that Two-Bit stole a watch that was half an hour ahead. He never got it fixed.