Erin woke up groggily to someone shaking her. She looked up and seen Johnny in front of her and a sleepy Pony at his side. "Come on, Erin, get up," He shook her more. She groaned and stood up.
"Jump!" She heard Johnny say. She jumped and landed in wet dew. She fell to her knees, scraping them and her knees. Oosh! It woke her up real quick.
She stood up and tried scraping the dirt and grass off her pants. It only left a stain that would stay for weeks. She seen something out of the corner of her eye. It was her book. She completely forgot about it with all the commotion going on. She would always hold it close to her and pick it up when she dropped it. Last night all she did was go and go; she barely remembered to grab the book before she left anywhere.
She picked it up and turned to Ponyboy and Johnny. They were both talking about what to do and where to go. Erin walked over to them and yawned. "Morning, Sleeping Beauty," Pony said with a laugh. Johnny shot a small glare to Ponyboy, but Erin didn't see it.
"Morning, bed head," She said back. Pony ran his hands through his hair, trying to fix it. Erin only laughed. Johnny laughed lightly and shook his head. "How do we get to Jay Mountain?"
Erin didn't actually know where it was. The book didn't say which way to go, but she did know what they do to get there. "How about we go ask someone. The story won't be in the paper yet. Ponyboy, you and Erin go ask someone. Go across that fence over there. And for goodness sakes, stand up straight and run a comb through your hair."
Erin ran her hands through her hair, trying to get make her hair look less messy. She got some of the tats out as Pony finished combing his. "Better," Johnny said to him. He looked over at Erin who was still messing with her hair. "You look fine Erin."
She didn't care what he said. She had stains on her clothes and her hair was probably a mess. That was not fine. If he thought it was then he has a weird definition of fine. So she just kept messing with her hair. She wanted to pull out her phone to look and see how she looked, but she knew that wasn't an option. Maybe when she was alone, but not in front of the boys.
"I said you looked fine," He walked over to her and grabbed her arm. He stopped her from messing with her hair and moved her arms back to her side. He then tucked a piece behind her ear. Erin felt her face heat up as she looked at him. "Now go on," He smiled. "Pony will leave her behind."
"Oh all right," She huffed and walked away from him. "But if I don't look good I'm blaming you." He only laughed.
"Can you get over this fence?" Pony asked as she caught up with.
"With you help. Hold this piece up and this one down." Pony did as he was told as she went in between the two pieces of barbed wire.
"Have you done that before?"
"Yeah. I have. I've been in the country enough. It's nice. It feels good to be back in a field like this."
"Yeah. I've been out in the country some. Probably not as much as you have, but I miss it."
They finally reached a farmer who was sitting down when he was supposed to be plowing. "Excuse me, sir," Erin walked up to him, Pony right behind her. "Can you tell us where Jay Mountain is?" She asked in a polite voice.
"Just over that hill up there. Why? Taking a walk?"
"Yes, sir," Pony spoke. "Us and our buddies are playing army and we are supposed to report to head courters.
The farmer just shook his head and chuckled. "Kids."
They both laughed as they walked back to Johnny. They told him what the man had said and then they began walking in the direction of the church. It took about 45 minutes to get up the hill. Erin checked the time on her phone before they started walking and when they got to the church. Of course she had to make sure no one seen her.
When they got there they immediately sat down on the ground and fell asleep on the hard church floor.
...
When Erin woke up the next time the sun was in the middle of the sky. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. She looked down on the ground and seen Johnny's message saying he will be back soon. She looked over and seen Ponyboy still sound asleep. She wanted to check her phone but she decided on going out to the pump for water.
She walked outside to where the pump was. She pumped some water into her hands and drank. Boy she was thirsty. She hadn't had a thing to drink since yesterday, and it made her feel good. She pulled her hair back with her hand and splashes some water on her face.
"Erin? Johnny?" She heard Ponyboy call. She walked back inside and seen Pony reading the message in the dirt.
"Ponyboy?" Erin spoke. He turned his head. When he seen her he smiled.
"I thought you and Johnny had left for a minute. Just left me here."
"Now why on earth would we do that Ponyboy? We are in this together. You have too much of a creative imagination." She playful punches his arm.
"Yeah, that's true. But you two could have probably ran off. Eloped to Mexico?" He said with a smile.
"Oh yeah. Ha ha." Erin wanted to laugh. Ponyboy didn't know she got his joke. In the movie that's what he said to Cherry. But this is the book, not the movie.
Pony stood up. "I'm going out to the pump to get water."
Once Pony was gone Erin pulled out her phone. Over 100 more messages from all her family and friends! They kept telling her to come home and that they miss her terribly. She didn't even want to check her voicemail. It would be bad too, and hearing her loved ones voices would make things even worse. She sighed and put her phone back in her pocket. She then began humming and then singing quietly to herself. Singing always helps her with her problems. Not only does it help relieve stress, but it makes her happy.
"I remember tears streaming down your face when I said I'll never let you go.
When all those shadows almost killed your light.
I remember you said, 'Don't leave me here alone.'
But all that's dead and gone and past tonight.
Just close your eyes
The sun is going down
You'll be all right
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound."
Erin didn't know that Ponyboy and Johnny were listening to her. While Pony was out getting water Johnny came back. He ran up and started talking to him. That's when they heard Erin. "Glory," Pony said as he walked in. Erin turned to face them, her face full of shock. "I didn't know you could sing like that."
"I-I...um..." Erin wasn't a fan of singing in front of people. She's so shy when it comes to singing for people. She's always wanted to join the school's choir but was too afraid to.
"You sound like an angel," Johnny told her.
Erin blushed. There's no way I sound that good, she thought. "I'm not that good," She stated.
"Yeah you are," Pony replied. "I've never heard someone sing that good."
"Yeah...all right," She looked up and seen the bags on the table. "What'd you buy?" Erin asked, wanting to change the subject.
"Baloney. A loaf of bread. A deck of cards..." He went on and pulled out a copy of Gone With the Wind. Ponyboy went crazy when he seen it. He asked Johnny how he knew he wanted it. "I remember you saying something about it once," He responded. "Me and you went to see that movie, remember? I figured you could read it aloud to kill time or something. And we have Erin's book too."
"Uh...you wouldn't like this book." She was trying her best to think of an excuse. "It's girly...and-and...you just wouldn't like it."
"But it's got a leather jacket on the front?"
"It might not look girly but it is...it's about girl stuff. Girls who like wearing leather...popular girls...they talk about make up and boys and other girl stuff...you wouldn't like it."
Pony wasn't buying it. He wanted to know what that book was really about, but he let it slide. "All right." He looked back in the bag "Peroxide?" He looked at Johnny and shook his head. "You ain't think-"
"We have to cut our hair, Ponyboy. I'm gonna cut mine and you're going to bleach yours. So is Erin." He pulled out his knife.
"What? No!" Erin practically yelled. "No, no, no! You ain't cutting my hair! You ain't bleaching it either! Nothing! I won't let you!" She held on the her hair like it was her life and she'd die without it. Like it was the only thing that mattered.
"Erin, they will be able to match our descriptions in the paper. If we do this then we won't fit them."
"I don't care. I can braid my hair, put it in a ponytail or a bun, I can do whatever! It will hide me. You are not touching my hair though!"
Johnny sighed in defeat. "Fine." He turned to Ponyboy. "We still have to cut your hair." Pony looked at the blade wide-eyed. He looked at Johnny and knew there was no way of getting out of it.
He sighed. "Go ahead."
Johnny cut Pony's hair and bleached it. When Johnny showed him his reflection in the mirror he had to do a double take. Ponyboy didn't like it. No at all. "Boy, this really makes me look tuff."
"I think it makes you look cute," Erin said. Pony's face went a little red at her comment. Being called cute by a pretty girl, he didn't know what to make of it.
Erin however didn't mean it in any way. She didn't like Pony that way. He was a friend. Sure he was good looking, most of the gang is. But it's just different. There's a difference in cute, good looking guy and then actually liking a guy. Erin knew that.
"All right, Erin I want you to cut my hair," Johnny said.
"Me? What about Pony?"
"I feel like you would do a better job...and you might be gentler, being a girl."
"Uh...okay." She walked over to Johnny and grabbed the knife. She slowly started cutting until she was done, following Johnny's instructions. When she was done she had Ponyboy bring over the mirror. Johnny looked at himself and smiled.
"See, I told you you'd do a good job."
"Yeah, sure."
They spent the rest of the day talking about lots of things. Erin don't know why, but the boys are really fascinated with her stories. She would tell them stories from her childhood and Pony and Johnny would tell her stories. "Remember last night..." Pony kept going on and on about the movies and waking Cherry and Marcia home. It made Johnny snap.
"Will you quit going on about last night! I killed a man last night! How would you like to live with that?" Johnny stood up and sat down on the pews. "You and Erin should just go home. You didn't kill anyone."
"No," Pony stood up and went over to him. "We are in this together. We are not leaving."
Erin stayed where she was. Talking about her life back home, and now with Pony and Johnny going on, it made her break down. She missed her family, but she was happy here. Happy that she could be able to change things, and be able to spend time with the boys she's always thought of as family. But her real family is worried sick about her. That's what really bothers her. They have no clue where she is and she can't tell them she's okay.
The boys finally noticed her. She had her knees pulled up to her chest, her head resting on her knees. The boys could hear her sobs. They stood up and walked over to her. They sat down beside her. Johnny rubbed her back. "It will be okay, Angel."
She looked at him. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She sniffled. "Angel?" She questioned.
"Yep. That's what I'm going to call you now. You sound like an angel when you sing," He stated. He was trying his best to cheer her up.
"We will be okay," Ponyboy spoke. "We will be just fine as long as we are together." He threw an arm around her shoulder.
"Yeah, I know. I guess I'm just a little home sick."
Pony forced a smile. "I think we all are."
A/N Here is a fact about me: unlike Erin, I like singing for people. Erin is too shy to join the school's choir, but I am in it and I love it! I love singing, and I've sung ever since I was little! Anyway, that's all for now. This chapter was really long and I'm proud! This is the first chapter I've written that's actually gotten over 2,000 words so that makes me feel good! The next chapter is going to be intense if things go as planned.