"God, how am I going to tell them that I got a $200 ticket for speeding and I stole their car?" I asked Faith, staring at the ticket. We were sitting in her room, the door locked, and at this point, I didn't want to ever leave. It seemed like the safest place for me.

"How mad do you think they'll be?" She asked.

"Pissed." I responded. It was the truth, I couldn't imagine how angry they'd be. They'd obviously noticed about their car by now, and would probably ground me for life just for that, but a ticket now too?! I didn't have a job to pay that off!

"Maybe I can see how much I have and help you pay it," Faith said. "Then you wouldn't have to tell them at all." But I couldn't take money from her. Especially since I knew she'd been saving up for over a year for a car. She, unlike me, had a real license. She probably had more than enough to pay the ticket, but I could never ask her to.

"No," I said, shaking me head. "I can't let you do that." She frowned, deep in thought about what our other options could be, when I finally realized.

"I just won't tell them!" I exclaimed. She gave me a funny look.

"So you're gonna figure out how to get the money on your own? That's nuts, Hope. A little grounding time won't even compare," she responded.

"Are you kidding? I'm not getting grounded. Nobody ever has to know, Faith. I'm just not gonna pay it," I decided right there. She sighs as if to say "You just don't get it."

"What?" I asked. And then she laughed at me. I glared at her.

"How did you ever get a permit, Hope?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" I responded. She looked like she was ready to throttle me. Ring my neck or do something awful to me, which surprised me. She'd never been anything but sweet, in the thirteen years I'd known her. We'd never gotten in a fight. She was almost always smiling, and no matter what I said she never got upset with me.

"Hope, if you don't find a way to pay that ticket, you'll land yourself in jail. You can't just ignore it!" I sighed. I knew it was true, but I didn't want to believe it. On the other hand, I also didn't want to lose my license or go to jail over a friendly drag race. Anyways, it wasn't like I was disturbing the flow of traffic!

"Fine. You're right," I said, pouting like a child. Her energetic smile returned to her face, but she spoke softer than normal.

"I'm kind of smart sometimes. You should listen more." I just smiled, started to get up.

"Where are you going?" Faith asked me. I rolled my eyes.

"Aren't you coming?" I was surprised she didn't understand. I was going to tell my parents about the ticket. Whether she knew or not, she got up and walked across the street to my house with me. The whole time I felt like I was going to throw up. My parents were going to kill me. Or so I thought. There was a weird, unexplainable vibe in the house when I got in, and it made me even more nervous.

"It'll be okay," Faith whispered as we walked to my parents door. But something stopped me as soon as I got to it. Talking. And not in a nice way.

"I just don't understand how this could have happened," my dad said. He sounded angry and disappointed, his voice a low yell.

"I know..." My mom said. "But it has to. Maybe it's for the best." She tried to sound calm, but I could hear the hurt and pain, like she was holding back tears.

"It's not. We can't deal with this, Lydia. You know that!" My dad said. Anger rose in his voice, but you could tell he was trying not to yell at my mom.

"Well, what else do you want me to do?" My mom said. She was yelling now, which probably got my dad's blood boiling.

"I don't know!" My dad screamed at her. Faith and I made eye contact, and I could tell that she wanted to go to my room, but I was curious. Faith probably felt guilty about listening, but I wanted to know what was going on. I wanted to know bad. My parents didn't fight very often, if ever, up until now, and I was nervous.

"C'mon," Faith whispered to me just as my mom yelled, loudest I'd ever heard her, "Maybe you should figure out what you want before you say no! Make up your mind first!" My dad sighed. Faith tried to drag me away, tell me we'd come back later, but I was frozen in place.

"I have made up my mind! I don't want it. We can't afford it, Lydia!" I couldn't figure out what it was, at all.

"We'll make it work, Ponyboy. We have to!" I could hear the desperation in my moms voice, how important whatever going on was. I could hear her tears, and it was heartbreaking. I could tell Faith was thinking the same thing when she tried to drag me away, but I shook my head.

"Come on, Hope. This is wrong!" She suddenly said, probably louder than intended.

"Hope?" My dad's voice rang through the air, sounding tired and nervous.

"Y-yeah? Dad?" I asked. My voice shook. He opened the door.

"I didn't know you two were home," he said. I smiled weakly at him.

"We wanted to talk to you and Aunt Lydia when you aren't busy," Faith said, still trying to get me away. But I could tell they were done now. They rarely fight, and I've never heard it get this bad.

"What's going on?" He asked, leading us into the room. We sat down on the bed and I tried not to look at my mom, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, silently crying.

"I..." I looked to Faith for help, and she squeezed my hand, telling me I could do it.

"I took your car without asking. And... I got a speeding ticket." The statement was enough to get my mom to pay attention too. My dad's eyes bugged out of his head. His little girl was basically a felon now.

"You did what?!" They both said together.

A/N: Cliffhanger, cliffhanger. Lalalalalala.
What do you think Ponyboy and Lydia are arguing about?
Also, isn't Faith just the sweetest thing ever? I love her so much. She's like a little cupcake of happiness and smiles. -Katy