SCHOOL WAS THE usual. Boring. I was gazing at the clock, waiting for the hand to tick to two-o-clock. I have P.E. as my last class of the day, and it's the best class for me, Pony, and Sarah. I was in chemistry class, bored out of my mind I tell you.

Mrs. Lorenski could go on for days talking about covalent bonds and ionic bonds.

As soon as the bell rang, I sprung out of my seat and walked downstairs. I heard the sound of squeaky shoes on a court and smiled. Basketball day.

Basketball is my favorite sport. My friend, Sarah, and I are the top players on the team. When I walked in the gym, I instantly noticed Pony. He's the only sixteen year old in this class.

This is advanced P.E. class, so it's rare to see a freshman in here, let alone a girl. Me and my friend, Sarah, are the only girls in the class.

You better believe there's no Soc girls in here. They're too preppy to get sweaty and wear something other than skirts. I ran over to Ponyboy and jumped on his back. "What's up, Sucker?"

"Hey, Abs." He laughed and carried me around the gym. We spotted Sarah and I jumped off his back and ran into Sarah's arms. "Best friend!" She yelled.

The gym teacher, Mr. Dylan, instructed us to sit down in our assigned spots. I don't know, I guess by luck? Mr. Dylan assigned me to sit in between Ponyboy and Sarah. That's another reason why it's my favorite class.

"Alright guys and girls, as you know our unit this week is basketball."

Sarah and I gave each other high fives and turned back towards him. "We are doing a basketball game, and I'll assign you teams."

The whole class groaned. We hate it when Mr. Dylan assigns us teams because he always puts us on a team with people we don't like.

Our P.E. class is full of Soc guys. Jocks, baseball players, soccer players, you name the sport a guy is involved in - those types are in this P.E. class.

Which sucks, because all they do is brag about how good they are when in reality, Sarah, Ponyboy, and I could go against them and we'd win.

"While I assign your teams, run your ten laps." He announced, while sitting down to look at the chart.

Ponyboy and I smirked. We loved running the laps. We ran around the whole gym continuously without stopping. On our fifth lap, he sighed. "What is it?" I asked, while looking at some Soc we passed who was panting.

"I just keep thinking of Mom and Dad. It's like I can't escape them. Every time this day comes up. April third." He explained with a melancholy face.

"They died two years ago, Pony. My mom died four years ago, and my dad last month. It's hard I know. It's 1986. This is the present, Pony. You can't focus on something that happened in 1984, just like I can't focus on something that happened on 1982, or last month. As hard as it is, you have to let it go. Just accept that they're in a better place looking down on you."

"You were born in 1969?" Pony asked.

"Yeah, the same as Soda and Steve." I replied, shrugging.

"Dang, y'all are old." He laughed, making me punch him in the shoulder.

"You shouldn't be talking, Mr. 1970. You're only one year younger than us." I chuckled, as we made our way to our last lap.

"Well y'all are about to turn eighteen, so that qualifies as y'all being old." He remarked.

I pondered on what he said. Soda's birthday is in May, Steve's is in June, and mine in July. It's weird because our birthdays are all one month after each other. It's like we were meant to be friends.

I turned back to Pony. "Just because we're turning eighteen doesn't mean we're turning old."

We came to a stop. We were the first to finish all of our laps as always. Sarah came in behind us and we all took a drink of water from the water fountain. "You three always get done first." Mr. Dylan chuckled.

"Yeah, well we are the only ones who run all the laps also." I replied while sitting back down in my spot.

"And, me and Skylar are in track." Ponyboy spoke while sitting beside me.

"Yeah, you two are probably the most athletic in here. Skylar, it's amazing how athletic you are." Mr. Dylan complimented.

"What about me?" Sarah had her arms put out. Ponyboy and I started laughing. "You too Sarah." He chuckled.

Once everyone finished, Mr. Dylan posted his chart on the wall and everyone rushed up there to read it.

The three of us yelled in excitement and jumped up. For the first time, all three of us are actually on the same team. Logan, a Soc, but a nice one I guess is on our team also. He trudged over to us not looking too pleased.

"Just because we're Greasers doesn't mean we suck at sports. Actually, the three of us combined are better than you and all your little athletic friends." I spat at him.

He laughed. "Sassy aren't you? I know. You're the most athletic girl in this school."

Sarah raised her eyebrows and looked at me. "Anyways, we need a plan." I spoke and we all huddled together.

Once we broke our huddle, Mr. Dylan blew the whistle and we started playing. Logan passed the ball to me and I shot a three.

"Yeah!" Logan, Pony, and Sarah screamed.

By the end of the game, our team won. Mr. Dylan gathered us to tell us our final scores. "Team Red- ten points, Team Yellow- fifteen points, and Team Blue- twenty-five points. Good game guys! Go to the locker rooms and get ready for home!"

Sarah and I ran for the locker room. Since we were the only girls, we basically had the girl's locker room to ourselves. I changed back into my regular clothes and out of my gym clothes. When we came out, we walked out of the school.

Sarah and I parted ways, and I was back to walking with Pony again. "You doing better?" I questioned.

"Yeah. You have any more encouraging words for me? I like them." He smiled.

I grinned. "I have plenty. What about though?"

"Death of a family member. How to heal." He replied, looking back at the ground.

"Our society has tried to make death invisible, thinking that if we ignore it long enough it will go away. Well, that's not the case, Pony. We think that death is something we can easily escape, but in reality, you and me both know that it's difficult. Especially if it's someone you love. It's like their haunting your mind. You just need to allow yourself to heal. Once you start to heal, that death you're dealing with goes away, and the person you've been grieving over is watching you constantly, making sure they're with you every step of the way even if you can't see them."

"You know, you should be a poet." He replied.

"Eh." I shrugged as we approached Pony's house.

When we entered, we saw everyone in the living room. "What the hell is going on?" I asked, knitting my eyebrows in confusion.

Everyone gulped and looked towards the kitchen. Pony and I slowly walked in the kitchen and my heart literally felt like it jumped a thousand feet. Pony's eyes went wide.

It was Sandy and Soda.