I WOKE UP to pounding on the door. I flew downstairs and opened it, there in front of me were two cops and I immediately groaned. Dally.

"What did he do this time?" I asked, sighing.

"Well, your brother thought it would be funny to tear up a whole bunch of magazines in a store and walk out without paying for them." The officer replied in a monotone voice.

"I'm sorry. What's the cost for all the magazines he destroyed?" I questioned, reaching for my wallet. I didn't have but a twenty dollar bill in my wallet.

"Fifty dollars." The officer replied, crossing his arms.

"Fifty dollars?! How many magazines did he tear up?" I started raising my voice.

"Ms. Winston, your brother tore up a whole section of magazines." The officer explained.

"I swear when I see him...." I stopped myself before I said anything that would probably get me arrested.

"I'm sorry, but I only have a twenty dollar bill. Could I give you this and then pay the rest when I get more money?" I asked, trying to be as nice as I possibly could.

"You have to pay it in two days or else your brother will be seen in court." The officer walked away and got in his police car.

I banged my head against the wall repeatedly and went upstairs to go get dressed.

It's a Saturday. When it's not a school day, this is my usual routine. I get up and go to work with Soda and Steve. I don't even work there really, I just help out and organize things because I have real bad OCD, so the DX always looks great thanks to me.

Soda and Steve's boss loves me so much he pays me just to do that kind of stuff. So, if I want to pay off that fifty dollars, I'm going to have to do more than just organize the DX.

I walked across the street and when I walked in, Steve was sitting on the couch, Darry was getting ready for work, Ponyboy was still asleep in the bedroom, and Soda was in the shower.

This is how it usually is.

"What's up, Little Winston?" Darry asked while slipping his jacket on.

I slammed my fist on the wall which made Steve jump. "Dally got into trouble again, so the police came over a few minutes ago and told me I had to pay fifty dollars for a whole rack of magazines Dally tore up. If I don't pay it in two days, then Dally goes to court and then probably jail because of his record."

"Man I tell ya, you get scary when you're mad." Steve laughed. "You made me jump like a dolphin in the ocean."

Darry and I started laughing and then Soda walked out of the bathroom.

https://youtu.be/VbxbJAIAx8c

WATCH THAT VIDEO^^^^^^^^^^ IT SHOWS THE SCENE WHERE SODAPOP WALKS OUT OF THE SHOWER

My eyes went huge, and I quickly turned away. Steve started snickering and I flipped him off.

"Hey Soda, I think you have to wear pants. There's a law or something about that." Steve shouted.

"Oh shut up, Steve! Darry have you seen my DX shirt and my pants?" He asked, holding the towel around his waist.

"Yeah, I ironed them. They're in the closet." He replied and walked out the door. "See ya, guys."

"Bye, Superdope." Steve and I said in unison.

Soon, Soda came through in his DX shirt and pants. We started walking to the Dingo and Jay's and ordered our usual for breakfast.

"So," Steve began while taking a bite of his eggs. "Soda and I gotta ask you something."

"What is it?" I asked, getting curious.

"Since you were so mad about not having enough money because of Dally, we were thinking if you wanted to work permanently for the DX on weekends. Boss wouldn't mind since you're his favorite and all." Steve rolled his eyes.

I laughed. "You're just jealous, and yeah, that's actually what I was planning to tell y'all."

"Great minds think alike." Soda announced and held his coke in the air.

We all held our cokes in the air and then took a sip. When we finished, we started walking towards the DX and the Boss was there waiting for us. We call him Boss. His real name is Bob, but we just liked Boss better.

"There's my hard workers." He called and started chuckling.

"Hey Boss, we wanted to ask you something." Soda smiled.

"What is it?" He questioned while unlocking the front door.

"We wanted to know if Blue could work here now permanently on the weekends." He explained.

"Well, that's fine if you ask me!" He grinned and pulled me into a bear hug. "Lets get you the official DX uniform."

He gave me a DX jacket just like Soda and Steve and it fit perfectly. I put on a DX hat and started organizing shelves like I always do.

For the first hour, I organize shelves, Soda is on the register, and Steve is out there working on the cars and filling up gas tanks. Then, now since I'm a worker, we switch and do it in a circle every hour.

We get our money at the end of the day. Fifty dollars. Exactly what I need to get Dally's ass out of jail.

On our lunch, I hop on the DX counter and Soda stands beside me, Steve sits in the chair behind the counter. "So, how was your permanent first day on the job?" Steve asks me while taking a bite out of a chocolate bar. He loves chocolate.

"It was like school. Boring and nothing but people staring at you." I huffed and took a sip of my Dr. Pepper.

Soda started laughing. "Don't worry we always usually have fun. I guess we are all just tired today."

"Yeah." Steve and I said in unison again. "Hey, Skye, you should really stop copying me." Steve teased.

"Oh, shut up." I snapped playfully.

We all started laughing until a group of people walked in. When I saw the blonde hair, my face instantly went pale.