Pony:
Pony was picking up Rose from school. He'd just her from the classroom when he heard his name being called. He was surprised to see Rose's teacher walking down the hall to meet him. You looked a bit worried and that made Pony himself nervous.
"Mr. Curtis!" you called. "Can I speak to you for a moment?"
"Absolutely. What's going on?" Pony asked.
"Well you see we were doing family trees today in class and..." you trailed off as you blushed. Mr. Curtis was very attractive and what you were going to say was well embarrassing.
"Rose's mother is dead, if that's what you're asking. It's okay. She's been gone for a few years now," Pony said with a shrug. You could see the hurt in his eyes.
"I'm so sorry for your loss. But no that's not what I was going to ask you about. You see Rose said that your first name is Ponyboy. It doesn't seem like it's a real name. I was just curious. She also said she had Uncles named, Sodapop, Dallas, and Two-Bit? It's just a bit odd."
Pony, of course, started to laugh at your expense. You flushed. You couldn't believe that you had just asked such a stupid question.
"That is my name, actually. And Sodapop is my brother's real name," Pony said as Rose nodded.
"Silly Ms. (Y/L/N)," Rose giggled.
"However, Two-Bit is just a nickname for one of my childhood friends. His real name is Keith. So you're not completely off. My family just has a thing for weird names. It's not a big deal. Everyone asks that."
"I see. Well, I'm so sorry to have bothered you," you said as you turned to walk away.
"Wait! Ms. (Y/L/N)!" Pony said, realizing he didn't know your first name. You paused and turned to look at him. "We're going to go get some ice cream. Would you like to come with us? You know so I could actually learn your first name."
"It's (Y/N) and if Rose is okay with it than that sounds lovely," you said looking at Rose.
"Yay! Ms. (Y/L/N) come have ice cream!!!" She cried and started to reach towards you from Pony's arms. You both smiled.
Dallas:
Dallas hadn't heard from James' mom in years. He'd given up custody of his son before he was even born. The responsibility of having a child was too much for him and he'd hightailed it out of that situation. But now James' mom was dead and Dally was the only person James had left to take care of him. At least that was how it appeared. Dallas was supposed to pick up his twelve year old son from a temporary foster parent and well he was nervous. In the time since giving up custody Dallas had grown a lot and he was willing to take James but he was scared that he was going to screw it up somehow. His hands were shaking as he rang the doorbell. He was expecting everything except you to open the door. He couldn't believe that such a pretty woman was James' foster parent.
"Can I help you?" you asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Uhh..." Dallas said as his brain temporarily went off line. He had to shake his head and take a breath to collect himself. "Yes. I'm Dallas Winston. I'm hear for James."
"Well come on inside then," you said and held the door open for him. He stepped in clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation. You led him into the kitchen and offered him some coffee. "James is out with some of his friends. He'll be back in a few minutes."
"Okay," Dallas said. Awkward silence ensued. Finally, Dally cleared his throat. "Thanks for taking care of him and all."
"James is a good kid. He deserves someone that will give him the world," you said, seriously, not breaking eye contact with Dallas. He needed to know that he couldn't take being a father lightly. "Someone who is going to stick around and not just hand him off when things get rough."
