I know. I know what you're all thinking: Why is she writing another story when she has, like, ten others to finish? My answer? For somethin' to do. My brain always gets foggy when nearing summer time. Ya know, getting out of school and complete freedom for at least 3 months! I don't have time think of ideas for my already published stories when sudden new ideas pop into my head! This was one of them. My mind should start to function again once summer arrives. In the meantime, enjoy all the brand new stories I will publish for the rest of the school year!

I woke up to a beam of sunlight shining through the window blindes into my face. I groaned and pinched my eyes shut tighter, trying to retrieve some of the darkness that had just been there seconds before. But the light managed to sneak through my eyelids, stinging. I muttered a string of curse words as I removed Soda's arm from around me, kicked off my covers and moved my feet off the side of the bed, rubbing at my aching eyes. I grunted as I tiredly stood up and slowly walked over to the window, pulling down the string and shutting the blinds. They closed with a snap.

Satisfied with the darkness it provided, I turned and walked back over to my bed, setting myself down and pulling the covers back over myself. I sighed at the warmth.

Soda shifted beside me and I heard him groan softly in his sleep as he replaced his arm around my torso, pulling me close to him. I chuckled quietly.

I was about to drop off again when I noticed the small alarm clock on my bedside table.

12:07

I lifted my head off the pillow, eyes struggling to stay open, and frowned. The alarm wasn't set for today since it was a Saturday; no school and Soda's day off. Darry let us sleep in on Saturdays, but never later than 11:00. It was past noon now.

Where was Darry?

Once again, I sat up, removed Soda's arm, and got out of bed. It was unlike Darry to ever miss waking us up. If he had to work early, he would at least wake us up to let us now where he was going and when he'd be back. He never missed a day for six months.

Why stop now?

I walked out of my room and down the hall, approaching Darry's bedroom. There was no movement coming from his bedroom, but he couldn't have gone to work, as the Ford would have made enough noise to wake us up. And he wasn't making breakfast, as there was no scent in the air indicating that anything was on the stove. I went on until I reached his slightly ajar door. Now I could hear some form of life coming from within the room; Darry was snoring softly.

Knitting my eyebrows, I quietly pushed the door open and went inside.

Darry was sleeping soundly on his bed, looking dead to the world. As I approached him, I noticed something else. His forehead was shining with sweat.

I walked over to his side and kneeled down, gently shaking his shoulder. "Darry," I whispered, "Darry, wake up. C'mon Darry, get up."

With a soft groan, I saw Darry's eyelids struggling to open until they were up about a centimeter, staring at me wearily with bloodshot eyes. "Pony?" he croaked. God, he sounded just as awful as he looked.

"Jesus, Darry. You don' look so hot," I said. Darry groaned and closed his eyes.

"Understatement," he murmured. I frowned and immediately put my hand on his forehead. I almost jumped back with a yelp. He was burning up. Darry opened his eyes a bit wider than last time and stared at me.

"I think you have a fever, Dar," I whispered. He blinked slowly before closing his eyes again.

"Glory, my head hurts," he mumbled, pinching his eyes shut tightly. After the pain seemed to go away, Darry looked at me again. "What time is it?" I glanced at the wall clock.
"12:13."

"Shit," he whispered, and weakly kicked off the covers, which had been until this point wrapped tightly around him. I noticed a visible shiver go through his body as he sat up. I stood.

"No, Darry. Go back to sleep. You're gonna have to call in sick today," I said, pushing him back down into lying position. Darry didn't try and stop me, but protested all the same.

"No. I gotta go to work. I'm late, and - an - " he didn't have time to finish his sentence before he let out a powerful sneeze, having a coughing fit almost immediately afterward. He cursed and groaned, clutching his forehead. I pulled the covers back over him.

"Go back to sleep, Darry," I said quietly.

"But - "

"No buts. Ya can't go to work like this." Darry opened his mouth to say something else, but I cut him off. "Don't worry Darry. I'm sure the construction site will be okay without you for a few days. Besides, you've been working yourself overtime for weeks. You need some decent rest, which I'm sure you haven't been getting for a while."

"Pony - "

"Get. Some. Sleep." I wasn't trying to be demanding, but I knew my brother needed some rest desperately.

Darry stared at me tiredly before sighing in obvious defeat, and closed his eyes. Within minutes he was sleeping again. I heard something shift behind me and turned my head to find Sodapop in the hallway, watching silently. He nodded and I turned back to Darry. Once I was satisfied that he was sleeping well, I turned and walked out of his room, shutting the door softly behind me. Soda turned his eyes on me.

"Is he okay?" Soda asked. I sighed and shook my head.

"He has a bad fever, Soda. His forehead was hotter than hell," I whispered. Soda took a deep breath and and said, "What are we gonna do? We can't afford having Darry out of work, even if it's only for a couple of days."

"Darry'll be fine," I said in a hushed voice. "He's been working too hard, and he's made some more money than usual so we'll be okay for a while. For right now..."

"We have to do whatever it takes to get him better fast, "Soda finished, nodded his head whilst running a hand through his hair. "Right."

"Yeah," I sighed. Soda smiled softly and clapped a hand on my shoulder.

"I'll call his work, you can start breakfast," he said. I nodded and went on to the kitchen while Soda called Darry's boss.

Uh-oh. (singsong voice) Something's wrong with Dar - ry. (normal voice) Well, this is yet another idea I had sitting in my mind, poking at me with a mental stick until I typed it down. And here's the first chapter! Next chapter might have the others coming over and have some melo-drama about Superman getting the flu. LOL So like Two-Bit to do that...

Well, anyway, I hope you like this. Review please!