Overall, from this experience, I've concluded several things.

One of them being that Angela Shepard was a nut job.

I just didn't understand it! She went from seducing me one day, to spreading rumors that I came after her.

The day after she came over, people were giving me strange looks. Envy from most males, goo-goo eyes from most females. At first I was convinced that it was from the project. Maybe, I thought, they found out about the agreement between Mr. Harrison, Johnny, and I. That would explain the jealousy but what about the love eyes?

It wasn't until later that day at lunch that I was informed by a very angry Two-Bit. Turns out Angela was saying that she came over to talk and I … we … did stuff.

It took me a second to comprehend what had just been said but once I did, you better believe I was speechless. I pushed my half-eaten hamburger away from me, no longer hungry for it.

"Why would she do something like that? I haven't done anything wrong; I was nice to her and everything."

Two-Bit growled. "That's what I'm tryna figure out! Let me tell you something: Shepard outfit better watch their backs, this is serious."

I sighed. This wasn't going to go away simply by calling a rumble. Nothing good would come of it. People would get hurt, people would get angry, and then more people would get hurt. Rumbles weren't worth anything.

That's what I told Two-Bit and although he wasn't happy with my answer, he let it go.

There was only one more question that was bugging me.

"Hey, Two-Bit," I finally asked. He looked up at me. "Why are you so upset about this? Didn't you tell my brothers the same thing the other day?"

He laughed. "Yeah, but I knew ya didn't do anything. Soda an' Darry, they knew nothin' happened too … I hope. Anyways, I was just messin' with ya. You know that. You're way too innocent to be doing that kind of stuff. I'll be able to tell when you do it."

I tried arching an eyebrow. "How's that?"

"You'll stop blushin' like a maniac at the word 'sex'." As predicted, I blushed. Then, as a side note, he added, "You too, Johnnycake."

oOoOo

The following day brought this revelation:

Johnny and I are not fit for raising kids.

Steam followed Darry out of the bathroom and into his bedroom. "Y'all better get some sleep," he advised us before shutting his door.

Two-Bit hopped up from the couch and threw on his jacket. "Nu-uh, no way. Sleep on a Friday night? Must be kiddin' me. I'm headin' out." He strolled towards the front door.

"Bye." I waved him off. "Don't slam the–" I lunged for the knob meaning to prevent the door from hitting the frame so hard, but only came up with a empty fist. " –door."

"Hey, you guys hear that?" Soda questioned searching under the tables and in cabinets for the source of the noise. "I swear, I been hearing somethin' ringin' all day. Maybe it's just my ear..."

"No, that's our baby," I replied; Soda lifted his eyebrows.

"No, no, our project," Johnny corrected, saving another person from being mislead. He began searching for baby Angela as well as me. He briefly explained the project to Sodapop.

"It's just something we hafta do for Health class. We got into groups of two; Mr. Harrison gave us a baby to take care of—we gotta turn it in pretty soon."

"So..." Soda pointed his finger from me to Johnny and back again. "So you two...?"

"We didn't get to choose our spouse, if that's what you're thinking."

"Oh, all right then..."

The noise, although muffled, was getting increasingly loud and I could sense mine and Johnny's grade steadily descending. "Where'd it go?" I mumbled overturning the couch cushions. The last place it had been was crammed between me and Angela. It should have been here somewhere.

Johnny searched deep within the couch and after a few minutes began tugging on the ends of a white bag. "Got it! Wait, hold on. I think it's stuck." He gave the bag a sharp pull and a puff of white powder rose up in to the air, then settled and stained the couch. I closed my eyes tightly, silently counted to three, and then opened them back up again. The fact had not changed. Our baby was as good as gone.

Eyes widened, jaws dropped slightly, Johnny and I had the same seemingly frozen look on our face. "I, uh..." Johnny began. "Sorry, man…."

By the limp ends of the bag I slowly pulled the baby up into my arms. I started thinking that maybe Kathy could seamlessly stitch up the rips, but even if she did it wouldn't make up for the dramatic weight loss baby Angela went through.

"Here, man, just set it on the counter. Maybe we can just … I dunno. Tape it? And we should put something in it first, make it look a little more like it did before."

I thought it over. "Ya know, that could work, Johnny. Yeah, it could be like bandages or somethin'."

But, of course, when you split your baby down the middle and are forced to tape it back together. It's just not the same.

oOoOo

In the morning, the smell of pancakes led me to the kitchen where Sodapop stood in front of the stove pouring batter into a pan. He flipped the pancake, waited a couple minutes, flipped it again, and then added it to a growing stack beside him. Soda wasn't aware of my presence in the room until I slid a chair across the tile and sat down in it.

"Oh, g'mornin', Pony." He glanced back at me for only a second when he said this, and then continued back with his work.

"Good mornin'." I waited around for a while before asking where Darry was. He was usually the first one up.

"I think he went off to go an' run some early morning errands." Soda arranged two plates of pancakes and joined me at the table. "Grocery shoppin' probably."

We ate in silence for a moment. I thought about how strange Soda's cooking was and could be. This food was actually its natural golden brown color, yet when I cut into it uncooked batter seeped out, then when I poked the other side a puff of powder blew out. I was moving the stuff around my plate when something occurred to me.

"Soda, you didn't use the flour on the counter, right?"

"'Course I did. How'd ya think I made these? Wasn't any other in the house. Come to think of it I used the lasts of the bag."

I let my fork drop to my plate with a small clink. "That was mine and Johnny's project. Ya know the flour bag we've been caring for for the past week or so? Please tell me you didn't use that bag of flour to make these pancakes."

"Sorry, Pone." Soda let me down.

I huffed. "Could you not eat those at least?"

Soda studied his food for a while then look up at me. "Sorry to break it to ya, but me not eating isn't gonna bring your project back. Alls it gonna do is keep me hungry." He stuffed his face some more, making me increasingly worried about my now non-existent child. "Oh, c'mon, Pony," he prompted noting my expression. "Just eat. You barely made a dent in your stack." After I made no attempt to eat Soda reassured me. "Don't worry Darry prob'ly picked up some more flour at the store."

"I can't just use any old bag; the original's got a sensor-"

"So that's what that was! A sensor."

"-and nobody sells plain white flour bags, do they? They've all got logos on 'em."

"Well, we can cover up the stickers?"

I was about to say some more but Soda cut me off just then. "Don't worry so much, Pony. Just head off to school and I'll figure somethin' out."