Life's a Joke?

I unlocked my new apartment, and we walked inside. Boxes lay almost everywhere, but there was a path winding between them.

“Whoa, someone didn’t pack light,” Two-Bit chuckled. “I might have to bring in Darry!”

“Who’s that?”
“One of the gang. Oldest one too,” he replied.

“Alright, I’m guessing I’ll be meeting him after we unpack?” I asked with a laugh.
“You’ve got that right,” he said, walking over to a box and opening it. He then proceeded to pull out objects and place them in the rooms they seemed to fit in. I guess I’ll rearrange later.

After about twenty minutes of unpacking, Two-Bit opened the third to last box. It had a label on the side that stated “Do Not Open” in red ink, which normally would have cracked me up.

“Not that one—” I started. But it was too late. Two-Bit Mathews had come face to face with all of my childhood memories and stuffed animals. I felt my face turn red as his eyes widened.

“Well,” he started. “someone’s got quite the collection here! These all yours?”

“Um, yeah… I’ve had them all since I was younger. I kept them with me because they remind me of those days… I just, I didn’t’ think… well to be frank I didn’t think anyone would find them.”

“It’s alright,” he said with a laugh. “It’s not like it’s something to be ashamed of. I mean, I’m eighteen and look at me,” he said, making a gesture to his shirt, which had a print of mickey mouse on the front. “A couple stuffed animals isn’t anything to worry about Shira.”

I smiled. Two-Bit understood things a lot better than he let on. He helped me unpack the rest of the boxes, and finally the memory box. Arranging the stuffed animals on the bed, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when he started naming them and talking for them.

It started with a name as simple as “Fluffy” for my dog, but by the fifth one, the names were as complicated as “Sir Fluffy Drake Hans Maestro III” and so on and so forth. We made their real names their middle names, because Two-Bit insisted on calling them by the names he gave them.

In no time, the animals were wrestling. Hitting each other with the small, fluff-filled toys, it turned into a massive pillow fight. I got hit in the face, and feigned hurt. Two-Bit came over, to see if I was alright, and I got him straight in the mouth. I laughed hysterically as it went on, the two of us having a blast like we’d known each other for years.

I leaned back, ducking under Two-Bit’s swing, but falling onto the bed, just in time to have the acceleration from the pillow bring him down on top of me. I gazed into his eyes, not knowing exactly what just happened, and not knowing what to do entirely. He looked back into mine, and our faces came closer and closer together.

Just as our lips were about to meet, the doorbell rang. “I should probably get that—”

“Uh, yeah, maybe you should,” Two-Bit replied, standing up. I walked to the door with a small sigh. Why couldn’t the doorbell have rung tomorrow?!

I opened the door to find a small boy with green-grey eyes looking up at me. He’s was about fourteen, with his hair on the long side, and greased back.

“Hi there, I’m Ponyboy! Welcome to Tulsa– Oh hey Two-Bit! I guess you beat me here,” he laughed. I looked back at Two-Bit, confused.

“He’s part of the gang. The youngest and Darry’s smallest kid brother,” he replied. “Oh well, you guys would have met soon enough.”

“Hi, I’m Shira. Nice to meet you,” I said, holding out my hand. Pony shook it, then proceeded to drag me out the door. “Huh?” I looked back to find Two-Bit grinning crazily. “Where—”

“Time to meet the rest of the gang I guess,” Two-Bit laughed.