Chapter Text
PONYBOY’S POV
When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I only had two things on my mind. Paul Newman and a ride home.
The movie was one of those real sad ones that always got me thinking too hard. I liked movies like that though. I liked watching something and pretending for a little while I wasn’t just some greaser kid from the East Side.
I shoved my hands in my pockets and started walking home alone. I should’ve known better than to walk alone at night, especially after a movie, but I liked walking by myself sometimes. It gave me time to think.
The wind felt cold against my face as I walked down the sidewalk. Cars passed every now and then, headlights flashing over me for a second before disappearing again.
I kept thinking about the movie.
About how people in movies always seemed to have somebody there for them.
I had people too, I guess.
Darry.
Sodapop.
The gang.
Johnny.
But sometimes it didn’t really feel like enough.
I sighed softly and kicked a little rock down the sidewalk.
That’s when I heard the car behind me.
I looked over my shoulder just enough to see the red Corvair slowly driving near me. My stomach twisted immediately.
Socs.
I started walking faster.
The car followed.
“Hey, greaser!”
I ignored them and kept walking, trying to act like I wasn’t nervous even though my chest was already pounding.
The car suddenly pulled up beside me and five Socs jumped out. They looked clean-cut and rich, with their madras shirts and nice haircuts.
One of them shoved me hard.
“Well look what we got here.”
Another one grabbed my arm roughly.
“I bet this little greaser needs a haircut.”
I tried to yank away from him, but he tightened his grip. Fear crawled up my throat fast.
I hated Socs.
I hated the way they looked at us like we were dirt.
One of them pulled out a knife.
My breathing stopped.
“Guys!” I yelled before I could stop myself. “Darry!”
I didn’t even know if anybody could hear me.
The Soc with the knife grabbed a fistful of my hair and tilted my head back painfully.
“We’re gonna cut all this greasy hair off.”
Before I could even react, I heard shouting.
“HEY!”
The Socs turned around just as the gang came running over.
Darry was first.
Then Two-Bit.
Steve.
Sodapop.
Dallas.
And Johnny.
The Socs cursed and backed off fast.
Darry shoved one of them away from me hard enough that he almost fell over.
“Touch him again and see what happens,” Darry snapped.
The Socs jumped back into the car after that, speeding off down the street.
My legs felt shaky.
Sodapop walked over immediately.
“You okay, Pony?”
“Yeah,” I lied quickly.
Darry looked angry, but underneath it he looked scared too.
“What were you doing walking home alone?” he snapped.
“I dunno.”
“You dunno?” Darry scoffed. “Ponyboy, use your head for once.”
“Lay off him,” Dally muttered as he lit a cigarette.
Johnny stayed quiet beside me. He looked more nervous than I did.
Johnny always took things like that hard.
Probably because of what happened to him.
We all started walking home after that.
Two-Bit and Steve were arguing about something stupid while Sodapop laughed at them. Dally kept smoking silently.
Johnny walked beside me quietly.
“You okay?” he asked softly after a minute.
“Yeah.”
But honestly, I wasn’t.
Something about the Soc holding that knife stuck in my head.
Johnny looked down at the ground.
“I hate Socs,” he muttered quietly.
“Yeah,” I whispered back. “Me too.”
When we got home, Darry was still irritated.
“You’re lucky we came looking for you.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“That’s the problem, Ponyboy. You think you can.”
I rolled my eyes and walked off before he could keep going.
Sodapop followed me into the living room and flopped down onto the couch beside me.
“You know Darry worries about you.”
“He doesn’t gotta yell all the time.”
Sodapop sighed.
“He’s trying, Pony.”
I looked away without answering.
After a while, the gang came over again and we all hung out like usual. Dally was talking about sneaking into Nightly Double tomorrow night, and Two-Bit kept making stupid jokes that made Soda laugh so hard he almost fell over.
Johnny stayed quieter than everybody else.
That wasn’t unusual though.
Later that night, me and Johnny ended up walking to the lot together. The stars looked bright above us, and the grass crunched softly under our shoes.
Johnny laid back against the ground and stared up at the sky.
“You ever wish things were different?” he asked quietly.
“All the time.”
We talked for a while after that. Mostly about nothing important.
Then eventually we both ended up falling asleep in the lot.