a few years ago*

You were just walking down the road just like every other day when you looked across the street at the lot. There was a group of Socs, maybe 10 or 15 surrounding a greaser boy. Now, you aren't officially a greaser, you aren't in the gang. But, you certainly lived on the wrong side of the tracks. So it was just you in your pink leather jacket running around the small town in Oklahoma. The boy was around your age, you think the youngest of the group. He didn't even have a blade, although neither did you. One of the Socs pushed him real hard, and he fell back. You walked over.

"Hey, come on. Leave him alone."

"Who the hell are you? Is this your little girlfriend, huh greaser?"

"Leave him alone man. What did he do to you?"

"He killed bob."

"He don't look like no killer"

"We he and his damn friend did. And they got away with it too."

"Look, you can't just..."

He slapped you across the face real hard too. But instead of falling back, you spit at him.

"Come on, little lady. You think your gonna beat us? Let's have some fun with you."

Another Soc held you down. He was about to try something real bad but you kicked his face and jumped up as fast as you could. The Soc who hit the other kid grabbed you by the arm, and grabbed your face.

"Don't touch me you pig!"

"Don't talk back to me"

"You aren't my mother"

"I bet your mom is a drunk or dead like the other damn greasers"

That's what got you worked up. You trampled him to the ground. You put your foot on his neck. The other Socs backed up.

"That ain't no way to treat no girl! You don't know how to treat a woman right!"

"You're damn right I don't. "

You knew there was no point in stepping on him or trying to run away, so you yelled to the greaser boy.

"RUN!"

And he did. Boy, he was real fast. He was gone in a second, and the Socs all turned to you. They threw you up against the concrete and you hit your head. They were just beating you for fun. They did some real damage. First they kicked you and stepped on you. You heard one of your ribs crack as the one who had held you down earlier kicked you. They punched you, picked you up, and threw you down again. You couldn't fight back anymore, you were just frozen. When they came to the same realization, they threw you up against their car. They were about to unzip your jeans and do god knows what when the kid and the rest of the greaser gang came rushing over. They had blades, more then the Socs. The main Soc was the only one with a blade, so he slit your cheek as to finish you off, threw you to the ground, and retreated to their fancy cars. They drove away real fast.

"That's the one who saved me!"

"Oh my god!"

They crowded around you, but didn't touch you. They tried to ask you questions, but you just stared at the sky hopelessly. You knew there was no way you could say anything to them but one little sentence

"Th-thank you."

They tried to pick you up, and the tallest, muscular one did. As he lifted you off the ground, you lost consciousness. It wasn't scary, like the movies say it does when you pass out. It was relaxed, like falling asleep.

You woke up. You weren't at home. At first you were really scared, but then you saw the greaser kids face. Instead of helping, he yelled in your ear.

"Guys, she's up!"

They came running in.

"Give her some space!" Said the muscly one. You were really confused at that point. The kid walked up to you.

"I'm Ponyboy. What you did was really brave out there. Never seen anybody, especially a girl, fight for me like that. Let alone a stranger."

You smiled.

"Can you tell me your name?"

"(Y/n)" you stuttered.

"Well, (y/n), your at my place."

The tall one with big muscles approached you.

"I'm Darry. That's Dally, Steve, Sodapop, Two-Bit, Ponyboy of course, and Johnny."

"W-what time is it?"

"9:30.You were out all night."

You winced as Darry put a wet cloth to your cheek.

Sodapop stepped forward.

"Sorry we didn't take you to the hospital, you really need it, but we don't know you and we don't want you in hot water with the fuzz about gettin in fight with the Socs."

You half-smiled, showing it was okay. That's when you realized that your parents didn't know where you were. You tried to sit up, but pain rushed through your whole body as you did. Darry looked concerned, as did the rest of the gang. Johnny looked away and back, as if this pained him as much as it pained you.

"Ya got a phone?" You managed to ask with a little confidence.

Steve grabbed a phone and plugged it in close to you. It was a nice one. You couldn't reach the dial though, even still. You recited the number and Steve put it in then handed you the phone. You had called your mom. But, unfortunately, you got in an argument. The greasers stared at you sympathetically.

You stared at ponyboy. He was doing his English homework.

"Isn't."

"What?" He asked.

"You wrote, that ain't no way to treat no girl. If you don't want the teachers bugging ya, you should say 'that isn't the right way to treat a girl'. I get yelled it wrong a lot."

You were offended that he didn't change anything. He had been blushing a lot which confused you. That's when it dawned on you. He wasn't just making this up, he was writing about what happened to you. That also made you feel dumb, considering you were the one who said it. You looked away. You never ate your soup, you were just so overwhelmed.

"You didn't like it?" Asked Soda.

"It was real good. Just not in the eating mood."

"You haven't eaten anything all day. You really need to get something down. Need a smoke?"

"Nah, I don't smoke. You shouldn't either, it's real bad for ya."

"I know, I only do it when I need to calm down. The others are chain smokers though."

"They should stop."

"How about this:if you eat the soup, we will try not smoke in front of you. I can't promise we won't ever, but we'll try."

"Deal."

You weren't lying, the soup was amazing. But you just couldn't stomach it all at once, so you only ate a little at a time. By the time you were done, it was already nighttime and you had fallen asleep.