Disclaimer( I think that's what you call it.)

I do not own the original book, The Outsiders. I never have, never will. It belongs to S.E. Hinton.

The air was frigid as it swept across the empty lot. I let out a shiver as I woke up. I rubbed my eyes, my vision still a bit blurry. I sat, bewildered, wondering what I was doing there. I looked around me.

Johnny was still asleep next to me. "Wait", I thought to myself, "Johnny is dead. Isn't he? Johnny died in the hospital." But, there he was. Alive as could be. I couldn't believe it. I could have sworn he had died. I remembered a fire, the dead Soc, and Dally getting shot, and Johnny dying. I saw him die. I kept thinking to myself. I was so confused. I didn't know what to believe.

"Johnny, wake up!" I shook his arm. He opened his eyes a little. "Wake up!" I continued to shake him.

"I'm up! I'm up!" He said drowsily. "Jeez, Pony, I'm up!" He sat up on the mattress. "Boy, it's cold!" He was shivering too.

"Yeah." I said. I heard Johnny start talking again, but I was too confused to listen.

"How was he alive?" I kept thinking. "I SAW him die!" It was an awful thought. My best friend was alive, and I kept picturing him dead in a hospital room.

All I could do was stare at him as he continued to mumble his words. "Hey, Pony? Why you keep starin' at me, man?" He eventually asked. I didn't know what to say. What he think if I told him the things that were popping into my head. But I always told Johnny everything. And I wasn't going to end that.

"I don't know, Johnny. I keep having these weird things...thinking these weird things." I stopped for a kind of pause. What was I going to say? "How did we get in the lot?" I was still puzzled.

"My folks were fightin', so we came here. Remember?" He told me. I could tell I had a confused expression on my face, because Johnny did too. "We fell asleep."

"What time is it? Darry is gonna skin me!" I realized. It was late. The stars were out and the sky was black. Johnny just shrugged. He didn't know either. "I better go then." I got up and went to leave the lot. Then stopped. It was too cold and dark for anyone, let alone a sixteen year old grease, to be staying outside. "Hey, Johnny, wanna stay over at my house?" I threw out. A big grin spread across Johnny's face. He had never actually been asked to stay at my house. He usually just came.

We walked along the sidewalk, out of the lot and down the road. All the way, I tried to comprehend what I had been thinking. That's when it hit me. I had been dreaming. And now, I was awake, and everything was back to normal. Johnny and I kept walking. My house was only a few minutes away. When we got there, I could see Darry and Sodapop, my older brothers, through the big window. They were sitting on the couch. Soda was just sitting there, staring at the door with an anxious look on his face. Darry was holding the phone. They both looked worried.

I unlatched the front gate and stepped onto the porch, Johnny close behind me. I slowly opened the door. Soda must've seen it, because he finished opening it for me. He threw his arms around me and squeezed me tight. Darry looked like he wanted to yell at me, but then they saw Johnny. They didn't like fighting around him. His parents fought enough.

"Ponyboy! We were so worried!" Soda said, still hugging me. He had a smile on his face, but at the same time, I could've sworn he was crying. Darry was still sitting down.

"Where were you?" You could hear the anger in his voice. "It's after two o' clock, Ponyboy!" Behind the anger, you could hear how worried he was. "We thought something happened to you!" He was trying hard not to yell. Not to yell, because Johnny was around.

"We were sleepin' in the lot." Johnny told Darry. He knew Darry was mad at me. Darry always seemed to be mad at me.

"What?" Darry asked blankly, looking at me.

"His folk's were fightin', so we went to the lot. And we were talkin' and, I guess, we fell asleep." I explained.

"Don't pull a stunt like this again, hear me. Next time, I WILL skin you." Darry threatened. I nodded my head. "Git off to bed. All of you." He let out a long sigh as he plopped back down into the couch.

We listened. Darry wasn't in any mood to be picking a fight with him. And, to tell you the truth, I was still tired.

"Soda! Soda! Get out here!" I heard some one yelling. Soda jumped out of bed and ran out of the room. It must've been Darry. I glanced to look out the window and saw that it was a dark gray shade, not completely black yet. I could see shadows in my yard. There were, what seemed to be, four or five people out there. One was Sodapop. He hit the window as he passed. I wasn't sure if that was on purpose and he wanted me to come out, or if he just felt like hitting the window. I went out anyway. Something had to be going on. As I got closer to the door, I could hear people yelling. One of the voices belonged to Darry. He was yelling at some body. And he meant business, I could tell.

When I got outside, I saw Darry, Sodapop, and the two Socs that took Cherry and Marcia home after we left the movie lot. They were fighting. I wasn't sure why.

I found out as soon as I stepped into their view. Bob, the Soc that Cherry was dating, pointed at me and yelled something. His words were blurred, so I figured that he was still drunk. Randy, Marcia's boyfriend, was there too. He kept yelling at Darry. It was like Soda wasn't even there. The Socs were teaming up on Darry, and I was pretty sure it was my fault. I just watched as they kept yelling at Darry. No one was actually fighting with fist or weapon yet. So I wasn't going to be the reason to start. I just kept watching. Soda looked back and saw me, and threw me an expression of which I couldn't comprehend. He gave Darry a "good luck" pat on the back and ran over. "Go back inside." He told me.

"Why are them Socs here?" I asked.

"They are looking for you and Johnny and Two-bit." He told me. " They keep sayin' something about messin' with their girls." He was holding back a smile. "They were goin' door to door searchin' for you guys. They've thrown beer bottles at every house on our road." He looked back to check on Darry. "Until some one came out to stop 'em anyway." He was talking about Darry. I couldn't help but smile. I was proud of Darry. He always protected us, no matter how mad he seemed to be. Sodapop was smiling too. "Now, go on." He told me. "Get back to bed. But be quiet about it. Johnny's still sleepin'." I nodded and went back into the house, passing Johnny, who was asleep on my bedroom floor. I climbed back into bed and watched the shadows moving outside of my window. I must've fell asleep before Darry and Sodapop came in, because I didn't hear the door open or slam shut like it always did.

Darry woke me up the next morning. It was a school day. To my surprise, somebody, other than me, made breakfast that morning. There was a big plate of bacon and eggs sitting on a plate in the middle of the kitchen table. I grabbed a piece of bacon off the plate and ate it as I went to find Darry. I wanted to find out what happened the night before.

He was in his room, getting dressed and ready for work. "Morning, Pony." He said quietly, as he grabbed a pair of socks out of his dresser.

"Hey, Darry....what'd them Socs do?" I asked him. He took a while to answer.

"They came to our house, throwing their beer bottles. I went out and tried to get them to leave. They started yelling something about some greasers and their girls. They left a little after five this morning." He told me. "Never really did anything but yell at me."

"Oh. okay." I said. I wasn't going to tell him that it was me, Johnny, and Two-bit they were looking for. I don't know how Soda knew and Darry didn't. But that's how it was. And I liked it that way. The less Darry knew, the less he had to yell at me about. I changed the subject. "Who made breakfast?" I asked. I usually made breakfast for myself, especially on school days.

"Soda." Darry said bluntly. "Sandy is coming over today. Said she had to tell him somethin'." Sandy was Soda's girlfriend. He claimed he was in love with her. I didn't know what love felt like, but Soda said it was good enough that he wanted to marry her. I always liked Sandy. And just a night or so ago, he told me he loved her and that he wanted to marry her. She was good to Sodapop and she made him happy. But, then again, Soda always seemed to be happy.

"When is she coming over?" I asked Darry. He thought about it for a few seconds.

"You'll be at school." He told me. I didn't ask if I would be there or not. I asked what time she would be there. I wanted to say that, but I knew that Darry didn't get much sleep the night before and he had work to worry about. And me adding more stress to his life wasn't even an option. It would only make him mad. And if Darry got mad when he was tired, there was no stopping him.

"That all you need, Pony?" Darry asked. He was still getting ready.

"Yeah. I guess so." I told him. I needed to finish getting ready for school. I still had to get changed and I couldn't be even a minute late. I walked to school every morning.

I grabbed another piece of bacon off of the big plate and stuck it in my mouth as I headed back to my room. Soda was in the shower, so I had to wait for my turn. I got a glass of milk and was drinking it, when I realized that Johnny was still asleep. He had to get up and get ready too. I shook his arm, and he opened his eyes a little bit. "Git up!" I told him. He sort of pushed me away. "Get up, Johnny! It's a school day!" He finally began to get up.

He probably wanted to get a shower too. But I was next. I already had that set. As soon as Soda got out, I was going to go in.

Johnny was up and going through my closet to find a clean change of clothes for school. I was waiting outside the bathroom door. Soda opened the door, covered by only a towel, and went to our room to get clothes. He did that everyday. He was just going to change in there. So I went entered the bathroom, stripped, and stepped into the shower. I turned on the water. It was very cold. It slowly heated up, turning hot enough to burn me. I washed my greasy hair and and washed my body, then got out. I dried my body with a soft towel, and then, just as Soda did, ran to my bedroom, covered only by a towel, to get clothes. I grabbed a light blue collared top and a pair of jeans, along with a pair of underwear. I changed into them, and by the time I went to put the towel I had been using back into the bathroom, somebody else was in the shower. Soda was cooking again, and Darry was at work, so it had to of been Johnny.

The walk to school was just as it usually was, just Johnny and me walking along side the road, as Socs, in their shiny mustangs and convertibles, threw and yelled things at us as they drove. Johnny was usually very quiet when we walked to school. He was too afraid to be loud. So I would just count how many times we got called greasers while we walked.

Six. We got called greasers six times, by six different people. It made me angry, but I never did anything about it. I knew if I said something, it would more than likely lead to a fight. And if I got in a fight, I could get put into a boy's home. And, though Darry seemed to be angry with me most of the time, I liked living at home with him and Soda. So I kept my mouth shut.

When we got to school, Johnny went straight to class. I stopped at my locker first. I grabbed my English book and a pencil, and, heading to class, ran into Cherry Valance. She looked pretty as ever. Her long red hair was pulled back, so her face showed completely. She looked real nice like that. She had a surprised expression on her face. "Sorry." I stammered, as I helped her pick up her books. "How you been?"

She glanced around. I think she was checking to make sure the halls were empty. "Fine." She said, as I handed her the last book. "Nice seeing you." She walked away. She didn't want to see me. She was embarrassed to be seen with me. To be seen talking to me. So she lied.

"Nice seeing you too." I said quietly. She was already gone. I wasn't sure how she felt. I wasn't even sure how I felt. I thought she liked me, and I thought I returned the same feelings. But maybe that wasn't what it was like at all.

"She is a Soc. You gotta remember that. She is a Soc. You are a Greaser." I kept telling myself in my head. "You are a greaser, not a Soc." I was glad I didn't have any classes with her. That way I didn't have to see her. "You don't even need to talk to her. She is not a greaser. She is a Soc!" I kept thinking. "You're a greaser!"

"Ponyboy! Get in here or I'm going to have to mark you absent!" I heard a voice yell. It was Mr. Syme, my English teacher. "Well, are you coming?" He asked.

"Yeah." I answered. I walked to his class room, and made my way to my desk in the back of the room. One of the older Soc boys stuck his foot out in the aisle as I walked past, and tripped me. I dropped my book on the floor as I fell. I could hear him and a few of his friends laughing as I quickly got up, grabbed my book, and took my seat.

Mr. Syme took a look at the clock hanging on the wall, and rang the bell he kept on his desk. More than half of the class left the room. I stayed in my seat. I had English first.

At the end of the day, Johnny met me at my locker, just like he always did. I was putting away my history book. As I shut my locker door, I saw Cherry quickly run past. It was settled. She didn't want to talk to me. I knew why, but it still bothered me. If I was a Soc, and she was a greaser, I would talk to her. But if she didn't want to talk to me. That was fine. Because I didn't want to talk to her. That was a lie, but I knew if I told myself it often enough, I would believe it.

"Hey, Pony. You any good at History?" Johnny asked me as we walked home.

"Yeah, I guess so. Why ya' ask?" I replied.

"I got a big test comin' up soon. It's about some war that went on. I don't get it." He told me. "Think you could help me out?"

"I could try." I told him. I couldn't say yes just yet. I hadn't seen exactly what he wanted help with.

I was pretty quiet as we continued to walk. I was wondering what Sandy wanted to tell Soda. It had to of been important. She never came to our house just to tell Soda something. I wondered what she had to say. "Maybe Soda had already asked her to marry him, and she wanted to tell him the answer or something." I thought.

I was still thinking of what she could have wanted to say, when I heard a car's horn beep. I was so startled, I jumped. I was afraid it was a Soc. I looked and saw it was Darry. He was driving his beat-up Ford Fairlane. It was so ugly, only a greaser would drive it. He honked the horn again. It sounded awful. "Want a ride?" He hollered, sticking his head out the window. I nodded at Johnny, as if to ask if he wanted a ride. He nodded back. I sat down in the passenger seat, and Johnny took a spot in the back. "I'll drop you off, okay, Johnnycake?"

"Yeah." Johnny answered quietly. Darry drove down the road a little, and let Johnny out in front of his house. He watched as Johnny walked into his house. Then he turned to face me. His eyes were cold as ever. He began to drive again.

I wasn't sure why he looked at me like that. "I needed to talk to you before you got home." He said, keeping his eyes on the road and his hands on the wheel. "It's about Soda." As soon as I heard Soda's name, I focused my attention on what he was going to say. "Sandy came over this morning. Told him some big news." He told me. I got the feeling he didn't want to tell me what she said. But I had to know.

"What'd she say, Dar?" I asked.

He looked at me, his eyes beginning to appear almost gentle. "She told him she was pregnant." He said hesitantly. "Soda went nuts."

"Why?" I wondered. "He doesn't want kids?"

Darry stopped the car for a second. "It isn't his, Ponyboy." He turned up our road. "She cheated on him."

I didn't know what to say. I thought she loved him as much as he loved her. "How'd he know?" I asked.

"They never..." He left his voice fade. I knew what he meant. And I wasn't going to make him say it. Darry didn't like talking like that. He hated the whole subject. Truthfully, so did I. It was odd and made me feel uncomfortable.

Darry parked his car in front of our house, and he stopped me in front of the door. "Don't say anything to your brother. He's broke up enough as it is." He told me. "Got it?" I nodded. He rubbed my shoulder and let me in the house. I took off my shoes and threw them next to the door. I walked into the livingroom, and threw myself back into the armchair. Soda was sitting on the sofa. His elbows were dug deep into his legs and he was holding his face, looking down at the floor. I wanted to say something. Wanted to wrap my arms around him, and say it was okay. Wanted to tell him Sandy wasn't the one. But I told Darry I wouldn't say anything. So I didn't.

So I went to our room. I jumped back into my bed, and waited for dinner. Usually Soda made it, but Darry, knowing how crushed he was, decided to make it instead. It was good, being that he rarely cooked. It was a simple meal. Chicken and mashed potatoes. But it was good. Darry ate almost half of it himself. I had a little bit. And Soda only ate half of what was on his plate. He just got up from the table and went to our room, leaving his half full plate sitting at his spot. I wanted to follow him to make sure he was okay. It wasn't often that he got that upset. Darry could tell I wanted to go after him. I guess he could see it in my face. "Go on." He told me. I couldn't help but smile. I got up and went for my room. The door was shut. I opened it to see Soda lying on the bed, tears in his eyes and a cigarette in his hand. He only smoked when he was upset. I sat down on the bed.

"Hey, Pony." He managed to say.

"What's wrong?" I asked although I already knew.

"Darry didn't tell you?"

"He did." I confessed. "But...I don't know. I guess I just wanted to hear it from you."

"Sandy cheated on me, Pony. I thought she loved me." He cried.

"What all happened while I was at school? What all did she say?"

He looked up at me. He had a look in his eyes. Relief. He finally had the chance to get it off his chest. "Sandy came over this morning. She had told me that she had news for me. Big news. And she gets here, all right, and she tells me that she is pregnant and that we are going to have a baby." He paused. "But I didn't believe her, because the only way she could have been pregnant was if she....if it was some one else's kid. 'Cause there was no way it was mine. We never..." He looked up. I think he was seeing if I was still listening. I was. "But I got up and here she is, all excited that we are going to parents, and I start to say that it couldn't be mine. And then she goes crazy on me. Yelling and screaming. So I started to yell back. I don't know why I did, but I did. And then she says it's over and that she was moving to Florida. And then she slammed the door and left." He was almost in tears. "I felt awful, like it was my fault she left, because I yelled at her."

"It's not your fault, Soda. She cheated on you." I told him. "Besides, I don't think Sandy is the one for you." I gave him a hug. He grasped me tightly. "It'll be fine, Soda."

"I know." He said. "Thanks, little buddy."

The next day played out about the same way, with the exception of the fight Soda had with his girlfriend and Darry picking me up.

When I got home from school, Dally was sitting on our sofa, a candybar in his hand. He was just sitting there. The television was off. "Hey, Dal." I waved quietly. "Whatcha' doing?"

He looked over at me, acknowledging me for the first time. "Oh. Hey, Ponyboy." He replied. I asked him, again, what he was doing. "Just waiting." He said. There was a slight smile on his face. "Just waiting." He elongated his words.

"For what?" I asked, my curiosity taking over. Dally let out a silent chuckle.

"Daisy's coming back." He grinned.

Daisy was his younger sister. When their family lived in New York, she stayed with their grandparents, being that their parents didn't want either of them, and she didn't have a choice where she went. So he hadn't seen her in over four years. That was the last time he got a chance to go visit her in New York. I went with him. We took a bus to get there. It was the first time I saw her. She was only ten, just as I was. But she was different. She was special. She was the first girl I ever had a crush on. There was just something about her. I wasn't sure what it was, but I knew it was there. And, whatever it was, I liked it. But I doubted she even remembered me.

"Why are you waiting here?" I asked. It was strange that while waiting for his sister from New York, he'd be sitting in my house, just waiting.

"Darry's going to take me to where the buses leave off. He just has to get off work and come pick me up." Dally explained. I couldn't help but let out a little laugh. He hadn't seen his sister in four years, and he was going to pick her up in Darry's ugly, old Ford Fairlane. Lucky her. She was going to hate it here.

"How long is Daisy stayin', Dal? Do you know?"

"How ever long she wants. Our Gram just died, so she got sent back. But..my folks don't want to see her. That's why they left her." Dally told me. I already knew that. I also knew that they didn't want him either. They tried leaving him there with her, but he was too much for their grandmother to handle. At least that was what Dally told me, and it wasn't often that he lied, unless you are counting what he says when he gets hauled in by the fuzz. So I believed nearly everything he said. Plus, I had met Dally's parents, and they seemed the type. They didn't deserve to be parents. Which would explain why their kids didn't belong at their house.

Dally had a look on his face, as though he were debating whether to tell me something or not. "Can you keep a secret?" He finally asked, motioning that I come towards him. I nodded my head and sat down next to him on the sofa. "I'm eighteen now. Know what that means?" He asked. I shook my head to say no. "I can move out, and I am technically at the age to be a legal guardian." His words struck me hard. The only time Dally ever used the word "legal" was when he was about to break the law, or if he really cared about something. And Daisy was his everything. No one else in the gang seemed to realize it, but Daisy was the closest thing to a best friend Dally had, and he would do anything to please or protect her. No matter the cost.

"What's that have to do with anything?" I asked.

"I'm going to rent an apartment." He said. "And Daisy can stay there if she wants to." He stopped, probably thinking of what he was going to say next. "I-" He was interrupted. Sodapop came through the door, joyful as usual. You couldn't even tell that the "love of his life", Sandy, broke up with him the day before. But inside, I knew he was devastated.

Soda plopped down on the sofa between Dally and me, nearly sitting on my lap. I pushed him off of me and went into the kitchen. I was hungry. I didn't eat lunch at school. I didn't like hoagies at my school. The whole idea of ham, bologna, and white cheese just really made me sick. And the taste was enough to make a person vomit. Just the sight was enough to make a person sick. So it was hard to sit with Johnny as he devoured his. I tried not to watch, not to smell, not to hear him chewing, while, at the same time, I was trying to help him study for his history test. Turns out the test was going to be over World War II, and all he had to know was the year it started and the year it ended. It was that simple. So I just sat there, trying to avoid the ghastly sandwiches, as I tried to help Johnny remember the facts.

I opened the refridgerator, glanced around at the different raw foods, and realized that there wasn't anything there for me to eat. There wasn't muchbut eggs, milk, cheese, vegetables, and a jug of water. The meats were kept in the freezer. But Darry didn't allow me to cook them, because he knew I burnt alot of food. And we couldn't afford the loss. Soda would be making dinner, I remembered. He wasn't openly upset anymore. So I dug through the freezer and found half a pound of ground beef. I put it in the fridge to thaw, that way when Soda got around to making supper, it would be ready.

"Soda! I put meat in the fridge!" I hollered, so he would hear me.

"All right!" He yelled back. "Thanks!"

I heard the front door open and close, followed by Darry's booming voice, which rang throughout the house. "Come on!" I heard the sound of two sets of footsteps and then the door reopened and closed again. Darry and Dally had just left to pick up Daisy.

Darry got back around seven o' clock that night. Dally wasn't with him. And I was almost disappointed that Daisy wasn't. After Dally, I was the most excited to see her. Of course, none of the other guys in the gang had ever met her.

We all sat down to eat when he got back. All the while, my mind was stuck on her. Daisy Winston was coming to town. I wondered if she would still look the way she did when we were ten. If she still had long light brown hair and dark brown eyes that seemed to dance like Soda's did. I wondered if she still wore dresses and bows in her hair. I wondered if she still smiled, that perfect white smile that forced you to smile back, at everyone she met for the first time. I wondered if her laugh was still happy, or if it was like the girls' at school. I wondered if she still talked to everyone with a loving, happy voice. I wondered if she was still the same Daisy Winston I had met four years ago.

"PONYBOY!" Soda hollered. I guess I got so wrapped up in my "I wonders" that I didn't even notice that Soda had been trying to get my attention. "Anyone in there?" He knocked on the side of my head. I let out a quiet chuckle, and pushed his hand away.

"What?"

"Why ain't you talking to us? We've been trying for the past hour!" He exaggerated. Soda always stretched the truth when it came to telling time. He could turn ten minutes into four hours if he wanted to.

"Oh. Sorry." I stammered. "I was thinking about something."

"Whatcha thinking about, Pony?"

I looked at him for a second. "It's nothing." I lied.

"Ponyboy, you clean up these dishes when you are done eating." Darry butted in. "I'm going to bed."

I told Darry that I would. Soda and I told him "good night" and then he left the table. Soda and I were still eating our food. "So, Ponyboy." He said between mouthfuls. "What were you thinking about?"

I didn't know what to say. "I already told you. Nothing." I said, stuffing a spoonful of apple sauce into my mouth.

"It's got to be something, for you to ignore me and Darry like you did." He told me. That's when I realized why I didn't say anything. I didn't want them to know, because Darry was there.

And Darry wasn't at the table anymore. So it was safe to tell Soda. "I was thinking about Daisy Winston." I shoved another spoon of apple sauce in my mouth.

"Dally's sister?" He sounded confused. "How do you know her?"

"I went up to see her a few years ago, with Dally." I told him. "You weren't home." It was a Saturday that we went to see her. Soda was at the store with our mom. Darry and our dad were home with me. And Darry didn't want to go with Dally. So I went.

"Oh, yeah. I 'member Darry sayin' something about you being up in New York or something." Soda didn't sound too sure. "That don't tell me why you're thinking about her though." He said as he chewed the food in his mouth.

"I don't know, Soda. She was real nice." I started to explain. "She was different than any other girl I've ever met."

Soda swallowed his food, and looked up at me. "That a good or bad thing?"

"Good, I think." He threw me a smile and got up from the table, dropping his plate in the sink. It made a loud clanging sound as it hit another dish. I finished up my food and then added me and Darry's plates to the sink.

Then I went to bed.