Penny glared at Ponyboy, tears welling up in her clear blue eyes. "If you cared about me like you say you do," she began, her voice low and calm, though it hiccupped with falling tears. "Then you would forgive me."
Ponyboy had tears in his own eyes, though they didn't spill onto his cheeks like Penny's did. "What you did is so out of line…" he said seething.
"I didn't-"Penny started angrily. Then she stopped. What was the point! He didn't believe her anyways.
"You did." Ponyboy sighed. "And that's why we're not together no more."
Penny looked down at her busted up blue tennis shoes. "I'm going then." She whispered, admitting it to herself. She looked up at the boy she loved dearly, more as a companion then a mate. She met his eyes, making her own water even more. "Goodbye Ponyboy." She nodded, extending her hand.
"Goodbye Penny." He answered sadly, shaking her hand softly and faking a smile.
Penny left the house calmly, but as soon as she hit the cement she started running, and she never really stopped.
It had been two days. Penny still hadn't come back. Ponyboy didn't sleep, he didn't eat. He paced his house, a cigarette between his teeth. Sodapop tried to calm him down, but he shrugged off every comforting hand, and blocked out every reassuring word. Nothing could console him. His mind was set on Penny, and nothing else.
"C'mon Pony, you gotta eat somthin' or all this smokin' you do will kill you!" Sodapop protested.
Ponyboy shook his head. "I should have been nicer to her…" He mumbled, shaking his head.
Sodapop sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "Pony, if she wanted to go and kiss a Soc, that's her decision…"
"But maybe she wouldn't have if I had—"
"Pony." Sodapop took him by the shoulders. "There's nothing you could have done."
Penny kicked the ashes of her old home. What had happened to her life? Ponyboy didn't know half the story. She could barely recall all of it. But she knew how it had begun:
The teal blue mustang pulled over as she walked home from the gas station. Her eyes drifted to an empty pop bottle lying on the curb a few feet away. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she bit down on her tongue to keep her fear off of her countenance.
Paul Holden rolled down his window. "Hey baby." He cooed, giving Penny a crooked smirk as he greeted her.
She glared at him. "Keep driving buddy boy."
Another Soc she didn't recognize opened the passenger side door and pushed her down into the seat. "Awww, don't you need a ride home sweet stuff?" She pulled away from him, shrinking down into her seat. It's not worth loosing blood. And she did need a ride home.
He closed the door behind her and waved a finger at her with a smirk as they drove off. Her heart was racing. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead, and she twisted her thin blonde-brown ponytail around her finger. She looked down at her apparel, dark denim shorts, and a yellow-green V-neck shirt with a beige tank top underneath. She wishes she had worn something a bit more covering, as Paul placed a rough, callous hand across the pocket of Penny's shorts. She suppressed a terrified whimper. "Please don't touch me." She requested breathily.
He chuckled and rubbed his hand over her leg. "You're cute Pen."
Her face turned bright red. "Don't" she squeaked. She was committed to Ponyboy. She loved Ponyboy. All she could think about was Ponyboy.
"You're okay." He fondled the hem of her shirt.
As Penny was about to protest, the car jerked to the side and Paul pulled into his big fancy house's driveway. Penny whined from somewhere pathetic deep inside her. She knew where this was going, and she didn't like it. Not one bit. She had heard way too many horror stories…
She yelped as Paul grabbed her hands and led her inside.
He handed her a metal water bottle. "Thirsty?" He asked innocently.
She held it gingerly. In all honestly, she was parched. She opened the lid and sniffed the liquid inside. Water? She took a long drink. She immediately felt the alcohol coursing through her veins. Not water. Definitely not water. She cried out. "No no no no no, this is not okayyyy…." She slurred, staggering to the couch across the room.
Paul laughed harshly. "Thought you greasers were used to drink."
Penny's head bobbed on her shoulders. "Please just take me home."
The boy thought for a minute. "Have a little more, and then I'll take you." He handed her a flask.
She took a sip, and then sputtered, spitting it out. This was much stronger than before. Paul watched her carefully.
She tipped the flask back and managed to swallow the toxin.
She felt so guilty. This was awful. How could she!? She was betraying Pony, and she was betraying herself…
The sudden surge of drink knocked her out cold.
Penny shakes her head. "Snap out of it." She scolds herself.
The last image she allows is the look on Ponyboy's face as Paul grabbed Penny by the shoulders, then held the back of her head as he gave her a long kiss on the lips. He couldn't hear her scream through the pressure on her lips. He never saw her run off, he never saw Paul chasing after her. He never saw him hit her. Ponyboy never saw what really happened.