CHAPTER 1: THE LOST GIRL

When you you've seen as many deaths as I have, you go through a state of shock. You go through a state of depression. This can make everything harder for you. It makes school harder. It makes sleep harder. Hell, it makes breathing harder. I've seen and been through a total of two deaths in the past month, and a total of four in my entire life.

Lately, life has been very hard for me. I haven't been eating much at all. After I wrote that composition for English class, all of those emotions I felt hit me hard. I had the same feeling I had when my parents died. Sometimes I feel as though life doesn't matter enough to keep moving forward. I no longer have my parents. The group is falling apart without Johnny.

We no longer have Dally with us. Johnny's death was to hard for him, so he ran off. I haven't seen him sense the night Johnny died. I think Dally took it harder than the rest of us. Don't get me wrong, we all took it bad, but Johnny was the only person Dally truly loved.

I feel as though it was my fault that Johnny died. All I know is that Johnny died a hero, and his last words to me were words that I will always hold in my heart.

"Stay gold Ponyboy," he said.

After that he took his last breath. Dally was yelling at him to wake up, but I stayed silent. I had no words. It should have been me who had died. Johnny deserved life more than anyone. He should have been the one to live.

Darry and Sodapop tell me that it wasn't my fault and that I shouldn't feel bad, but I still feel guilty. I still feel like hell.

I look outside my bedroom window, thinking. The stars are so bright. They make me think of Johnny. They are small, but they a bright just like him. I hear Sodapop's soft snore, and it calms me. I close my eyes and drift to sleep.

School was out, and I could not be happier! I wouldn't have to worry about work for three months. There was a down side to this though. This meant that I had more time to think, and the more time I had to think, the more time I would be depressed.

I start walking t the gas station where Soda and Steve work. Pulling out a cigarette, I stop to light it with a match I had in my pocket. I start to walk again to the gas station.

When I got there, it was packed. As usual I thought. Walking up to the counter in the gas station, I see Soda. He is talking to a girl i had never seen before.

"Hey Soda," I say awkwardly, "who's this?" Soda looks from the girl to me.

"Well hey there Pony!" he greets loudly, "This is Jane Storm. She moved to the neighborhood yesterday."

I look down to the girl. She is short with long, wavy dark brown hair. She had dark brown eyes and tan skin. She wore a white tank top with a pink leather jacket. Finishing it off with pink short shorts and pink converse.

"Hey there," she winks. She seemed nice. I give her a warm grin.

"Hi." Soda smiles at me.

"So Pony, what's it like to not be a freshman, and being in school anymore?" he asks. I honestly don't want to answer that question. I'm not looking forward to having to think about things, and not being able to have school or track to distract me.

"You're going to be a sophomore? Why you sure look young to be in high school," she states. If I've heard it once, I've herd it a million times.

"Yea! Ponyboy here skipped a grade. He has a high IQ, but he sure doesn't use his head!" Soda laughs. I glare at him while Jane giggles.

"Aw shut up will ya!" I mumble.

Soda slaps my back," Oh come on Pony! We're just messin' with ya."

"Yea, yea," I once again mumble. Jane looks amused.

"So Ponyboy, what do you plan on doing this summer?" she asks. I look around the room to come up with an answer.

"I guess I'll just hang out with friends." That was a lame answer. She smiles politely.

"That sure does sounds like fun!" Soda looks at me with a worried look on his face. He knew that I was going to think about last month a lot. He came to my rescue by changing the subject.

"Well, Jane here is apart of our group now! Isn't that great Pony?" he asked.

I smiled, "Welcome to the greasers Jane." I held out my hand and she shook it.

"Thanks Ponyboy!"

After she shook my hand, she looked down at her watch, "Well I better go. Nice talking to you Sodapop! See ya Pony!"

"Bye!" Soda and I said in unison.

Soda looked at me, "She sure is pretty ain't she Pony?" I thought for a minute.

"Yea." She wasn't really my type though. Plus she was seventeen.

"I'm gonna go on home Soda," I said.

"Okay, just be careful Ponyboy. You remember the last time you walked home alone?" I cringed at the memory of me walking home from the movies that day, and getting jumped by those socs.

"Yea, yea. I'll be fine don't worry," I said as I walked out the door.

As I walked home I heard a whimper from the woods I was walking by. It was definitely a feminine whimper. Me being curious, I walked into the woods and looked around. I don't see anything until something catches my eye. I see a dirty neon green t- shirt peeking out from behind a tree. It's a girl who is behind the tree.

"Hello?" I ask. I see the girl tense.

"Go away! Please! I don't want to get hurt again!" she sobs. My eyes widen.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." At this point she is on the ground. She sobs for a few more seconds, and then she speaks.

"You're not?"

"Of course not," She finally comes out from behind the tree. I wince as I see her.

She is covered in bruises and cuts. She is holding her arm and has a black eye. She looks like she hadn't eaten in months. She had bags under her eyes too. She must have not slept for days. I come closer to her, but she starts to shake with fear.

"My name is Ponyboy, and I'm not gonna hurt you. I just wanna help," I explain.

She finally stands up and looks up at me. Her legs start to shake and she starts to fall. Luckily, I was fast and caught her. Her condition looked worse now that she was in my arms.

"I'm gonna take you to my house, so you can rest. Okay? I ask. She squeezes her eyes shut and nods quickly.

I walk swiftly so I can ask Darry for help. I make sure that I am holding her so I won't hurt her. We make our way through the neighborhood. I see people staring at her. For some reason I get a very protective feeling over her.

When I reach the steps, I see Darry inside the house from the window. I knock on the door slightly due to the girl I am holding. Darry opens it and his eyes widened.

"Ponyboy, why-" I cut him off.

"I don't have time for questions! She needs help!" Darry agrees to let us in.

"Lay her on the couch," he directed. I did what I was told, and but her down. "Ponyboy, go get some band aids and some ice."

I ran frantically to the ice box and then to the bathroom. Returning to the living room, I see the girl is now looking at Darry with wide eyes.

"Where's Ponyboy!" she yelled.

I run over to her and stroke her hair, "I'm right here. It's alright. This is my brother Darry, and he's gonna help you." She starts to calm down. Darry gives me a serious look. I think we both had the same idea. This girl was hurt by a man in some way. This must be why she is so scared of men at the moment. I get angry at the thought of a man touching her.

After Darry attended to her injuries, and gave her a sling for her arm. He helps her sit up, and stares at her for a moment. I can see she is very uncomfortable.

"I'm gonna ask you some questions, alright?" Darry asks.

She nods in agreement.

"First tell me, What is your name?"

"Nichole Clarkson," she says in a soft voice. She looks to me and I give her a smile of sympathy.

Darry continues, "Why were you all by yourself in the woods?" She looks down at her lap.

"I- I ran away."

"Why did you run away?" Tears start to run down her face.

"Because," she pauses, "because I was raped."

Chapter 1 completed! I hope yu guys enjoy this story! I worked so hard on it. New cHapters will be coming soon! Please favorite and review!:-)