Pony walked through the book store, scanning all the books on the shelves. Gone With the Wind, The Count of Monte Christo, White Fang, Dracula, Frankenstein, Call of the Wild – Jesus Christ, is there any book I haven't read yet?
It was hard for him to concentrate, he was in a quiet bookstore with Soda, Steve, Johnny and Two-Bit.
He was looking for a new book to read, but kept on hearing whispers and occasional hysterical laughter.
"Would y'all shut your trap before we get kicked out?" Pony quietly yelled, turning around to face them.
Two-Bit couldn't help but show the book that he was laughing about to Pony. The rest of them couldn't help but howl so loudly, everyone in the store shushed them.
"Really?" It seemed to be more of a statement, rather than a question.
Just then, the owner of the store hurriedly pushed them out the door, cussing at them to never come back. But, the old lady didn't notice that Pony and Two-Bit both had swiped a few books.
They all started walking back towards the Curtis house. Pony turned toward the bookstore, holding up two new books. "Thanks for the discount!"
Soda clouted the back of his brother's head. "Glory, Pony! How much time have you spent with Two-Bit?"
"Hey, Pretty Boy, he probably picked that skill up from Dally or something. 'Sides, all I got was a new book for myself." Two-Bit responded, trying not to laugh.
Steve and Johnny snickered, both lighting cigarettes.
The boys continued their walk, cracking jokes and laughing whole heartedly. Pony started falling behind them, opening one of the new books he 'bought.'
Suddenly, he bumped into Steve, who violently pushed him back. Pony pulled him into a headlock when Soda and Two-Bit broke them up.
"Why'd y'all stop walking?" Pony asked, rubbing his sore shoulder.
"Up ahead, looks like they're far from home." Johnny pointed his hand to an, old yellow Volkswagon Beetle.
"And that their car broke down," Steve added.
"Well, they certainly look beautiful," Soda concluded, eyeing the five gorgeous girls standing around the vehicle.
"You're not wrong," Pony agreed, observing one girl who caught his eye.
"I say we introduce ourselves, boys. Now, clean your faces, straighten up your clothes and dust your shoes off," Two-Bit ordered, starting to walk up the street.
"Yes ma'am," Pony mumbled, earning yet another hit on the back of his head.
Soda, Steve and Johnny laughed, and Pony couldn't help but crack a smile, too.
The five boys reached their destination, later joined by Dally, who was swaggering down the street.
"Look who's ahead," Dally mentioned, smirking.
"Oh, I didn't notice," Steve replied sarcastically. Dallas lit a cancer stick, and pulled Steve into a headlock.
"Glory, not again," Steve sighed.
They noticed that the hood of the car was up, and two of the girls were bent over the engine. Another two were in the car, blasting music from the radio. The last one stood near the car with her arms crossed, and an impatient look on her face.
Soda cleared his throat, and all five heads tuned in their direction. "Fancy meeting y'all here," he said.
One of the girls in the car turned the music down. "Couldn't disagree." She smiled, with wavy, long black curls framing her face. Her eyes were dark brown, but lightened when the sun shined on them.
Soda found himself flabbergasted, but composed himself to reply. "The names Sodapop, care to tell me yours?"
She was about to respond, when a girl with light brown hair interrupted. "Care to help us fix our car?"
Steve chuckled, "It's my specialty, doll face."
"Why're y'all here anyways?" Dally asked.
The one standing with her arms crossed answered first. "I was dragged along by these bums and their brothers."
Dally let out snicker, "Dragged along for what?"
"We're on the run." The second girl in the car answered, standing by the opened car door.
"For what?" Johnny questioned, he knew what that experience was like.
The last girl standing by the hood of the car replied, "We're not criminals, first off. We just were all in the wrong place, at the wrong time." Her eyes landed on Pony's, and she found herself not able to look elsewhere.
"Consider yourselves at home here, then." Pony said. "Still haven't told us your names though."
"Same here," she responded, smirking.
Pony chuckled, "I'm Ponyboy. This is Johnny," he continued, pointing at the boy to his right. "Y'all already know Soda, one of my older brothers. That's Steve, Two-Bit and Dally."
The girls smiled.
"I'm Chelsea," the one who first spoke to Soda said. "The one next to me here is JJ. Standing by the hood is Ryann, with the light brown hair, and Lillian Rose. And the one over there is Caitlin."
"Pretty names," Soda returned.
"So, are you guys lost?" Dally asked impatiently. Two-Bit sighed in disappointment, "Glory, Dallas. Show the ladies some respect." Pony laughed, and added, "Yes ma'am."
"Depends, where are we?" Caitlin responded, half smiling at their amusing behavior.
"Tulsa, Oklahoma – East side." Steve answered.
"What's so important about the East side?" Ryann asked, leaning against the car.
"It means you grew up on the wrong side of the tracks." Pony answered, letting his eyes fall on Lillian's.
She smiled at him, "No sweat, things are rough all over."
"We gotta get to some place called Buck's. Do you know where it is?" Chelsea questioned.
"Sure do, it's that way." Soda pointed in the opposite direction.
Chelsea leaned out of the window, looking at Ryann. "I told you we were driving the wrong way."
"Well, Chels, I'll gladly drive the right way if we can get this piece of junk working again." Ryann responded, kicking the non-moving vehicle.
"Don't worry, we'll help." Steve offered. "We'll push it over to the DX, it's right up the street."
"We can fix it right here, I got my tools in the trunk." Ryann began, walking over to the trunk and picking a blue metal box.
"You don't mind getting your hands dirty?" Steve asked, beginning to admire the beautiful girl.
"Never did. Now, are you gonna help or not?" She replied, holding up a wrench.
"Don't need to ask me twice." Steve answered, feeling attracted to her fiery personality.
"Do you guys mind walking us to Buck's?" Lillian questioned, worrying about her other friends and brother.
"No problem," Pony quickly responded. She smiled, "Thanks, a lot."
"I'll stay here with Ryann," Chelsea said.
"I'll stay here with Steve, too." Soda offered, looking over at Chelsea.
"Alright lovebirds, we'll meet you guys at Buck's." Caitlin called, starting to walk down the street.
"Hey baby, I thought you're following us," Dally replied, walking over towards her.
She smirked, "Lead the way."
The group split, with Dallas and Caitlin leading the way to Buck's. JJ started talking to Johnny and Lillian fell in step with Pony.
"Y'all wouldn't have any more lady friends by any chance," Two-Bit said, looking lonely and miserable.
Pony chuckled. "Aw, don't start bawling on us, Two."
Two-Bit hit Pony on the back of his head, "Look who's talking, buddy."
Lillian laughed, "We actually do, so there's no need for tears. Her name's Isabelle Rachel."
"Wonderful, now Pony y'all don't need to act jealous."
"Jealous of what exactly?" Johnny asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Dally snickered. "Hey, you guys mentioned brothers too, right?"
"Yeah, they're with Isabelle at Buck's supposedly," JJ responded.
"What're they like?" Pony asked, looking over at Lillian.
"They're cool, pretty smart and resourceful. Interesting too, I guess." Lillian described.
"It's more like tough and mouthy, Lil." Caitlin replied.
"How many?" Johnny asked.
"Five – Zachary Thomas, he's Lillian's older brother, Lawrence Alexander, the smartass twin brother of Chelsea, Nathaniel Ryder, jokester and sibling of Isabelle, Brayden Parker, the ultimate king of pranks and extremely protective brother of Ryann, and Jonathan Tyler, who's like JJ's other half because they're so close." Caitlin answered.
"Wow, it's like one big happy family." Two-Bit concluded.
"Pretty much," JJ agreed, she looked over at Johnny, but saw him looking down at his shoes. She pulled him farther to the side, still following the others.
"Hey, you alright?" She asked, noticing the frown upon his face.
He looked down her, his height noticeably taller than hers. "I'm fine, I guess. It's just that my folks were never the ones to dig the happy family jazz."
"Well, you're always welcome to be part of ours." JJ replied, trying to brighten the mood.
Johnny smiled at her, "I'd love that, but I'm stuck with these no-good hoods."
"Heard that," Pony called, smirking.