Chapter Two

It had been almost two weeks since I first starting hanging out with Bryon. Of course the guy had his issues, but don't we all? He was great company and got along with most of the rest of our gang. Soda, Two-Bit, and Steve really seemed glad to have someone else hang out with his. Ever since the deaths of Johnny and Dally, our group has never quite been the same. But now, things seemed like they were turning around. It was starting to feel like we were turning over a new leaf in our lives.

"Two-Bit, why don't you take your eyes off of Mickey for once!" Steve said as he turned off the television set.

Two-Bit was about to object but decided not to. Instead he glanced over at Bryon and me. We were playing cards and eating M&Ms. He pulled up a chair to the table and watched us.

"Now was that so hard?" Steve asked with a slight laugh.

"Shut up." Two-Bit snapped. "You guys may not understand how a mouse could be so appealing, but he just has this sort of… air about him."

Bryon and I laughed and got up from the table, leaving our game of cards. We both had agreed that it was getting a little too stuffy inside. It was time to go grab some air. Besides, we had agreed to go meet Cathy and M&M at the hospital. Speaking of Cathy, her and I had been hitting it off pretty well. She was really amazing and unlike any other chick I had ever met… well… besides one.

"Ponyboy! Wait up!" Shouted a familiar voice.

I whipped around and soon saw the beautiful red hair that could only belong to one person…

"Cherry!" I said in complete surprise.

What else could I do? I hadn't seen Cherry for such a long time! She had already graduated from high school and was now attending some big university. What was she doing here, and why would she want to be talking to me? Well, it looked like I would find out soon for she was now standing in front of Bryon and me.

"Ponyboy, I've got a message for you and.. uh… Bryon, isn't it?" Cherry asked looking up at Bryon's face with a questioning look.

"That's me." Bryon replied.

"Good, that will make my job a lot more easier then!" She smiled before continuing, "Well, I just got back from the reformatory. See I was visiting my cousin who's in there, well anyway, this guy stopped me. He looked like he had been there for a while. Somehow he recognized me and asked me to deliver a message to the both of you. He said that his name was Mark Jennings. Do either of you know him?"

Both Bryon and me instantly nodded our heads.

"Oh, okay. Well, Mark told me to tell both of you that he's waiting, and that he'll be ready for when the time comes. Whatever that means."

There was a moment of silence. Neither Bryon nor I spoke. Mark was waiting and ready? Did that mean he was waiting for us to visit? Well, the answer only seemed too clear.

"Thanks, Cherry." I finally said, not wanting her to talk more on the subject. "You know we would really would like to catch up with you, but we had promised two of our friends that we would meet up with them. I'm sorry."

"Oh, that's okay. I'll catch up with you some other time, I guess." Cherry smiled although I was sure I could detect some disappointment on her face. "I'll see you around Ponyboy! It was nice to see you, Bryon!" With that, Cherry Valance walked away from us.

"Oh great. It looks like I'll have to go see what Mark wants after all." Bryon said with a grim look upon his face.

"Let's leave that thought for another time. Meanwhile, let's go have some fun. It's well needed at the moment."

Bryon slowly nodded and the two of us made our way to meet Cathy and M&M.