A Few Hours Later…

Jesse's POV

I woke up and my head was throbbing. I opened my eyes to see Ponyboy. I glanced around the room. Only Ponyboy was there. I wondered where everyone else went too.

"Hey, you're awake," Pony said with a small smile.

"Where's everyone?" I asked shyly.

"They're at the movies. Soda got Darry to go. I would have gone, but I wanted to stay here with you," Pony replied, his ears turning pink-he was blushing!

"You didn't have to. You could've woken me up," I said, feeling guilty.

"Nah, don't worry about it," the smile grew on his face.

Just then the door flew open. I felt myself jump up. I looked over to see a stranger. He wasn't a stranger….but the social worker!

"Come on, Mandy. You're coming with me to your new home," he said harshly as he started to walk over me.

"Mandy?" Ponyboy looked at me with a puzzled face. I looked back at his eyes. Mine said sorry. His said it's ok. I got up off his lap and ran for the front door. I made it around the social worker and out the front door, into the hands of police. I struggled my way out of man's grasp and ran down the steps. I jumped over the fence and ran down the sidewalk.

Darry's POV

Soda forced me to go the movies with him. I wanted to protest, but the guys forced me anyways. On the way home, since we walked to the Double we had to walk back.

Just as we were walking on the sidewalk, Jesse runs into Soda, knocking him over. She said sorry and took off again. Steve helped Soda to his feet and us all exchanged glances. I looked over at our house, and the fuzz was there. I took off running, thinking Ponyboy must be in trouble. The guys followed me. Soda got there first.

Soda's POV

"Pony, you ok?" I asked him, worried. He just looked at me, with tears in his eyes.

"What happened?" Darry asked, sternly.

"A social worker came in. Jesse looked at me then ran out. I'm sorry, if I frightened ya." He sounded worried.

"Don't worry, Pony. We know you like her." Two-Bit grinned. Pony blushed deeply. Everyone started to laugh. Darry looked at them. "Do you know where she was headed, Pony?" He asked.

"No…She didn't say anything." Pony replied. I could tell he was worried about her.

Jessica's POV

I ran down the street, lost. I didn't know where I was or going. I was totally lost. I turned around, but I had crossed streets and turned to many corners. I wished Pony was with me.

I found myself following the sound of music. I came up to a house that was hosting a huge party. I peeked in the window from where I was standing and could see drunken people. I was starting to walk away when the door to the house opened. A tall figure stepped out. He looked real mean, like Dally. He looked over at me. I stiffened up and he just grinned.

"Hey, doll face." He said as he lit of a cig.

"Hi." I replied quietly.

"You better get home…I bet your parents are worried about you." He said coolly.

"Uh-huh, bye." I gave a smile, before running back the way I came.

I ran as fast as I could before I had to slow down. I was in the nice part of town with green lawns and white fences. I didn't like it. Not one bit, so I was about to turn back when lights flashed on me. I realized that it was the drunken socs from before. I ran for the lot as quick as I could. I used up most of my energy, just getting there. When I got there, the car followed me so it was there. I shouted for anyone. I was out of breath, so I couldn't holler loud. I gave a yelp and a squeal when two guys tackled me to the ground.

Ponyboy's POV

I heard a yelp and a squeal, but they were faint. "Come on…Let's go see what that was." I pulled Soda to the door, but he didn't want to go.

"What's wrong, Pony?" He asked me.

"I don't know, but something doesn't feel right." I said, pulling Soda out the door and towards the lot. His eyes widen as soon as we got to the corner. He hollered something, which made Dally, Two-Bit, Steve, Johnny, and Darry rush out of the house and towards the lot. I was already heading there-full speed. I reached the lot first.

Darry's POV

Soda yelled something and everyone rushed out of the house towards the lot.

I saw Ponyboy slumping next to something. When I got a little closer, I could see he was holding something. Then as soon as I got up to him, I noticed it was Jesse in Pony's arms.

Pony's POV

I held her close to me. I could barely feel her pulse. She had passed out, I guess. Soda, Steve, Dally and Two-Bit took care of the socs. Johnny was on the other side of me, facing me. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and when I looked up, Darry was standing over me.

"Hey, little buddy…I think you should let Jesse breath." He said. I did so. I laid her down in front of me. I stared at her bruised face and the dry tears.

"Darry…is she gonna-gonna make it?" I looked up at him, tears filled my eyes.

"She's a tough kid. She'll make it. You'll have to be there to support her, though." Darry replied back to me. I noticed another dark car pull up and a couple of girls got up and two males too. Darry clenched his fists as he stood guard for me and Johnny. Soda, Dally, Steve and Two-Bit joined him.

"Look, we don't want to cause any trouble. Our friends got drunk and looking for someone to jump." A male said. He was tall as Soda. He had dirty-blonde hair with icy blue eyes. He was standing in front of the others.

"Like an innocent girl," Dally said in defense.

"We're sorry." A girl said in a tone higher than a whisper.

"Who are ya'll anyways?" Darry asked sternly.

"I'm Jason. This is Luke…the girls are: Katie, Luna, Amy, and Kelly." The one guy in the back said shyly.

I looked down at Jessica for a moment. "You're going to be okay." I told her. "Please stay with us." She made a moaning sound and everyone glanced at her.

"Your friends are going to pay for this…" Dally said coldly.

"Look, we're sorry that happened!" Luke raised his voice.

They argued for a while, until I drew a sharp breath. "Darry…" he looked at me like 'what is it?' "Jesse isn't breathing," I finished, looking back down at Jesse, who looked like a ghost.