I slowly reached back to my bag. One of the guys grabbed my arm. "Ah, ah, ah." He waved his finger at me and smiled. I tried to pull from him, but his grip was too strong. Another guy grabbed my other arm and a guy came up in front of me. It was the same guy whose neck I put my knives to when I saved Ponyboy. He grabbed my face and held it up. I gazed into his eyes with a mix of hate and fear, but mostly fear.

"Man, if looks could kill." He chuckled. "What you did earlier today wasn't very nice, ya know? I think we need to teach you lesson in manners."

I whipped my head out of his grip and spit in his face. He turned away and cussed, wiping his face. "You filthy little bitch." He came up and landed a hard one into my stomach knocking the wind out of me. I coughed. Tried to look up at him, but I was only met with a blistering slap across the face, busting my lip.

I could barely stand up so they dropped me. I lay on the ground coughing and trying to crawl away. The guy walked up to me and kicked me in the stomach. I gasped breathlessly. I fell to the side. I reached for my bag again, but the guy grabbed me by my hair and pulled me up. I couldn't even scream, the pain was so bad.

"What do ya got in this bag of yours that's so damn important?" the guy grabbed the handle on my bag and pulled me apart from it. He dropped me and took my bag. He started to unzip it. I knew if he found what was in it, I would be done for. I could feel the adrenaline through me. I got to my feet and before the other could stop me, I leapt for the guy and tackled him. We fell to the ground and the bag fell out of his hand. I got into my bag for what I needed. I pulled out the pistol.

I lay on top of him pointing it at his head. The barrel of the gun pressed between his eyes. I sat there, breathless. The others in his group didn't know what to do.

"Hey now." He looked up at me with wide eyes. "We were just playing, ya know. Just kiddin' around, your dig?" Ya, fucking, right. I got off of him but kept the barrel pointed at him. He slowly got up. I guess he could see I wasn't joking. I motioned the gun over to the car. The guys stepped back, ran to their car, and drove up like the devil was after them, cussing every word in the book as they did so. I hope they wreck.

I still had the gun pointed up. I tried to comprehend what just happened. I didn't know if I could really use the pistol, but I'm glad they thought I could.

"Hey, kid?" a voice behind me called. I whirled around, still holding the pistol up. "Whoa, whoa!" He put his hands up. "It's me. Do you remember?" He came closer, into the light. It was the kid with the Mickey Mouse shirt. I lowered the gun. He smiled. "Man, that sure is one tuff heater." I smiled half-heartedly.

I felt weak, and my knees failed under me. I fell the ground and blacked out. The last thing I heard was him cussing.

I blinked my eyes open. The sunlight was seeping through the blinds. I sat up, and felt light headed.

"You probably shouldn't sit up yet. Take it easy for now." A familiar voice rang. I turned to see Ponyboy standing in a kitchen. I stared at him for a little before gazing around at my surroundings. It was small house, a little messy, but it was cozy. I was on the couch. I looked down. I still had on my clothes. I looked around saw my bag was on the floor next to me. I sighed in relief.

"You're not from around here, are you?" Pony asked. I looked up at him. He rubbed his hair in his hands, gesturing to me. I rubbed my hair, realizing. I shook my head. My hair was…quite unique. My mother's a redhead and my dad's blonde, so my hair has an interesting combination of the colors. It's almost like a pastel strawberry blonde. It really offsets my bright blue eyes. I can't say I necessarily liked how I looked, but it's what I got. I looked down. "Don't worry, it…looks nice…tuff." Ponyboy smiled. I couldn't help but do the same.

I pulled my legs to me and sat crisscross. I rubbed my cheek where he hit me. I looked up at Ponyboy, then down the hallway.

"It's just me here. Darry and Sodapop are at work. You want something to eat? We got bologna sandwiches." He said while he fixed himself one. I shook my head and got up. I was kind of hungry, but I still felt sick to my stomach after last night. I grabbed my bag and walked slowly past the kitchen to the hallway, looking for the bathroom. "Take a right." Pony read my mind.

I went to the bathroom and washed my face and brushed my teeth. It was small bathroom, but it felt like a sanctuary to me. I put my hands on either side of sink and looked at myself in the mirror. I just stood there and stared. There was a pretty colorful bruise on my cheek and my lip was swollen. I lifted up my shirt and stood back from the mirror. It looked like a child went crazy with finger-paint. Nothing permanent, though. I just stood there in front of myself, in my underwear, a simple tank top and boy-shorts. I just wanted to disappear. Go somewhere away from everything. I wanted to cry.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a slamming door.

"Hey, Two-Bit." I heard Ponyboy say. What is up with these people's names?