A/N: Hello my lovelies! Sorry this chapter is a week later than I promised, but I needed a relaxation break after a week of finals. Now I'm back and I can write for you for the rest of the summer! Now, it's time for all of you to find out where Pony ran off to, because as you all so eloquently pointed out, I've known all along (haha)! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I unfortunately don't own the Outsiders. That pleasure belongs solely to S.E. Hinton.
Ponyboy POV: The cool nighttime air felt nice on my bear arms. Again, I'd forgotten to grab a jacket or a sweatshirt before I left the house. But this time, I actually had a good reason for not having one. Going to grab it from the front room would have alerted Darry and Soda that I was headed out, and that was the absolute last thing I wanted right now.
The nerve they had to still deny their hatred towards me, even though they knew their cover had been blown! It sickened me to my core. Neither one of them wanted me around. I was just an inconvenience to them both. I don't understand why. They sure as heck were never as obedient and hard working at my age then I am now.
When Darry was my age I remember almost every Saturday night for two months he'd sneak out to go see some girl, ask Soda to cover for him, and then when mom and dad found out he was gone and Soda bailed, I was the one that would try and make up some crappy lie to keep him out of trouble.
And Soda would sneak off to the stables in the middle of the night and practice his riding, even after dad specifically told him not to.
Me on the other hand; I was always the good one. The one with good grades and a sports star. I never snuck out past my curfew to see girls (I'm not really interested too much in them yet anyway), or went somewhere else I wasn't supposed to go. Yet, mom and dad were gone by the time I had the chance to earn their attention. Nobody cared to come see my meets now, or come to a "parent"-teacher conference every once in a while. Hell, I'd be surprised if Darry so much as tried to get the day off for my high school graduation.
So for once, I wasn't going to be the good one. I was gonna sneak out and go find myself a good time. If they found out I snuck out, so what? There's not much they can do to me without becoming massive hypocrites themselves. Even if Soda is a liar, being made a hypocrite is something he wouldn't stand for.
In the back of my mind, a voice nagged at me as I avoided the vacant lot. Are you sure you wanna do this? I know you're doing it to disobey Darry, but Buck scares the daylights outta you anyway. You should just go home. Go home and then tomorrow hunt up Curly Shepard and look for a fight. Wouldn't that be better?
No, I shook my head ever so slightly, dismissing the stupid voice. It didn't matter if Buck scared me. He may be bigger than me, but I knew if you wanted something from him, you had to bully him. He was a weakling at heart. That was why Dally could handle him so easily.
A few minutes later I approached Buck's doorstep, cringing at the Hank Williams I could hear blasting throughout the house. But judging by the loud cackling and shouting, there was one heck of a party going on there tonight, and I wasn't about to miss it just because the guy's music taste annoyed me a little.
I banged on the door hard four times, so he'd hear me. Sure enough, Buck was at the door in thirty seconds. He took in the sight of me slowly, appearing a little bit out of it (he must've had a drink or been in a fight or somethin'). After a moment he grunted, "What do ya want, kid? You know your brother don't like ya hangin' round here; says I'm a bad influence," he guffawed at his own words and then looked at me again, waiting for my answer.
For a moment I couldn't though, because there was that word again. Kid. It echoed over and over again in my head.
Apparently I was taking too long because Buck lazily waved a hand in front of my face and asked. "Well, what is it, kid? You better tell me quick, cuz I wanna chance to party before I'm dead."
Trying to ignore the angry pang that shot through me at the word kid again, I put on a tough grimace and squared my shoulders, puffing out my chest. "I wanna party too," I said forcefully. "I'm sick of bein' bossed around. Somebody just needs to let me be a normal Grease and party. So lemme in, Buck," I pushed past him before he could say another word.
My eyes roamed around trying to find something fun to do. In one room, people were riding on the mechanical bull Buck kept for practice when he couldn't make it down to the stables (but mostly he kept it for nights like this), and in the other room there were couples dancing all around.
Normally, if I were to come somewhere like this with Sodapop on occasion, I'd just go sit in a corner and talk to Curly while Soda went to go pick up girls. I could actually see Curly's brother Tim and some other guys I knew goin' on about something a little ways over, but I wouldn't be the chilled guy I normally was tonight. I decided I'd try the bull instead.
When the guy on it fell off (after about ten seconds) I snatched the cowboy hat off his head and mounted myself onto the old hunk of metal. "Put this thing on high!" I shouted at Tim, who was now standing over by the lever.
He was looking at me like he didn't even recognize me; which he probably didn't. I mean, it was ultimately clear I had turned over a new leaf tonight. "You sure about this, Curtis?" he called back.
If only Soda and Darry could see me now, I thought cockily. They'd skin my hide if they saw me right now: and then Darry would have an aneurism. I chuckled heartily at the image of Darry's infuriated face before giving Tim the thumbs up.
Before I knew it I felt the bull rocking back and forth at a rapid speed, and my fingers started to detach from the reins without my control. The last thing I heard was, "Glory kid, what the hell do ya think you're doin?!"
A/N: Woah, cliffy! Who do you guys think that was? And how do you feel about Pony sneaking off to go to a party? Next chapter, you're going to get a bit of a deeper insight to Pony's emotions than I've been sharing and it should help explore the depth of his problems a little more so that nobody's confused, because I know lately I've been really repetitive haha! I promise the next chapter will be up tomorrow if you guys review! I love you!
Thanks for Reading!
-thewolfgurlgleek :)
