Disclaimer – I do not own the Outsiders. Sadly.
I didn't get too many reviews last chapter : ( . But hopefully I'll get more this chapter! Did I do something wrong in the last chapter? If so, tell me. I wanna know so I can fix it.
Don't you just hate it when you check your story traffic and there's like, 500 hits in one day but there's only about 6 reviews in one chapter? Not complaining, but it's pretty funny. Anyways, LOVE ALL OF YOU EVEN IF YOU DON'T REVIEW! : D (But I would prefer if you did)
…
I didn't open the door, Soda knocked it down.
He about sagged with relief when he saw that I was still in one piece. "Jesus Pone…" he walked towards me and wrapped his arms around me. I didn't move.
"I thought you had – when you ran off like that I thought…" he trailed off, but I knew what he was going to say. I thought you were going to try to kill yourself. Soda's not stupid, he heard my speech earlier. He knows how much I want to die right now.
"Don't worry Soda." I said, trying to put on a fake smile. He saw right through it. "I'll be fine."
He didn't say anything else, just cradled me in his arms. The only thing I could think was, he doesn't deserve this. What have I done?
…
"…breaking news." I heard from my spot on the kitchen. I sighed, Soda had left the TV on. I walked into the "living room" (more like a powder room but whatever) and about choked with surprise. Tim Shepard's face was on the TV - I had seen that picture before. It was the only one he actually smiled in.
I barely heard what the anchor was saying, only small things stuck out to me, such as: "Timothy Shepard." "Dead before 26." "Murdered." "Note found on body…" "Who sent the note?" "We need to find the brother's before it's too late." "Any information call the number found below or send us a letter." Then another man's face flashed on the TV, I couldn't place it, but I knew I had seen this man before. "Terrance Grey." "Dead on his 23rd birthday." "Murdered." "Are these death's connected?" Yes. Yes they were. I knew it was Toby, I just knew it. Just like I knew that Terrance Grey had found out about what was going on at my house – which apparently led to his ultimate death.
I guess Soda had walked in, because a second later the TV shut off on its own. I sat there, frozen, as Sodapop walked towards me.
"Pone…" his voice was low, and he sounded scared. I just stared ahead of me, my mind blank.
"Pony…come on, let's get to bed." I allowed him to steer my towards our room, all the while wondering what on earth I was doing. I didn't even know where I was, I felt like the whole world had frozen. I saw Tim's dead body, I saw the note – but somehow it being announced on TV made it real.
I don't like real.
"Lay down Pone." Soda said. For the first time I wondered why we were in the bedroom. It was only 1 pm.
"Soda…" I didn't know what to say, I didn't even know what to think.
"It's okay Ponyboy, just hold on okay? We'll be fine. I won't let anything happen to you. You'll be okay." But I barely heard him, nothing seemed real anymore. It was like everything had frozen around me. Tim dead, Terrance dead. I swallowed, and a picture of a body with blood on it flashed through my mind. Me dead? Soda dead?
I shook my head, I had to get rid of these thoughts – before they ate me alive.
"You'll be okay Ponyboy, I won't let anything bad happen to you ever again. Don't worry."
Don't worry…how could I not?
…
"Why are we here?" I asked, both grumpy and groggy, staring at the "Linkin Hotel".
Soda glanced at me from the corner of his eye. "Cause we gotta keep moving." Wow. Straight to the point. Good job Soda, you're actually telling me the truth for once. I instantly felt bad – Soda was trying his hardest.
I sat up from my spot in the car and rubbed my eyes, yawning. "How'd I get in here?" I asked.
"I was trying to get you up, but you kept mumbling about how you wanted five more minutes before going to school. I don't know, you was all mixed up. So I just carried you out to the car."
Huh, funny. I didn't remember any of that.
"Oh."
It was silent for a moment, and I shut my eyes. In an instant sleep threatened to claim me until a sudden and sharp pressure on my forehead woke me up. My eyes snapped open and I was startled to see…tan?
I flinched away and automatically the…hand! That's what it was! Followed me.
"You feelin okay Pony?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Cause you're runnin a fever!" Soda exclaimed. I pushed his stubborn hand away.
"Quit it Sodapop I'm fine. Really." I added when he looked distrustful.
"Pony…you'd tell me if something was wrong right?" I had the feeling he wasn't talking about my fever anymore.
I groaned, "Soda…I'm fine."
"Obviously you're not Ponyboy!" he said, startling me. His face suddenly softened. "Listen baby, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just, I'm worried about you, and you're scaring me."
I looked down at the hole in my tennis shoe. "I'm sorry." I said. I didn't want to make Sodapop worry about me, besides, I wasn't worth his trouble anyway.
"Don't be sorry Pony, never be sorry!" Soda pulled me into a hug, and I tensed up. He ignored this.
"Soda, I'm serious! I'm fine!" I almost shouted, trying to wiggle out of his grip. He backed away with pain evident in his eyes.
I was going to say, I'm sorry, but remembering his earlier speech, I decided against it. "I – I didn't mean that."
"I know Pony, I know. I'm sorry." He said.
I smiled slightly, "Don't be sorry Soda, never be sorry!"
He laughed and rubbed my hair. "Smart-ass." Then he let out a slight chuckle.
…
"Wow. This is new." Soda said, admiring the view that the hotel had to offer. This big window must offer a perfect view of the sunrise! I would have to wake up early to try and catch it. Usually I wake up early anyway, but these past couple days I've been sleeping in.
Jeez, even thinking about sleeping is making me tired. I'm going to have to get some shut-eye soon, even though I've been sleeping nonstop. I don't really get why, but lately I've just been so tired.
It's probably stress. My health teacher said that stress can often lead to excessive sleepiness, or whatever you want to call it. It's just a fancy term for "you're tired as shit". I'm pretty sure the schools wouldn't allow that kind of language.
Speaking of school…
"Uh, Soda?"
"Yeah?"
"Er…what about school?"
"What about it?"
Then he turned to face me with an open mouth, "oops" was written clearly all over his face.
"I'm guessing Darry did send you to school then..?"
"Yeah, he did."
"Oh…" he paused, frowning. "I- Pony maybe you should reconsider -."
"NO!" I cut him off loudly. "No! No Soda we aren't telling anyone! We can say you're homeschooling me if they ask."
"Ponyboy, it would be a lot better. They could get Darry help and—"
"We can get Darry help when we're ready for it. Soda, I aint letting them stick me in a boys home. I've gone through enough!" And I don't feel right ratting Darry out. I silently added. What a weird thought…
"Okay Ponyboy. It just don't feel right."
"Yeah you ain't a woofin."
Soda sank back on a chair while I chose to lay on the bed. It wasn't perfect, but it felt like heaven to me.
"…Pony?"
"Hm?"
"What about the Social Workers?"
"What about them?" I was confused.
"Wull, aren't they gonna get suspicious when they do those 'surprise visit' things and you aint there?"
My mouth opened in a slight 'o' shape. Hm, never thought of that…
"Er…I'm sleeping over my friend's house who lives just outside of Oklahoma?"
"Yeah and how is Darry gonna know that."
Good point. "Well maybe he's gonna tell them something like that. Darry aint stupid – and I don't think he'd feel up to confessing anyways."
Soda frowned and didn't say anything else on the matter.
Things would get better.
Yeah, I thought sarcastically, maybe in a thousand years.
This chapter was kinda short, but I'm having writers block… Don't get me wrong I have the whole story plotlined in my head, but it's just the small details that get you. Please review and tell me what you think! (Flames are for fires…but I do enjoy some constructive criticism. Okay, well I don't enjoy it. But you know what I mean. It's more welcome than a flame."