I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)

Thanks to everybody who has reviewed, favorited and followed this story! I can't thank you all enough :D

Pony woke up hot and clammy. He felt somebody stroking his hair, and when he looked up he saw Soda sitting next to him. The lights were on; revealing Pony's pale skin and red eyes.

"Soda, what happened?" Pony croaked.

"You passed out at dinner. You must have been overwhelmed," Soda replied sadly, putting his hand on Pony's forehead.

"Where's Jemi? And Ruth and Mr North?" he asked, hoping it was all just a bad nightmare.

Soda breathed out heavily, and fixed the bed sheets for Pony.

"They're at the hospital; you were holding the knife and you tripped and there was an accident. Ruth said it was your fault, but Jemi said you didn't mean it," Soda said softly.

"I swear it had nothing to do with me! They framed me! You believe me, don't you?" Pony begged, feeling tears come to his eyes.

Soda sighed and gently wiped Pony's eyes, then hushed him softly.

"I believe you; I don't trust that family. I'm not sure about Darry though; when we got home he just put you to bed and then went to bed himself," he explained.

The youngest Curtis tried to get out of bed, but Soda gently pushed him back down.

"Not now, little buddy. You can see him later, okay?" Soda offered, and Pony nodded, but made no attempt to go back to sleep, "Come on, Pony, let's go to sleep,"

Soda eased down next to his baby brother and pulled him right up against his chest. Pony closed his eyes and clung to Soda's shirt; he was glad he had such an understanding brother. Soda rubbed Pony's back, and soon they were both fast asleep.

In Darry's room, the oldest Curtis was struggling to sleep. There was no way that Pony could be so clumsy to almost kill Jemi, so he must have done it on purpose. Or maybe he didn't do it at all.

Darry let tears fall; not knowing who to believe. Jemi wouldn't just stab herself to get Pony into trouble, so it must have been Pony's fault. It had to be!

Perhaps Pony wasn't as innocent as Darry thought he was. Or maybe Darry just wanted to ignore the real truth.

XXX

"Come on, Pony, time for school," Soda alerted, shaking Pony gently.

Pony moaned and grumbled, pulling his pillow over his head. Soda chuckled.

"Alright then, have it your way," Soda grinned, and pretended to walk out of the room.

After about a minute, Soda jumped onto his and Pony's bed and started tickling Pony mercilessly. Pony squealed, trying not to scream; his sides and ribs were in a lot of pain.

The youngest Curtis squirmed and thrashed, and then ended up rolling off the bed and onto the floor.

Soda laughed and crouched beside his little brother, and rolled him onto his back. He was shocked when he saw the tear stains on Pony's cheeks.

"Pony, are you okay?" Soda asked worriedly. Pony bit his lip to stop himself from breaking down and bawling.

"Help me up," he demanded, a little rougher than he intended.

Soda obeyed, and pulled Pony up by his arm. Pony winced, but again he stopped himself from crying.

"Come on, let's go get breakfast," Soda said, tugging Pony along with him, but Pony pulled back.

"Actually, I'm not very hungry. I'll just go get ready," Pony replied hurriedly, and locked himself in the bathroom before Soda could pull him back.

Darry came strolling out of his own room with his work clothes on. He didn't look happy; he looked really tired and miserable.

"Hey Darry, want some breakfast?" Soda asked, trying to keep Darry's mood from changing to angry. As long as Darry wasn't angry, Pony wouldn't be upset.

"No. Where's Ponyboy?"

"He's gone to get ready; he doesn't feel hungry," Soda answered, poking the egg in the pan. He didn't feel too hungry either; not with the tension in the household.

"Right, well I need to talk to him. The kid needs a good talking to and if-" his words were cut short by the phone ringing. He groaned and made his way over to the phone before harshly pulling the wire, bringing the phone with it. "Hello?" he said, not bothering to put on his formal voice.

"Hello, Darrel. This is Norman," Mr North said, and Darry's eyes widened.

"Oh sorry, sir-"

"Call me Norman or dad, whichever you prefer," he chuckled.

"Right, Norman, is Jemi okay?" Darry asked anxiously.

"Don't worry; she's fine. She was just a little shocked, but the doctors are keeping her in for another three days, just to be safe," Mr North explained.

"Good, good. Listen, I'm so sorry about what happened last night, I'll get Pony to apologize to Jemi," Darry promised.

"Jemi's already forgiven the boy; she said he didn't mean for it to happen, which I believe. Ruth's a little wary, but she'll get over it. Anyway, I wanted to ask if you're still considering this tuition program,"

Darry gasped, and then looked at the closed bathroom door.

"I didn't think you'd want to tutor Pony after what happened," Darry responded honestly.

"Don't be silly; good friends always forgive, and since we're considered family, of course ya'll are forgiven," Mr North replied.

"I'm speechless, really," Darry said. How could a family be so kind?

"So, is that a yes, son?" Mr North asked.

"Yes, Norman," Darry smiled.

"Great, how about the tuition starts tonight after school? For say…an hour? Pony won't need to go home; I'll just keep him at the school,"

"Sounds great," Darry grinned, and hung up the phone.

Pony, who was dressed for school, came ambling out of the bathroom with a glum look on his face. The shower had not refreshed him; he still looked ill and exhausted.

"Who was on the phone?" he questioned Darry weakly.

"Mr North; you're starting tuition tonight after school," Darry told him, and both Pony and Soda looked at Darry with wide eyes. Soda because he was confused as to why the Norths would be so nice to Pony, and Pony because he knew that Mr North probably wouldn't tutor him; but use the time to his sick pleasure.

"But Darry…" Pony whimpered. Darry scowled.

"I don't want to hear it, Ponyboy. I don't know how a family can be so nice, but they can. And they're giving you a chance to redeem yourself, and all's you can say is 'But Darry'? I'm sick of this, Ponyboy," he hissed angrily.

"Uh, guys?" Soda chimed, but they acted as if he wasn't there.

"You didn't even bother to ask me if I wanted to do it! It's never about me is it?" Pony complained.

"I'm simply doing this for your own benefit," Darry said.

"Really? I bet if you weren't dating Jemi then you wouldn't be bothered,"

"Don't even try to pin this on Jemi! You could have killed her last night, and yet her dad is still giving you another chance,"

"Well then I just won't go!" Pony affirmed.

"Oh you'll go alright, because if you don't, then I'll skin you, Ponyboy. And I'm being serious this time," Darry threatened.

"Guys please!" Soda intervened.

"Go ahead; why don't you just go and kill me. Or why don't I just go and kill myself? It wouldn't make a difference would it; just as long as you and your girlfriend get to live happily ever after!" Pony yelled.

"You're right! Why don't I just get rid of you; stick you in a boys' home or something. You'd be happier then, wouldn't you? And frankly, so would I!" Darry hollered.

Soda gasped, as did Pony, but Darry was far too angry to care.

The oldest Curtis stormed out of the house before anybody could say anything else. Soda looked at Pony who was now shaking slightly.

"Come on, honey, it's alright. Me and Darry couldn't live without you," Soda tried, placing a hand on Pony's shoulder.

Ponyboy just shrugged and sighed, and then left the house without answering his brother. He angrily marched to school, flipping off Two-Bit who asked him if he needed a ride. Two-Bit was shocked at Pony's gesture, as was Johnny who was in the passenger's seat.

About halfway through the journey, Pony felt something pass through his stomach. He looked around desperately for a bush, and then let the bile flow right out of his mouth, before properly vomiting. He hadn't eaten properly for a few weeks now, so he was just vomiting up fluid.

After he was sure that he wasn't going to be sick again, the young boy staggered the rest of the way to the school. He met Tim, Curly and Angela on the way, all of whom offered to walk with him.

"Ponyboy, you smell of puke," Angela remarked, moving away from him.

There was only five minutes left until they would reach the school, and Pony had been walking for ten, but it felt as if he had been walking for an eternity.

"You been sick, kid?" Tim asked kindly.

"Mm," was Pony's response.

Curly and Tim raised their eyebrows at each other, but Angela was more worried about Ponyboy puking on her and quickly ran off to join her friends.

Mr North was outside, talking to some of his other students. When he spotted Ponyboy he waved and gave him a wide grin. Ponyboy just pretended he hadn't seen him, and went inside, leaving Tim and Curly staring after him.

The young boy felt the weird feeling in his stomach come back again, and very soon clear fluid rushed out of his mouth and onto the floor. This continued for a few more minutes, until Mr Syme came running down the hallway.

"Oh dear, Ponyboy! What happened?" he asked, pulling Pony off the ground.

"I felt sick," Pony responded, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Well, you can't stay in school like this. You'll have to go home," the middle-aged teacher stated, but Ponyboy shook his head.

"No, no, please sir; I'm fine now. I was just spinning around and I guess the dizziness made me throw up. Besides, my brothers aren't home," Pony lied.

"Hmm. I still don't like the fact that you've just thrown up, but if you're sure you're okay I'll let you off," Mr Syme said, and Pony nodded, "If it gets any worse, you're to go straight to the office,"

"Yes sir. Thank you so much!" Pony thanked, and ran off to homeroom.

The day passed in a blur. Even math seemed to go quick, since Pony already knew that he was going to be getting hurt anyway. The youngest Curtis couldn't get Darry out of his head though; did Darry really want him gone?

Ponyboy ended up vomiting twice at recess, and he didn't eat any of his lunch. Nobody at the table seemed bothered; they had all grown familiar to Ponyboy's miserable attitude. Steve glared at Ponyboy the whole way through school, but Pony was too depressed to notice.

The end of the school day finally came, but unfortunately not for Pony. He waited for Mr North as instructed, and the teacher led him inside.

"I'm just here for tuition," Pony announced quickly, but Mr North shook his head.

"It's just a little white lie; your brother won't mind," he claimed, and the whole process began again.

The bruises on Pony's small body just got darker and more colorful. Purple, blue, yellow and brown; it was as if the boy was a human painting. Norman seemed to have more ideas in mind however.

"Take off your shoes, Ponyboy," he instructed, and Pony looked up with wide eyes.

"No," the boy squeaked. Mr North narrowed his eyes.

"Now, or I'll do it myself," he ordered.

Ponyboy gulped, noticing the gleam in his teacher's eyes. Clearly, this was Norman taking full advantage of an innocent child. Pony wondered how Tim felt when it happened to him.

Suddenly, a loud bang was heard on the window. Norman and Ponyboy looked up in shock, and then the youngest Curtis realized he could escape.

Pony was out of the room before Mr North could blink.

"Dammit!" Mr North yelled, slamming his hand against the desk.

Tim just smiled, glad that he still had a great aim with footballs. The same thing that almost happened to Pony had happened to him once, and he had experienced the horrors of it; nobody else deserved anything like that to happen to them: not greasers, socs or anybody.

Ponyboy reached his house in record time, panting and wheezing as if he had just run a marathon. Steve was outside smoking and everybody else was inside. The young boy tried to go indoors, but Steve stopped him.

"Steve?" Pony said.

"Quit faking it, kid," Steve spat, throwing his cigarette on the ground.

"Huh?" Pony questioned, bewildered.

"I know what you're doing. You're just actin' sick so Soda will pity on you. I'm not stupid; I can see your plan. Since Darry's bein' horrible to ya, you're trying to act like the victim; like you've done nothin' wrong. Well, you have," Steve stated. "You've been pulling Soda away from me, and I'm sick of it. Darry hates you, and Soda does too; he just won't tell you because you're so pathetic,"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Pony cried.

"All's people talk about now is you. Two-Bit told me about you flippin' him off. What the hell is your problem?"

"What's your problem, Steve?" Pony whispered angrily, feeling tears spring in his eyes.

"You are, Ponyboy. You're everybody's problem, including your brothers. They don't need you; nobody does," the teenager claimed, and then went inside to join the others.

Steve was just angry at the fact that Soda always seemed to talk about Pony now. He didn't really hate the thirteen-year-old boy; he was just annoyed. Ponyboy didn't know this though. He didn't know what to believe anymore.

AN: Sorry for the delay! I want to update by tomorrow (I like updating on Fridays), I was just studying for some exams. I had one today :( Oh well :) Thank you to everybody who has reviewed, favorited and followed this story so far; I can't thank you all enough! :D