It was Ponyboy's first day of school and he was as excited as ever. Soda and Darry walked Pony to his class and then made their way to their classes. Darry was feeling like the king of the world because he was now an upper-classmen and was still one of the most popular kids in school. Soda was finally in a class this year with Typhani this year. They were both mutually excited. Soda and Typhani met up in class and took a seat next to each other. Luckily, they were really good friends and things weren't too awkward. Soda liked Typhani a lot and without knowing about the other, Typhani felt the same about Soda. Dallas and Keith were in different classes that were across from each other.
At the end of the day, all of them walked home together. They were headed to Keith's house and on the way, Dallas heard screaming and shouting coming from the house where he knew Johnny Cade lived. Rumors went around school that Johnny Cade's parents always fought and beat him and that he lived under rough conditions. He had no friends and he hated going home. Dallas was afraid that these rumors were not lies, but the truth. None of the others noticed the fight that had seemed to be going on for they were deep in their conversation. Knowing that someone else might be living worse than he, Dallas felt bad for Johnny and wanted to help him. This depressed Dallas for the rest of the day.
At lunch the next day, Dallas wanted to get Johnny to start hanging out with them. He hunted for him on the playground but found him in the bathroom.
"Man, what are you doing in the bathroom?" Dallas said. Johnny was sitting on the ground in the back, slightly hidden.
"I don't know; I have no friends, so this is the place I found that I could hide." Dallas scared Johnny.
"You can't sit in here. C'mon, come with me" Dallas picked him up by his jacket and led him out the bathroom. Johnny hesitated. He knew it would be a perfect opportunity for him to make some friends but Dallas come off pretty strong. But Johnny got up and followed Dallas out to the playground.
"Guys this is Johnny. He's gonna hang out with us now. Johnny, this is Keith, Sodapop, Darry, Typhani, and Steve. There's another little kid we hang out with, he's Darry and Soda's brother Ponyboy. Welcome to the family kid." Dallas patted him on the back. Johnny got along with everyone else and they treated like a new member to the family. They got along so well, Johnny accompanied them on their walk to Keith's house.
All eight of them got along well and became very close very fast. Pony and Johnny seemed to really click from the beginning. Dallas was still protective over Johnny because he was young and weak; he also felt a bit of protection for Typhani, mainly because she was a girl. Steve, Soda and Typhani were so close that they became almost like a little trio.