"Nellie!" Ponyboy's voice floods my body with relief when I finally break through the circle. He is kneeling on the ground, keeping a handkerchief pressed to the bloody face of Mark Jennings. I gasp in some surprise and some relief before joining him in trying to keep Mark still.
Mark, almost unsurprisingly, is still talking non-stop. Angry at the fact that someone tried to attack his friend and even angrier that Ponyboy got the last few swings on the kid who swung the bottle. I glance at Ponyboy now, noticing the light bruising on his jaw and then the swelling and bruises on his knuckles as he keeps the handkerchief pressed to Mark.
"Yeah, well I thought he killed you," Ponyboy mutters, with a small, unsure glance towards me. "You dropped like a leaf," he continues with a shake of his head.
"Shoot kid, it ain't even that bad," Mark says trying to get up. It takes both of us to push him back down and he mutters choice words under his breath.
"I don't understand what happened," I say before swallowing to keep the quivers out of my voice. "Why'd he go after you?" I ask, this time looking directly at Pony, waiting for him to meet my eyes.
"Never seen him in my life," he says with a shrug. "We were all just talking and then all or a sudden he was swinging at me. Came out of nowhere."
"I thought he hurt you," I say quietly, but Ponyboy just shrugs his shoulders in response.
"Go get Bryon, would ya?" Ponyboy tells me. "Someone already called an ambulance for Mark, and I know he's gonna want to go with him."
I nod and stand up, nervously brushing my hands over my dress. To the left of us, a few Shepard boys have taken it upon themselves to keep the attacker on the ground. I notice that he is also holding a handkerchief to his face, carefully blotting the blood away from what looks like a broken nose. I glance back at Ponyboy again and once more am drawn to the swelling and bruising around his knuckles. I try to imagine what it looked like – Ponyboy hitting someone enough times to break their nose, but the image fails to appear in my mind. I can just imagine us moments ago, still dancing in the community center.
It doesn't take long for me to find Bryon. I push my way between him and Cathy, ignoring the dirty look she throws me as I try to explain over the loud music spilling from the band. Bryon doesn't seem to understand and attempts to wave me off, rolling his eyes at me as he tries to catch Cathy's hand to pull her away and back onto the dance floor. I finally yell, "Mark's hurt bad! You gotta come!"
This catches Bryon's attention and suddenly he is turning, leaving Cathy behind, and barreling for the doorway. She stares dumbfounded after him, but I grab her hand and quickly pull her forward, not bothering trying to explain the situation again. She hesitates, but I continue to yank her forward until we are outside with the crowd once more. The cool night air envelopes us and I shiver, dropping Cathy's hand to cross my arms over myself, wishing for the sweater I left in Ponyboy's truck. Now that my heart has finally settled itself back into my chest, I feel like I can see clearly once more.
Bryon is joining Mark into the ambulance and Cathy quickly pushes me past me to check on them before the ambulance can drive off. The police have also arrived and to my horror, I find both the Brumley boy with the broken nose and Ponyboy being talked to by police. I bound down the steps of the community center, feeling my heart once more beat so hard it starts to spill from my chest. They couldn't arrest Ponyboy. He didn't do anything wrong.
Right when I am about to approach the police officers, a hand reaches out and snatches me, yanking me to the side and out of eyesight of Ponyboy. Curly Shepard is looking at me like I'm crazy and quickly shoves me over to Annette who hugs me tightly.
"I gotta go talk to them," I say in an angry panic. I try to wrestle my way out of Annette's hug, but she stops me with a quick pinch to my arm.
"They're gonna do what they're gonna do," Curly says with a shake of his head. "Let's just make sure they don't feel the need to arrest you too for meddling." He kicks at the wheel of Ponyboy's truck with some distaste, "All I need is to talk to one more older brother tonight."
"You don't tell Two-Bit anything," I hiss but stop struggling to get passed them. He was right, even though I didn't want to admit it.
We watch from the safety of the sidelines as they speak to Ponyboy, Mark, and multiple witnesses. I notice Cathy, standing alone as she watches the ambulance begin to close their doors to leave. She looks lost in the middle of the crowd, and I walk over to her, so she doesn't have to stand alone. It was hard to believe that only an hour ago we were just dancing.
We watch in silence as the crowds begin to disperse. I sigh in relief as the cops handcuff the Brumley boy and give Ponyboy the nod to leave. Before heading over to us, he stops in front of Curley to give him a quick handshake and exchange a few words. I nod for Cathy to follow me over to them, but stop when I catch a glimpse of Angela, standing next to the Brumley boy in handcuffs, angrier than I have ever seen her. She is pointing at Ponyboy and then throwing her hands up in the air in disgust. I watch her quizzically before the police shoo her away to place the Brumley boy into the car.
When she turns, her eyes meet mine and I see a flair of hate fill her eyes as she crosses her arms over her chest to just stare at me. I refuse to drop my eyes this time and keep my face as blank as possible. When she realizes that I won't be scared off, she shakes her head with a wicked smile beginning to form on her face before mouthing the words, "you're next." Before, flipping her hair over her shoulder and walking away – leaving me to realize just how manipulative and out of control she truly is.
"I want to go too," I tell Ponyboy as he presses his truck keys into my hands. I felt like a child, being forced to stay home.
"I know, Nell." He says as he opens the truck door for me and then helps me inside with a small smile. He winces in some pain and pulls his hand back, before using his other hand to tuck a loose hair behind my ear. "I'm just going to drop Cathy off and check-in on Mark."
"So, I'll just come too," I say before trying to push my way out of the truck, but he stops. "You shouldn't be driving, your hands hurt."
"I got two hands, Nell," he says with a light laugh. "Nothing else is going to happen tonight, alright?"
I swallow, unsure of how I will ever explain to him that this was all Angela Shepard's fault, in a way that would make sense. I sigh, knowing that I have lost whatever small argument we were having. I had no real reason to go with him and Cathy to the hospital other than the fact that I was terrified of what else Angela Shepard had up her sleeve. Surely, she couldn't cause two attacks in one night – could she?
Ponyboy studies me for a moment before promising, "I'll make it up to you."
"I know you will," I say before putting his truck keys in the ignition and starting the engine with a small roar to life, "Should I drop your truck off at home?"
"Go straight home, it's late." He tells me before closing the truck door. I lean out the window to press a kiss to his cheek, but he turns his head at the last second to meet my lips with his.
"What about Two-Bit?" I ask, knowing my brother won't fair well with finding Ponyboy's truck parked in front of the house.
Ponyboy chuckles and shakes his head unknowingly, "If he doesn't know what's going on after tonight, then he's as clueless as he looks."
This makes me smile. He was right of course; half of the town was here, and it wouldn't surprise me if Two-Bit already heard what happened tonight. I shake my head, picturing my brother proud of Ponyboy one minute and then wanting to kill him the next. I sigh and begin to shift the truck into reverse when the passenger door swings open, causing me to jump in surprise.
"I know you weren't about to leave me here," Annette says with a shake of her head. She leans over me and smiles at Ponyboy, "Don't worry! I'll take care of her."
"Get home safe," he says with a little shake of his head. He pats the hood of his truck and gives us a slight wave as we pull out onto the street.
Once Annette and I are settled on the couch back home, it doesn't take long for me to spill the quick, but momentous second with Angela. Annette, for once, listens silently, only gasping when I tell her what Angela mouthed to me before leaving.
"Are you sure?" Annette asks once she takes in the story, "She could have mouthed anything. How good are you at reading lips, let's try?"
"Annette," I say holding my hand up to stop her before she starts mouthing random words at me. "Angela convinced that guy to attack Ponyboy. She's out of her mind."
"Yeah, that's a lot for even Angela." Annette agrees before sighing, "Curly said that it only took Ponyboy two hits to knock that guy down."
I shiver, pulling my blanket up so it sits under my chin. I still could not imagine Ponyboy fighting. "He is a Curtis brother," I say to deflect anymore talk of the fight.
After a few moments of silence, I finally say, "What's going on with you and Curly anyways?"
After an hour of gossip, I am disappointed when Annette leaves, being picked up by Curly close to midnight. I sigh, watching them pull away and close the door tightly behind me. I usually love being home alone, but after the excitement of the night, I feel myself more lonely than usual.
As I settle back into my nest of blankets on the couch in front of the tv, the phone rings shrilly. I sigh, knowing full well that it is most likely Two-Bit or my mother, probably calling to check-in. I answer with a fake yawn, hoping that it's believable enough for my brother to just leave me alone.
"Did I wake you?" I smile into the phone, happy to hear a different voice entirely.
"Hi Pone," I say, feeling some relief, "no Annette just left and I'm watching a movie."
"I just wanted to make sure you got home okay," he says. "I'm still at the hospital. They just finished stitching up Mark, and Bryon's going to drive us all home."
"Did they look at your hand?" I ask and he softly laughs into the phone.
"It's just bruised," he promises. We wait in silence for a few moments before he says, "I'm sorry I ruined the night."
"You didn't," I say quickly. "It wasn't your fault," I continue, picturing Angela Shepard in my mind. I decide to wait to tell him, knowing that he was probably tired from the events of the night. "Did you call your brothers?" I ask, changing the subject.
"Yeah," he sighs. "Darry wasn't too happy but compared to the gang's record this was pretty mild."
"I guess so," I agree, knowing that my brother's alone was probably a mile long.
"What movie's on?" He asks after a few more moments of silence and I glance back at the tv.
"Something scary," I say watching as a black cat runs across the screen, followed by a bloodcurdling scream.
"Need some company?" He asks and I smile, feeling some butterflies begin to tickle the lining of my stomach.
"How quickly can you get here?" I ask and he chuckles.
"I'll see you in twenty." He says before hanging-up the phone.
A/N: Thank you for the love! I am so happy to see so many people enjoy Penelope's story! We'll see a little more of Angela in the next few chapters and finally see Two-Bit's reaction to his sister and Ponyboy. As always, reviews are always appreciated.
