Just as he pulled the trigger, Trishan came out of nowhere and pushed me out of the way, getting herself shot in the stomach.

I ran and hit the alarm that the manager just installed two days ago.

*******at the Curtis residence*******

"we now interrupt this program for breaking news, 16 year old Therese-Ann; known to others as Trishan, has been shot at DX, trying to save her friend from a disturbed juvenile delinquent. The jd is David Madden, please help us find this mad man. And now back to your regular scheduled program."

"TWO-BIT!" I yelled, getting up and getting my jacket.

"What is it Pony?" he asked from the kitchen.

"Trishan has been shot!" I yelled in reply.

I heard glass shatter,' he must has dropped his beer,' I thought. "c'mon! lets go get Darry and Dally!"

******at DX******

I looked at her, lying on the gravel, with her eyes shut tightly.

5 minutes passed and the paramedics came.

"What happened?" the lead paramedic asked me while instructing people to wheel her into the ambulance.

"this guy was aiming to kill me, but she pushed me out of the way.." I said, looking at my feet, feeling a knot grow in my throat.

I rode in the ambulance. She looked pale on the way there. She had needles sticking in her arms.

I followed them all the way into the operating room, where they said they would have to take out the bullet.

"I'm sorry sir. You have to wait outside." A nurse told me.

"but she's my friend!" I objected.

"then may I suggest that you stay in the waiting room to wait for your other friends."

And I went to the waiting room. It took 20 minutes for the guys to get there.

"how is she?" Darry asked.

"I don't know.. I just don't know. I have to wait and hour and some ten minutes. They said the operation would take an hour and a half, depending on how deep that crap is." I said.

I sat there, smoking and telling the guys what happened. I smoked about 5 packs.

"your friend is ready," the doctor said to me.

"thanks," I said gesturing for the guys to hurry up and get to her.

"room four in the ICU." He yelled after us.

Once we got there, it was dark and she was asleep. She had only one needle but she was still pale. The guys slowly filed in and stood by the wall. I took her hand in mine.

I stood there for about a minute when Azia and Cherry came in.

"TRISHAN!" she said, shoving me out of the way.

"OW, AZIA!" I said, rubbing my back which had hit the wall.

"yeah..and almost take out my IV." Trishan said weakly.

"oh my gosh! Your awake, I'm sorry." Azia said.

"hi cherry... how'd you know?" I asked.

"first of all, it was all over the news and I had bumped into her a few weeks ago, and second of all, Ponyboy called and told me." She said," can anyone tell me the real story?"

"yeah..lets talk about it outside..." Darry said, heading towards the door.

"are you ok?" I asked. Everyone was gone.

"yeah...did they find Madden?" she asked, still very weak.

"no...the hole town is keeping an eye out for him. How do you know him anyway?"

"we used to be in the same outfit. And I dated him when he was still sweet. Now he's just seeking revenge for breaking up with him when he turned hard core."

A nurse came in," your parents are here."

"oh no!" she said.

And then her parents walked in.

"who are you?" her mom asked me.

"I am the one she rescued."

"I can see why." She said, giving me the eye. Now what just freaked me out.

"now, hon, he's just a teenager." Her dad said.

"I only have one thing to say to you," her mom said, turning to her," be careful. It costs us money if this happens again."

And then she shoved a blank notebook into my stomach," OW!" I said.

"this is from her cousin." She said and walked away.