A/N: Hey. it's me again. thanks to the one person who reviewed. (names elude me) i'm glad you enjoyed. so, as you asked, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

We could hear Ponyboy's screams from where we were in the vacant lot. The five of us took off running towards the sound. We'd all been hanging out in the vacant lot. Pony was fourteen and he'd gone off somewhere by himself. I knew he'd never hear the end of it from Darry. When the gang showed up, the Socs went crazy trying to get away. Not one of them wanted to be the one to get beat up by Darry's rock-solid fists.

The four of us left Darry and Sodapop to tend to their little brother while we chased the Socs to their cars and threw rocks at them. They had driven off scared and now, we came back to the three Curtis boys sitting on the ground. I could tell Ponyboy was crying, though he tried not to show it. He now wiped his eyes and looked up at the four of us.

We were a pretty mild group compared to some of the other gangs around. The toughest of us all was Dallas. He'd grown up in New York. He had wild blond hair that he rarely bothered to get cut. But I guess that's normal for most of the guys in our neighborhood. Steve works at the DX station with Soda. He has thick greasy hair he keeps combed in complicated swirls. Two-Bit is the oldest, besides Darry. He's still a junior at eighteen and for some reason, he enjoys school. Two-Bit couldn't stop making jokes to save his life. He's the one who makes being a greaser fun. The Curtis brothers live on their own. Their parents died a few months ago in a car wreck. They seem like they get along great. There are times I wish my parents were dead...Our group didn't get into many rumbles. And when we did, it was usually a grudge fight. But we stuck together. If one of us went down, the rest went with him.

"They didn't hurt you too bad, did they?" Darry was asking Ponyboy.

"I'm ok." I could tell he wasn't ok. He was shaking, although he had regained some of his color. He had a cut that was spilling crimson blood down the side of his head. Sodapop, being the Sodapop that he is, pointed this out to Ponyboy. Pony just gave him a blank stare. As Soda showed Pony the handkerchief reddened with his own blood, his eyes grew wide. They must have pulled a blade on him.

"What were you doin' walkin' by your lonesome?" Steve asked.

"I was comin' home from the movies. I didn't think..."

"You don't ever think," Darry broke in. the two of them went off into this little argument. And, as always, Sodapop stood up for him. I think it's a middle child thing. I think kids in the middle are the peacemakers.

"Speakin' of movies..." Dally said. Somehow, Pony and I ended up offering to go with Dally to the Nightly Double the next night. Ponyboy volunteered us. I wasn't going to say anything.

I didn't want to go home. I was sick of the yelling and the fighting. But I couldn't keep imposing on the Curtis'. They'd been great. But I went home.

I stood outside my house. Light poured from the windows and illuminated what little lawn we had. I could hear my mom's high-pitched voice as she argued with my dad. It was a sound that was all too familiar. I walked in and the shouting ceased for a moment as my mother looked at me with her big black eyes. She stared for a moment and then continued to argue with my dad. I left and went to my bedroom. At one point in time, it had been decorated with posters of my favorite baseball teams. But my dad had ripped them down in an angry fury one night when he was drunk and beating me up. I never replaced them. Now the walls were baron and screamed for attention. The lighting was dim and my room looked more like a jail cell than a bedroom. But it was mine. I lay down on my cot and closed my eyes. Tomorrow would be better...

A/N: Hi. did you enjoy? please please PLEASE review. i'm in desperate need for ideas. i'm open to any and all suggestions. if you review, you get a pet monkey!