Disclaimer: Okay, no one sued me, so that's good. But I'm gonna say it again. The Outsiders and all related characters blah blah blah, are © S.E.Hinton. As I am not she, The Outsiders AREN'T mine. However, I do own Matt, the plot, and whatever creative genius I have. Which, to tell ya the truth, isn't much.

On with the show…

Oh, before I begin, please note:

Matt beat up Pony and Johnny, therefore, they ran away and all that. A WEEK LATER after Johnny died is when Matt's friends turned on him. By this time, alas, poor Johnny and Dally have passed on, and the greaser gang has now been reduced to five. Until…

Chapter Four
Meet the Greasers

Ugh. My head. I thought. I ached all over. I wasn't sure why, and in a way I was glad that I didn't remember. Who would want a memory of pain looming over them for the rest of their lives?

Suddenly, I heard a voice from out of nowhere. "Look guys. I think he's comin' round."

I tried to sit up, to examine my surroundings, to find out where the heck I was, but a wave of dizziness swept over me. Once it subsided, I stood up, trying to find the exit. I didn't want to be here, I just wanted to get home.

"Where do ya think you're goin'?" asked one, pushing me back onto the couch. He was big and burly looking, and I didn't dare go against his command. He had to be the oldest in the room, the one in charge, yet still too young to be a parent.

"Who are you?" I asked. "What happened? Where am I?"

"You got beat up by the socs," one of the five guys in the room said. He had to be the youngest of them, fourteen at the most. "Soda found you lyin' half dead in the lot. He brought you here and we patched you up a bit."

"Soda?" I inquired. I had to be hallucinating…

"Guess we forgot to introduce ourselves," said one, who looked like he had consumed a little too much beer. Sure enough, there was a can in his hand as well as another one on the table beside the couch.

One guy stepped forward and introduced himself. "I'm Soda." I was about to speak up when he said, "And yeah, that is my real name. This is Ponyboy, my little brother" he gestured to the smallest one. "Darry, my oldest brother," he pointed out the burly one. "We're the Curtises, and these are our friends Two-Bit," the one with the Mickey Mouse waved, "and this is Steve." Steve just stood there with his arms crossed, glaring. "And this is our house."

"Please, I gotta call my brother. Oh god, he's gonna kill me for bein' out so late."

"Don't worry 'bout it, Matt," said Darry. I wondered how he knew my name, but before I could ask, he said, "We found your ID in your wallet. Your brother's on his way right now."

That was a relief. But I could not help but wonder. Had my friends really dumped me this fast just because I landed on the wrong side of the tracks? I was too sick to think about it now.

But suddenly, Darry's voice broke through my thoughts. "You know what this means now guys? None of us can walk alone, y'all hear. If the socs are this bad its too dangerous. And everyone carries a switchblade, even you Pony."

But Pony didn't seemed to be listening. His eyes were far off, as if he were dreaming.

"Pony!" Darry shouted. The other boy snapped out of his trance, confused and scared looking. "Pony, what's wrong?" Darry asked, his voice softer.

Ponyboy just shook his head. "Nothing. It's just like the time Johnny… oh Darry, I don't want it to happen all over again…"

Darry put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry little buddy, it won't. But in the meantime I want you to be careful, okay."

Pony nodded as someone knocked on the door.

"It's open!" Soda yelled.

Nate came in and went up to me. "Thank god you're all right," he breathed. He turned to Darry and said. "I'd like to thank you for finding him, Mr. uhh."

"Darry. Just Darry."

"Darry. If you hadn't found him… I don't want to think about what might have happened."

"It's nothing." He said, and we turned to leave.

"Hey Matt, we'll we be seeing you around?" Pony called.

I glanced at Nate, looking for approval. Just a few days ago he said that he'd skin me if he ever saw me with "these bums."

I saw him nod slightly and I said, "Sure thing…Pony."

I sighed with relief. These guys had gained some respect in Nate's eyes.

- - - - -

A special thanks to the reviewers, who keep me goin'.

Hahukum Konn- Yeah, lets just say Matt's parents weren't that well prepared. But I don't know much about insurance anyway. Oh, I took your advice with the formatting, I hope that this is a little less confusing.

Stevesgirl- Your right, if I could reach into my imagination and hug Matt, I would, but for now I'm stuck here trying to find away to make it up to him. Well, at least he has the greasers.

Sodapop CurtisDX- Yeah, it's something new, so I decided to post. But your right, Matt really didn't care about his victims… until he became one himself .

Babygurl33- Yeah, the socs are mean. I'd hate to come across one of them in real life, but alas, they do exist. But Nate's view on the greasers has changed greatly since they saved his little bro. I doubt he'll be so judgmental now, but only time will tell.

Darkdestiny2000- I'm glad you liked my opinion. Personally, I was afraid you'd be mad at me. My friends and I have debates like that all the time, mostly about things we here on the news that our parents think we don't know. Usually our final thought is, "Too bad we're gonna lose this wisdom when we become adults!" Well, I hope you liked this chapter as well as the last. It's gonna be hard on Matt. I've lost friends like that before, and I hope I can channel some of this experience into my story as well. And as for Nate, he's starting to come around!

Rate and Review please if you want me to go on. Without you there is no me.

Bookworm

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