Chapter 4: From Bad, to Good, to Bad Again.

'Bout damn time I got this up. I know this is kinda confusing at the end but it will only get more confusing before you get enlightened with what the heck is going on. But it'll make sense in awhile.

Disc: Must I do this every time? I don't own any of the original characters (though I'd like to think I own Darry and Steve for that matter) But I DO own Jess, Becca, Emily, Mel, Johanna, Laurel, Jordan, etc etc.

But this time, I didn't get my wish. I was still sleeping on the cold black ground when someone shook me awake. Jess was looking mighty disheveled as rather tired. Steve and Two-Bit were still with me even tough they had both their cars and could've left at any time. We split up again and I went with Jess,

"Where're we goin'?"

Please don't say the hospital. Please.

"Back to your house. Darry and Soda just got back from the hospital."

At the sound of Soda's name, my eyes lit up,

"Is he ok?"

She nodded,

"Yeah, his shoulder's still hurt though."

I was so relieved to hear that he was ok.

"And Darry?"

"Sleep deprived but aren't we all."

I was just happy that everyone was ok that I let my eyelids fall and I slept. About 20 minutes later, someone hugged me vigorously. It was obviously Darry. How did I get inside? Soda. Was Soda ok? Immediately, my senses were awake. Across the room I saw him. Sitting in the armchair with some pretty girl who was wrapping his bandages. Her hair was dark and curly and looked good in a ponytail. She had big pretty brown eyes and a nice smile. I found it funny that the ribbon around her neck matched the jacket she was wearing and so did the ties in her hair. She was awful pretty and I could see that she'd taken to Sodapop.

Without thinking, I ran over and hugged him.

"Ow, Pony leggo."

He yelled. Duh! His arm…

"Break my other arm whydon'tcha!"

The girl giggled along with him and continued wrapping his arm. Jess stepped in,

"Oh, Mel. Ponyboy, this is my friend Melissa but we all call her Mel. Mel this is my friend and Sodapop's little brother, Ponyboy. And Mel, you've met Darry."

She tipped her head at me and looked back at Jess,

"Well, with all the times you talk about Darry I feel like I know him."

Jess smiled widely at Darry. Dar was on the couch when Jess sat down next to him. They started talking in hushed tones so I couldn't hear. When I tried to listen in, they stopped talking and hugged each other.

"I'm headed down to the Nightly Double later. Anyone care to join me?"

Steve asked rather loudly. Heck, I wouldn't mind a movie,

"Sure. If Darry doesn't mind."

I put on my saddest puppy face and he peered at me from the kitchen,

"Hmm, that's ok with me."

Two-Bit piped up,

"How 'bout you come with?"

He looked torn,

"I was plannin' on headin' down to the gym…"

Now Soda started in on him,

"Oh, come on, Superman. Ain't your muscles big enough?"

Dar smiled at him and thought,

"I guess I could go."

So now, me, Steve, Two-Bit, Darry, and Soda were headed down to the movies. Funny, that's the whole gang. I hadn't been to the movies since…since that night. That night that caused the chain reaction. I just hoped this time went better.

Steve came by looking rather snazzy while the rest of us were sprucing. We try to always get spruced up before going out. We gotta look our best.

We all jumped into Two-Bit's car and drove off. Two-Bit and Soda were extra crazy and still hadn't had a drop of alcohol. Soda stuck his head out the window and lifted up his shirt to some passing girls. They giggled and blew him a kiss. Steve yelled some dirty remarks at them and they just laughed. Some group of Socs were walking around and Two-Bit knocked one in the head with a tin can and drove off laughing hysterically. I decided to join in the fun and winked at a car full of girls we'd pulled up next to. The driver winked back and the one in the back left handed me her phone number. Two-Bit tried the same girls but they rolled their eyes at him and pulled off. Even Darry yelled something about greasers being awesome. The car took a sharp left turn and we pulled into the drive-in.

Two-Bit parked the car and we went to sit in the seats. Usually, we sat in the seats even if we did have a car. It was always too crowded. Steve flipped me a coin smoothly,

"Hey, kid, go get some cokes an' popcorn."

I caught the money and scooted off to the concession stand. The movie had just started so the line wasn't too long. I carried the five drinks back when someone caught my eye and made me freeze. Curly red hair. That was Cherry Valance. She was on the arm of some big time Soc who was named Jordan. She started laughing and seemed to be having a great time. My face felt hot and my ears burned. Some jeering interrupted my jealousy and I looked around to see what for. Seven girls were on the fence singin' and dancin'. They were rather good, too and pretty damn good lookin' for greasy girls. Steve yelled their way,

"TAKE IT OFF!"

People were shouting things like that all through the crowd. Even Soda and Two-Bit joined in,

"Marry me!"

"Dance your pretty little selves over this way!"

A flashlight showed up behind them and they stopped for a second. The man with the flashlight was a security guard and I could tell that he was askin' they stopped. People screamed for them to keep going on. He was on the outer side of the fence, so they jumped on the inner side and started skipping towards the core of the crowd. On their way, they did a few acrobatics followed by lots of laughing. Shoot, they were better than the movie. Everyone in the audience was roaring with laughter when the security guard tried to get over the fence but gave up 'cause he was too fat. By the time he got around, all the girls had disappeared. I noticed them reappear and sit down in the row in front of us. Immediately, I recognized Jess, Mel, and Bec. I assumed that they were all the Reds. Without her knowing it was him, Darry started to kiss Jess on the back of her neck. She whipped around sharply but smiled when she saw it was him.

"Hey, guys, fancy meetin' you here. If you don't mind, this odd group of ladies are my friends, Emily, Laurel, Emily, and Johanna."

I knew they were all pretty but, damn!

Emily had a deep deep red hair that cut off around the shoulders and fell smoothly in her face. She was kinda short but about as tall as Jess was. Just below her bangs were a pair of green eyes that had tints of red that matched her hair. Her eyes were mysterious yet playful somehow.

Johanna was taller than Emily, hey, Johanna was the tallest one of all of 'em. She had shorter curly brown hair that was pinned back on one side by a blue pin and fell in her face on the other. Her face looked soft and sweet but pretty. Her eyes were much different from Emily's and, instead, were a dark brown that seemed happy and fun.

Wow, Laurel was, wow. Her face was rounder and her long brown hair framed it perfectly. I noticed that her hair fell perfectly in layers. Laurel's eyes were green. A dark dark green that were gorgeous. Her eyes reminded me of some ring I'd seen in a store or something. She smiled at me and I couldn't help but smile back. Oi! I was in trouble if she liked me…

We got up and intermixed ourselves with them so it went: Steve, Jess, Darry, Becca, Soda, Mel, me, Laurel, Two-Bit, Emily, and Johanna. I glanced around to try and find Cherry and three rows down, she was sitting with her boyfriend, Jordan. To my horror, she leaned over and started to kiss him. My ears were burning red as I threw a piece of popcorn at them. It hit Cherry in the back of the head and she looked at me. I immediately, leaned over and kissed Laurel. I saw Cherry's eyes narrow out of the corner of my eye and it hit me, this was my first kiss! Don't mess it up. Don't mess it up. I tried to imitate something I saw Steve do by putting my hand behind her ear and stroking lightly. We pulled away slowly and stared at each other. Everyone I knew had stopped whatever they'd been doing and stared at us. Laurel was blushing something fierce and I peered at my shoe. The gaze shifted from me straight to Darry who smiled and told me,

"Don't grow up too fast, Ponyboy."

That one line broke all the tension. I never imagined my first kiss to be with so many…people around. Come to think of it, I'd never imagined my first kiss. That's probably more of a girl thing.

"I'll be right back."

She told me before edging out of the seats. After she left, all the girls got up simultaneously and left after Laurel. This seemed a bit strange until I noticed that Cherry's seat was also empty. Steve took out a comb and ran it through his coal-black hair. Suddenly, I couldn't get over how pretty Laurel was. Darry swooned dreamily,

"Ain't they great?"

As if on cue, we all sighed 'yeah' at the same time and tone.

"Those are some of the best lookin' girl I ever seen."

Soda smiled.

"And trust me, he's seen some good lookin' chickadees."

Steve stated. We waited about 8 minutes before getting impatient. I noticed Jordan get up and disappear after the girls. A scream pierced through me. Security guards drew their guns and ran toward the concession stand. I didn't notice it but all of us were standing up and staring at the same place. Oh god, please don't shoot. Please. All the guys, except for me, vaulted over the chairs and ran off. I felt glued to my spot. There was some more yelling and tires screeching. No shots, yes. The gang came wandering back and I heard Soda muttering,

"Jesus Christ."

Darry patted my shoulder softly,

"Let's go home, Ponyboy."

The ride home was awful quiet and like I said, I hate quiet. Two-Bit was wide-eyed and awful jumpy.