The
small girl smiled. "Johnny…" she repeated getting used to the
name.
Johnny smiled softly at her. "Yup." Just then a loud
chorus of yells and shouts were heard.
"C'mon guys! Hurry
up!" called a golden haired boy as he ran across the field. He had
on a white t-shirt and worn blue jeans.
Sprinting at a leisurely
pace behind him was a black haired boy. He had on a black sweatshirt
and ripped blue jeans. The sweatshirts arms seemed to have been
ripped off. "Slow down will ya!" he called.
The gold haired
boy just grinned. Under his arm he held a football and he tossed it
to his friend.
He caught it, without breaking his sprint and ran after the grinning blonde.
"Aw c'mon Steve!" he said running around a tall elf like figure. "You can run faster than that!"
Steve rolled his eyes tossing the ball to a greaser with rusty looking side burns. He had on an orange Mickey Mouse shirt and a black leather jacket. He like everyone else had jeans. This was Two-bit. "What ya'll suppose I'll do with this?" he asked, running past a 14 year old auburn haired boy.
"Run
it to the goal and do a dance," said the kid rolling his eyes.
"Well thanks Ponyboy but I'm already there." said Two-bit
grinning, hopping happily on the piece of land that was the goal.
"Aw,
that was a cheap trick Two-bit," whined the blonde crossing his
arms.
"Aw quit yer whinin, Soda." said the elf like 17 year
old. In his mouth was a kool's cigarette. "If you were paying
attention you could' a caught him."
Sodapop frowned. "I was a little busy, Dal, trying to catch Steve-o here," said Soda gesturing to the coal haired boy, who shrugged.
"So Pony," said Dally as he took a hit off his weed, "Where's your big bro at?"
Ponyboy who had propped open a book and settled down with his back to a tree looked up. "He's at work like always," he said sighing. His green and black t-shirt didn't have a single stain on it and his jeans were neatly pressed.
"Damn kid, are you always readin?" asked Steve as he wrestled the ball away from Two-bit.
Pony
looked up giving Steve a glare. He and the mechanic just didn't
click. "Yeah, I am." He said coldly.
"Aw, leave him alone,
Steve." said Sodapop. Two-bit passed him the ball and he ran for
the goal at the end of the field.
Steve
shrugged. "Whatever," he said before running off to catch
Soda.
Dally shook his head grounding his weed with the heel of his
boot. He shrugged off his leather jacket revealing a t-shirt and
jeans. Then he sprinted over to help Steve.
Ponyboy
looked up momentarily from his book and noticed a pair of blue eyes
staring back at him from under an oak tree. "What the heck?" he
said under his breath.
Shelley looked closely at the auburn haired
boy. Her long blonde locks fell into her china blue eyes that looked
soft and innocent. She noticed the boy staring at her and quickly
looked away, averting his gaze.
Johnny smiled chuckling. "That's
Ponyboy," he explained gently pushing her out from under the tree.
Shelley nodded, pulling at the hem of her dress nervously, as
they made their way over.
Johnny looked at Ponyboy and smiled. "Ponyboy I want you to meet Shelley."
Shelley
put her hand out in front of her.
Ponyboy shook it awkwardly.
"Um…nice to meet you…" he said smiling.
The small girl
smiled, blushing. Pony smiled, before turning his attention to
Johnny.
The tan boy in a black shirt and blue jeans sat down next
to his friend. "I found her crying under that tree over there."
He said.
Pony nodded, a little puzzled by the girl's appearance.
She didn't look like anybody in their neighborhood and her blue
dress seemed dirty and ripped. Shelley clung to Johnny's leg still
blushing at Ponyboy.
The auburn haired 14 year old smiled softly
at her. "Are you lost, Shelley?" he asked.
The small blonde
nodded. "My pawents…I don know where dey awer…"
Johnny nodded. "She hasn't mentioned anything about where they are or what happened…" he said looking down at Shelley. She began trembling and her innocent blue eyes became flooded with tears. "I want my mommy and daddy!" she wailed. By then the rest of the gang had gathered around the three looking at the strange little girl. Sodapop stepped forward and crouched down next to the small girl. "Hey, it's ok…" he said softly. Shelley's tears did not stop and she curled into the happy-go-lucky blonde. Soda wrapped his arms around her. "It's ok…ssshhh…you're gonna be ok…" he cooed as he stroked her head.
Steve kneeled down too, pulling her hair out of her eyes. Then the cola haired mechanic gently wiped her tears away with his thumb. He looked down into her blue orbs and Shelley looked into hid black ones.
"You'll be ok…" said Steve smiling softly.
Between Soda and Steve's comforting words and soft approaches the small 6 year old stopped crying and eventually fell asleep in Soda's arms.
"Let's get her home…" said Soda. The rest of the gang nodded and they departed for the Curtis house.
