Chapter 4

Ponyboy POV

I started walking to the place where the drag race was going to be held. Cars started passing me and I realised that it was Soda, Steve, and their friends. There were a few cars. I had to admit that some of them were pretty tuff.

I got to the place and sat down on the side of the road, waiting for the races to start.

"Wha- Ponyboy!" Someone yelled. I looked over and saw Sodapop stumbling over to me with a few of his friends following him, disgusted looks on their faces.

"Oh hey Soda." I said, and waved at him.

"What are you doing here?" He growled. "You better go home now or I'll make sure Darry knows about this." His friends chuckled a bit.

I ignored his second question and answered the first. "What does it look like I'm doing?" I replied in the same tone he talked to me with. "I'm here for a drag race."

He looked angry, but then something lit up in his eyes, and he smirked.

"Why don't you be apart of it?" He snickered.

"N-no Soda, I think I'll just watch."

"Come-on. It'll be fun." He smirked again.

"No Soda, you guys are drunk. I think I'll stay here."

"Don't be a chicken." Soda growled. That hit me hard, but i don't know why.

"Fine." I said, standing up. "But only one."

Soda smirked and pointed to his friend. "You're riding with Mark."

I nodded, and he said, "I'll ride with Steve." He slurred his words a bit, making me nervous again.

We got into the cars. The car I was in had no seat belts for the passenger, making me more nervous. I could tell that Mark was drunk. Steve was driving the other car and Soda was the passenger.

Mark looked over at me. "You ready kid?"

I looked at him nervously and nodded, looking back ahead at the road. Steve gave us a thumbs up, making sure we were ready. We gave him one back. That's when the countdown started.

3

Mark put a foot on the brake and the other on the accelerator.

2

Mark pressed down on the accelerator and slowly applied more force.

1

The car tires squealed and smoke came up, causing me to couch. It smelled horrible. Mark was burning rubber.

GO!

Mark took his foot off of the brake at the same time Steve did. Both cars suddenly started moving at high speeds. Both cars were going pretty good. We started off right next to one another. It was actually pretty fun.

I looked at how fast we were going. We were almost going 150. I started yelling and hollering, completely enjoying myself. I watched Steve's car race next to ours as a smile spread across my face. This really was fun. I looked at Mark when I heard a popping noise. Apparently he heard it too, because he started swearing. I didn't know what it was, but I knew that he did.

"It's the tire!" He yelled. He took his foot off of the accelerator and slammed on the brakes. The car started to swerve and we hit the wall on the side of the track. The car turned sideways and we started doing flips. I wasn't wearing a seat belt. I felt myself fling through glass and land on the road. I laid there, unmoving.

Pain.

All I felt was pain.

I heard people calling my name, but they sounded so distant.

"...Ponyboy…"

"...911..."

"...Called the ambulance…"

"...hold on…"

"...be here soon…"

I felt like I was floating for a second. I felt the pain, but it was going away. I was becoming numb. I felt hands trying to move me somewhere, but I didn't know where. I just felt so numb…

Everything went dark.

And then there was nothing.

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