Hey, peoples! This is the sixth chapter of Jesse. Yay! Um…I got a review from Hahukum Konn giving ...constructive...criticism about my story. I appreciate the review, but I just want to clear a few things up about the story, just so you don't get confused, cause I see where you're coming from with your corrections. This is just to clear up some things for Hahukum Konn, so if you want to skip a very long explanatory paragraph, the story's after this.
'Then, Dallas. Man! Was he a troublemaker. I loved him, though, he was like the brother I never had, and he loved me back, sorta. Dally doesn't really love anything.' The reason Jesse says this is just to show that she cares about the whole gang very much. I added that last line about him not loving anything to show that she wishes he could love her back, but he really doesn't. If that makes sense. -.-'
'"Hey, Dall, I'll come." I said, throwing my cigarette on the ground, and stepping on it. I wasn't looking for any action, but it would be fun to come. Pony and Johnny would never speak up, though. Don't speak unless spoken to.' This I got from a paragraph in the Outsiders;
"Dally looked at the rest of us. "How bout y'all? Two-Bit? Johnnycake, you and Pony wanta come?"
"Me and Johnny'll come," I said. I knew Johnny wouldn't open his mouth unless he was forced to."
I wrote this into the story in terms of Pony and Johnny waiting to be asked to come along. Not about talking in general. Just to come with Dallas. Now that I look at it though, I should rewrite it to make that more obvious…uh…And I promise I didn't put this in to make Jesse look good at all, I swear. I only put it in so I could stay as close as I could to the book. Anyway, I hope that makes you a little less critical about this story, and yes, I like commas! Lol. I just put a lot in cause that seems to be the way kids think and seems to be how S. E. Hinton writes, so…I used J-E-S-S-E as her name because in the first chapter I didn't want to give away she was a girl, and I'd rather have her have a name like that instead of Jessica. And I wouldn't say she has a tragic past, more like a tragic present. Her parents used to be okay, but then they just sorta lost their love, I guess. The only reason she has bad parents is cause it worked it's way into the story, Chapter 5, and for my plan for a sequel and a third story with Jesse. She can't magically play the piano, she has played piano for a while. Piano players have a good ear, and if she heard the song on the radio enough, with a little practice she could play it out. Not perfectly, if that was what you thought, but close enough that if you heard it you would know what it was. I put it in randomly, lol. Sorry about The Dingo! I would never want to insult S. E. Hinton's writing! I'll fix that, I promise.
Sorry this was really long, but I just wanted to make sure you didn't read the story wrong! I don't want it to be a Mary-Sue, NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Anyway, enjoy chapter six!
6
It was a night when you don't know you've fallen asleep until you wake up the next morning. My eyes snapped open and I looked around. Sunlight dappled through my window and onto my floor. I stood up drowsily and suddenly all of last night's events came tumbling back into my mind. Johnny, Pony, the Socs. I tried the door to find that it had been unlocked. I rushed out and ran all the way back to the park. Upon reaching it, I saw the fuzz and medics surrounding the fountain. A small crowd had formed and I saw yellow tape surrounding one area that was covered with red liquid…
Oh, shit.
I looked around, realization dawning on me as I saw a covered stretcher and the other Socs talking to a police officer. Johnny…his blade. No one would ever hurt him again. But could Johnny, Johnnycake, ever kill someone? I shook my head, rolling the word and thought around in my mind. No way.
I turned and started running back to Ponyboy's. I had to make sure Pony and Johnny were alright. They would've gone home, right? They had to be there. Just had to be. No one was dead. Everything was alright. But in the back of my mind, I knew something wasn't right.
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I walked in the house slowly. "Pony?" I called quietly. The house was deathly silent. But then I heard voices from the kitchen. I walked in to see Soda, Steve, Two-Bit and Darry at the table. But no Ponyboy or Johnny. Soda saw me first.
"Jesse!" he cried. He jumped out of his seat and in an instant had my shoulders in his grasp, gently shaking me. "Do you know where they are? Where are Johnny and Pony?"
No…if they weren't here… "They're…not here?" I said, in a choked whisper. Where were they?
"Let her go, Soda. She knows about as much as we do." Darry said. Soda nodded, and his hands dropped. He sat back down.
"What happened?" I asked. They all looked up at me. Steve handed me a paper, and I read the first line, "Teen killed in local park."
It couldn't be true. It couldn't be. Not Johnny, not Pony. But if they had killed someone, where would they have gone? Where could they have run?
I took another shaky seat at the table and put my face in my arms. I felt sick. Sick and ashamed. If I could've gotten here faster, if I hadn't run away, Johnny and Pony would be here, sitting and talking about stuff that normal teens should be talking about, not somewhere hiding from the police for murder!
"Jess, Jesse, you okay?" Two-Bit asked, putting a hand on my shoulder. I made no reaction, only stared into the blackness of my enclosed arms. All I could remember was how I felt when those Socs surrounded us, and Ponyboy ducking to avoid the Soc who tried to drown him. Had he succeeded? Was it Ponyboy on that covered stretcher? No, it wouldn't have been front page news if a greaser had been killed. I thought of how scared Johnny looked and how he had yelled for me to get away, to escape an inevitable fate of pain, or worse, death.
What if Johnny and Pony were dead? What if the Socs had chased them down and killed them and buried them somewhere where the bones would soon be forgotten and would waste away?
All types of these thoughts flew through my mind, each one passing so quickly that I barely got a glance at each one, but enough that I saw terrible images of Johnny and Pony gone, gone forever and not coming back.
Suddenly my eyes felt wet. No way. I was crying. Again. But I couldn't forget their faces when the Socs were on us. I couldn't forget how scared I was, how scared they were. Suddenly the sobs were racking my body and I couldn't stop. I cried into my arms, and I felt Two-Bit release my shoulder, but I soon felt a different set of arms around me. I cried onto Soda's shoulder, but the rest of the gang stayed silent. I wrapped my arms around his back, needing something to hold onto while I thought of my two best friends who I had abandoned. "I'm so sorry!" I said through my tears. "I left them! I let them go!"
I expected Soda to let go, for all of them to hate me, but instead his grip tightened, and I felt safe, just a little bit. "It's okay, Jesse, it's okay," Soda whispered soothingly into my hair. I took a deep breath that calmed me down.
"I'm okay, Soda." I said, a little shaky.
"You sure, kid?" Soda asked, leaning back to look at me. I let my arms drop, and smiled weakly.
"Yeah, sorry 'bout that." I said quietly. I wiped my eyes and sat back down at the table. I was embarrassed, but I didn't let on.
"What happened, Jesse?" Darry asked. I looked at him. Then I told the four of them what had happened, told them about the Socs and how I had run before anyone had been murdered. Luckily, they had calmed my nerves when they assured me that it had been Randy who had been killed, not Pony or Johnny. I sighed in relief when I heard that. But on the other hand, no one had any idea where the two of them were, and no one knew who had killed who.
"Hey, anyone home?" We all looked up at the call, each of us hoping to see Pony or Johnny. But each of us knew that voice too well, so while it was no surprise, it was a disappointment when Dallas Winston appeared at the door. "Hey, why so glum?"
I sighed, "Take a wild guess; you get three chances." I said sarcastically, sadness forming into anger at Dally's carelessness.
"What's up with the insults, huh, kid?" he said, popping a cigarette into his mouth, and lighting it. "Wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something?"
I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself, cause I began to feel my anger boiling and rising to the surface. "Dallas, shut up." I said quietly, almost a whisper.
"What if I don't feel like it?" he asked, "Now, back to why ya'll are looking so down and out? Did someone die?"
I jumped up and out of my seat, making everyone but Dallas jump. "Why do you think we are, Dallas? Do you have absolutely no second thoughts that, yes, someone is dead, and that Pony and Johnny aregone because of it? Have you really frozen your heart over that you really don't care about either of them? Do you not care for Ponyboy? Or Johnnycake? Where's your emotions, Dallas? Why can't you just fucking say 'I care'? Can't you be a fucking human for once?" I exploded, immediately regretting it. Dally's expression hadn't changed, but I knew he didn't deserve it. He probably didn't care, but I regretted it nonetheless. "I'm sorry…" I said, sitting down again.
"It's okay, kid." Dallas said, and I looked up in surprise. Dallas Winston…accepting an apology? Hell must be freezing over right about now. He puffed out his smoke and walked to the Curtis's refrigerator and brought out a bottle of milk and began to drink from the carton.
"Dallas…do you know where they are?" Soda asked slowly, looking up at the older greaser.
"If I did, do you think I'd be here? Huh?" Dallas asked. "I wouldn't worry about it, though. Johnnycake and Ponyboy can take care of themselves. They're pretty tough kids." We all nodded, but I think that we were all still worried. Especially Sodapop, I could see the pain on his face clearly. He loved Ponyboy, and if anything ever happened to him, I don't know how he'd take it. No, I know how he'd take it; hard. Very hard. "Hey, Jesse, weren't you with 'em last night?" Dallas asked.
I dropped my head. Figures Dallas would bring it back up. "I tried to run and get help, but on my way here…Dave got me and locked me in my room." I said softly. I looked up at Dallas. His face had gone hard.
"She's yelling at me…" Dallas muttered, putting the milk back in the fridge. "I'm out of here. And don't worry 'bout the kids!" He called, and we all heard the front door slam and close. I hung my head again.
"Hey…" Two-Bit said, putting a hand on my shoulder, "It's okay, Jess."
I smiled weakly and nodded. But in the back of my mind, I knew it wasn't.
-0-
Okay! That's it. I'll post the new chapter soon. I still have my question;
Who would you want Jesse to end up with, were I to make her end up with someone?
I'm just curious!
Johnny Cade's Girl-Hey, thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! tallies one for Ponyboy Thanks for the review. Peace!