Previously: With that, he jogged away, leaving Pony and I under the tree. He leaned back, sighing. "Where did you come from?" He asked quietly. I thought about it sadly. "Country," I said softly. His eyes widened. "Why you out here in Tulsa?" He asked in awe. I pursed my lips, keeping my eyes on the grass. "I came to live with my aunt… my parents…," I couldn't continue, but didn't have to.

"Gee, I'm sorry," Pony said. I looked back up. He was appraising me. "My parents passed away a few years ago."

This surprised me. "I'm sorry, too." A raindrop hit my face. "Your brother was right," I groaned, glancing up into the darkening sky. "It's goin' to storm."

*Sarah POV*

"Maybe you should get home," Pony suggested as the rain started to fall. I weighed the risk of getting struck by lightning and facing Aunt Theresa. I sucked in air. "I don't really feel like heading home just yet. You can go, if you'd like," I said. He bit his lip. "It's going to get cold as heck out here… if you want, you could probably could come over to my house for a while," he said thoughtfully. I had just met Pony and Soda… it felt awkward to go right to his home. I smiled ruefully. "It's alright, Ponyboy. Maybe I'll head back after all." I groaned internally.

"Well, maybe I'll see you around school," said Pony, and stood up. I followed. "You in the high school?" I asked, as we both walked towards the road. He frowned. "I know I don't look like it… but yeah, freshman," he said. I shrugged. "You look perfectly old enough to be in the high school. Anyway, I'm a freshman too… so I guess I will." He gave me a cool nod. "See you around."

I waved, and then started running towards the West side. The rain came down harder now, and I was covering my head with my arms. Goosebumps rose on my neck and legs as I ran.

All of a sudden, I heard an engine. A large splash of water hit my already soaked body. I jumped and squeaked in shock, facing a nice looking Mustang. Some guys rolled down the window. "Well ain't this just a funny sight!" one laughed. Another honked the horn. "Diggin' the clothes, newbie!" I blushed fiercely. Another boy stuck his head out the window. "Have a nice walk home…!" he shouted, and they drove off. I was shivering from head to toe, my teeth chattering.

I swore under my breath, and immediately began to run again. A distant roll of thunder made me speed up. Theresa's house was just up a block…

I was breathing hard as I opened the door and walked inside. Water dripped off of my clothes and into a puddle. Before I had time to catch my breath, Theresa's thin hands grabbed my upper arm. Her face was beet red. "You plannin' on dragging in an ocean?" she yelled, and I tried to steady my heart. "Sorry… storm…" I gasped. She slapped me across the face, and then let me go. I was stunned into silence, my cheek smarting.

"Don't you dare ruin my house with your… dirty country ways. I don't know what you think this is, but it's certainly not a pig pen!" she screamed. I kicked off my shoes and ran towards the stairs that led to my attic room. I heard her cussing me out, but I could hardly hear her over the angry buzz in my ears.

Furious, I stripped down and pulled out the first pair of pajamas I could find. When I was dressed, I threw more clothes out of the suitcase, and found what I was looking for.

I crawled over to my bed, looking at the picture with tight eyes. There was a beautiful woman with blond hair and blue eyes smiling at me. My mother. Then I savored the look on my father's face as he hugged me. He had the simple country look, with brown hair and warm chocolate eyes.

Fighting back overwhelming emotions, I shoved my face in the pillow and screamed quietly. When I was finished, I just lay there silently, listening to the approaching storm.

I woke up to a high-pitched voice. My eyes fluttered open and I remembered everything.

"GET UP, SARAH!" I scrambled up and looked at the clock on the wall. "Oh no!" I gasped. I was late for school.

I hurried into a pair of my best jeans and a decent looking tee-shirt, all the while listening to the loud shouts from Aunt Theresa, which were intermingled with some choice swear words. I finally ran downstairs.

"What took you so long?" She snapped. I pursed my lips. "I need to go to the bathroom, and then I'll leave, okay?"

She grumbled, but leaned against the counter. Quickly, I locked myself in the nicely decorated bathroom. I turned to the mirror to check my appearance, and felt my eyes widen. My eye was faintly black from the hit I'd taken. I frantically brushed my hair over it, but nothing looked right. Finally, I decided to just ignore it. If someone asked, I could act oblivious.

Eventually, I made it outside. The storm had left a peaceful feel around the town. The leaves on trees dripped with water, onto the spring flowers. I took a deep breath, but it didn't feel like the country. Depressed and anxious, I started towards the school. I only knew where it was because of Theresa pointing it out. I knew she wanted me out.

I was late when I got there. Gosh, I wasn't starting my school day off well.

My first class was math. I looked at the school map, keeping as low a profile as possible. Memorizing a route, I scuffled quietly through the halls, my eyes down. I don't like to attract attention.

I couldn't avoid the stares when I walked in late. The teacher raised an eyebrow. "New student?"

I nodded sheepishly. She smiled. "Did you get lost?"

Well that was convenient. "Yup," I lied. She fell for it and motioned to an empty seat. Cherry grinned at me from the seat behind, and I smiled back.

"I'm Mrs. Lively… what's your name?" the teacher asked. I took a deep breath as everyone turned to me.

"Sarah Gold."

"Nice to meet you," Mrs. Lively greeted. She turned to the board and started her lesson. I was relieved that it didn't get any more personal than name exchange.

"Did you get caught in that storm?" Cherry whispered.

"Of course. I've never been lucky," I teased, and half-listened to the algebra on the board.

Cherry discreetly moved closer so that she wouldn't get caught talking. "Good luck with school today," she breathed. I smirked. "I haven't tripped over my feet yet," I laughed quietly. We both talked quietly the rest of the period until the bell rang. I didn't have anything but a notebook and some pencils to pack away.

"Where's all your things?" asked Cherry, lugging her binders. I looked at my bleak book and hid it under my arms. "I… haven't gotten them yet," I lied. Theresa didn't care if I had all the necessary supplies, as long as she could dig her time alone.

She nodded. "Well, we'll talk later," she said, and parted down the hallway. I tried to remember how to get to my next class.

For lunch, I had a tray of school food. I decided to go outside to eat; it was sunny out.

I found a barren tree to eat by, and sat down carefully, avoiding some tree roots.

"Hey look, it's the new girl!"

I looked up from the food and lost my appetite real quick. There, three boys with trimmed hair and nice shirts walked up. They were all built well and wore the clean look. They were the guys from the car…

"Oh, no over-alls today?" the bigger one with black hair asked. I ignored him, looking at the ground. My cheeks were burning.

"She's blushing… how cute," one of them said sarcastically, and there was laughter. With my eyes still on the ground, I set my food down.

"Maybe we should show her some manners," Black-hair chided, and I looked up, suddenly wary. They advanced, and I stood up, my back against a tree.

"Hey, leave her alone."

They turned to face the boy who'd spoken. I breathed a sigh of relief. "Pony."

He looked kind of small compared to the much larger guys. They laughed at him. "What if we don't, Greaser?"

Greaser? My eyes widened slightly.

Pony pursed his lips. He pulled something out of his pocket. A glint of silver made me gasp.

"What's with the blade, Greaser?" one of them demanded. They took a step back. Pony pointed it at a picnic table crowded with people. "Go back to your table, Soc," he said sarcastically.

"Are you going to be heroic? Just like that little Johnny kid," Black-hair hissed. Pony's face drained of color, and I knew I'd missed something. And what was with 'Greasers' and 'Socs'?

"Shut up," Pony growled.

"Yeah, well guess where that heroic act got Johnny!" Black-hair said with a nasty grin. Pony lurched forward with the blade, its point inches away from him. Pony's eyes glowed with anger. "Guess where it got Bob," he said in a quiet, deadly voice. The three boys all grimaced, but recovered quickly.

"You might have won the rumble last time," one of the boys said, "but I wouldn't let yourself wander around at night alone."

The threat was not hidden in his tone, and Black-hair finally cleared his throat. They left with their eyes still on the switch blade in Pony's hand.

Pony had a stoic look in his eyes, and I walked a step closer. He stared at me. "You okay?" He asked. I nodded, shaking a little. He flicked the blade back and shoved it in his pocket.

"I'm a little confused," I said slowly. He looked down. "Don't be." He sounded tired. I dropped the subject, feeling the stress.

"Want to sit with me?" Pony asked, looking warily at the Soc's. I followed his gaze. "That'd be great," I agreed.

After I'd grabbed my food, we walked over to a secluded section of grass and sat down. I wasn't hungry anymore, but I picked at it anyway.

"Want a weed?"

I looked at the cigarette Pony held out and then at the students around. "Should you be smokin' here?" I asked nervously. He shrugged and lit it. "People do it anyway."

I let it go again. "So… could you at least tell me why he called you a Greaser?"

He sighed. "It's a pretty short story. You probably don't have groups of people in your town, do you?" he asked.

"Not really…?" I said, trailing off. He raised a hand. "There are two obvious sections to Tulsa. The West side, where you live, is the Soc side. Soc's have money. People like my brothers and I live on the East side…we don't have money. That's the big difference at least," he added, smiling. "It's rough here. While Soc's have tuff cars, we have tuff hair."

Tuff? I felt very confused, but put it in the back of my mind for the moment.

It was silent while we picked at the food. Then Pony spoke up. "What happened to your eye?" he asked. I froze. "What's wrong with my eye?" I asked as calmly as I could manage. He narrowed his eyes and then looked away. "Must be just me."

The bell rang in the distance, and students began to head back. We stood up too, and walked inside.

For the rest of the day, one sentence rang in my mind: "…I wouldn't let yourself wander around at night alone."

Hope you liked it, still kind of slow…R&R!!