Yes! Well, camp was amazing ... of course. Er ... Yep, now I hope you like this chapter. It's better near the ... middle I think. 'Kay!


Chapter Thirteen

About ten minutes later, Johnny jumped a little in his seat as a deep voice said, "Okay greasers, you've had it."

A soc! Great! It was probably Cherry and Marcia's boyfriends come to beat Pony and Johnny up! Slowly I turned around just to see Two-Bit grinning wildly.

"Glory, Two-Bit, scare us to death!" Pony snapped.

Johnny's eyes were clamped shut and he was trembling, but he managed a weak, "H-Hey, Two-Bit."

Two-Bit noticed Johnny's white face and ruffled his hair. "Sorry, kid. I forgot. We-ell! Whadda we got here?!" he exclaimed, staring at Cherry and Marcia.

As they started to flirt, I turned back to the movie and played with my straw.

I came back to reality when Cherry stood up. "Ponyboy, come with me to get some Cokes and popcorn?"

"Sure. Y'all want some?"

"I do," Marcia said.

"Yeah, me too. Get Johnny and River some too. I'm buyin'," Two-Bit added, flicking Pony some money.

"Thank you," I told him quietly.

He grinned. "Hey, no sweat!" He then turned to Marcia and started wise-cracking again.

"Told ya you're part of the gang," Johnny muttered, staring at the screen.

I smiled and continued watching it.

After the movie we started to walk over to Two-Bit's house to pick up his car and drive Cherry and Marcia home. It was insanely cold out and I couldn't stop shivering for the life of me. Cherry and Ponyboy walked in the front, then Two-Bit and Marcia, and then Johnny and me. Soon we'd stopped to lean against the fence and light cigarettes.

"Tell me about Darry," Cherry was saying. "Is he wild and reckless like Soda … or dreamy like you?"

Ponyboy shrugged. "He ain't like Soda and he sure ain't like me! He can't stand me! I bet he wishes he could stick me in some boy's home or some'in' but Soda won't let him."

Two-Bit stared at him, his eyebrows furrowed. "What're you talkin' about, Ponyboy?"

"Come on Ponyboy, y'all get along fine now," Johnny said, his hands shoved in his jean jacket pockets.

"No, we don't!" Pony snapped, his ears getting red. "And you can just shut your trap Johnnycake 'cause you ain't wanted at home either!"

Johnny winced and my mouth dropped open. That was a low blow!

Two-Bit cuffed him hard. "You shut your mouth, kid!"

Pony looked guilty. "I'm sorry. I just got a little mad."

Johnny shrugged sweetly. "Aw, that's alright. Don't worry about it."

"We couldn't get along without you so just hush up!" Two-Bit told Johnny, ruffling his hair again.

"Marcia!!" Cherry suddenly cried.

We all turned around to see a blue Mustang trailing us. Fear overtook my whole body again and I froze, terrified.

"Oh, look who's comin'! What're we gonna do?" Marcia asked Cherry as it stopped and the doors opened.

"Just act normal."

"Who're these clowns?" said Two-Bit.

"CHERRY!!" the soc with rings shouted. "What's goin' on?! What're you doing?! Just because we got a little drunk …"

I squinted, frightened, and noticed Johnny trying to hide his face and glancing at the soc's rings anxiously.

I moved closer. "What?"

He blinked a few times, breathing roughly, his eyes flitting everywhere. "Tha … That's the soc …" He touched his scar.

My eyes widened and I became even more scared if possible.

"Who you calling bums, pal?!" Two-Bit yelled at the curly-haired soc.

"YOU! Listen, we got two more o' us in the backseat!"

Two-Bit whipped around, smashed a bottle on a pole, flung it to Pony, and flipped out his blade. "Pity the backseat!"

My stomach turned and I covered my ears which didn't really help, trying to calm down. Fighting! I couldn't take it! Arguing! It was all driving me insane!

"Why?! We aren't scared of these bastards?!" Two-Bit was shouting.

"I hate fights alright?! I hate 'em!!" Cherry spat, walking over to Pony. She pulled him aside and started talking to him.

"Cherry!! Come on!!" the ringed soc roared.

I glared at him. I didn't know what Cherry saw in him. He was a jealous rich snothead drunk in my eyes who thought it fun to gang up four huge socs against one small greaser and nearly kill him, instead making him even more of a nervous wreck! But Cherry and Marcia climbed in the car.

"Just watch it, greaseball!" the curly-haired soc spat as they drove away.

"Says who?!" Two-Bit snapped. "Boy, those are two of the best lookin' girls I've ever seen!" he exclaimed a few minutes later as we continued on our way down the street.

"Yeah!" Pony agreed.

I averted my eyes to ground, feeling awkward. Two-Bit stuffed a ripped-off piece of paper in his house and spat it out on the ground.

"What was that?" asked Pony as he watched it land in a tuft of grass.

"Marcia's number. Probably a phony one, too. I must have been outa my mind to ask for it. A girl like that'd never go out with me anyway. Where y'all goin'?"

We were nearing Johnny's house. I ignored their answers, instead listening to Johnny's parents' screams. A strange feeling of familiarity absorbed into me. I would never hear my parents fight again in my entire existence. I'd never feel that purpose of my life to protect my precious siblings again. I'd never get to sleep between Jen and Sam, gripping onto them protectively, giving each other the warmth for the night, and the strength to face another day ever again! My throat clogged up as Two-Bit ran off.

I was still thinking about it all when we ended up at the ripped-out carseat and Johnny had made a fire. Sam was only five! She never even had a chance at life! Everything my parents did always hit me triple hard because I took Jen and Sam's blows for them and it was all for nothing! My father destroyed my whole life!

I squeezed my eyes shut but the tears still forced their way out and streamed down my face. I wiped them all away quickly but I had already started trembling with uncontrollable sobs.

"What's the matter?" Johnny asked softly.

"Why am I the only one that lived?!" I cried, my heart burning. "Why didn't he kill me instead of Jen and Sam?! Why didn't I stay with them? I should've protected them!"

"No. You couldn't have known he'd kill them all," Johnny assured me quietly. "And besides, what if he did kill you and not Jen and Sam, do you think their lives would be any good right now?!"

I wiped my face and inhaled deeply. Slowly starting to calm down a bit, I noticed Johnny's face becoming twisted with his own inner torture. He was thinking of his life, his family, my life, Ponyboy's life, all the gang's lives. He was more sensitive that the rest of the gang. He felt things different and saw things different and he didn't know how to release all the horror he saw and felt.

"I – can't – take – much more of this, y'guys! I'll … I'll … I'll kill myself or something, I dunno!" Johnny moaned, leaning over to put his head in his hands.

"Don't talk like that, Johnny! Come on, you can't kill yourself," Pony said, sitting back close to him.

"No, Johnny!!" I muttered, choking on my tears. "You can't! I don't need …" I gave up and covered my own face.

"I gotta do something'! I mean, it's not fair what happened to your family, River! Stuff like that shouldn't happen! And … all this 'greaser', 'soc' crap!" Breathing deeply, he sat back in the seat. "It seems like there's got to be some place without greasers or socs. Must be some place. Just plain ordinary people. People!"

"It's like that out in the country," Pony mumbled under his breath. "Away from the big towns."

He drifted off, murmuring something about the country. It was like a miniature children's story and I was completely passed out a few seconds later.


Hope you liked it! Yes. REVIEW!!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!! please don't slack :)