Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders.
A/N: Enjoy, y'all! Have a beautiful day and leave your thoughts. Thank you so much to those who have reviewed, you make my day! Love y'all!
Chapter Six
I wasn't always an only child. I guess I'm still not an only child, but it feels like it. I had an older sister. She was about ten years older than I was. Her name was Linda. I remember when I was six or seven, I wanted to be just like her. I looked up to her for everything. She didn't look anything like me, she was beautiful. Her hair was dark and her eyes were almost black. The way she moved was so graceful. I used to practice walking the way she did. I never got it down though. She was my favorite person. She always had time for me. She used to do my hair every Sunday when she took me to church. My dad hated that we went. But Linda didn't care. I think that's part of the reason she went every week. She loved to make him mad. When she was eighteen, she got pregnant. No one knew who the father was. That was the end for Dad. He threw her out and I haven't seen her since. I was eight. Dad won't talk about her. I can't even mention her name around him. I don't know where she is or if she's even alive but I pray every night that she's all right and that maybe she'll come back for me someday. I guess that's why I loved being around the Curtis' and the rest of the gang. They were the family I didn't have. I couldn't imagine my life without any of them.
It worried me when I saw Darry and Ponyboy fight. They were pushing each other away. If they kept going like that, one of them was going to break and just leave. None of us would be able to stand that, especially Soda. He wouldn't know what to do without either of them. They were his whole world. It would break his heart to lose them.
I promised Soda that I'd check on Ponyboy and make sure that he was doing all right but I didn't see him at lunch like I usually did. He was always standing outside in the parking lot with Johnny and Two-Bit but he wasn't there. Neither was Johnny. Two-Bit was just sitting there with a cigarette in his hand. He was shooting a nervous glance around every few seconds, watching out for teachers. I kept walking to the cafeteria. I decided to look for Pony at the end of the day. He was probably just talking to Johnny about what happened. Those two were almost closer than Steve and Soda. Pony was really the only person that Johnny trusted with everything. They were best friends. I hoped they were both okay.
I saw Ponyboy right when school ended. He was walking down the sidewalk alone, bouncing a red ball against the pavement. I took a deep breath and walked up to him slowly. He saw me and gave me a small smile.
"Hey, Sandy." He said quietly. I bit my lower lip. I didn't want to say too much. Ponyboy was pretty open except when it came to talking about his brothers.
"Two-Bit looked pretty worried at lunch today, without you and Johnny to be his look outs." I said, hoping that it was safe ground. Pony nodded and looked past me. He put a hand on my shoulder.
"I've got to go." He said quickly. "But I'll see you later!" He ran away to join Johnny who was just coming out of the front doors of the school. I stood on the sidewalk alone. I furrowed my eyebrows. I'd never seen Pony act like that. I shook my head. He was probably just worried about Johnny.
Johnny Cade was a small boy with dark hair and eyes that showed his every mood if you looked hard enough. He had a really tough home life. He's parents beat on him all the time. He'd been spending more time sleeping in the empty lot or on the Curtis' couch. I'd never really talked to him much. He was pretty quiet, like Ponyboy. Between the two of them, we joked about if they even talked when they were together or if they just sat there. Ponyboy and Soda were always worried about Johnny. He was like another brother to them.
I sat down on the curb and waited for Soda. I tried to keep my right arm as still as I could. It was still killing me. I was sure it was broken. I didn't know what I was going to do. I'd probably just wait out the pain. Dad would kill me if he knew it was broken. We didn't have money to go to the hospital. It was starting to swell a little. I hoped that Soda wouldn't notice it. It wasn't too bad so if I acted like everything was fine, I would probably be okay. I closed my eyes. It had been a long day. I heard someone sit down beside me. I opened my eyes quickly.
Tom Derby was running his hands through his long blond hair. He didn't use a lot of hair grease, just enough to keep his hair out of his face. I moved to stand up but he grabbed my arm and pulled me down. I felt tears sting my eyes.
"It's all your fault." He said. "I'm in big trouble now. You're gonna wish you answered my question. You better stay inside because I'm gonna be looking for you." He squeezed my arm before he stood up. "And tell your boyfriend that goes for him too." He walked away just as Soda pulled up in the truck. I stood up and got in as fast as I could. I was always safe with Soda, almost.