"So you actually convinced your big brother to go to the hospital?" Lawrence asked, sipping from his carton of apple juice. Ponyboy shook his head.

"Well, not exactly. Me and Soda came home at the same time, and we both found Darry passed out on the floor." Pony explained.

"Ha, me and Angie have many a time found Tim passed out on the floor, but we just leave him there." Curly chuckled, stealing Lawrence's notebook. "Why do we need to know about reciprocals? I mean, it's not as if I'm gonna need reciprocals later on in life."

"That's just like…I don't know." Lawrence sighed, and Curly chuckled once again.

"So Lawrence, are you gonna be able to work on our project after school? It's just because I've got a ton of science homework to do tomorrow; tonight's the only night I can really do." Pony said, but Lawrence frowned.

"I really would, Pony. But, it's my mom's birthday today and we were gonna buy some flowers…" he swallowed, "and then visit her grave." Lawrence put his head in his hands, and Ponyboy felt bad.

"Sorry, Law, I understand. You could maybe come over to my house on Saturday and we can work on it then." He smiled. "Speaking of which, Curly, Two-Bit said you and your family could come to dinner with us; it's his mom's birthday."

"Sorry but Tim would skin me. It's my dad's six year anniversary since he died on Saturday, and as much as I hate it, it's just somethin' I have to do." Curly muttered.

Ponyboy frowned; he knew that he and his friends all had one thing in common: at least one of their close family members were dead.

"Sorry to hear that, Curls. I'm sure Two-Bit's family will understand." Ponyboy uttered, and gathered all of his books together.

Lawrence copied his friend while Curly went off to cut class for the rest of the day.

Ponyboy and Lawrence departed to their classes; Ponyboy had English and Lawrence had Geography.

Ponyboy walked into the class and was greeted by Mr Syme, who was still teaching at Ponyboy's school, and he was still the nice and funny teacher that he always had been.

Pony sat down next to a girl who everybody was very wary of, including Pony himself.

Her name was Cheryl. She was tall, light skinned and wore too much eye makeup. Her eyes were a dark green, and her hair was as black as raven feathers. Her bangs slightly covered the top of her eyes, and freckles cluttered her tinted cheeks.

When Ponyboy sat down next to her, she instantly pulled away, however Ponyboy did not miss the picture that she tried to hide from him.

It was a picture of a girl who couldn't have been older than eleven years old. She looked a little like Cheryl, except her hair was a light blonde, freckles covered her entire face rather than just her cheeks, and of course she didn't have the heavy eye makeup on. Her eyes however, were exactly like Cheryl's.

Ponyboy looked at Cheryl, and saw that tears were starting to form in her eyes. She quickly blinked them away and turned to Ponyboy and smiled at him.

"That girl…that's my sister. Her name was Dawn, even though she was born in the evening." Cheryl laughed, her cheeks turning pinker.

"Her name was Dawn?" Ponyboy said, looking more closely at Cheryl.

Cheryl nodded, and a few tears leaked out of her eyes.

"Yep, and that stupid disease took her away! You know the one with six letters…the one that begins with a C…THE ONE THAT KILLS EVERYBODY!" Cheryl screamed, and shoved all of her books onto the floor.

Ponyboy gasped as Cheryl stood up and stormed out of the classroom. Everybody stared at him, as if it was his fault that Cheryl was upset.

The picture of Cheryl's sister fell out of her pocket, and when Mr Syme rushed after Cheryl, Ponyboy went and picked the picture up and just stared at it. Cheryl was in the background of the picture pulling a funny face, and she actually looked happy and a lot healthier; she didn't have all of the eye makeup on, her skin had a natural glow to it, her hair was brushed out of her eyes which were gleaming like diamonds, and the look she gave her sister was remarkable; it showed that Cheryl really did love her sister. Ponyboy used to wonder if Cheryl could actually love anybody since she seemed like such an unemotional person, but it seemed like she did, but the person who she had loved had been taken away from her.

"I guess nobody's life can stay gold forever…" Ponyboy thought.

XXX

"Welcome, Mr Curtis. Please, have a seat." Dr Orbison said to Darry as Darry ambled into the room.

Darry had had his blood tests taken a few days ago, and today would be the day when he would finally get his results.

"Now, I have the papers here, but I haven't opened them yet since they're technically yours and I wouldn't want to open them without your consent." Dr Orbison stated. Darry nodded.

Dr Orbison sat down on his chair and looked at Darry.

"Now, before I give you the results: have things gotten better, worse, or have they stayed the same?" the doctor asked, and Darry shuffled in his seat.

"Well, I'd say the same really. I throw up at least twice a day, and I think I've lost more weight." Darry answered, biting his lip.

"Hmmm, okay then. Have you been experiencing any indigestion lately?" he questioned, and Darry turned red but nodded all the same.

"Just checking. Have you been eating much lately? And how have your sleeping patterns been; are they regular or irregular?"

"Well, I don't feel much like eating, and I can't really get to sleep at night because my back and stomach hurt like hell." Darry explained, rubbing his belly for emphasis.

"I see. Well, I shouldn't keep you waiting any longer; you deserve to know your results." Dr Orbison smiled, and grabbed the white envelope sitting on his desk.

He opened it slowly, making Darry's heartbeat drum faster and faster due to the tension. Darry felt sick, but he assumed it was just because he was stressed.

Dr Orbison scanned over the sheets of paper, and then reread them all again. The doctor gulped when he looked up at Darry again.

"I'm very sorry to inform you, Mr Curtis…" the doctor started, and breathed out heavily.

Darry bit his lip so hard that it started bleeding, and his stomach started feeling worse and worse.

"I'm afraid you've got pancreatic cancer." Dr Orbison said sympathetically, looking at Darry who was now shaking.

"Are you okay, Mr Curtis? Would you like some water?" the doctor asked, standing up.

Darry suddenly paled to a sickly white color and threw up in the garbage can next to the doctor's desk. He wanted, he hoped, that this was all a nightmare, however his mind already knew that this was real life.

Darry breathed out heavily and fell on his knees on the cold, white floor.

"Not even Superman can get out of this one."

Oh my gosh I am so sorry for not updating yesterday; we were in a different city all day then when I got home I had to study for my math exam and do my homework that I didn't do on spring break. Anyway, now ya'll finally know what's wrong with Darry. I actually chose pancreatic cancer because that's what Patrick Swayze died of, and even though it's sad I want to sort of dedicate this story to him. Also, I'm sorry that this chapter is a little rushed, but I wanted to update as soon as possible for you guys :)
I will be updating tomorrow, til then ~Stay Gold~ :)