Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own "The Outsiders" or any of the Curtis' Gang. Sigh. The real owner of "The Outsiders" is my favorite author, the fabulous S.E. Hinton. I also do not make a profit from the stories that I write here on this site.

Ponyboy's POV

I was able to go back to school today, but I was worried. What if the Socs tried to jump me again? What about Steve? We hadn't heard from him in days. Except Soda did, at work.

I greased my hair, ate breakfast, and got into Two-Bit's old car. It was a worthless piece of junk, but Two-Bit loved it, so I kept my mouth shut.

"See ya Ponyboy," Two-Bit called as we both got out of the vehicle. I called the sabe abs headed to class.

X

School dragged. The Socs saw me as a free target and I was thrown up against lockers or the wall all day. I was becoming more and more furious at Steve.

School finally ended, but the Socs weren't done with me.

"Hey Greaser," I heard a booming voice behind me. I'm so screwed, I thought, all the teachers are in their classrooms.

My shirt was grabbed and I immediately was thrown off balance. My books slipped out of my hands and I tried to pick them up, but I was kicked in the face. I quickly got up, but I felt a punch hit my cheek that would surely leave a bruise. Great, now Darry's going to find out, I thought.

A tried to run for it, but they chased me and got me down again.

"Socs!" I heard a deep voice growl. I turned and saw Tim Shepard. He helped me up after the Socs ran, seeing as he had a blade.

"Thanks," I told him. He shook his head.

"You are so lucky I came to school today," he told me. I laughed and headed out to Two-Bit's car.

"Where were you? Did you pick up a girl?" Two-bit teased as I got closer to his car.

"Haha," I said sarcastically. He gave me a sideways glance and saw my bruise. He grabbed my chin and inspected it.

"Socs," he growled with an eye roll.

"Let it go, Two-Bit," I told him, but once we got home I saw Darry's truck already there. I wasn't going to be able to hide it from him.

Darry's POV

I saw my kid brother and Two-Bit pull up. How could I not, Two's car was so loud. They walked in and I saw Pony had his head turned awkwardly. I grabbed his chin and saw a big dark bruise on his cheek.

"What happened?" I asked, but I knew the answer, Socs, of course.

"Go wash up, okay? Dinner's almost ready," I told him. He looked relieved that I didn't really mention the bruise. I signed, what good would it do? When would it ever end?

Steve's POV

I was at work when the red Corvette pulled up. Soda was refusing to talk to me, but I knew that the Socs had been picking on him.

"Hey, guys, we had a deal. You jumped him once, now leave him alone." I told them. The tallest one laughed.

"What are you going to do, grease-ball?" He sneered. I punched him in the face. His nose was bloody and possible broken. He screamed out profanities at me, but I just laughed. I was going to pay for that, but hopefully they would leave Ponyboy alone now.

Who am I kidding? They'll never leave us alone, I thought.

A/N: Sorry that it's short. Next chapter is the last.