Blowin' Smoke

Candymouse22: I was laughing while I wrote that part! I loved Steve's sarcastic humor sometimes lol. Thank you so much for reviewing!

Unknown Identity 90: Lol thank you so much!

Amanda (Guest): Your review made my day! I was on the fence about the dyslexia thing so I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I have so far updated everyday, but I don't know how long that will last lol. Thank you so much for reviewing!

Guest: I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for taking the time to review!

Chapter 11

Ponyboy's POV (Mid Febuary, 1968)

"Hey, Two-Bit, hurry it up or I'm gonna be late!" I hollered, laughing as Two-Bit shoved an entire piece of cake in his mouth, chocolate crumbs flying out of his mouth as he replied,

"Yeah, yeah. Man, you sound like my mom with how much you nag at me!"

I rolled my eyes. I threw my backpack over my shoulder and led the way towards Two-Bit's sorry excuse for a car. Every time I lay eyes on it, I'm surprised it's running.

Now that I had my boot on, getting around was a lot easier. Though, it was still kind of heavy and awkward.

"Antsy to get to school, hop-along?" Two-Bit joked as he started up the engine.

"No, just don't need another tardy 'cause of your slow, sorry-"

"Hey! Language," Two-Bit laughed. When we pulled up to the school I clocked him upside the head playfully, quickly slipping out of his reach. He laughed, throwing open his door, but just watched me walk off.

OoOoOoO

"Mrs. Roberts, can I go to the bathroom?"

"Sure thing. Just write out a pass, okay?"

I grabbed my assignment book and handed it to her. I then made my way towards the bathroom, the rubber on the bottom of my boot squeaking slightly with each step.

"What do you think you're doin', you nasty greaser?" A low voice growled behind me, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I turned around a put on my best brace face.

"Your ego's just bruised 'cause we whipped you at that rumble huh, Soc?" I spit the words out as if they tasted nasty, my blood boiling. I wasn't going to get out of this fight, so I was going to fight.

"You got a mouth on you, grease. I think we need to fix that."

That's when I noticed the rings. I gulped. Suddenly, I was grabbed from behind and my airway was constricted. I tried to yell, but a cloth was stuffed into my mouth and no sound came out. I was coughing violently, trying to kick off my assailants. One cussed when I think I made contact to their nose with my booted foot. That earned me a hard punch to my jaw. One started kicking my still slightly sore ribs and I couldn't help it; a tear slipped down my cheek. I bit down so hard on my tongue I tasted blood and I kept biting. I swore I heard a crack as they continued kicking.

My vision swam. I wasn't getting enough oxygen to begin with, and I kept coughing through my gag. I tried to stay awake, but the pull of the darkness was too strong and I found myself drifting further and further into unconsciousness.

Two-Bit's POV

Math class was not a class I had ever enjoyed or ever planned to enjoy. As soon as I convinced the teacher to let me get a drink of water, I beat it out of there. I wandered around for a few minutes until I heard some muffled grunts coming from another hallway.

I sped up my pace a bit, wondering if some greaser was getting jumped, but when I turned the corner my eyes landed on a familiar blue sweatshirt. I took off running at one of the Socs.

As soon as they heard my footsteps the four Socs took off, not wanting to get into a real fight I guess. I knelt down in front of Ponyboy, shaking him.

"Come on, Ponyboy," I begged. His lips were turning a sick shade of blue as I spoke. Quickly, I dug around in my pocket until my fingers enclosed around the warm outline of Pony's inhaler. I administered a few pumps into his mouth, hoping he was at least wheezing enough air in to get the medicine into his lungs.

He didn't wake up. His lips slowly turned purple and then to a healthy pinkish-red color, but he didn't wake up. I scooped up the kid up in my arms and prepared to leave, but a voice stopped me.

"What happened?" It was the school nurse, a plump lady who always called people "honey" or "dear."

"He passed out- didn't eat lunch. I'm takin' him home," I explained curtly. She put her hands on her hips.

"What happened to his face then?"

"Musta hit it on his way down. I don't know. I'm signing him out," I said finally, ignoring her mumblings of "useless, no good thugs".

I had to resist the urge to turn around a retort, knowing it was the Socs that did this to my buddy, but I stopped myself. I took off in a light job towards my car, setting Ponyboy down in the passenger seat.

I began to drive him back home. I glanced back at him every few seconds, but he kept looking the same. I realized, with a feeling of dread sitting deep in my stomach, that it was just me now. No Johnny, no Dally, no Steve, no Soda, just me to look out for the kid. And I wasn't sure how I liked the sound of that.

About halfway to his house, I heard him start to shift in the passenger seat.

"Hey, good morning, sleepy head," I teased. He groaned.

"My head hurts," he complained, sounding about five years old. I laughed.

"Come on, wake up and then try to talk to me."

He stretched before letting out a hiss of pain. I heard him mutter a few curse words under his breath.

"How ya feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a bus. I think one of them Socs re-broke one of my ribs." Absentmindedly, he rubbed his chest.

"Need another hit?"

"Nah," he answered. "Just a little sore. Can we not tell my brothers about this?"

I started laughing. "Have you looked in the mirror?"

He pulled down the visor to inspect his face, smiling when he did.

"Hey, I look kinda tough!" He proclaimed.

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, princess. This is a good song." I turned the radio up until I couldn't hear him, laughing as he continued to inspect himself in the mirror. Vain much?

"What are you doing home?" I heard Darry yell when we pulled up. I heard him through the shut car doors. As soon as Ponyboy got out of the car, Darry had his answer. He grabbed Ponyboy's chin lightly, checking over every inch of his brother's face. I laugh; Good ole Darry.

"You sure your okay, Kid?" I asked him as we started walking towards the house.

"Yeah. Thanks, Two-Bit."

His response surprised me. But either way I clasped him lightly on the back, telling him, "Sure thing."

We're gonna be okay, I thought.

A/N: This chapter is eh. I rewrote, edited, and changed so many things and it just never came out right. I hope you guys like it more than I do.

Stay Gold,

- Alee XxX