Nothing Gold Can Stay

Chapter Four

As I rolled over, I was stopped halfway by a lump in the sheets. I sat up and realized it was Ponyboy. Whoever put us in the same bed last night probably wanted us to hit it off or something. Probably Daniella. 

I crept out of bed and walked over to the side Pony was sleeping on. I stared at him for a while. The Socs had gotten him good. He had a fat lip, 2 black eyes, and was covered in cuts and bruises. Just then, he yawned. I dashed back over to my side and jumped in bed. 

Pony rolled over to face me. "Whatcha doin' there, Jess?" he asked. 

I rubbed my eyes and pretended I just woke up. "What..? Nothing..." I lied. 

"You're curious, aren't 'cha?" He smiled mischievously. 

"Yeah," I said truthfully. 

"Well, wait 'til breakfast so I can tell everyone. Can you go tell Darry or Sodapop I'm awake and hungry?" Pony yawned again. 

"Get off your lazy butt and do it yourself," I moaned. 

Pony ripped the sheets off himself, revealing a bloody mess. His leg was covered in bandages, and blood had seeped through them. 

"I can't walk, okay? One of the Socs took his switchblade all down my leg. It bled more than anything I have ever seen. Then he shoved me and I landed right on it. It fricken hurts like heck. Just go get Darry, please?" he whined. 

"No. C'mon, get up. I'm helping you," I smiled. "I love you and I want you to know that I would die without you. Now get up and let's go." 

I helped Pony down the stairs. Everyone was gathered around the table, talking quietly. They all turned to face us. 

"Well well, look who finally decided to wake up!" Britney grinned. 

"What did y'all do up 'der..?" Brittney had a nasty look on her face. 

Yep, those were my friends. They were always thinking of something nasty. 

I was in a girl gang of my own. There were 6 of us: me, Annie Jo, Brittany, Zoey, Daniella, and Rei. We were really close to Pony's gang because I was dating Pony and Annie Jo was dating Sodapop. We all had our personalities like Pony's gang. Pony and I loved sunsets and reading, Daniella was really tough like Dally, Annie Jo loved The Pink Panther like Two-Bit loved Mickey, Brittany and Zoey were rowdy and worked together like Soda and Steve, and Rei was Rei. She was kinda shy like Johnny was. 

Pony suddenly shook his head. "Geez, just shut up. We SLEPT, okay? Why are you all concerned! You've got a fellow friend who can't walk over here!!" He pointed to himself. 

"Oh, sorry," Soda murmured. He got up and helped Ponyboy into a seat. 

"Now, I hardly slept last night. I was worrying about you. Tell us what happened so we can go beat those Socs' asses," Darry said. He really was a great brother. He cared for 2 brother and worked 2 jobs. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis had been killed in an "accident". Pony didn't like to talk about it. 

"Okay, I'll tell," Pony sighed. "So Jess and I were talking and the Socs pulled up. There were 4 guys and 2 girls. I assume they decided to have some fun, but saw us and needed to get rid of us first. They chased us around and finally got a hold of us. There were 2 on Jess, 1 on me. They whipped out knives and were about to cut us badly when Two-Bit and Steve showed up." 

Two-Bit had a crooked smile on his face when he glanced at Steve. Steve looked away and tuned himself back into Pony's story.