Knowing Your End

Two

  "And that's the end of chapter one." Darry said as he closed the book. "So why weren't you in it, Y/N?" He asked, making everyone look at me.

"It's if I wasn't there."

"There?"

"If I was never here..." I bit my lip. As I cupped my hands in my lap I realized how much I was sweating.

Darry looked at Ponyboy, "Did you know about this?"

His eyes widened, like a deer caught in headlights, "I've never seen it before in my life! I've never read it before, or wrote it either." He shook his head, meeting everyone's faces to make sure that they actually believed him.

I spoke up when I realized some were still confused, "Guys, he's telling the truth! Gosh, you guys need to calm down,"

"Says you." Dally commented. "You've been shifting in your seat and squirming the entire time Darry was reading, if anyone needs to calm down it's you. What is so bad about this stupid book?"

"We're not there yet." I murmured. "It gets worse. It's gonna ruin everything."

"Ruin what?" Dal challenged me.

"What you think about, well, everything. What you think of me, what you think of each other, what you think about life." I put my face in my hands.

"Read the next chapter, Dar." Sodapop spoke from across the room.

Darry cracked it open again, making Two-Bit sigh. "Why does it have to be so long?" he said out of boredom. Two-Bit hated reading, actually just books in general.

"Chapter Two." Darry began. "Dally was waiting for Johnny and me under the street light at the corner of Pickett and Sutton, and since we got there early, we had time to go over the drugstore in the shopping center and goof around." Darry kept reading, going over the parts describing when Dallas slipped two packages of Kools under his jacket, making Dally snicker. This chapter almost everyone in the room present had experienced - the Nightly Double. Darry mainly skimmed over this part, just pointing out to those who weren't there the main points, such as Dally throwing himself at Cherry.

I remember that happening, although I just watched at a distance. I mean, Johnny stood up for a girl, I'm not tossing that down the drain, it was a good moment for him. I stood around in the back, sipping on a Coke, watching the whole thing.

Darry kept reading into chapter three. I sat quietly, hands more fidgety than before as we neared the part where Darry hit Pony. "I exploded. "You don't yell at him!" I shouted. Darry wheeled around and slapped me so hard I that it knocked me against the door." Darry paused, breathing in the words off the page. "Suddenly it was deathly quiet. We all had frozen. Nobody in my family every hit me. Nobody. Soda was wide-eyed. Darry looked at the palm of his hands where it turned red and looked back at me." He continued going onto where Pony ran with Johnny to the park. Everyone looked at me while he read. I got nervous.

"'Okay,' Johnny said easily. 'Okay.' Things gotta get better, I figured. They couldn't possibly get worse. I was wrong."

Two-Bit squealed, "You have to keep reading! We are not stopping there."

"Hold up," I paused to grab the attention of everyone. "Whatever happens in that book, whatever happens, you have to look at everyone here the exact same way as you do right now."

Two-Bit laughed in response. "It's the third chapter, Y/N. How bad can it be?"

Johnny couldn't breathe in the grasp of Two-Bit who was squeezing him so hard I'd be afraid he'd pop. Everyone's faces were white, unable to see how little Johnnycake could kill someone, even if he were a Soc. Darry paused at, "'You really killed him, huh, Johnny?'" The room became quiet.

"I hope you guys are aware that isn't the worse thing that h-"

"Shut-up Y/N." Dally said.

"Yes, well... I did warn you guys." I nodded. "I'm sorry, I need fresh air." I said, grabbing my coat to go outside. It's getting colder now, although it never is as cold here as it is in New York, doesn't even get below fifty degrees here.

I began to walk down the street when I realized Sodapop was following me. "What do you want?" I said, looking ahead of me. He ran up beside me.

"It gets worse?"

"You betcha."

"Y/N, wait." He grabbed my shoulder. "How much do you know about that book?"

"More than you think."

"Something bad happens."

"That's right." I said, leaving us in a pause, "There's a movie too."

"With us? That's impossible."

"Well, actors that play you." I figured out a way to word this correctly. "Soda-" I began. "Okay-okay... yeah, it gets worse." was all I could say. "Just read the book. Finish it. I've read it too many times."

"So you've met SE Hinton? The guy who's spying on us?!"

"SE Hinton's a girl." I corrected.

"You've met her?"

"No,"

"What is this, the future?" I sensed his voice rising as these words escaped his lips. "How are we supposed to know you didn't write this, Y/N?! Nobody knows this much information about us, and if someone is stalking us and you know them, then we have to-have to..." he stopped to try ad find a choice of words but couldn't.

I wiped my forehead, "Soda... go read the stupid book. I don't even care anymore." It was ruining everything. I used to be best friends with Soda and Steve, we'd work at the DX together. That was a blast.

"Hey, Y/N?"

"Yeah?"

"Does the actor who plays me look alright?"

"Yeah he looks alright." I smiled.

"Oh good, that's a relief."