Separated

Chapter 4 part 1

My eyes immediately open and I gasp for air. I feel sweat dripping from my face to the back of my neck soaking the pillow I lay on, "It was only a dream." I say to myself. I get up from the bed and notice I'm all alone. The lady must've left already. Thank god.
"It's Pony!" I hear Darry shout from the kitchen. My heart races, and I run out of the bedroom into the kitchen, what did I do this time?

"Darry, how could you?!" Soda shouts.
I'm surprised. Soda never raises his voice, "Sodapop." Darry says firmly eyeing Soda to stop. They both turn to face me as I stand there completely clueless. Darry's face is emotionless and firm while his eyes stay cold and heartless. Then I look at Soda. His eyes are full of tears and he looks like someone broke his heart into a million pieces.

"What's going on?" I ask confused. Darry stands up and looks at me directly in the eyes, "Ponyboy." He pauses before saying anything else.

"How could you do this?! We're a family! Family sticks together no matter what!" Soda shouts even louder. The tears in his eyes fall down to his cheeks and trickle down his neck. Darry puts his hand on Soda's shoulder to calm him down.

"What happened?" I ask again. I'm so confused, I don't even know what's going on. My heart stops and a lump forms in my throat when I hear Darry's tone of voice, "Ponyboy. I told Ms. Peters it would be best if you were placed in a boys home." He doesn't budge at the fact that he just gave up his own brother. "What." I can't believe he would do something like that, but I have to. It's Darry we're talking about, he doesn't love me. I just always thought Soda would be there to protect me until I moved out.

"Pony." Darry places his hand on my shoulder, "it'll be best for you. You'll go farther in life, people will care for you more than I can. You might even get into a good college." I try to swallow, but everything is numb. I begin to shake at the thought of never seeing Sodapop again.

I shove Darry's arm away from me; I don't want him touching me after he abandoned me, "He's not leaving. We already lost Dallas and Johnny. And mom and dad. We need to stick together." Sodapop says. He always takes up for me no matter what, but his voice is shaky. "Sodapop Patrick. You just don't understand. Nothing's easy. Do you think this is easy for me to do?" Darry asks.
Yes. I do think it's easy for him, because if he cared about me he'd do whatever it takes to keep the family, or whatever is left of it, together.

"I don't care. Pony isn't leaving." Soda says pulling me into his arms.

"Sorry. He's leaving tonight. Ms. Peters is gonna pick him up and bring him to a stable home. Pony's sick. There will be people who can take much better care of him than I can." Darry won't budge. Even if Soda drops down on his knees and begs, Darry will say no.
"Well whatever happened to family? Sticking together. Mom and dad-" Soda tries speaking but Darry cuts him off, "Mom and dad are gone, Soda! Everything's different now! We're barely even a family anymore."

I can't stand anyone fighting. Especially Soda and Darry. "Just stop. Don't yell at him," I say blankly. The guys must've forgotten that I was in the room because they look at me with the most confused expression on their faces. There's no point in arguing, it'll only make matters worse. I knew from the start Darry hated me, "I'll pack tonight."