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Ponyboy stood under the oak tree behind the school, the glaring sun hanging in the sky forcing him into the shade.
He watched Socs and other greasers separate as soon as the end-of-the-day bell rang. Couples went out to grab some food or rush home to study, the rumbles of Mustangs filling the warm and fresh air. He spotted Two-Bit with zest in his gait and a cigarette in his mouth. He always had a bright grin on his face when he left school.
"Hey, you seen Blue anywhere?" he asked, finishing the last of his Pepsi. He looked around once more for his older sister.
"She wasn't in science, I'll tell you that." Two chewed his lip in thought. He thought his friend would've skipped or have been late to that class but knowing that her brother didn't know where she was, began to worry him.
"Think we ought to call Darry?"
"No," Ponyboy said at once. "Uh, she's probably late or stayin' in the art room with her teacher."
Two-Bit nodded slowly, dropping and stepping on his cigarette to put it out. He stretched his arms. "Golly, your brother's gonna kill me if anythin' happened to her."
"Which one?"
"All of y'all."
An obnoxious car honk had both the boys' heads whipping to the Mustang that pulled up next to them. A couple of curly-headed Socs with smirks patted the side of the car door.
"Hey, greasers, where's your smokin' girl?! Mind if we take her for a ride?"
Two-Bit snatched Ponyboy's empty Pepsi bottle and held it up threateningly. Ponyboy looked angry as his fingers curled into a fist but Two-Bit's body itched for a fight; his fingers squeezed the glass neck so hard it may have just broken in his grip.
"You boys best drive off or I'm gonna break this thing over y'all's heads."
The boys howled in laughter and the driver stomped on the accelerator, the tires burning dust as the car sped into the road. Two dropped the bottle scoffing as Ponyboy gathered his notebooks and papers into the crook of his elbow.
"Hey, Two-Bit, you don't think she's at the movies... right?" he asked, the gears in his head clicking together.
Two thought about the possibility. He curbed a swear and ran a hand through his rusty brown swirls of hair. Ponyboy shrugged, innocently digging his brows together.
"Oh, man, one day I'm gonna nail this girl's feet to the floor."
That's when Ponyboy spotted a familiar redhead exiting the school. Cherry was with her cheer squad, dressed in her captain's uniform. She caught the boy's eye and he raised his hand in a wave. Ponyboy saw her speak to one of the girls who nodded and she made her way over to them.
