de facto 〖 ponyboy curtis 〗

twelve.

Ponyboy

Ponyboy sensed something different about Jo today. He worried about what could be upsetting her so much. As he made his way to the library he was coming up with all kinds of scenarios: things she could say, how he'd respond. Hopefully he'd end up comforting her instead of saying something stupid and accidentally making it worse.

He sat at the dark wooden table and opened his book, Oliver Twist, while he waited for Jo. As depressing as the book was, reading about the nineteenth century European lower class, made him feel better, about his own circumstances.

He noticed her figure behind the book his nose was buried in and the boy smiled, greeting her warmly with a "Hey."

"Hi, Ponyboy."

Ponyboy had also been wondering how he'd ask again what was wrong without it sounding too pushy and upsetting her. "You wanna tell me what's been botherin' you?" That's the best you came up with?

She started on a long story, beginning at about 7 o'clock, when she got home from being with Ponyboy. On edge, she called up her friends, Terry, Diane, Jeannie, and with them came some other friends and her old best friend decided to come along. They spent the night doing what they'd usually do, smoked a little green, drank a bit (except Jo-Lynn who always prefers not being drunk), went out for a stroll down the strip on the North side where all the colored restaurants and bars were. It was purely bad luck. They happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The cops don't ever get called on the Northside. Never. Even the white people who live on the Northside amongst the blacks will never call the cops. Except someone did. Someone from the Eastside was in the strip and the trip was, they knew exactly what could happen when they called the cops up there after a fight which he started with Willy's brother Ant. Ponyboy had read about "vigilante white groups" in other places and it baffled him that the story she told him sounded like that situation.

One of his best friends, Johnny, had died a couple years ago. He was still surprised he's been able to keep it together the way he has. Although, he couldn't imagine the way she felt. Johnny's death was Ponyboy's fault, and it could've been avoided, or at least that's what he says to himself. Either way, he didn't lose Johnny because of an angry racist. He didn't understand how afraid she must've been and still is. He wanted to know what he could do, if there were anything he could do. He could see now, though, that getting angry and trying to argue just makes things worse. So he asked.

"Ponyboy," the girl began, her voice still full of melancholy, "There's nothing you can do."

He didn't wanna take that response, but he could see she wasn't in the right frame of mind at the moment. He didn't wanna press her right now, it didn't feel like what she needed.

He got a better idea. "Hey, wanna go?" Ponyboy asks mischievously, a slight smile on his face.

"Go where," Jo questioned, noticing his smile and raising an eyebrow.

"Just go. We can take a walk, go to a store, just relax somewhere." A smile made it's way onto Jo-Lynn's face as well thinking about taking a day to not worry about anything and go out with the boy who's been on her mind continuously since they ran into each other at the grocery store. "I happen to know a place free of all problems."

"Oh do you?"

"Yup, about an hour away."

"An hour?"

"Do you trust me?"

He notices her think for a moment, that same smile still on her face and he was filled with excitement. He hadn't skipped school in a while but he definitely missed being far away from the city and there were hardly any people anyway so it was perfect to him. His stomach did a little twirl when she said to him, "Yes I do."

In a moment, they were out of the school doors and he was leading her to a freight train.