The Insiders (The Outsiders Fanfiction)

Chapter 6

I knew I had to figure out how Johnny could have done something like this. I hadn't ever met him, but I'd seen him, and he had such a frightened look in his eye all the time. He just didn't seem like the type to even hit anyone, nevermind murder.

I eventually found my way home and prepared to face the music. As I opened the door, I was greeted by a stone-cold stare from my dad and the glare of an annoyed police officer.

"Uh...hi, Dad."

He stared at me for a moment and then ran over to me and hugged me. He stifled a sob and said, "Do you know what time it is? You had me scared to death!"

I hugged him back. "I'm sorry, Dad, I-"

As I expected, he finally got mad. "What were you doing out so late? I told you to come straight home after school!"

"I...got caught up in something," I replied hesitantly.

"Well, what'd you get caught up in?" he asked, his voice rising.

"I heard something! I-" I remembered the policeman and looked over at him, then back at Dad. He seemed to get the message.

"You can leave now, sir. Thanks for all the help," Dad said to the policeman. He left and Dad looked back at me. "Well, if the police can't hear about this, you better have a good explanation, young lady!"

"I overheard Darry and Sodapop talking about Pony with each other."

"Pony? He's a suspect! Why would you even try to drag yourself into a conversation like that? I don't want you to have any part in this whole case!" he yelled.

       "Dad, I'm sorry, but I had to know! Pony wasn't in school today, and...and now I know why!" I stormed up the stairs and into my room, locking the door behind me. I sat on my bed and just bawled. I bawled for what felt like hours, but could only have been minutes, before my dad came knocking on the door.

"Sweetheart? Are you doing okay?"

"Please, just leave me alone for a while," I said.

"Okay. But I still want to talk to you later."

"Fine."

I heard him walk away and I sat up a little bit on my bed, wiping away my tears. I stood up and looked out the window at the starry night sky. I wish that that was all tonight consisted of. Just the sky and the moon and nothing else. If Bob had never been murdered, it would be like that. Just me and the sky.

I sat back down on my bed and held a stuffed animal that I'd had since I was five. It was actually the only stuffed animal I'd ever had. It was a hippo, and it was pretty beat up after years of being played with, but that just made it all the more special to me. I hugged it and thought back to when Mom was alive. When I didn't know about greasers and socs, when there were just people. When Dad wasn't so hard on me. Ever since Mom had died, he was so much more strict about everything. I knew he was trying to keep me safe, but it got tiring, sometimes.

I rolled over and buried my face into my pillow. The whole day was a blur. So many things had happened, and I was ready for the day to finally come to an end. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.