My Worst Summer ||Ponyboy Curtis||

S I X

A/N: Backtracking a bit, we're starting right before they officially meet, but from Olivia's POV!

"Claire? Um... Claire? Does it look like Ponyboy is walking this way... With my brother?" I ask my friend in a panic. She looks over.

"Uh... Yeah. Be cool," she responds. I nod, my heart beating ten times faster than it should be.

"Ooh, who are we talking about?" Sabrina asks, walking up to us, munching on her hamburger.

"That guy over there, Ponyboy. Do you know him?" Audrey asks her. Sabrina shakes her head.

"No, but I think we're about to," she says with a smile.

"Hey," Liam says once he gets to us.

"Hey," I respond nervously.

"This is Ponyboy, Liv. Ponyboy, this is Olivia," He introduces.

"Hi," Ponyboy mumbles, sticking his hand out politely. I take it, and he gives me a quick but firm handshake.

"Hi," I say quietly. After a moment of awkward silence, Sabrina saves the conversation.

"Hi Ponyboy. I'm Sabrina, and these are Audrey, Alana and Claire," Sabrina introduces.

"Nice to meet you," he says to them. I take it all in, his green-grey eyes, the blonde hair that although extremely fake, somehow suits him well, the over abundance of hair grease, everything about him.

"Ponyboy, I don't mean to sound creepy, but you look kind of familiar," Sabrina says, breaking me out of my thoughts. Familiar, that's it! That must be why I find this boy so interesting! I stare at him for a moment, trying to place where I've seen him. Movie actor? No. Has he been on a TV show? Uh-uh. Maybe he's a singer? No, his voice is too raspy for that...

"You're right," Claire says, turning her head to look at him sideways, "He kind of does." I nod in agreement, and suddenly I know exactly where I've seen this kid. "Delinquent youths turn hero." He and his two friends Johnny and... Dallas maybe, saved those Kindergarteners from that fire.

"I know where I've seen him," I say, very quietly, unsure as to whether or not to say it. He looks intently at me, probably wondering if I actually knew, so I figured that gave me permission to say it.

"You're the hero who saved all of those kids from the church... With your friend, right?" I ask him. His response is a plain and simple nod, but a smile perks up on his face after a moment.

"I remember that! Last I saw, your friend was in the hospital. How's he doing?" Audrey asks, smiling and hoping he'd been okay. My stomach sinks, I remember that story: he passed away. The faltering smile on Ponyboy's face says it all, and I almost want to hug him... Until I remember that I just met him.

"He... He passed away," Ponyboy mumbles.

"That's so sad," I say quietly, silently mourning the loss of a boy I didn't even know.

"I'm so sorry, Ponyboy. That must have been awful," Sabrina says, a solemn look on her face.

"It's fine, guys. I'm over it now... But thanks," Ponyboy says, but I can tell that that's not true by the sad look in his eyes, even as he tries to look optimistic.

"Really? I don't think I could get over something like that so quickly. Or even at all," I tell him, almost like I'm giving him permission to be sad. He doesn't say anything, doesn't even react. I look over to Liam, hoping he'll save me. Which luckily, he does.

"Ponyboy, why don't we go talk to some other guys from our bunk?" He suggests. Ponyboy just nods and follows him. As soon as they're gone, our "gossip session" starts.

"So?" Claire asks excitedly, "What did you think of him?"

"He seems interesting. I want to get to know him more. What did you think?" I ask her. She shrugs.

"I dunno. He's different.... I probably wouldn't have gone in to save those kids," she admits, "I would have been way too scared." Audrey nods in agreement, although I think they both would have if they were in the situation.

"Me too," She says.

"I think I would have," Alana says quietly. We look to Sabrina, who hadn't given her opinion yet.

"I think that takes a lot of character, to do something like that at the risk of your own life. I bet he never thought ahead at the consequences, that he could have died, he just wanted to make sure the children were alright. I think that's amazing. I couldn't say if I would do it myself, honestly, I think I'd have to be put in the situation, but I'd like to get to know him too, Olivia," Sabrina tells us.

"I guess we'll all do it together then," I say with a smile, not answering the question at hand. The question of "Are we as brave as Ponyboy?" Would I do it? Would I have saved the kids? Obviously, I wouldn't have just stood there and watched them burn, but would I have been to scared to actually go in?

"Cool. But remember girls, he's Olivia's," Claire jokes, breaking me out of my thoughts and making me blush.

"I don't even know if he likes me. I don't even know if I like him! I just met him," I say. She looks back and forth between me and Ponyboy, on the other side of the camp.

"Maybe you just need to get to know him more. I bet you guys would be the world's cutest couple," she tells me.

"Thanks," I respond.

"Olivia, how do you not know if you like him yet? Isn't that why you wanted to know more about him?" Audrey asks me. I shrug.

"I don't know... I thought he looked interesting, and then Liam said he was asking about me on the bus. I was curious," I respond. Curious and unsure of my feelings. All I know right now is that I do like him.

"Do you think he'll ask you to the dance at the end of the summer?" Alana asks me.

"I mean... I just met him," I respond. Before I can decide something like that, I'll have to get to know him more. I still know almost nothing about him!

A/N: Kind of a filler because I don't want to rush the story... I think Olivia's confusion is important though because Ponyboy's is so convinced that he's in love.

So I have a question for you wonderful readers: Would you have saved the children? Like Sabrina and Olivia, I myself couldn't answer that question. Like Olivia said, I wouldn't have stood there and watched them die, but I think to really find out, I would have to be in the situation. I might be too scared, or I might go in... I'm not sure. I want to hear your opinion though! -Katy