The Outsider Future: Life After the Experience

Chapter 16

KAT
2 months passed as Mack stayed in the hospital for rehabilitation. It was a depressing two months because the gang wasn't together anymore. Nobody had a clue where Darry was. The last time I had seen him after Mack's accident was one night after seeing her in the hospital. I walked into the house to find Darry packing up his stuff. "Hey," I said. He didn't say a word to me as he was packing. "Where are you going?" I asked. "Well, I'm going to college just like I said I would," he replied. "Darry, you can't be serious! I haven't seen you in months and you're just going to pack up and leave without saying goodbye?" "No," he replied walking closer to the door. "I am saying goodbye. Goodbye." He walked out the door and jumped in his old pickup truck heading for college. It got me thinking about how I needed to go to college. With Mack in rehab, though, and us being broke, I knew I wouldn't be able to afford it. For now, I would have to find a job and ask for help from Two-Bit to take care of Mack and I. It was such a sad thing how life had turned out the exact opposite from how I had wanted it. Two years ago, I would have never seen myself broke with a sister in rehab and no parents with me to support all of this. Two-Bit stayed at home with his mother even though he was old enough to be in college now. He was working a job at Dairy Queen every day of the week just so he could support his mother and us. Steve didn't talk to us for those two months. We all just separated, which made everyone sad and lonely. It was as if everything that had happened in the past few months had broken us all apart. What we didn't know, though, is that we were about to experience something that would bring us all back together again.
It all started when I was at the hospital with Mack. I was watching tv with her in the hospital room as she flipped from channel to channel. Suddenly, the door to the room opened and out stepped the doctor for about the tenth time that day. "Miss McHolden, someone is here to see you," he said. Out from behind the doctor stood none other than Ponyboy Curtis. "Hey Mack," he said softly. "Pony!" she screamed, tears of joy running down her face. She almost got out of bed when the doctor scolded her. "Let him come to you," the doctor said. Mack nodded and obeyed as Ponyboy came by her bedside. Don't get me wrong, I love Ponyboy like a brother and everything, but I only had one question for him. "Where's-" I started to say. Ponyboy cut me off. "Sodapop?" he said. "Waiting for you at home." I jumped up and down and checked with Mack to make sure it was okay to leave. When she said yes I ran outside the hospital and jumped in the car. I was so happy to finally see my one and only true love. Little did I know, that this wasn't going to be a perfect reunion.
I rolled up to the Curtis house only to find two boys rolling around on the grass and punching each other. "Hey!" I yelled. "What the?!" "Soda! Stop!" I screamed getting out of the car and running to their side. I pulled them both apart and hugged Sodapop. "I can't believe you're back! But, what the heck are you doing?!" I questioned. "Who is he?!" Soda shouted. "Ummm..." I stuttered. I looked at the boy that Soda had been fighting and it was none other than Wes. 'Uh oh', I thought. 'This definitely wasn't the reunion I was expecting."