The Outsider Future: Life After the Experience

Chapter 20

KAT

A few hours later after Soda and I "celebrated" our engagement, Mack and Ponyboy showed up. I can't explain to you how beautiful the reunion of Darry and Pony was. I really think that I have never seen Darry so happy. "Pony!" Darry screamed as they walked into the door. Pony ran to Darry and hugged him crying and Soda joined in. "We're back," Pony said. After a while me and Mack joined in too. It was such a beautiful thing, and then in came Two-Bit and Steve too. They both joined in and we were all crying and hugging. Then, it was time to settle down and talk. We all sat down on the couch smiling as wide as ever. Then the stories came. We all started admitting things that we had never admitted to each other before. It was kind of like a fun game. I started off by talking about when Mack and I were Socs. I told about how I kissed Randy and while talking about, Sodapop made a grossed out face. "Ew!" he exclaimed. "Wait, he wasn't good was he?" I remember thinking that kissing Randy was nice, but he wasn't as nearly good as Sodapop. "Nope," I replied. "Nothing compared to my Soda." We kissed and Mack moved on to herself. "Okay," she began. "When we decided to be Socs, I went to a sleepover at Cherry Valance's house. She kept hanging the greaser thing over my head, and I snapped. You guys wanna know what I did?" "What?" Pony said laughing. "Well, I asked her about her boyfriend, assuming that she had one, when I knew she was messing around with you. Then, when she told me to get out of her house because I almost told she was with you, I gave her red lipstick and told her she would probably need to cover up her greasy lips." Everybody laughed and Two-Bit and Steve clinked beers. "That's probably the most awesome thing you've ever done," Pony exclaimed. She giggled and we went on to Darry. "Okay," he started. "One night when Mack had her accident, I went to a party and got extremely drunk and I had a bad headache. Then, I went outside and threw up, and that's what was happening when Kat called me. Turns out I took my headache pills with me, the only other pills I had. If I would have left them at home, Mack could have taken those and the other pills and then she would have died." Everybody sat in shock. "Wow," Mack said. 'I'm lucky." We moved on to Two-Bit who told a story about this waitress he was hitting on at the Dairy Queen when he was working there. Steve told us a story about how he did nothing but sit at home and drink those two months after Mack's accident. One night, he got so drunk that he went to the Dingo and kissed a random girl. It turned to Sodapop and he began like this, "Okay," he said. "Remember that time that you guys came back the second time and I was with Sandy?" Everyone nodded. "Well," he contined, "I broke up with her by telling her I loved someone else, and then you know what she did?" We all shook our heads. "She told me she was cheating on me anyways with Tim Shepard!" he exclaimed. We all started laughing about how someone like Sandy would take TIm over Soda. Then, it was time for Ponyboy to talk, "So," he began. "I remember one night when me and Cherry were sneaking around, she told me about some girl who had embarrassed her at her sleepover. Now, I know who that girl was." We all giggled and kept talking for hours. This was the perfect night to spill the beans about everything. Soda and Kat told us that they were engaged and we all celebrated by drinking some beers and playing spin the bottle. We all just had a good time for the first time in a long time. As I looked around at everybody, I began to see a family. We were a gang once again, a family. FInally we were all back together permanently. Sure, we fought like a family, but we always stuck together and here we were proving that to ourselves. We're still a gang today. Even though we are all in different places and different points in our life, we are still a gang and we always will be. Forever we will continue to be a gang. So, I tell you who are reading this today that if you have friends, hold on to them. Friendship is a beautiful thing, and everyone should cherish it. So, remember you guys no matter how old you age, remember this story of friendship and keep it in your heart. Continue to shower your heart with compassion and kindness for others. Most importantly, remember, with everything within you remember, to always, no matter what, stay gold. And, though the tale is over, the journey will always continue, forever and ever.