Where Are You Ponyboy? (The Ousiders fanfic)

Day 1

When I woke up, I knew something was off, but wasn't sure what. I was lying on the couch, cold and shivering. Then I realized that I wasn't in bed sleeping next to Ponyboy. I sat upright and began to frantically pace around the house. The only thought running through my head was, Did Pony come home? Did Pony come home? Did he? Did he? 

Darry who must have been woken up from my noise, walked out looking more tired than I have ever seen him. Did he stay awake the whole night? 

"Have you seen Ponyboy?" I asked. Inside, I was silently praying that Pony had come home.

Darry gave me a guilty look. "No."

I began shaking, even though I told myself over and over that Ponyboy was okay. He probably spent the night at Two-Bit's house or something.

Noticing how scatterbrained I was, Darry pulled me into a hug and held me warmly. I was too shook to hug him back, but just stood there melting into the warmth and comfort. Suddenly it felt wrong. Ponyboy should be here. He should be with us.

"Darry, we gotta find the gang. They have to know where Ponyboy is." It was so cold out that Ponyboy wouldn't have fallen asleep outdoors.

Darry grabbed his jacket and as we ran out the door, I looked at the time. It was already 8 a.m. Jee, sure good that we don't have any work today, I thought. It was Saturday.

As we ran to where Steve lived, Two-Bit caught up with us. "Hey, Dally told me that you were looking for Ponyboy."

"Yeah. Have you seen him?"

"Not since the movie."

I repeated what Two-Bit had said in my head a few times, then asked, "You talked to Dally?"

"Yup. He was waiting for me outside of my house." Two-Bit looked like he was getting over a hangover, which was very possible.

"Where's Dally now?" Darry asked. By then, we had arrived at Steve's house.

"He ran off."

Steve jogged down the steps of his porch and over to where we were standing. "What's going on?"

"Ponyboy is missing."

Steve frowned. "What happened?"

I told him about how Pony had come home late and Darry hit him and how he had run away. Everyone listened patiently as I explained how we had run around, trying to find him.

"So Johnny is missing too?" Steve asked.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Is Johnny missing too? You said you went to the lot and neither Ponyboy or Johnny were there." 

Then it suddenly occured to me that Pony wasn't the only one missing. "Johnny might have gone home," I suggested, yet I knew it was a foolish guess. Johnny would be the first person that Ponyboy would go to if he needed help.

"I don't think so," Two-Bit chimed in. "Before I left the kids at Johnny's house, I heard Johnny say that he was going to sleep at the lot. His parents were going at it again with the fighting."

A sudden heaviness sank over us. Johnny didn't deserve parents like his. He was too sweet and shy, just like Ponyboy. 

"What if somone stole them?" I suggested.

Darry look at me with terror. "What?"

"You know, what if someone stole them - kidnapped them?"

Two-Bit and Steve both swore under their breath. I bit my lip, wishing it was all a dream.

"We should split up and head around town to see if they are anywhere around? Maybe they dropped off on a street or something," Darry said. It wasn't hard to hear a small quiver in his voice. "Let's meet up at noon at the park."

We all nodded and split up. Steve came with me and Darry and Two-Bit went in two directions. As we walked, I began checking off places where Pony couldn't be. He wouldn't go anywhere near the West side. He wouldn't have gone back to Buck's place again.

For a while, we wandered silently. I wish I knew what Steve was thinking. I mean, yeah we are best friends, but sometimes it is just hard to read him. But I knew that he was thinking really hard if you couldn't read his emotions. 

I was finally beginning to get bored. Ponyboy was obviously not around, which made my nerves jump and whizz. 

Suddenly, Steve asked the question I didn't even want to think about. "Do you think that Ponyboy ran away?"

"No!" I almost shouted. I was shaking. "He... he couldn't. I don't know what I would do if he was gone. He is going to come back. I am telling you! He has to!"

I sat down on the curb and hid my face in my hands. I could feel warm tears leaking down my cheeks.

Steve sat next to me. "Hey! Soda, it's going to be alright. Pony is going to be alright." He put his arm around me. "Ponyboy will come home," then his hissed under his breath, "Where are you Ponyboy?"

After a while on sitting on the curb, we headed to the park. As we rounded the corner, we could see red and blue flashing lights by the park. There were some policemen who were taping a section of the park off.

I looked at Steve. My mind was running crazy with possibilities to why the fuzz was at the park, yet it wasn't what I expected. We ran forward, praying that we didn't see one of the gang sitting in handcuffs. As we approached, I took everything in at once. 

There was a young man lying by a fountain in a large pool of blood. When I got a better look, I noticed that he was a boy about my age and he was wearing a bloodstained madras shirt. The hair on the back of my neck rose and one word came to mind: Soc. 

Darry and Twobit were by my side in a minute. A policeman spotted us and asked, "Can I help you boys?"

Darry spoke first, "What happened?"

"The kid was killed during the night. There is a deep stab wound in his side," the policeman replied. Then he was pulled over by his boss or something and left us alone.

"Hold on," Two-Bit said, "That's the soc who tried to start a fight last night."

"What?" Steve asked.

"Me, Pony, and Johnny were walking his girl and her friend home from the Nightly Double. He didn't like it and wanted to start a fight. That broad, though, stopped us as quick as we started. That guy sure was drunk."

My mind was whirling so fast that I had sit down for a second. Pony's shirt that I had found last night was soaked like it he had taken a shower or something. Johnny always carried a blade. This Soc was drunk and was looking for trouble. The murder was right next to a fountain. I felt like I could see the whole thing taking place before my eyes:

This Soc was probably with some friend and they jumped Ponyboy and Johnny. They probably fell into the fountain or something while fighting and Johnny used his knife for self defence. 

I still wasn't totally sure, but it sounded about right. 

"Guys..." I said softly. "I- I think Johnny killed the Soc."

Hi!

Sorry about the cliff hanger! This chapter was running really long and this seemed like a good place to stop. I bet you can guess what happens in the next chapter (which will be a part two of this one).

Thank you for reading! ~J