One of Them

I lived in the same neighborhood as the Curtis family. I met Ponyboy at school, though, and becoming friends, I ended up at his house sometimes. I got to be real close with him and his family. After a while, the boys were like brothers to me, and their mom and dad took better care of me than my folks did.

Then my parents abandoned me. They just up and left. And I was forced to wander the streets for a couple days, unsure what to do.

"Hey y/n, are you okay?" Ponyboy asked, coming up to me. I shook my head.

Soda ran to catch up with his brother. "Y/n, what happened?"

Now that he was straight up asking what had happened, I kinda had to tell the truth. "My folks abandoned me," I said quietly.

The two of them looked shocked. "How long've you been out here?" Sodapop asked.

"A couple days," I said.

Pony and Soda looked at each other. "You're comin' home with us then," Pony said, Soda nodding beside him.

Walking into the Curtis house, Mrs. Curtis came walking out of the kitchen. Her jaw nearly dropped when she saw me.

"When was the last time you ate a full meal?" she asked.

I shrugged. "The last time I had dinner here."

"But that was last week," Mrs. Curtis said. "Dinner's nearly ready. Why don't you stay and eat?"

Before I could answer, Soda cut in, "She's stayin' for more than dinner."

Ponyboy poked his head into the room. "Her parents abandoned her."

I could hear Sodapop whisper to Ponyboy, "Keep your mouth shut."

Mrs. Curtis wrapped me into a big hug. Ponyboy, Soda, and Darry, who'd been in the other room, joined in.

Mr. and Mrs. Curtis had taken the place of my parents, and I was like the daughter they never had, until they got in a car wreck.

To have to lose parents again was just heart-rending. But I still lived in the Curtis house after that, staying in the spare bedroom.

Ponyboy had been gone a long time. I mean, he was only supposed to be out till midnight, which it was well past, and I didn't think a drive-in movie or two would last this long.

Darry and Soda had gotten home from work hours ago, but Pony still hadn't come back. I wanted to make sure he was okay, so I sat at the kitchen table doing homework. The fear of losing another person close to me would've kept me awake, anyway.

Sodapop had fallen asleep on the couch, and Darry was reading the newspaper. He got up and came into the kitchen to make some coffee, and saw me still awake.

"Y/n, why are you still awake?" he asked.

"I can't sleep until I know Ponyboy's alright."

Darry hesitated. "I'm sure he's fine, y/n, but it's one thirty in the morning. You should go to bed."

"Darry..."

He gave me a look, and I resigned. "Okay, okay. I'll turn in for the night."

I walked into my room, and slipped into a pair of sweats and an oversized T-shirt. I turned off the light as I climbed into bed.

Yelling in the other room woke me up. "Where the heck have you been? Do you know what time it is? Well, it's two in the morning, kiddo. Another hour and I would have had the police out after you. Where were you, Ponyboy? Where in the almighty universe were you?" Darry hollered. I was used to hearin' Darry shout at Ponyboy, but it was never anything like this.