Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters from The Outsiders, but some additional characters that may or may not come in the future would perhaps be under my reign.

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Pony

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There was this book called Sunsets sitting on top of my dresser, still untouched ever since it was placed there maybe three or four years ago. Johnny had gotten (bought, stolen, whatever) it for me for a birthday. Opening it, I had read the first page out loud to Soda, though I knew he could have cared less back then.

"Sunset, also called sundown in some American English dialects, is the time at which the Sun disappears below the horizon in the west. It should not be confused with dusk, which is the point at which darkness falls, some time after the beginning of twilight when the Sun itself sets. The red hues of the sky at sunset and sunrise are caused by—"

I had stopped reading at that point.

"Why'd you stop, Pon?" Soda asked, though it was obvious in his eyes that he was rejoicing that he wasn't going to be learning about the sun much longer. He never really liked to learn.

"Uh, I don' know. I'll read it later." I climbed out of bed and placed the book daintily on top of my dresser.

And there it had stayed for years to come. Why had I stopped? I guess because to me, the real deal about sunsets that none of the other guys saw was its awe-inspiring mystery, so to speak. Learning about all the technicalities would have probably ruined them for me—the sun would have lost its one magical secret.

So here I sit, a couple of years later, more or less the same person, fascinated by the sun, most notably its falling everyday. Well, maybe not the same person. Things had happened these past few months, things that I don't know if I'm ready to face, to accept just yet. Johnny was gone. Dally was gone. My hand instinctively reached for the remaining wisps of bleached hair swaying in front of my eyes. A little part of me was gone. Yeah, I guess I lied.

Sunsets meant so much more to me now, ever since that one I saw in Windrixville with Johnny. It sure was pretty. I think I mentioned it once afterwards and Steve called me a sissy. That's just Steve. No one understands that I now see a little bit of Johnny in every sunset. Soda tried to—he tried real hard and I appreciated it. I don't think anyone ever will be able to, though. Those sunsets… they just do something to me. They help me get by without having to accept the realities. They allow me to live.

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My face was warm and it felt nice in the chill afternoon breeze. Fiery shades of red and orange were flying through the sky, leaving trails of indigo and violet behind. The last rays of the day radiated, falling across the steps of the front porch where I sat quietly contemplating. It was a beautiful moment. The distant sphere in the sky glowed quietly as it continued its slow descent. The crimsons faded into fuchsias and the light danced its last goodbye as the world turned on its nightlight. The moon took reign of this side of the earth and let its brightness illuminate the night.

They seemed to go a lot faster these days.

"Hey Pony!" I heard a yell from down the street. Soda came running into view, his hands clasping down his DX cap ready to fly off and his work shirt unbuttoned, flapping behind him. I grinned, standing up and waving at the same time.

He halted to a stop as I was dusting off my pants, and gave me a short salute.

"Good evening, sir," he said, flashing that trademark grin of his. He draped his left arm around my shoulder, giving me a little push up the steps towards our open front door.

Today had been my last day of school; we were off for a two week break. Soda had decided to take off for a week or so from work so that we could hang. (Apparently Steve hadn't gotten the off time that he wanted when he had asked due to "misconduct" in the work place. Oh Steve…) Darry had actually suggested it, strangely enough, saying that we all needed a little break. We were good to go for a few weeks without having to worry about money problems. Hopefully, their jobs wouldn't leave them behind. That could be bad.

Stepping into the house, I noticed something cold sliding down the side of my arm.

"Aw, Soda, you're bleeding all over me." Soda pulled his arm off my shoulder and stared at the two inch cut along the side of his hand that he must have gotten at work. He smirked at me, wiping the blood off of my arm.

"I think it makes you look tuff."

Darry walked by, took a quick glance at us, and continued towards his room.

"Clean yourself up, Soda." His voice was still crystal clear coming from his bedroom.

"It's just a cut Dar. I'm actually diggin' the way it looks right now."

"Clean it up."

"But it's a tuff enough cut."

"Clean it up."

"But I thi—"

"SODA! Shut up and clean up. You got blood all over the place."

Fed up with trying to argue, Soda let out a sigh, blowing his golden, car-greased hair out of his face and walked towards the bathroom. He absent mindedly threw his hat on the ground and did a quick hair fix in the mirror.

"Where's that hydro-pox stuff you put on your cuts," he asked, rummaging through the medicine cabinet

"Hydrogen peroxide."

"Whatever."

"Top shelf to the left."

I heard a mumble "thanks" from the bathroom and then…

"Shoot! I left my pay check at the station," he yelled, hastily putting the peroxide back onto the shelf and running out of the bathroom. He ran past me, laughing and pushing me down onto the couch as the screen door banged shut.

Grumbling, I rolled onto the ground, got up and made my way to the bathroom. Soda always left things in a mess. I was kind of OCD about our medicine cabinet. I'm all types of odd.

My instincts had been correct. First-aid stuff had been knocked over and were randomly shuffled. The bottle of hydrogen peroxide was sitting dangerously close to the edge of the top shelf, its cap crooked, obviously not screwed on tight.

"Did someone just come in?" Darry shouted from the other side of my house.

"It's just Soda leav—"As I stuck my head out and turned, the traction under my feet abandoned me, accidentally catching onto the DX cap left on the ground. My legs went first, flying into a horizontal position as the rest of my body came crashing down towards the ceramic floor. My arms were flailing. My left hand grabbed for the counter, but only managed to crash against the medicine cabinet on its way. As my head cracked against the cold hard ground, I heard a crash from above me.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I could hear Darry yelling at me, but as my eyesight dimmed, an amber tinted fluid splashed violently onto my face. My eyes were suddenly on fire, burning with the most pain and intensity I had felt since Johnny and Dally had died. But that had been mental—this was physical, really physical, like thousands of knives stabbing at each square millimeter of my pupils.

All I could hear were the echoes of my screams.

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(Suspenseful blank)

Hey guys, I know that I just started my other story (Echo) and I'm still bent on definitely completing it, but I've kind of hit a rut and it doesn't seem like its interesting to most people. I know where I'm trying to get to, just not sure on how to get there and its not working for me at the moment. However, while I was in the middle of taking a nice shower, an idea hit me and I thought I'd try it out. Hopefully it hasn't been written about before, I don't remember reading anything of the sort, but if there is, then I hope mine doesn't become too similar to it.

I realize this chapter was light and all sorts of fluff, but if you're into the drama and angst it'll be coming. Trust me, it'll be coming. Good tidings dear readers. Don't forget to review! xD

Oh yea, the sunset bit at the beginning is copyright of wikipedia xD hah.

-J