Chapter 3: 💥|TWO|💥

THEY HAD ME down in just a second, one holding my arms above my head, two others holding each of my legs while the Soc who I spit at had his knee pressed into my chest. His hand tangled in my hair, pulling at my roots hard enough that my head started to ache.

I swore at him through breaths of air, kicking all my limbs, trying my hardest to get free. All that did was get me punched in the face a few times, each hit harder than the last. I could taste the blood in my mouth. What made my heart drop was when I heard Ponyboy scream my name. I look over to see him on the ground on his stomach, a Soc holding Ponyboy's hands behind him, the Soc's knee pressed into Ponyboy's back so he couldn't move while the other held his reddish brown hair roughly, a knife pressed to his throat.

"Let him go!" I bellow struggling against the hands restraining me again, another punch lands on my face before a handkerchief is shoved into my mouth, muffling my yells.

"How'd you like that haircut to begin just below the chin?" The Soc holding the knife to Ponyboy's throat hums, his eyes on Ponyboy. I tried fighting more but my body wouldn't do it, physically too tired to go on.

Ponyboy freaks out as he wiggles around, screaming for Darry and Sodapop. I felt powerless. I watched as the Soc behind Ponyboy slapped his hand over Ponyboy's mouth. Ponyboy bites down hard enough for the Soc to move his hand and scream as Ponyboy starts yelling our brothers' names again. "Shut him up for Pete's sake! Shut him up!" The Soc above me barks.

A handkerchief is stuffed in Ponyboy's mouth, muffling his yells. The Soc above me gets close to my face, his eyes roaming my face as he licks his lips. "You know, you're not too bad of a lookin' broad for a greaser." He whispers with a sick smile.

My eyes harden and he loses his grip on my hair for just a second. That was all I needed to pick my head up and hit him with my head. He lets out a snarl as he grabs his nose with his free hand. "You stupid skank!" He snarls. He picks my head up and slams it down on the hard concrete, punching me again. It felt like gunshots were going off in my head as my vision blurred.

I heard shouts and the pounding of feet against concrete before the weight of the Soc and the bruising grip of the Socs holding me down disappeared.

"Angela? Angela, are you alright?" I felt someone grab me from my underarms and yank me up. I was dizzier on my feet causing me to cling to whoever pulled me up.

I blink once. Twice. Then my vision clears and I see the concerned eyes of my twin brother. "They did you a good one, huh, Angie," Soda says.

I don't respond, turning my head and spitting out the blood that was in my mouth, the crimson color painting the concrete.

My eyes wander to my oldest and youngest brothers. Ponyboy had a cut on the side of his head and I stumbled over to him, pulling him into a hug "Are you okay, Pony?" I ask him, leaning most of my body weight on him. I did this because my legs wouldn't support all of my body weight not to be funny like last time.

"I'm fine." He assures me, I pull away and search his eyes, and I can see he isn't fine at all. He was scared and for good reason, he was only 14. I frown and use the sleeve of my shirt to wipe away the blood from his head.

"Angela," I hear the stern voice of Darry and I huff. I move away from Ponyboy, Sodapop taking my place beside him. I stumble to Darry who had his muscular arms crossed over his broad chest, a scowl on his face. I lean against the wall making myself as tall as I could without getting more dizzy.

His hard face softens, only slightly, "What were you thinking, going out without a switchblade?" His voice stayed tougher than nails.

"I just forgot, things happen, the good thing is no one got seriously hurt." I try reasoning.

"No one got hurt?" He repeats, cocking his eyebrow "Pony has a cut on his face and you can't even stand without leaning on something. I'd say you guys got hurt."

"I said no one got seriously hurt. Everything's fine, Darrel." I grumble, he frowns as I say his full name.

I feel an arm swing around my shoulders "She's just a little crazy, Darry." Sodapop grins.

"All three of you are nuts." Darry remarks.

"It seems to run in this family," Sodapop responds with a raised eyebrow and a grin.

A small grin breaks onto Darry's face. Sodapop was the only one who dared tease Darry since he was the only one who could get away with it.

Our gang comes running back from chasing the Socs' car and throwing rocks at it. Four lean, tough-looking, greasey-haired men.

Steve Randall is 17, he's tall and lean, with thick greasy hair that he kept in messy curls. He's been Sodapop's best friend since elementary. He was the best with cars, he knew a car better than he did the back of his hand. I knew he saw Ponyboy as a kid and he didn't like him because of that so I tried to keep my distance from him.

Two-Bit Mathews is the oldest of us all. He's around 6 feet tall, has a stocky build, and is very proud of his long rust-colored sideburns. His eyes are gray and he's got the kind of smile that brightens your mood no matter how sad you are. He couldn't stop making funny remarks even if his life depended on it, he was a yapper. Life was a giant joke to him and he was famous for his shoplifting skills and his black-handled switchblade, that he had stolen.

Johnny Cade is the youngest of the group, next to Ponyboy at just 16. He was smaller than the rest of the gang with a slight build. Johnny has big black eyes with a very tanned face. His hair is jet black and heavily greased and combed at the sides with shaggy bangs across his forehead. He reminded me of a puppy that had been kicked too many times with nervous eyes that were always watching, waiting. His father was always beating on him and his mother neglected him unless she was angry then you would hear her yell at him from down the street. He would've skipped town by now had it not been for our gang.

The last of us was Dallas Winston, Dally for short. There wasn't much to say about him except that he was the worst of us all. He is tougher, colder, and meaner. His first time in the cooler was when he was just 10 years old. He has chocolate brown eyes that make you feel naked if he stares at long and dark locks that fall over his forehead and neck. He is the wildest boy I've ever met and he's only 17. High cheekbones, a pointed chin, and small sharp teeth with plump lips. He was the most attractive man I'd ever met, but I would never tell him that. His ego was boosted enough by all the female attention he gets.

"Did ya catch 'em?" Ponyboy questions, pulling my thoughts and eyes away from Dallas Winston and his lush lips.

"Nope. They got away this time, the dirty..." Two-Bit starts calling the Socs every name in the book of insults.

I zoned out, only zoning back in when I felt a light finger on my chin "Now which one of those Socs did this, Darlin'?" Dally questions in a low rumble.

I look up at him through my lashes and smack his hand lightly "That's none of your concern, Dallas." I hum back "Now tell me, how did you weasel your way out of the cooler this time?" I question. He was supposed to be in jail for another few months.

Dally's lip twitches up and he leans back on his heels pulling a cigarette from his jacket pocket and lighting it. "You haven't changed one bit, Darlin'." I roll my eyes at the nickname, he refused to call me anything else ever since he was 14 years old. "And I got out for good behavior."

I raised my eyebrow at his answer and he noticed "What? Don't believe me?" He questions, blowing his cigarette smoke in my face.

"It's hard to believe when you're the opposite of good," I reply.

"I may not be good but I can sure make a broad feel good." He answers in a low rumble beside my ear, the hair on the back of my neck stands up and I glance over at our gang that was paying no attention to us.

"I have high doubts of that, Dallas." I hum, though I was lying and I think he knew that too. His lips twitch up in a suggestive grin.

"How would you know if you'd never given me the chance?" He husks, his eyes roaming over me in a way that makes my body tingle.

I look him up and down "Men like you don't know the difference between a mouth and a pussy, as long as your dick is jammed in one or the other you're happy." I hum as I pluck his cigarette from his fingers and take a long drag before blowing it in his face and strutting away, his cigarette between my fingers.

"I'm gonna head on home, start dinner," I announce my eyes on Darry who takes a drag of his cigarette and nods.

I turn to walk away when I hear Two-Bit holler my name. I turn to face him "Try not to get jumped this time." He winks teasingly.

I chuckle, flipping him off before turning towards the street, and jogging the rest of the way home.

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭-𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠.