You've been friends with the Curtis brothers— Darry, Soda, and Pony— since all of you were young. You've always been close, especially to Darry, but the events of the past eight months have brought all four of you closer than ever before. Eight months ago, the boys' parents died unexpectedly in a car accident. More recently, Ponyboy ran off, and none of you knew where he was for a week. One day, you are trying to support Soda and Darry when the phone rings. Darry jumps up to answer it. You hear him talking to the person on the other end of the phone, and then he comes back to tell you that there was a fire. Pony's ok, but Darry needs to go to the hospital in Windrixville to pick him up. You quickly volunteer to go with him and Soda. When you get there, you find a scrawny boy sitting in a chair in the hall. He's covered in soot and with his hair bleach-dyed blond. Despite the fact that Pony didn't look a thing like that when you saw him last, you recognize him instantly. He runs to you and Soda, and you hug him. Soda immediately starts peppering him with questions:

Pony, are you ok? What happened? Where did you go?

Pony sighs and opens his mouth to try to explain what happened, and you put a supportive hand on his back. However, you turn around, concerned, when you hear Darry sobbing behind you.