*Ponyboy Online*

Ponyboy looked over the cover of the book. he put it back on the টেবিল and asked me, "is that supposed to be ME?" he was reffering to the face on the the cover, the one on শীর্ষ of all the others; the largest.

"i guess so. i dont really know. i never thought about it, Ponyboy," i said. he looked at me and smiled. i dont know why. he didnt really have any reason to smile. and ya know what? he had a real nice smile. it just made me wanna jump up and down and giggle and grin. he had the same girl-stopping smile that i imagined his older brother Sodapop to have. it was cute and sweet and adorable.

"so," he started. "do আপনি have ANY idea how we coulda gotten here, in..."

"you and your বন্ধু are in the বছর 2012," i said. "and i really dont know how. i'll have to think about it." Ponyboy's eyes nearly looked like they were gonna fall outta his head.

"2012?!" he exclaimed. people stared at us. i looked at him and put my finger in front of my closed mouth. he grinned sheepishly.

"golly, and i thought আপনি were supposed to be a QUIET sorta guy, Pony," i said, and then i smiled. then he said, "thats 44 years after the time we came from!" i looked at him, alittle confused.

"i thought it was 46. didnt আপনি come from 1966?" i asked. he shook his head.

"no. we came from 1968, two years after i wrote that paper. maybe thats why আপনি think its '66. the...'book' took place in '66 but we came from '68. make any sense?" i nodded. i guess it did.

"so youre 16?" i asked him. but he shook his head again.

"im 15 going on 16. i'll be 16 পরবর্তি month." i knew that. i knew when his birthday was. it was July 22. "how old are you?"

"i'm 14 going on 15. my birthdays in August. and isnt your birthday July 22, Pony?" he looked at me...a little creeped out but also pleased.

"yeah," he said. "howd আপনি know that?" i sighed and stood up. i walked over to him and took his hand.

"come on, Pony. youre going to my house. theres loads i need to প্রদর্শনী আপনি online." i hurried him and we walked the long walk to my house.

"what about Dally and Johnny?" he asked.

"we'll get them later," i said. and then i was off in an almost-run.



i walked into my house, thank God no one was home, and plopped down on my computer in the living room. Ponyboy stood পরবর্তি me and watched as i quickly typed things in on Internet Explorer. i went to one website that was all about him. "see?" i said. he stared at it, almost wide-eyed.

"whos that?" he asked, pointing at the picture of a boy in the middle of the screen.

"thats C. Thomas, i call him Tommy, Howell. they boy sitting পরবর্তি to him is Ralph Macchio. Tommy portrayed আপনি in the Outsiders movie and Ralph portrayed Johnny. since people have no pictures of আপনি and your বন্ধু cause আপনি werent real people, অথবা so we thought, they use the actors pictures for things instead," i said. Ponyboy stared at Tommy Howell curiously.

"well, Tommy looks an awful lot like me," he said. i looked up at Ponyboy and stared at him. he looked down at me.

"hm," i said, looking him over. "he kinda does, i guess. thats good. that means they got a good actor."

"i guess," he said. "now, is this all info about ME?" i nodded.

"yup. your birthday, your interests, your hobbies, আপনি appearence, etc. and"--i moved the মাউস so on the screen is was দ্বারা the left hand column--"if আপনি click on your friend's names they প্রদর্শনী up with the same things." he looked at it and said, "hey, theres Cherry's name." i looked down. ew. Cherry. gross. Cherry. that faker, Cherry. i didnt hate her but i didnt like her. i didnt like any girls that were possible প্রণয় interets for Ponyboy. they didnt exsist in my world.

"whats wrong?" he asked me. i looked up and put on a fake smile.

"oh, nothing, Pony. dont worry about it. now"--i exited outta that site and went to one called Fanpop. i typed in "the outsiders" into the খুঁজুন bar in the শীর্ষ right hand corner and waited for the club to pop up--"here is another site. this is all about the book and movie." i got up off my computer chair and motioned for him to sit down. he quickly did and used the মাউস to scroll down. there was pictures and প্রবন্ধ and লিঙ্ক and চলচ্ছবি and ক্যুইজ and a দেওয়াল that অনুরাগী could write on. Ponyboy stared in amazment. then he scrolled back to the very শীর্ষ of the screen and looked in the শীর্ষ left hand corner. i think i knew what he was looking at and i immediatley thought, uh-oh.

"whos PonygirlCurtis7?" he asked me. then he looked up and raised his eyebrows. i blushed.

"oh," i ব্যক্ত nervously. "thats just a silly username/screename. everyone on this site has to have one if আপনি want to be a part of clubs."

"is this YOUR username?" a small smile played across his lips. i blushed even more.

"yes," i ব্যক্ত quietly. he moved the মাউস so he could click on the word পরবর্তি to my ব্যবহারকারী নাম that ব্যক্ত "profile." i wish he wouldnt have done that. my পরিলেখ page popped up and he saw my নবীকৃত তথ্য and pictures and সংগঠন and my wall.

"you are from Tulsa and your name is...Ponygirl Curtis?" he asked. my face was going to burst into flames. literally. i was really embarrassed. he scrolled down some more. then clicked on "more wall" so he could view my entire দেওয়াল and looked at the very very bottom; the very first thing i put on my wall. it said, "i প্রণয় Ponyboy...i just had to say that..." i quickly গাউন the মাউস and scrolled back up.

"alright, Ponyboy, youve had your fun. thats enough," i ব্যক্ত nervously. but he put his hand on mine to stop me fron exiting out. it felt really nice. i was about to প্রশ্ন him when i noticed what he was looking at.

"'Stay Gold. Its a good way to be...'" he quoted. he was looking at my motto.

"oh," i started. "thats my motto. আপনি know what i mean দ্বারা that, right?" but টাট্টু shook his head. then i thought, wait a minute...

"oh, thats right!" i said. "Johnny never died so he never told আপনি to stay gold." Ponyboy looked at me questioningly. i smiled. then i said, "youre gonna have to read the book, Ponyboy. it'll make আরো sense once আপনি do."