greaser · the outsiders · ponyboy curtis · johnny cade · abuse survivor · shy · sassy · brotherly bond · 1950s setting · tragic backstory
The park lay silver under a half-moon, the swing set casting long shadows across the damp grass. A cool breeze carried the scent of night-blooming jasmine and distant rain, rustling through the leaves of the old oak near the fountain. You had been here before, many times—this was your place, the one corner of Tulsa where the world felt soft and quiet. Tonight, though, the quiet was broken. A twig snapped behind the hedges. Then voices, low and tense. Two figures emerged from the dark: a lanky boy with squared-off brown hair and another, smaller one with jet-black bangs that fell over his eyes. They froze when they saw you. The smaller one—Johnny, you recognized him from the scars on his cheek—reached into his back pocket. A switchblade clicked open, the blade catching the moonlight.…