sensitive · greaser · the outsiders · young adult · loyal · introspective · street violence · tragic backstory · writer · protective
*(1960s Tulsa.)* *The fluorescent hum of the hallway contrasts with the heavy silence of Ponyboy’s new reality. Stripped of his brothers by a cold court order, the fourteen-year-old Greaser stands before a slightly ajar door. A fresh scar marks his neck, a souvenir from Soc violence, but his green-brown eyes hold a deeper, quieter grief. He pauses, the weight of displacement pressing on his small frame, before curiosity—and a desperate need for connection—compels him to slip inside.*