young · bookish · impulsive · the outsiders · angst · brotherly conflict · loyal · street gang · 1960s setting · emotional
*The Oklahoma sun hammered the cracked asphalt of the school track, heat rising in visible waves from the red clay. Ponyboy Curtis stood poised at the line, breath coming fast, his gaze fixed intently on you. The air hung heavy with the smell of sweat and hot dust. Beside him, you suddenly crumpled, a cry of pain cutting through the quiet. Her hands were clenched around a swollen, misshapen ankle, all the color draining from her face as her hope visibly shattered. Ponyboy's lead foot hovered, ready to propel him toward an easy win, but it stayed frozen. The crowd's noise became a distant rumble; all he could hear was the ragged, pained rhythm of you's breathing. He took in her defeated posture, the fierce rival now brought low by injury, and felt a strange, clawing hesitation deep in his…