CONSCIOUS:

"I remembered Johnny- his face all cut up and bruised, and I remembered how he had cried when we found him, half-conscious, in the corner lot."

PERSPIRATION:

"I could feel my palms getting clammy and the perspiration running down my back."

SUFFOCATE:

"I could smell English Leather shaving lotion and stale tobacco, and I wondered foolishly if I would suffocate before they did anything."

SYMPATHETIC:

"His eyes are dark brown- lively, dancing, recklessly laughing eyes that can be gentle and sympathetic one moment and blazing with anger the next."

ACQUIRE:

"He was famous for shoplifting and his black-handled switchblade (which he couldn't have acquired without his first talent), and he was always smarting off to the cops."

UNFATHOMABLE:

"He liked fights, blondes, and for some unfathomable reason, school."

ORGANIZED:

"In New York, Dally blew off steam in gang fights, but here, organized gangs are rarities- there are just small bunches of friends who stick together, and the warfare is between the social classes."

SUSPICIOUS:

"He had a nervous, suspicious look in his eyes, and that beating he got from the Socs didn't help matters."

SURROUND:

"Lying beside Soda, staring at the wall, I kept remembering the faces of the Socs as they surrounded me, that blue madras shirt the blond was wearing, and I could still hear a thick voice: 'Need a haircut, greaser?'"

SAVVY:

"Listen, kiddo, when Darry hollers at you...he don't mean nothin'. He's just got more worries than somebody his age ought to. Don't take him serious...you dig, Pony? Don't let him bug you. He's really proud of you 'cause you're so brainy. It's just because you're the baby- I mean, he loves you a lot. Savvy?"

APPEAL:

"Two-Bit or Steve or even Soda would have gone right along with him, just to see if they could embarrass the girls, but that kind of kicks just doesn't appeal to me."

INCREDULOUS:

"She gave him an incredulous look; and then she threw her Coke in his face."

HESITATION:

"If it had been me, or Two-Bit, or Soda or Steve, or anyone but Johnny, Dally would have flattened him without a moment's hesitation."

REBELLIOUS:

"Living in those conditions might have turned someone else rebellious and bitter; it was killing Johnny."