chap. 444 :]]

RUEFULLY: causing sorrow or pitty
HERMIT: a person living in solitary habits
PREMONITION: a feeling of anticipation or anxiety; a forewarning

CONTINUATION FROM ch3:

Sydney had to tell her friends she was changing schools. They would have to know sometime, and they all knew that something was wrong, now was probably the most possibly appropriate time there was. She was going to tell them. But how? How could she make the words "I'm changing schools" come out of her shivering mouth. Sydney went into a daydream, thinking about her unpleasant future. "Maybe I can runaway and be a hermit from my now distant family. I can stay at Hoover and have no personal contact with my family what so ever. I'll go to Callie's house. Only for food. I'll be a loner. I'll be solitaire from the people that mean the most to me, but I'll get to stay with my friends." The thought of being distant from her lovable family made Sydney ruefully swallow the dreadful feeling out of her system. Jenny nudged Serena, her face lit up with the premonition of some juicy gossip about Sydney. Little did Jenny know that it wasn't gossip Sydney had on her mind. Sydney self-consciously looked down at her purple-painted nails. Examining them while resisting the temptation to bit them. "I'm...I'm changing schools," she said in a low cheerless voice. She felt her stomach drop. She had study hall next. Thank god. She might be able to get some sleep and sort out her thoughts.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Q1: What does Pony mean when he says the Socs were "reeling pickled" on page 54?
A1:
When Pony says the Socs were "reeling pickled" he means that the Socs were slowly staggering from drunkenness. Pickled is slang for drunk and reeling, used in this context means to lurch or sway as from being drunk. The Socs were still drunk, not able to stand up straight and not able to think properly. And that scared Pony.

Q2:What major event happened in this chapter?
A2:
I think that this was defiantly the most interesting and intense chapter so far. The major event of this chapter was when Johnny killed a Soc. They were drowning Pony and beating the two up. This had already happened to them both once before and Johnny was tired of it. He didn't want to take this. So he grabbed a knife from the back of his pocket and stabbed a Soc named Bob. He killed him. He murdered him. Johnny was a criminal. With the help of Dally, Pony and Johnny ran away and are now in hiding. This chapter was a major part of the rest of the novel.

Q3: How did the author foreshadow that Johnny would use his knife in chapter 2?
A3:
In chapter 2, the author foreshadowed that Johnny would use his knife because she says that if Johnny ever got jumped, he would use it. The Socs scared him so much that he was jumpier than ever. He tired to stay out of trouble as best as he could and always carried a knife. The first time he got jumped as so awful, that he wasn't going to let it happen again. If you were smart, you wouldn't jump Johnny, because he would kill you. And thats what he did with the Socs when they attacked them in chapter four.

Q4: What would your advice be to Johnny and Pony if they had came to you for help instead of Dally? Explain.
A4:
If Johnny and Pony came to me for help instead of Dally I probably wouldn't know what to say. I would be very stunned and have a hard time clearing my head of the many thoughts that would be racing through it. The right thing to do would be to confess to the cops, but I think that i would care way to much about Pony and Johnny to let them sit in a cell for the rest of their lives. I guess I would tell them to runaway. To hide from any Soc and any "fuzz." Although I might not ever get to see them again because there running away, I think the life they'd live then would be better than one in jail. I'd love them to much to let them stay in a cold horrible prison for the rest of their days. I really hope I never have to even think about giving that advice to anyone ever because I would feel pressured and insecure about what I tell them.