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Chapter 1
Ponyboy is a member of the Greasers who is leaving a movie theater when a group of Socs jumps him. His older brothers Darry, Sodapop and several members of their gang rescue him. -
Chapter 2
Ponyboy, his friends Dally and Johnny meet Cherry Valance and Marcia at a drive-in movie theatre. Ponyboy realizes that Cherry is nothing like the Socs he has met before. -
Chapter 3
Bob and Randy see them and think the boys are trying to pick up their girlfriends. Cherry and Marcia prevent a fight by leaving with Bob and Randy willingly. Because of it, Ponyboy comes home very late, Darry gets angry and hits him. Ponyboy runs away and meets up with Johnny outside. -
Chapter 4
As they wander around the neighborhood, five members of Socs confront them. After the Socs nearly drown Ponyboy in a fountain, a terrified Johnny stabs Bob, accidentally killing him by using a knife. The rest escape when they find Bob's death. -
Chapter 5
Both of them are scared. Ponyboy and Johnny find Dally, who gives them money and a loaded gun and tells them to hide in an abandoned church. They stay there for a few days, during which time Ponyboy reads Gone with the Wind to Johnny and recites the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost. When they are living in the abandoned church, they have a fun here. -
Chapter 6
When Dally comes to get them, he reveals that the fights between the rival groups have exploded in intensity. Now they know that Police is catching them because of Bob’s dead. Johnny decides to turn himself in, but the boys then notice that the church is on fire and several children are in the church. When Johnny and Ponyboy rush to save their lives, burning timber falls on Johnny, breaking his back. Dally finds injured Johnny and rescues him. -
Chapter 7
Two-Bit, informs Ponyboy that he and Johnny have been declared heroes for rescuing the kids, but Johnny will be charged with manslaughter for Bob's death. -
Chapter8
Randy and some members in the Socs find Ponyboy and have a communication with him. He says that the Greasers and Socs have agreed to settle their turf war with a major rumble. -
Chapter 9
On a rainy night, The Greasers fight with the Socs and beat them at the end. After the fighting, Dally and Ponyboy visit Johnny and talk the good news to him. However, Johnny is nearly dead. Listening to them, he says “Stay gold, stay gold” and then die. -
Chapter 10
Johnny has been dead. Dally rushes out of the hospital and robs a store with an empty gun. When he points it at the police, they shoot and kill him. Ponyboy faints and stays sick for a week. While recovering, he tries to convince himself that Johnny is not dead and that he is the one who killed Bob. -
Chapter 11
When Ponyboy goes back to school, his teacher says he will pass him if he writes a decent theme. In the copy of Gone with the Wind that Johnny gave him before dying, Ponyboy finds a note from Johnny describing how he will die proudly after saving the kids from the fire. -
Chapter 12
Johnny also urges Ponyboy to "stay gold". Ponyboy decides to write his English assignment about the recent events, and begins his essay with the opening line of the novel: "When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind:Paul Newman and a ride home..."