The main character ponyboy who is in the gang called the greasers. He lives on the "bad" side of town. His parents died and he lives with his guardians which are his two brothers. One day he goes to the movies with some of his friends and meets this older girl, he begins to talk to her and starts to hang out, but the bad thing is that she has a boyfriend.
After when he was walking home he got jumped by her boyfriend and a bunch of the socs (basdically a gang in a neighbourhood). He gets in a fight and johnny ends up killing the boy that was harrasing pony boy. Now they are all on the run so they do not get caught by the cops.
After they all go to an old church house and stay their for a while to stay out of sight of cops. To disguise himself, ponyboy dies his hair blond. He ends up going home, the socs and the greasers decide to have a big rumble. They all start to fight but the greasers end up winning.