The story begins with Ponyboy Curtis (Howell) writing a school report about his recent experiences growing up in 1965 Tulsa, Oklahoma. His friends, the Greasers, are a gang of tough, low-income middle-class teens. The gang includes 14-year-old Ponyboy and his two older brothers, Sodapop (Lowe) and Darrell "Darry" (Swayze), as well as Johnny (Macchio), Dallas "Dally" Winston (Dillon), Two-Bit Matthews (Estevez), and Steve Randle (Cruise). Their long-term rivalry is with the Socs, a gang of wealthier kids from the other side of town. Two Socs, Bob Sheldon (Garrett) and Randy Anderson (Dalton), confront Johnny, Ponyboy, and Two-Bit, who are strolling with and talking to the Socs' girlfriends, Cherry (Lane) and Marcia (Meyrink), after watching a movie at a drive-in theater. The girls defuse the situation by going back with the Socs.
Ponyboy and Johnny fall asleep in the parking lot where Ponyboy dreams of his deceased parents. Awakened by Johnny, he worriedly heads home fearing Darrel's frustration. As he fears, Darrel is angry with him for coming home late. Sodapop draws himself into the argument, resulting in Darrel hitting Ponyboy. Emotionally hurt by Darrel's assault, Ponyboy flees his home and finds Johnny. The two boys head to the park.
Ponyboy and Johnny are soon attacked in the park by Bob, Randy, and three other Socs. They kick Johnny to the ground and grab Ponyboy and attempt to drown him by dunking him in the park fountain, making him temporarily unconscious. When they attempt to drown Ponyboy, Johnny pulls out his switchblade and stabs Bob to death, while the other Socs quickly flee to the police. After regaining consciousness and learning what has happened, Ponyboy goes with Johnny in search of Dally's help.
On Dally's advice, and the fact that murderers in Oklahoma will be executed on the electric chair, Ponyboy and Johnny flee on a cargo train, and hide out in an abandoned church on Jay Mountain in Windrixville. Both boys cut their hair and Ponyboy bleaches his with peroxide in order to mask their descriptions. The boys pass the time playing poker, and Ponyboy reads Gone with the Wind and quotes the Robert Frost poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay". After a few days, Dally arrives with more food supply and a letter for Ponyboy from Soda. When driving them to a town to buy more food for takeout, he gives them the news that Cherry has offered to support the boys in court, that he told the police that Johnny and Pony were in Texas. Hearing this, Johnny decides to turn himself in, which Dally protests. They return to find the church on fire with school children on a field trip trapped inside. The three boys rescue the kids from the burning church, but as Johnny tries to get out, he gets hit by falling wood from above. Dally manages to put the fire out from the thick jacket from Ponyboy and manages to save Johnny just as the front of the church collapses. Ponyboy and Dally recover soon after. Johnny, on the other hand, ends up with a broken back and severe burns. Ponyboy is soon reunited with his brothers at the hospital. The boys are praised for their heroism, but Johnny is to be charged with manslaughter for killing Bob, while Ponyboy may be sent to a foster home.
Bob's death has sparked calls from the Socs for "a rumble," to which the Greasers agree. Both sides also agree to a temporary truce until the night it happens. Just before the night of the fight, Randy, one of the Socs, has a word with Ponyboy, briefly discussing the boys rescue of the children, Johnny's fate and the future of both gangs. The conversation ends with Randy thanking Ponyboy for talking to him. Ponyboy and Two-Bit are also later met by Cherry who informs them that the Socs are going by a no-weapons agreement to the upcoming fight and asking about Johnny's condition. Ponyboy is briefly upset at Cherry for declining his request to visit him, reminding him how he killed Bob, but she clears up the misunderstanding and they leave each other with respect.
That night all the friends meet up at Ponyboy's house from where they head to the scene of the massive fight, where they meet with other groups of Greasers. Soon after, the Socs arrive in their expensive cars and one of them turns out to be an old friend of Darrel's. The fight erupts shortly followed by a rainfall and the Greasers turning out victorious.
Dally drives Ponyboy to the hospital to visit Johnny and break the news of their victory. Johnny is unimpressed by the victory, and dies after telling Ponyboy to "stay gold," referring to the Frost poem. Unable to bear Johnny's death, Dally robs a grocery store. Pursued by the police, he is surrounded in a park and the police kill him after he repeatedly refuses to drop his unloaded gun. Ponyboy is eventually cleared of wrongdoing in Bob's death and allowed to stay with his brothers. Turning the pages of Johnny's copy of Gone with the Wind, Ponyboy finds a letter from Johnny saying that saving the children was worth sacrificing his own life. The story ends as it began, with Ponyboy writing a school report about his experiences.
Whose house is used as a meeting point?
Ponyboy