After Cherry "cooly" dispenses of Dally, she asks Pony if he is "going to start in on us." When she sees that the "half-scared" Pony is "wide-eyed" and presents her no danger, she invites Pony and Johnny to join her. It soon becomes evident that Cherry likes dangerous boys: She is the the girlfriend of Bob Sheldon, the Soc with the rings who so savagely beat Johnny. She later reveals that she is attracted to Dally, despite his boorish manners. She also likes the idea of sitting with greasers, the enemies of her Soc friends. But she also likes Pony's unusual name, and she realizes that Pony is the brother of Soda, who she remembers used to saddle bronc in rodeos. Soda is "one doll," and she wins Pony over when she tells him that he and Soda "look alike." Cherry admires the two boys even more after Johnny defends her after Dally returns to harrass her some more, and she decides that they are both "too sweet to scare anyone." She finds Pony easy to talk to, that they are avid readers, that they are both dreamers, and that they share a love of sunsets. She also sees how both she and Pony are beset with typical teenage problems, and this serves as a permanent bond between them.

She smiled at me. "I never told anyone that. I think you're the first person I've ever gotten through to."  (Chapter 3)