Authors Notes: Hm. Hey there, I'm Ryokko and I'm a terrible person. I know, I know. "Why is she starting a new fic when she has about five million others to finish?" And I apologize for that one. But when inspiration strikes, I can't help but go with it. I'm sorry. And I promise promise promise that I will try my hardest to finish this. Also, I know this is going to break some Outsiders rule somewhere, but this takes place a year after the book; however, Johnny and Dallas are still alive.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders. I do own Charlotte though.
One
I stared down at my application papers. Printed neatly at the top in the appropriate space was my name, Charlotte Grey. Underneath it was all the other necessary things like my age, birthday, you know. Then there was the picture. Gosh, what a terrible picture of me. My long, light brown hair looks like a puff ball rather then a head of hair (I had been having a bad hair day. My hair is naturally curly) and my eyes look bland, no emotions behind the green.
I don't normally over-analyze things like this, but if you had been waiting in that front office as long as I had, you would've paid attention to detail too. It was almost fifteen minutes later when they called me in.
"Well, Miss Grey," the principal, a balding man by the name or Mr. Simmons, said, "how are you enjoying Rogers High so far?" I hope he means the front office, because so far that's all I've seen.
"It's a very nice school," I said, not knowing what else would be polite. Mr. Simmons smiled, than pulled open a drawer with a bunch of files in it.
"You're in tenth grade if I'm not mistaken, yes?" I nodded. About a minute later, he pulled out a schedule.
"There you go, Miss Grey. You're first class with be geometry with Mrs. Teller. Her class is just down the hall on the right hand side."
"Thank you, Mr. Simmons," I said, then stood up and made my way out of the office.
I had been in the hallway before, but this time is seemed different. Like a foreign country. Change was something I completely dreaded. I took in a deep breath and made my way to Mrs. Teller's class.
Turns out, down the hall to the right actually means down the hall, up the stairs and on the left. By the time I found Mrs. Teller's room, class was halfway over. The second I stepped inside, I felt all twenty-some pairs of eyes on me.
"Nice of you to join us, Miss Grey." Instinct told me to yell at her, or say something mean, but I was trying to be polite.
"Sorry, Mrs. Teller. I got lost."
"Well then, let's hope that doesn't happen again. You've already missed half a years worth of lessons."
I turned to face the class again. They were all staring at me with a look on interest. I hate being the new kid.
"Now then," Mrs. Teller said, "why don't you take a seat over there, behind Mr. Curtis. Ponyboy, raise your hand." A boy sitting to the row nearest the window raised his hand without any enthusiasm. I took in a breath and strode across the class to my seat as Ms. Teller went on with her lesson.
Once I sat down, the boy turned around and I got a good glimpse of him. He had brown, almost auburn hair and green-gray eyes.
"You new here?" he asked, and I nodded. "What's your name?"
"Charlotte Grey," I answered. I should really l learn to be more assertive.
"Ponyboy Curtis," he said in response. The look in his eyes told me that he was waiting for me to make some joke out of his name.
"That's an interesting name," I said, hoping it didn't sound too mean. Ponyboy smiled a bit, then turned to face the front.
"My father was an interesting person."
"Was?" Ponyboy sighed.
"It's a long story."
A few minutes later, the bell rang, and the class jumped up and got ready to leave. Ponyboy stood up and watched me as I stared blankly at my schedule. I looked up at him for a second, wondering why he was waiting.
"You need someone to show you around?" he asked, taking my schedule from my hands.
"Ah, you don't need too. I'm sure I can find my way around." Ponyboy smiled.
"Shoot, it's no big deal. Wouldn't want you to get lost on your first day, right?"
I smiled a bit as he glanced over my schedule.
"English with Mr. Scott," he said, then handed my schedule back. "Let's go."
Ponyboy turned around and headed for the door and I followed him. I didn't know whether I could consider him my friend yet, seeing as all I knew about him was his name.
"So, have you made any friends yet?" he said, as if on cue. I was startled for a moment until I realized he was just trying to start up a conversation.
"Well, no." Ponyboy nodded.
"Well, maybe I'll introduce you to some of mine. I mean, if you want." I smiled a bit.
"That would be nice."
"But my friend are a bit, umm," he paused, thinking of the right words, "rough. They won't hurt you or nothin', and they're all real nice it's just they're not exactly, well.."
"I get it, don't worry," I said, smiling at him. Ponyboy seemed relieved.
We stopped in front of a class room as the halls started emptying out a bit.
"I guess I'll meet you here afterwards for lunch," he said. I nodded and headed into the classroom. Looks like my first day was turning up a bit.
After the bell rang, I headed outside the classroom slowly. The whole period I had been wondering what Ponyboy meant about his friends. Were they mean? Would they hurt me? My thinking was cut short though when I saw Ponyboy already outside the class.
"You ready?" he said, and I nodded. It was during that whole walk to the outside of the school that I noticed all the strange looks I was getting.
"Ponyboy," I whispered, leaning in to him, "why are people staring at us?" Ponyboy sighed a bit.
"I'll tell you about it later."
We walked in silence for the rest of the way until we got outside.
"There they are."
I turned to where Ponyboy was looking to see a group of two people. One was a small boy who looked around my age with black hair and huge black eyes. The other was a tall, well built guy with white blond hair. He was leaning against his car, arms crossed, staring at me.
"Hey, Ponyboy. What'd I say about bringin' friends with you, eh?" I crossed my arms uncomfortably around my chest.
"Ponyboy, maybe I should just go." Ponyboy looked at me, then back at the blond guy.
"It's alright, Dally. She's new in town." The boy – Dally, I guess – gave me the once over.
"You got a name, kid?"
"Charlotte. Charlotte Grey," I said, stuttering a bit.
"Where you from?"
"A-Austin."
"How come you don't got an accent?" Boy, was he intimidating.
"Well, I move around a lot."
"C'mon, Dal. She's not one of them, honest." One of them? One of who?
Dally seemed to consider this and hoped into his car. "We're gonna head to the DX. You comin'?" Ponyboy looked at me, and I nodded.
"Sure," he answered, and hoped into the passenger seat. The quiet black haired boy turned to me.
"I'm Johnny," was all he said before walking towards the car himself. I paused and stared at the boys in the car, unsure if I should follow.
"You comin' or what? I don't got all day," Dally said. I took in a deep breath and walked toward the car, taking a seat in the back next to Johnny.
The ride to this 'DX' or whatever was awkward and quiet on my part. Dally, who Johnny told me is a true JD and has even been jailed a few times, was hollering and driving crazy the whole time while Ponyboy sat pretending to be interested in everything he was saying. Johnny, who would occasionally turn to me to fill me in on some information, spent most of the car ride staring out the window, not saying a word.
Turns out, DX is a gas station where Sodapop, Ponyboy's also interestingly named brother, works. We walked inside to find two other guys sitting at the counter. One, who was wearing a Mickey Mouse shirt, was sitting, legs on top of the counter, drinking a coke and the other was wearing a DX uniform, the name tag reading Steve.
"Howdy boys," Mickey Mouse said, taking a swig of his coke then looking at me. "Who's this one?"
"Charlotte Grey. She's new in town." From the way Mickey Mouse was looking at me, I had a feeling there were no girls in their group.
"I'm Two-Bit. Pleasure to meet you," he said with a wink. Gosh, these boys had weird names. The other boy, Steve I guess, just gave me a nod then went back to his work.
That's when he appeared behind the counter. He meaning the dreamiest boy I'd ever seen in my life. He looked a bit like Ponyboy, only his eyes had a little twinkle in them.
"Who's your new friend, Pony?" he asked, smiling.
"This is Charlotte. Charlotte, this is my brother, Sodapop." I smiled at Sodapop, feeling a blush form on my face. I guess Oklahoma isn't gonna be as eventless as I thought.
SHOORT: Eeek, sorry for that being short. Next chapter everything will be a little less out of character, promise. Soo, please review and tell me what you think. Thanks!