Chapter 1
Paige's POV
As I walk down the block, I can't help but register the low hum of a mustang. I smile. I guess that they were bored of their perfect lives and now they've come to beat up the poor greaser girl. I pat my back pocket where the switchblade is hidden beneath my thin black t-shirt.
"Hey, Greaser!" One yells. I ignore them and keep on walking. "I'm talking to you," the soc yells.
"Come on, guys, let's get her." When I hear this I break into a sprint, but I am small and they can easily catch up, and they do. They have me on the ground in seconds.
"Well, well, well," A tall one with black hair says. "What should we do with her?" A soc with red hair is on top of me. I'm not struggling, but if I wanted to get free I could. He is not that bright. My hands and legs are free to move, and in a couple of seconds I am free and I have successfully stood up and made an attempt to look tough.
"Let's teach her a lesson," A short chubby one says.
"You can try," I say. "But it's got to be hard to teach a lesson when your brain is the size of a green pea." They lose it. They're running at me. I simply sidestep them and they stumble. That's when the one with red hair knees me in the gut.
I double over and fall to my knees. I let out a groan of pain. I hear footsteps and I try to make out what was going on. I feel hands lifting me to my feet. In front of me is the one and only, Darrell Curtis. I see some other familiar faces that I can't put names to, but that's it. The gang of greasers is chasing the socs out of the park. Throwing sticks and stones and anything they can find. Cussing them all the way.
"Are you okay?" Darrell asks. I nod, and look around.
"You owe me five bucks, Soda," a greaser with dark hair said.
"No, Steave, she went longer than you said, so you owe me five bucks," Soda says.
"What?" I ask.
"Steave thought you'd need help when you saw the mustang. I thought you'd get out of it," Soda replies.
"Well, you didn't let me finish," I say.
"They kneed you right in the gut. You weren't gonna' last that long anyway," Steave says. I stick out my tongue at him.
I look around. A boy with a dark tan and big black eye comes up with a boy with brown almost red hair and green- gray eyes. Two more follow them.
"Well, thanks, I guess," I say. I start to turn away, when Darrell asks me a question.
"What's your name?" He asks.
"Paige," I say, and I walk away.
The next day, I am out walking to the old park. The park would make a good hangout, but it's too cheesy. To my surprise I see the one with the tan sitting on a swing. I walk over to him and sit down on the swing beside him.
"Hey," I say.
"Hi," he says. I can see that he's been crying.
"You want to talk about it?" I ask. I don't even know the kids name.
He nods. "It's just my folks; they're sorta not the idea of a happy family." He looks at the ground. "My names Johnny by the way." He looked up. "And I know your name. Paige, right?" I nod.
"I don't have a family," I say. "My ol' man gave me up and the people that were taking care of me were shot by a hood a few years back. I guess this world will never be perfect."
He gives a chuckle. "Far from it."
As we talk about our past, I start to realize that me and him are not that much different. We laugh and talk.
Too soon, the sun is setting and we have to get out of the park.
"I bet Ponyboy is watching this one," I hear Johnny say.
"Is that the one with the gray eyes?" I ask. He nods.
"I have to go," he says after the sun was fully set. "The gang's having a party at the lot, you wanna' come?" I wasn't on the shy side, so I nodded. "Well, come on," he says. We run through the alley way and back to the lot.
When we enter the lot, I see Darry and Dally throwing a football to each other. Johnny had filled me in on who was who.
"Hey, what you up to, Pigeon?" Steave asks. I wonder how long he'd been thinking of that nickname.
"Nothin' much, but you got something on your shirt," I say. I point my finger at his shirt, when he looks down my finger goes up and hits him in the nose. I hear a burst of laughter.
"That's funny," Steave said annoyed.
"That's why we're all laughing," I reply. He scoffed and Johnny walked over to Ponyboy who was sitting on a patch of grass. They seem to be really close. They don't talk at all, but their silence speaks volume.
"Heads up!" I hear. Dally had thrown the football, and it was heading for me. I look up. The ball is whizzing towards me. To my surprise I sidestep it and catch it with one hand.
"Whoa," Dally says. "Where'd you learn to do that?" The whole gang was staring at me.
My reply was simple and short. "I have a lot of time on my hands." I threw the ball back to Dally with plenty of accuracy.
Later they started an arm wrestling contest. Darry had beat most of them, but he still hadn't challenged one person. Me.
"Let me try," I say. They all laugh. "What? Afraid a ninety pound girl is going to hurt the great and magnificent Darrell Curtis' ego? Come on, please."
He chuckled and put his arm on the table. I placed my arm the same way. "You're really going to hurt my pride if you win," he says sarcastically.
I'm not all that strong, but then again I don't really know. I have gotten in tons of fights with Socs, but I always won. I always thought they were too drunk to fight back. Well Darry is not drunk, so I don't know how I will do.
I grab his hand, and just when Soda says "Go" I pin his arm lightning fast.