Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders :(
Ponyboy's point of view. (Set one year before The Outsiders.)
On one hot summer day, me and Curly Shepard were sitting on my front porch, bored outta our minds, and all alone. Darry, Soda, and Steve were all at work, and Dally was in the cooler. God only knows where Two-bit was, and what he was doin' there. Johnny was pretty beat up from his old man, so he was resting on the couch inside.
Curly looked over at me and sighed. "What do you wanna do Pony?" By the look on his face, it didn't matter what I said; he was up for it. I didn't want to do anything inside, because I didn't want to wake Johnny up. I shrugged, looking down at my cigarette. Suddenly, an idea hit me.
"Hey!" I said, with a sudden burst of excitement. "I gotta idea!" Curly's face was showing the same excitement, probably because I always had interesting ideas.
"What?" He asked, staring at me while he waited to find out my idea. So, I didn't keep him waiting long, I yelled, "Let's play Chicken!" Curly grinned at me, obviously pleased with my idea. I was slightly worried about playing Chicken, 'cause I had never played, but anything to cure our boredom. Curly took a carton of cigarettes from his pocket, and lit one up. He took a drag on it, before he turned towards me, with an excited look. Geez, I thought. This kid sure likes excitement.
We both stood up, and on the count of three, and with all the bravery we had, we each pressed the burning tip of our cigarettes to each others index finger. I clenched my teeth, and suppressed a scream of pain, as the fire touched my skin. Curly did the same. I grimaced at the pain shooting through my finger, which felt as if it were lit on fire. Which, in a sense, it was.
Curly was biting down hard on his bottom lip, and closing his eyes tightly. I bit down on my tongue, and when that started to hurt, I bit my bottom lip too. My whole hand felt hot, and I felt sweat forming on my forehead. As a moment past, and our cigarettes got smaller, I was realizing this was one of the worst feelings I had ever felt. I knew this was going to leave a scar, but heck, it'll make me look tough. Through all the pain, I started to smell burnt flesh, and I could have threw up right then and there.
Each of us were determined not to holler like babies, but that was getting harder each second. My mouth actually opened in a wide 'O' once, but I quickly shut it before I hollered. I hadn't realized my eyes were squeezed shut until I opened them. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tim Shepard, strolling into my yard. Oh no! I thought. When he finds out what we're doin' he's gonna skin us! Curly must have saw him too, because a worried look spread across his face, and the burning cigarette he was holding pulled slightly off my -now scarred- finger.
"Holy mother of God! What are you two nuts doing?" Tim demanded, running over to us. He slapped our hands away from each other, and I was immediately thankful for the pain relief. My finger still hurt something awful, and it was bright red, and definatly scarred. Tim stared at us, but we didn't say anything; we were afraid of him. Tim put one hand on the back of each of our heads, and shoved them together hard. "Are you two crazy? If you EVER pull a stunt like that again, I'll kill you both!" He yelled.
I nodded, not sure of what to say. Now my head, and my finger were hurting. Curly nodded, rubbing his forehead. "Yeah, yeah." he muttered. Tim was glaring at each of us. "Stupid kids," he mummbled, walking inside. I considered telling him that Darry and Soda, who he was probably looking for, were at work. But, since he knocked me a Curly's head together, I decided that I wasn't gonna help him out. I looked down at my throbbing finger, then up to Curly. He grinned, and I did too.
"That. Was. AWESOME!" I said.
A/N: Haha :] I hope you enjoyed this! If your wondering where I got the idea from, look on page 134 of The Outsiders. Thanks for reading! Reviews are always welcome! *hint hint* ;)