Chapter 1
Disclaimer: S.E. Hinton beautifully constructed The Outsiders and all rights go to her, I only made Charlene, her family, and most of the plot.
"Charlene if you walk out of that front door you will not step a foot in this house ever again!" my mother yells at me. I turn around to look at my mother face to face. I see an exact copy of myself except I was younger. I look into the cold hard green eyes that I also had but I'm pretty sure my eyes have never looked like that. The disgust, hate, and resent on her face is as clear as day.
I look past my mother to look at my father who has concern, worry and hurt on his face. But if you looked close enough into his eyes you could see a little bit of detached emotion like he had been preparing himself for this moment. I look to my siblings who had a detached expression on their faces like they didn't really care what happened to me.
I long to run into my father's arms and apologize to my mother like every other time a situation like this has occurred. But I turn back around to face the door and say so quiet to make sure only my mother could hear, "My name ain't Charlene", and walk out the door.
When the door slams behind me I let out the breath I didn't realize I had been holding. I have no clue where I am going, what I am gonna do and much less how I'll survive. But the one thing I do know is that I'm better off in the world alone than I'll ever be living with my actual family.
XXX
"Charlene let's go!" my brother, Scott, yells at me from the bottom of the stairs up into my room where I was sitting in the windowsill trying to watch the sunrise in peace. But of course I don't get to. I grab my sweater and head to the car. How is it so cold when it's only the end of September? I climb into the front seat of Scott's new Mustang that he got for his 18th birthday last month. I glance over at him and see his jaw set hard, his lips pursed, and an annoyed look on his face that might as well be permanently set.
"What's your problem?" I ask Scott already knowing what his answer will be.
"You're my problem. Do you purposely try to ruin my life or are you just so stupid to not realize what today is?" he asks with an icy tone in his voice.
I turn completely toward Scott to look him directly in the face to show him I honestly have no clue what he's talking about. His dark blonde hair styled perfectly, his muscular build, his tall six foot frame reclined comfortably in his seat, his structured cheekbones and jawline set firm, his dark blue eyes filled with hate and resent. Scott is very handsome, and he knows it too, just like my dad. It's funny that my dad and my brother are exactly alike but so complete opposites at the same time. Rather than having my dad's laid back, fun loving personality he inherited my mother's strict, almost hateful personality.
"Um, Friday? September 30th?" I say only making him even more mad.
"Are you serious?!" he basically shouts in my face.
"As serious as a heart attack." I reply quickly. Then I turn to my little sister, Lucy, sitting in the back seat of the car with a pleading look on my face hoping she'll tell me what is so important that's going on today.
"Tonight is Senior Night", she says with her brows furrowed in disbelief that I didn't realize what today was.
"So what does that have to do with this morning?" I ask confused.
"I and the other seniors have to go to a senior class meeting before classes start." Scott says while fishtailing out of our driveway in rage. I hurriedly put on my seatbelt before I get flung into the windshield.
I turn back to Lucy smile and roll my eyes at Scott going on and on about how late he was gonna be and that it was my entire fault. I wish I looked like Lucy, who looked like my dad and my brother with the exception that she was rail thin like our mother rather than muscular like our father and brother . They were blessed with light skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. I other hand look exactly like my mom. The only difference my mother and I is I have slightly lighter skin and have a more muscular and curvy build than her and my sister. Not fat, but you can tell I'm girl with one glance.
We have the same short stature, long blue black hair, green eyes, high cheekbones of a Native American, and the full lips. My mom is almost full blood Native American and you could tell. My dad was English, Dutch, and Irish which is why he is light skinned, blonde hair, and blue eyes.
By the time we get to the school parking lot, Scott has covered everything from being punctual to not doing drugs. I just sigh as I get out of the car to meet my friends at the first floor girls bathroom.
Will Rogers High School. A place I love to hate. I'm confined in to its classrooms and enslaved to the teachers. At this high school it seems there are three social classes. Socials, Greaser, and the lucky ones in between the two.
Of course, I belong to the Socials-who everyone calls Socs- even though I'm not snobby like the rest of them are. Yes I do have the money like a typical Soc, but there's something that I don't have that separates us from each other. Greasers are the ones that are poor, I'm not trying to be rude but it is what it is. They are hoods that are always up to no good.
I know a few greasers, and I know a few of the in between crowd, but most of my friends are Socs. They know I'm not like them and they know that they can't force me-even though that don't stop them- to be like them but the main reason they're my friend is because Scott. Of course they treat me like a friend but there is like an invisible barrier that separates me from them that I still haven't figured out.
I get to the girls restroom only to find no one in there when I remember that I'm here early. I head to the library to drop off the book I finished reading last night and to get a new one. I love reading, even though it gets me into trouble sometimes. It's not like I purposely forget to not do things, I just kinda get lost in the book and the plot.
When I walk in to the library I find it completely empty. I drop my book into the bin and saunter off into the aisles of books when I run into someone I didn't realize was right in front of me, falling flat on my face in the process.
"I'm so sorry, it's my fault! I didn't even see you. I should have been paying attention." I stumble over my own words while picking up the stack of books he was carrying off the ground.
"No it's my fault, I wasn't paying attention either", he says then tips my face up to meet his face, "it's fine." Then he gives me a crooked smile that makes my hear skip a beat. He looked almost exactly like Elvis Presley. He had the same blue eyes, black hair and the same deep voice. I giggled a little like a giddy school girl and blushed.
"My name is Will." he said while helping me up off the floor. He stood at least a foot taller than I am then brushed a strand of hair out of my face and smiled again.
"My name is Charlene." I say and bite my lower lip.
"Well Charlene if I wouldn't have known better I woulda sworn that I was struck by an angel", he says with a southern draw that I hear only from boys from Texas.
I laugh at the thought of someone classifying me in the same category as an angel.
"What? To corny for you Oklahoma ladies?" he says while grinning.
"No, it's just that I'm not exactly the type of person to be called an angel", I say still giggling.
"Well I say you are. What are you doing around here so early for by your lonesome anyway?" he asks me curiously.
"I had to return my book and get a new one. It looks like you had quite a few to return yourself." I reply.
"Yeah. What grade are you in? I haven't seen you before." he asks me.
"Ninth. I have a lot of classes in the honors classes though." I say trying to make it sound like I'm not bragging.
"Nice, brainy and good looking. If you were single you'd be the perfect package." he says while giving me the up and down look. I blush worse this time feeling my ears burning. I had never had a guy hit on me this forwardly before.
"Well you're not bad looking yourself", not knowing what else to say.
He laughs and says, "I get told often."
I glance at the clock and see that first period starts in ten minutes.
"Shoot! I gotta get my stuff before I'm late for class." I say rushing to the door but he catches up with me in only a few strides.
"May I walk you to class? You know just in case your teacher starts raggin at ya for being late." he asks. Wow, get hit on and get walked to class all in one day.
"I guess, if you don't mind walking two flights of stairs." I say with shock in my voice.
'Stupid, you sounded desperate!' I think to myself.
Will just chuckles like he expected me to respond like that. I giggled at how naive I sounded. When we got to my locker he took my books away from me and said, "I'll take those", and grinned at me.
"Ok", I say. Then I walked by Sandy, one of my closer friends. She just grinned, and gave me the "we'll talk about later" look.
We didn't really talk about much on the way to class, just small talk really. Then I wasn't paying attention and tripped over one of the steps and almost fell into Will's arms.
"Whoa there little lady, I didn't know you were that type." he said helping me to stand up straight.
"No, no, no! I'm not like that I just tripped and-"
"I know, I know. Just teasing ya that are all." he says while chuckling and grinning with the crooked smile. "But there is a janitor's closet right there if you wanna take it that far." He whispers to me while grinning then starts laughing. I laugh nervously not knowing what else to do.
"Oh, thank goodness. I thought you thought I was like that. And I didn't want you to thinking I was and-"
"No, no. You are hilarious." he cuts me off, still chuckling.
When we got to my classroom, I had a sense of dread. I didn't want him to leave. Even though I barely knew him. 'Stop. Just stop. You don't know him. He don't know you. It's just casual flirting that's all boys do nowadays. Don't get your hopes up.' I lecture to myself throughout class not paying attention at all to the lesson.
When I walk out of the classroom I don't see him there and my heart breaks a little. But I keep walking to my locker and try not to think about him for the rest of the day. But I fail. Horribly.
XXX
"Charlene must you always embarrass me in public?" my mother asks me in an annoyed voice while jabbing me in the ribs with her elbow when I snap out of my daydream.
"What?" I ask having no idea what she is talking about.
"Nothing. Just keep walking and don't make any more faces or giggle anymore." she says even more annoyed. I blush realizing that I have been giggling and making faces while I was thinking about Will.
I zip up my coat as the wind picks up and nearly blows my skirt up over my head. I hate wearing skirts. But my mom makes me wear them so that people don't think I'm a trouble maker.
I play today over and over in my head wondering what I'm gonna tell Sandy when I finally decide to talk to her. I know the more I wait the worse it's gonna be on my part and it's gonna make me look even more suspicious. But what am I gonna say to her? 'Oh I didn't meet with ya'll in the bathroom and blew ya'll off at lunch and have been avoiding you all day because I didn't know what to say.' Yeah, that'll really explain things to her.
Then I look up to see her talking to Lucy in the seats we were sitting at watching the football game. Great. Just what I need. I walk up to her and face the inevitable. I know this is gonna be interesting.
"Hey stranger. Whatchya been up to lately?" Sandy asks as I sit down with my arms wrapped around myself trying to hold in warmth.
"Oh nothing. Same routine, different day.", I say nonchalantly trying to avoid eye contact with her.
"Oh give it up. You know that I know. Now spill the beans!" Sandy says pulling my arm in urgency.
I look at my mom knowing that whatever it is I'm fixing to tell Sandy I have to tell her eventually. I have no clue what story I'm gonna tell either one of them.
"Mom can I get go get something from the concession stand? I won't be but a minute." I ask politely. Normally when my friends are around she acts a little more civil but with the way she has been acting lately I know she's about blow off the handle.
"Sure. Get me some hot cocoa too." ` she says in a perky voice and hands me a dollar.
As soon as we are out of ear shot of my mother, Sandy asks "Ok who is he?"
"He is a boy that I ran into, literally, in the library and he walked me to class. Nothing special." I try to convince myself as well as her.
"Oh.", she says like she's bored. Compared to the stories her and some of her friends have told me, my story was pretty boring.
"Well you'll never guess what happened last night! Me and Evie were hanging out on the Ribbon when Steve showed up with that guy Sodapop Curtis and he asked me out! I mean can you believe that?!" Sandy exclaims in excitement. She never really gets close to friends, but me and her just kinda clicked I guess.
"Sodapop? Doesn't he work at the DX?" I ask just trying to keep the conversation going.
"Yeah. He's a doll ain't he? We're supposed to go bowling tomorrow night. I'm so excited!" Sandy squeals. She goes on for a few more minutes about how he's so good looking and all. Don't get me wrong, he is good looking. Like a movie star. But ya kinda get bored with everyone talking about the same person all the time. All my friends go crazy if he glances in their direction and flirt with him very forwardly, regardless if they're going steady with someone.
"Hey who's that talking to your mom?" Sandy says. Oh no, please no. But yep. That's him. Great, this is gonna be worth paying to watch.
"Oh hi Will. I didn't know you were gonna be here." I say as I approach him and my mom.
"Yeah. It is Senior Night ya know." he says grinning at me with an amused expression on his face.
"Oh yeah..." I say and blush. "How did you know this was my mom?" I ask kinda curious.
"Ya'll look exactly alike. I ain't ever seen anyone like you and I thought it was you when I was walking to the concession stand." he says with that charming southern drawl that I'm pretty sure even made Sandy blush.
"Well Sandy this is Will, Will this is Sandy." I say trying to change the subject before my mom gets anymore crazy ideas.
Will sat between me and Sandy as we chit chatted for the rest of the game. My mother would get annoyed a little if we got a little loud but I made sure we didn't go out of the accepted range.
When the game ended, they held a time for all the seniors to say a few words but I didn't pay attention at all and was ready to go half way through. Then Scott gets up to talk.
"I know this is the last year of my high school years, and we are so focused on getting college applications in and all but seriously, relax. Who cares if we get all that done, we won't remember doing that when we look back on our high school days? Relax, have a beer and party like there's no tomorrow!" he says while all his football buddies tackle him and then everyone cheers.
When we get back home I am ready to crawl into bed when my mom calls for me. I have a pretty good idea what it's gonna be about. She gave me the whole 'stop looking at boys and focus on your studies' lecture when she said something that caught my attention and enraged me.
"Are you sleeping around?" my mother asks with steam coming out of her ears.
"What? No! Why would you say that?!" I exclaim.
"You've been real quiet this whole time and you immediately dropped your face to the ground when I mentioned not sleeping around." she says with a matter-of-factly tone in her voice.
"Mother I'm tired and I want to go to sleep. I'm a virgin, I don't have a boyfriend and have all A's in school. Can I go to bed now?" I ask impatiently.
My mom inhales deeply with an embarrassed look on her face that told me I had passed some line of privacy. She reluctantly dismisses me to bed. Boy will I have some chores to do in the morning.
XXX
When I woke up I had a pounding headache. It was an early Saturday morning; about five o'clock in the morning, and it was still dark out. It was the first day of October- and it was pretty cool outside. I decided to take a shower since I couldn't go back to sleep. By the time I got out of the shower I heard Scott getting up. Every day he gets up early to go to the gym to workout. When I walked past him in the hallway he bumped shoulders with me, well more like my shoulder hit his upper arm, giving me a glare like he was still mad at me.
"Good morning to you to", I tell him in a sarcastic voice I know will get me nowhere besides more glares for the rest of the day. He said nothing and walked right out the door with his gym bag in tow. Sometimes I think he has more mood swings than my mom infuriated and on the rag.
I head to my room to get ready for the day when I catch something glinting in the now rising sun in the driveway. I tried to look through my window but couldn't really tell what it was. I had to go look, if I didn't it would drive me crazy trying to figure it out. So I grabbed my robe and headed outside.
It was colder than I thought it was, and the wind was so cold and strong that I felt it through my thick robe. Fall has officially arrived. I scanned the driveway hoping I didn't waste a trip outside to find nothing when I finally seen it again. It was a ring. My brother's class ring. I examined it closely and seen the fresh scratches on it from dropping it countless times. I slipped it in my pocket with a grin on my face.
XXX
When I went back in I got ready for the day. I heard my mom cooking breakfast while talking on the phone. Ever since we got the extension cord all she does anymore is hog the phone. Today is chore day. If we get done by noon we're free for the rest of the day. So after breakfast I'm gonna jump right on my chores so I can go the movies. I've saved enough of my money to go without having to ask for money and listen to another lecture about how money could be spent on other things.
Lucy wasn't even awake when my mom called everyone for breakfast so I went to check on her. She was sprawled across her bed with a book in her hand. I put up the book and wished my mom didn't walk in by surprise. My mom would have a fit if she knew that she probably stayed up for a good while last night reading. I used to do the same except I wasn't lucky enough to have Scott look after me.
Breakfast was the same as it was every Saturday morning. Scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage, biscuits and gravy, and hash browns. We have a big breakfast on Saturday because it's one of the only days that we don't have to get up early and be somewhere in the morning. Most people do that on Sunday but we have to go to church every Sunday morning. We have to be there earlier than everyone else because my mom is in the choir and I play the piano for the church. Every Sunday morning the choir has practice before services and so me and my mom have to be there early.
As the day progresses, it warms up a little, but it's still cool enough to wear a sweater00. I have to clean all upstairs except the bedrooms and clean both bathrooms, Lucy has to clean the kitchen and the living room, and Scott does the yard work. We could have someone come and do that for us but my mom is so particular on how her house and yard looks. If we miss one spot or mess up on something we have to start all over. Saturday is also laundry day so my mom does laundry while my dad works. He works most of the day Saturday that way he can spend all day Sunday with us and go to church.
I think about what I could do today when I get my chores done when the phone rings. No one picks it up on the fifth ring so I run down stairs into the living room to answer the phone.
"Hello?" I say in a stoic tone.
"Yeah is Mr. Robinson there?" a woman says in a panicked voice like I wasn't the person that was supposed to answer the phone.
"Uh no, can I take the message?" I ask suspiciously. I knew it wasn't anyone my dad worked with because his job didn't allow women to work for their company.
"Sure, tell him...uh... Candy called. Thanks bye." and the line went dead.
'Candy? What the hell kinda name is that?', is the first thought that came to my mind.
'For the love of all things holy please don't tell me my dad is having an affair.', I think after actually thinking.
XXX
When I finished my chores I decided to go to the movies to try and get my mind off the phone call I got that morning. I still hadn't told anyone and I didn't think I was going to to tell anyone either. I decided to watch Gone With The Wind because I knew it was a long movie, I already read the book and that took me a month to read so I knew it had to be a long movie, to get my mind off everything.
I decided to walk because I knew I couldn't sit in the car long enough without either getting into a fight or telling my mother about the call. It's chilly outside but it isn't too bad to prevent from walking. Besides walking is good for you.
When I got to the theatre there weren't many people like any other Saturday. I was kinda glad because I could focus on the movie better without having to try to look over everyone's head. One of the many disadvantages of only being five foot tall. I walk into the room that Gone With The Wind was showing in and took a seat near the back in the same row as two boys.
I could tell they were greasers, but they weren't hoods. They had the long greasy hair, leather jackets, jeans, and tennis shoes. They were both around my age give or take a few years. One was dark skinned, dark haired and looked a little skittish and jumpy. He had a scar on his cheekbone that stood out. The other boy had an intent look on his face and was zoned in on the movie. He had auburn colored hair and gorgeous green eyes.
Then they both noticed me looking at them and looked at me with a confused expression on my face. I bit my lip and blushed so much I could feel the heat radiating off my cheeks and ears. The movie hadn't started yet so I decided to go out on a limb.
"Is it ok if I sit here?", I ask whispering even though we were the only ones in the room.
"Sure.", the one with green eyes replied blushing a little himself. He and the other boy scooted over a seat. I wrapped my sweater around me tighter because it was a little chilly in the room.
"So what's your name?", I ask both of them hoping to break the uncomfortable silence.
"My name is Ponyboy, and this is Johnny.", Ponyboy said.
"Ponyboy?", I ask expecting them to start laughing like they're joking.
"Yep.", he said proudly.
"Interesting", I reply, "so have you read the book?"
"No. I want to though.", Ponyboy replies. I finally found a topic we both are interested in.
"I don't mean to be rude but are you gonna talk the whole movie?", Ponyboy asks after a second.
"No, I hate it when people talk. It's distracting.", I say.
"Good. I don't like it when people talk either.", he says agreeing. Then the movie started and we stopped talking.
XXX
After the movie was over I stood up awkwardly not knowing what to say.
"Well that was pretty close to the book.", I say not knowing what else to say.
"It was a long movie. I hope it don't take me long to read the book.", Ponyboy says while we all start walking out of the theatre. When I get outside I don't know what to do.
"Do you know of a gas station nearby? I need to call to get a ride home.", I ask either one of them.
"Uh yeah, my brother works at the DX not too far from here. If you don't mind walking I'll show you where it is.", Ponyboy replies.
"Sounds good to me.", I say. I really don't have to walk somewhere else to use the phone but I don't want to go home yet and honestly I wanna know more about Ponyboy.
"So you like reading?", I ask Ponyboy while walking.
"Yeah. It gets me into to trouble sometimes though. My oldest brother Darry don't really like it when I read too much.", Ponyboy says with a hint of annoyance towards the end.
"I get into trouble about reading too. It seems the only time I get to read anymore is if I sneak out to the back porch after dinner to actually get some peace and quiet to read.", I say.
"Yeah. I can relate. So how big is your family, if you don't mind me askin", he asks.
"I've got a older brother and a younger sister. What about you?", I ask.
"Well like I said I have my oldest brother Darry and the second oldest Sodapop who I live with. My mom and dad died in an auto wreck so Darry is my guardian.", Ponyboy rushes out like he's had to repeat the story several times. He then looks almost embarrassed all of a sudden.
"What? Did I forget to put on deodorant?", I ask.
He and Johnny ,who had been watching me and Ponyboy intently the whole time, laughed a little.
"No it's just I've never talked to a girl this easy before.", Ponyboy says while he blushes a little.
"Well I've never talked to a guy this easy before either so I guess we're even.", I say.
"So what grade are you in?", he asks me.
"Ninth. What about you?", I ask.
"I'm in ninth also and I take honors classes. I've never seen you around though.", he replies.
"I guess we have different schedules.", I say back.
"So you're related to Sodapop. I suspected it but didn't want to say anything.", I blurt out not meaning to say the last part.
"Yeah. How did you know before I told you?", he asks puzzled.
"Ya'll kinda look alike.", I reply like it's obvious.
"I look as much like Soda as you do.", he says dismissing the thought as we walk up to the gas station. I didn't realize how fast time had passed. "Speaking of Soda where is he?", he says while walking in the door before me.
"Well look here Soda- Pony has himself a little girlfriend.", a boy taunts at Ponyboy as he blushes and his ears turn red.
"She's not my girlfriend she just needed to use a phone, that's all." Ponyboy quickly replies.
Then Soda walks in from what looked like to be the door from the garage. He looked even better than the last time I seen him, if that's possible.
"The phone is over there, do you want a Pepsi or anything?", Soda asks me ignoring everyone else.
"Uh Coke please and thank you." I reply quickly before I forget what I'm here for.
"Are you friends with Sandy? I think I've seen you with her and some other girls around here before.", he asks curiously
"Yeah, I guess you could say we're pretty close.", I say while trying to remember my own house phone number. Why do I always forget the most important things at the most needed times?
"So how did you two love birds meet?", the other guy asks walking over a bottle of Coke to me.
"Steve knock it off. She just needs a phone call.", Soda and winks and says while looking at him, not realizing I seen it.
I called twice and no one answered. I went to the restroom trying to stall some time and then tried again but no one answered still.
"Well I guess I'm stranded here or I'm gonna have to walk home.", I say and sigh.
"Well my brother gets off work any minute and I'll see if he can give ya a lift.", Ponyboy replies.
"No it's fine. I've walked home before from the park. I'll be ok.", I reply and head to the door but Johnny is blocking the door.
"No. I know you've never been on this side of town before, I could tell when we were walking. It's too far and you're seem to be cold all the time as it is anyways.", Ponyboy tells me in one breath with a matter-of-factly tone.
"Am I that easy to read?", I ask.
"Yeah. I could tell from the short time I've spent around you.", Steve says.
"Well don't twist my arm about, but only if your brother don't mind.", I say.
"He won't mind.", Ponyboy says quickly before I or Sodapop could testify. Sodapop looked at him, raised his eyebrow and shaking his as he walked up to the front when someone drove up.
A tall guy with muscles so big every time he moved you could see them flex under his shirt.
"Well now who is this?", the guy asked looking at Ponyboy and giving me the up and down look.
"This is Charlene. I was thinking that we could give her a ride home. As you can tell she ain't from this side of town and she don't have a ride. It's ok with you right?", Ponyboy asks a little slowing down as he was talking like he was just realizing what he was saying.
Then Ponyboy starts talking as the guy opens his mouth to talk.
"Darry I know you probably don't think it's a good idea but she's a girl. What could go wrong?", he asks nervously.
Darry inhales deeply then looks to me and asks, "Where do you live Charlene?"
"Uh 152 Carter Street. But you don't have to take me.", I say again hoping not to get Ponyboy in trouble.
"No it's fine. Either Pony or Soda are gonna have to sit in the back though.", Darry says giving Ponyboy that I normally get from my mom.
"I'll sit in the back. Steve you wanna ride?", Soda asks.
"Sure. I'll probably end up going to ya'lls house anyway.", Steve says.
On the way to my house I notice that Darry doesn't talk much. Ponyboy takes out a book and starts reading, Soda and Steve whisper and laugh a lot so I know they're talking about Pony and me. Johnny doesn't ride with us. He said something before he left but I couldn't quite understand him.
When Darry pulls up to my house I get a little nervous because my mom's car is there.
"Thanks again for the ride. I owe ya one.", I say to Darry and Pony while Soda holds the door open for me. He then curtsies and says, "For you madam." Then Steve starts laughing.
I laugh a little, "Thank you.", I reply and hurry off.
I walk in the door and no one is home. Thank goodness, I would be dead otherwise.
Please tell me how it is and please watch the criticism. Please excuse the typo's and stuff like that. Oh and let me know if there is anything inaccurate about the character or setting or anything like that. Thanks for reading!