A/N- ok, so this is my first Outsiders fanfiction. I wrote it as an essay for my english teacher so thank her for this lovely creation. Don't hate me if it sucks, i tried my best,ok?
Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders. S. E. Hinton does.
Staying Gold
I woke up to the sunlight blearing my vision, but I wasn't fully awake until Soda thought it was a fun idea to jump on me. "Wakey, wakey, Ponyboy!" He bounced up and down on the bed, shaking me out of my sleep-induced daze.
"Soda," I grumbled. "Get off of me." Half-heartedly shoving him out of my way, I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Once my vision was completely back, I noticed Soda was grinning like an idiot. But then again, he did that a lot nowadays. He's got a new girl. A Soc. You might know her. Her name's Cherry Valance. Yeah… Ain't that an odd couple? Cherry and Sodapop. Not one of them other Socs saw that one coming. But Soda's happy as ever and has completely forgotten about Sandy. Sandy was ancient history to him.
Still grinning, Soda got up off me and mussed up my hair. "It's your big day, Pony," he said. "Don't be sour, now."
"C'mon, Soda," Darry said from the doorway. "At least let the kid get dressed first." Darry to the rescue. He's still here with his younger brothers after all that stuff happened years ago with Bob and Dallas… And Johnny. None of us like to talk about that much but it comes up sometimes. Darry's been working a little less now that Soda works two jobs. They're both working hard to send me to college even though I got that scholarship.
Oh yeah, Mr. Syme recommended me my senior year. He said my theme was one of the best he's ever read. I got an A-. Top in the class. I passed with a C+ in reading class. Though Darry wasn't too happy about my low grades, I was ecstatic about my scholarship. That's why we were having a big get together at our house today. I just graduated from high school last night,(a little earlier than most teenagers at 17) and there had been a party then, but with all the different Socs around giving us weird looks like they've never seen a greaser in a cap and gown before didn't make it all that special. Now the whole gang was over- Two-Bit, Steve, Me, Darry, Soda, Tim Shepard, Curly Shepard, some other people from their group, and even Cherry. It was louder than usual, the radio was on full blast, and yet I hadn't woken up 'till Soda came in.
Soda and Darry left my room and headed back to the party. I threw on a t-shirt and jeans, only putting a little grease in my hair. It had gone back to its brown-ish/ red-ish color after a while. It was actually a little redder… but not nearly as red as Cherry's. I stepped out into the living room and was hit with a chorus of 'Hey's and 'Congrats, kid's. It was a little overwhelming, but it was nice to feel special every once in a while.
Cherry came up to me and pulled me into a hug. "Congratulations, Ponyboy," she said softly. She had done the same thing at the school celebration and didn't care about the looks she got from people. She was dating a greaser, after all. Cherry let me go and went back over to the couch to sit next to Soda who put his arm around her. They both smiled.
I got lots of slaps on the back and congratulations, but all I really wanted to do was get some chocolate cake and sit mindlessly in front of the TV for seven hours. I want a chance to be a kid before I have to go off to college. "Stay gold," Johnny had said. That was the one thing he told me that I'll never forget. I needed someone to tell me that. Someone to tell me that I have to be a kid every once in a while. I needed to stop trying to grow up too fast and worry about everything all the time. Just enjoy life while I can, 'cause you never know when it might end. And that's exactly what I'm doing- staying gold.
A/N- so that's it. Review please. I'd like to know how i did...