Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsider's by S.E. Hinton. Also, note the perspective change in the middle of the story. You should be able to figure it out though.
"Ay! Dallas!" Quincy Harris waved his cue in the air and grinned foolishly as I walked into Benny's. Austin Rivers and James Cook trailed a couple of feet behind me and a few people looked up from their Cokes or beers or pool games. I waved back at Quincy. It was clear the he was already completely sloshed. Quincy was the only guy I knew that got drunk at 2:30 in the afternoon.
The were a few other kids inside. Benny's was a pretty big hangout for kids. Benny wasn't real keen on that, but we weren't so bad. If you really wanted to do some damage, you'd go somewhere else like Sam's or The Ace.
We pulled into the counter. "Hey Benny, get me a Coke, huh?" I told Benny. He scowled at me, like he does at just about all the kids who come in. Austin and James laughed.
I glanced around the room while Austin and James goofed around next to me. I saw Rae-Ellen Hayes sitting on the top part of a both surveying a pool game while a whole bunch of guys were crowded around her. I didn't know Rae-Ellen all that well, except seeing her at some parties and a few times at Benny's. I knew she hung around Benny's a lot during the day and watched pool and drank Coke while all the guys drooled over her.
Rae-Ellen, people called her Rell for short, was a real character. She was the epitome of a greaser girl but somehow different than most. She wore dark jeans and leather jackets but she wasn't loud and flirtacious and whiney like most greaser girls. That wasn't to say she hadn't been around. She was about fifteen or sixteen and had had boyfriends since she was ten. That was because guys just went crazy over her. I mean, she was real pretty. Not just cute, beautiful. She had real blonde hair and big dark,dark, hard brown eyes. She was tough and tuff. She rarely ever smiled. She was the kind of girl you don't get smart with or make any dirty comments. You could tell she didn't take shit from anyone ever. She looked sometimes like she could beat the shit out of you.
Benny placed a Coke in front of me and I picked it up. "Man," I sighed, "This place is getting boring. Someone's gotta start a rumble or somethin'."
James nodded. "I hear you, man. Sometimes I wish some Soc would just come by looking for trouble so we could have something to do."
Austin hopped off his bar stool. "C'mon. Let's go talk to Collins." We walked over to where Marc Collins sat, right by Rell Hayes. Austin leaned up against the booth and I slid in next to Marc.
"You guy's comin' over to Buck's place tomorrow night?" Austin asked. Buck Merril was always having parties at his house.
"Hell yeah." Marc grinned. "Man am I ready to get wasted."
A few other guys joked around excitedly, punching Austin's arm.
"How bout you, Rae-Ellen?" Austin asked, looking up at Rell.
She took a long drag of her cigarette and looked off into the distance. "Maybe." she finally answered nonchalantly.
"C'mon, Rell. They'll be lots of booze..." James taunted. Rell swiveled her head around to look at him.
"You know Rae-Ellen don't drink." defended one of the boys sitting with her. I hadn't known that about her.
"Hey, Dallas, are you still riding for Buck?" Collins asked curiously.
I searched my shirt pocket for a cigarette. "Nah." I shrugged, thinking to myself I should really start again, though. "Just for cash here and there."
"Yeah," Austin started. "We been a helluva lot lonely without good ole' Dal at the barn." Austin rode a lot in the rodeos too. That's how I knew him.
James laughed and I shrugged again. I snuck another look at Rell. Collins had draped his arm around her and she was sipping on a Coke, laughing coldly about something with him. Probably poking fun at someone in the joint.
***
I hopped down the steps of the school. Marc Collins leaned up against a parked school bus clad in cuffed jeans and a tight fitted white tee shirt. When he saw me, he strode over to me. I squinted at him as he lifted his hands and grinned. I walked swiftly passed him, forcing a smile and he wrapped his hands around me from the back.
"Hey, Rell." He said. "How ya doin', babe?"
"Marc." I stated simply, lighting up a cigarette. "You're looking good today."
He was. He was pretty handsome. Long, golden, greasy hair combed back. Me and Marc weren't going steady or nothing. We just made out a little on the way home from Benny's the day before. I wasn't crazy about him either, but I got a little bored and, I'll admit, a little lonely. See, I didn't have that many friends. Girl friends, that is. I had some, but mostly I stayed around the guys. Most of the girls at school thought I was a whore or a bitch.
Look, I'm not going to beat around the bush on this one. I'm not a very modest person anyways. Most girls hated me because their boyfriends were always flirting with me or sometimes even cheating on them with me. It had always been that way for me. Guys had always swarmed around me, constantly asking me out or trying to make some sort of move on me.
"I'd have to say the same for you." Marc said roguishly. He turned to face me and gave me a kiss. I kissed him back but pulled away quickly.
"Hey Marc, I gotta get home." I remarked and turned to walk away.
"Wait, Rell!" he called from behind me. I turned around. "So you coming to Buck's tonight. Cause you know, I'd be more than happy to take you."
I contemplated this for a second. I wanted to go. Parties at Buck's were pretty decent. But I didn't want to go "with" Marc so much.
"Yeah, I might drop by." I phrased it delicately to let it be known that I would go, but by myself.
Marc looked completely unfazed, though. He wasn't exactly the brightest kid on the block. Since he was kind of slow, I just left it at that. With most boys I would just give them the flat out truth that I had no interest in going with them.
"Alright, babe. Hope I catch you there." He smiled.
I saluted him and swaggered down the street.
Kindly review please! Oh, and Benny's is borrowed from Rumble Fish -hehe.