I do not own The Outsiders *sigh* I hope you enjoy the story!
It was fourth period math and I was already dying to go home. The only sound heard in the room were the constant scribbling of pencils and the ticking clock. We were in the middle of one of our usual pop quizzes. Our teacher, Mr. Ryland, loves to randomly announce tests for us to do while he hides behind his desk and reads a magazine. I feel bad for the sorry sucker who didn't remember to study just incase. No wonder why my grade is lower than the expected A+ Darry wants. The guy is too busy giving us suprise tests than teaching us a thing or two. And even then, i'm just not that good at math. Turns out even my advanced intelligence disagrees to understand math quickly. I do great in my other classes, this is just the one I need extra help in. Darry thinks i'm not trying hard enough. I'm no longer affected by the dissapointment on his face when I give him my report card. But that doesn't means it doesn't hurt sometimes. I scribbled down the last answer and got out of my seat to place it on his desk. He glanced up from his magazine and nodded.
"Good, good, you can either work on your homework or read a book."
I simply mumbled an 'okay' and walked back to my desk. I was the very first few to finish early. At least more than half of the class was still working on the test. I looked around me and saw that some were even struggling. I guess they forgot to study. I looked next to me and picked up one the books that I recently checked out from the library. I cracked it open and began to read it until the bell rang. Then I gathered my stuff and walked to my next class.
XxX.
"And that concludes our lesson." He said right as the school bell rang. Instantly you can hear papers shuffling and chairs being pushed in. I get up and quickly push through the herd of students rushing out the classroom.
"Don't forget to read pages 20 through 30 in your books!" He called.
After having to practically swim through the great sea, I was finally able to walk out into the school parking lot. I took a deep breath and sighed as I looked up at the sky. What a nice day. I took one last look at the sky and began to walk home. Luckily no Socs stopped to jump me. I walked up the porch steps and walked inside. I laid my books down on the coffee table and then plopped down on the old couch. I decided to start on my homework until one of my brothers come home. I took out my English homework and started to work on that. Once I finished it I took out my Biology homework and started to work on it. A couple of minutes later the front door flew open and the smell of sweat and car oil was visible in the air. Soda was home. I smile to myself and put away my homework.
"Hey Soda, how was work?" I ask him as I walk into the kitchen.
"Pretty good, me and Steve fixed these really tuff cars." He grinned.
Suddenly I see were weren't the only ones in the kitchen. Steve was also here. He slammed the refrigerator door closed and popped open a bottle of beer. He took a small sip and swallowed. I hadn't realized I was staring at him, until he gave me a confused look.
"Now what ya starin' at kid."
"Well not at your troll face." I smirked. He scowled.
"You little smartass."
"Takes one to know one." I muttered and quickly walked out the front door, towards the lot.
Sometimes I wish Steve wasn't so... Steve. I didn't mean to stare at him. And even then, he shouldn't have gotten so butthurt about it. Though I shouldn't argue, he makes Soda happy. They've been friends since pre-school. I wouldn't want to be the cause of their friendship breaking up. Soda would be lost without him. But that still doesn't give him the right to treat me like a little kid. Like, what did I ever do to him? I guess we were just meant to be enemies. Now it makes sense why I always got a weird vibe from him when I was a kid- I already knew. I walked a few more feet and saw the lot come into view. I raised my head and tried to see if Johnny was in his usual sitting spot. There he was, sitting against a tree smoking a cancer stick. I smiled and jogged up to him.
"Hi Johnnycakes." I sat down next to him. He gave me a nod and thew away his weed.
"Hey."
"What ya doin' here?" I asked. He shrugged.
"Had nothin' to do I guess." We sat in silence for a while.
"Wanna' come by my house for dinner?"
"Sure."
We stood up, then walked back to my house. When we got there we were greeted by the radio turned up as loud as it could go and Steve and Soda wrestling on the ground with Two-bit cheering them on. I cheered my brother on when he was able to get out of his choke hold and pinned Steve to the ground. I walked into the kitchen and saw Darry taste the spaghetti he was making.
"Hey Darry." He turned towards me.
"Where were you? And do you have your homework done?" I sighed.
"I went to talk to Johnny at the lot and I only have my Math homework to do. I promise i'll do it right now."
"Well you'll have to do it later because dinner is ready. Go tell the others okay?" I nodded and walked back into the living room to go tell them. The whooped and hollered as they bounced into the kitchen and took a seat.
"Hey where's Dally?" Soda asked.
"I heard he was going to hit up the Dingo and try to score some action." Two-bit replied.
I took a scoop of spaghetti and plopped it onto my plate. Me and Johnny ate silently as the rest of them talked loudy and told jokes. Two-bit was able to tell a joke so funny that it made Steve choke on his drink. He coughed loudly while Soda patted his back.
"You almost killed me!" Steve coughed.
"Well I guess my jokes are to die for." He roared with laughter. I gave a little chuckle.
Once we were all done I gathered all the dirty plates and prepared to wash them. Since it was Darry who cooked, it was mine and Soda's turn to wash them. I was on washing duty while he was on drying duty. In five minutes flat we were done. I walked into the livingroom and started on my math homework. As usual I had trouble on a couple of problems but did them anyway. I got up off the couch and gave the sheet to Darry. He looked over the answers then shook his head and frowned.
"Number three, five, and six are wrong. Fix them then come back." I nodded then went to fix them. I went over them again and found what I did wrong. I went back and gave it to him.
"Good. Do you have any other homework?" I shook my head.
"Well I guess you're done for the night." I gathered my books and put them in my room. I walked back and saw that Soda and Steve were leaving.
"Where are you guys going?" I asked. I could already tell my question aggravated Steve.
"Oh, we're going to the drag races. We heard it was going to be real good." Soda smiled. Steve, who was behind, put a hand on his shoulder and slightly pushed him back.
"And you're not going. Okay?" He glared at me.
"And why can't I go?" I glared back.
"Because you can't, it's a school night Ponyboy. You know the rules." Darry told me.
"Well I don't think that's fair."
"Hey, we can go another time Ponyboy. I promise." Soda said.
"Fine." I said and stomped to my room. I went under the covers and deeply sighed.
"Stupid Steve. What did I ever do to him. It just ain't fair." I muttered then drifted off to sleep.
HELLO! I'm sorry if this chapter isn't really interesting and all, but I wanted to show you guys that Steve and Ponyboy have problems. This helps with the story because it gives the gang another reason not to believe that Steve is innocent.