Lost in Love
Chapter One
Author's Note: Please, once you're done reading, review. I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions, and if you would like to see something happen in this story, don't hesitate to tell me. I want to include stuff you want to read about.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders.
I stare at Sylvia bitterly; a hint of anger and frustration runs through my veins. Like every other day, she's telling Kathy and me one of her many "shitty relationship" stories. Though, for the last 5 1/2 months, her stories have begun to repeat themselves. Frankly, I'm tired of hearing about how she's two-timin' Dallas or he's doing a terrible job with sneaking around with "that cheap slut". That's Sylvia's most common name for some 11th grader. I'm not too sure what her name actually is for three reasons. The first reason: she's a grade behind Sylvia, Kathy and me; the second reason: Sylvia never refers to her by her actual name; the third reason: I don't give two shits about her actual name.
As Sylvia continues rambling, I find myself passing by her and admiring the "dark-haired devil". I would never admit to Sylvia that there was something about the dangerous greaser that attracted me to him; besides, today is one of the rare days he had decided to show up to school, and I was going to take advantage of it.
He's chuckling quietly at something Kathy's man, Two-Bit, had said, no doubt, and it gives me butterflies. Aside from being a cold-hearted person, he's got features that could draw in the nicest of girls. Anyway, there isn't a doubt in my mind that he's laughing at one of Two-Bit's gags. He is hands down the funniest boy in 12th grade - it had surprised everyone when he finally passed 11th grade. As for the other two, I recognize one as Steve Randle, and I know, for a fact, that the other boy is a 10th grader. I don't know his name, but I'm almost positive he's the kid brother of Sodapop and Darrel Curtis.
"Earth to Jenni," Sylvia calls loudly, waving her hand in front of my face impatiently. She sounds incredibly annoyed. "What's that nasty look for?" She turns around and follows my gaze. "Oh, he's such an asshole!" She grumbles angrily towards Dally. After hearing that statement, I begin to question their relationship.
Sure, Sylvia's considered one of the prettiest girls in our grade, but surely, Dallas can find better. I would be his girl in heartbeat, but compared to Sylvia, I'm a step down. Or, if he wanted to risk pissing off one of his buddies, he could try for Soda's girl, Sandy, but from what I hear, greasers don't do that to their pals. To put it in comparison: I'm pretty, Sylvia is beautiful and Sandy is drop dead gorgeous.
It sucks ranking so low. It sucks knowing I rank lower than Sylvia. Sure, she's my best friend, but I'm tired of ranking 2nd to her in almost everything - except school. Let me tell you, no boy like Dallas Winston wants a nerd attached at his hip. Of course he's going to go for someone who can be a good girl when she wants and slutty any other time. I can never win with her; she's got the perfect body, looks and guy.
If my long, auburn colored hair decides to turn out looking nice, Sylvia's dirty blonde locks look 10 times better. Plus, my hazel eyes don't even compare to her beautiful grey orbs. Heck, I don't even win when it comes to the personality portion of the test. Sylvia is charismatic - loud but charismatic. Plus, she's rebellious and can sweet talk her way out of any situation. Whether she didn't turn in an assignment or she robbed a bank, she always manages to get her way out of the consequences to follow. She can probably get away with murder and I don't put it past her to try. As for me, I'm quiet, sensitive and not nearly as recalcitrant as Sylvia, but I won't deny that I have fun going out and screwing with the citizens of Tulsa. In our group of three, Kathy is the one who refrains from doing such improper acts. Sylvia tells her she needs to loosen up, and I can't help but agree. Kathy, along with my older sister, tells me that someday Sylvia will get me in trouble, but I refuse to listen. In the four years we've been friends, her actions have never gotten me thrown into jail, so why stop now?
"If he's so bad, why don't you break up with him for good?" Kathy asks, pulling her long, golden hair back into a ponytail. Sylvia stares at her like Kathy has grown another head. I watch both girls blankly; I'm eager to see what goes down next.
"Kathy, there's somethin' about Dal that I can't let go," I stare at Sylvia, semi-impressed with what she just said. "Sides, he's a beast in the sheets." She finishes with a wink towards me. Unintentionally, my head bows down in embarrassment and my cheeks burn something awful. Sylvia begins to laugh while Kathy rolls her eyes and sighs loudly in annoyance. "Now, Kathy, why do you keep Two-Bit around? He's an idiot." Her heads shoots up towards Sylvia, and if looks could kill, Sylvia would be 6 feet under. This definitely isn't going to end well.
"Two-Bit is a nice guy, and he's funny," Kathy answers. Sylvia doesn't look amused. She looks over her red fingernails in boredom. "He's a lot better than cheatin' Dally." Sylvia looks up with a cocked eyebrow.
"Please, Kathy," she says. "Two-Bit and Dal have had their fair share of broads. Hell, I bet their list is the same length." Kathy looks away in defeat. Two-Bit and her are one of those on-again-off-again couples, and when they're off, Two-Bit doesn't wait around; it doesn't take long for him to have another blonde attached to his hip. "Next time, make sure you'll win the argument." Sylvia turns towards me. She opens her mouth to say something, but before she can, Kathy interjects.
"At least Two-Bit don't cheat on me." Kathy says quietly with as much confidence she can muster up. Sylvia rolls her eyes.
"Don't get too ahead of yourself, Princess. Everyone knows Two-Bit ain't innocent," as much as I like Kathy, I can't help but admit that Sylvia continues to make really good points. Kathy sighs sadly; all 3 of us know that Sylvia had won for the 2nd time in the last five minutes. Kathy sticks a fry in her mouth, doing anything in a desperate attempt to ease out the embarrassment she's feeling for even making the mistake of challenging Sylvia; she's an undefeated monster. "What the hell is the matter with you?" She directs her attention towards me. I nervously glance between her and Kathy a couple times before meeting Sylvia's wondering eyes. "You ain't said one word at all durin' lunch. That brother of yours wake you up again last night?" I shake my head. "That's a shock."
In my small family of four, I'm the middle child. I have an older sister name Carolyn who's still at home despite the fact that she's 23 years old; I also have a brother whose birthday is next week named Daniel who is the product of my mother and her fiancé for the last two years, Brandon. Shortly after my 3rd birthday, my parents got into an argument which resulted in my father packing his belongings and removing himself from our house; ultimately, he left Carolyn and my lives without thinking twice. A couple years after his departure, Mom had met Brandon. They dated for several years before announcing their engagement a couple months before my 14th birthday. Then, four months before my 16th birthday, Daniel Carter was born.
For some unfathomable reason, Sylvia can't stand my baby brother, but she admires Carolyn. I find it funny because Carolyn wants nothing to do with two 17 years olds - Sylvia and Kathy. Sadly, I'm the youngest in our group - and one of the youngest in our grade considering I'm only 16. It sucks more than you can imagine.
I shrug my shoulders in response to her question. "I ain't got nothin' to say." I answer, pushing around some food with my fork. Sylvia rolls her eyes.
"Jenni, you ain't never got anythin' to say," she remarks. "Anyway, I was thinkin' the 3 of us should head over to Buck's Friday night to celebrate our first successful week of senior year. There's bound to be some cute guys there that we can lead on." Sylvia explains. "Ladies, you in?" Kathy shakes her head.
"Two-Bit is takin' me to Jay's for dinner that night." Kathy replies. Sylvia looks towards me with a knowing look; a sly smirk slowly starts to spread across her lips.
A sure sign that Friday is going to be an eventful evening.
XxXxXxX
Kathy walks home with me after school, and along the way, she mutters some pretty obscene words about Sylvia and the way she was talking about her man.
As for me, I pretend to listen while kicking a rock along the sidewalk. Honestly, my mind is flashing back to lunch when Sylvia was giving her reasons why she won't leave Dallas for good. It still doesn't make sense to me.
"Jenni, do you think it was right of her to say that about Two-Bit?" Kathy asks suddenly, catching me off guard. I merely shrug my shoulders in response while continuing to send the rock another few feet in front of me. Kathy emits one of her infamous sighs. "I'm serious, Jennifer. I want to hear what your thoughts on the matter are." I stuff my hands into the pockets of my skirt while carrying on down the sidewalk. Kathy waits as patiently as she can for my answer.
"If you want the truth, Kathy, Sylvia wasn't exactly wrong about what she said. Two-Bit don't waste no time gettin' another girl, and he has had his fair share of girls," I explain. She crosses her arms over her chest, about ready to argue with me. I pull my left hand out and hold up my index finger. "I ain't done yet, so hold yourself for a second. I don't think Two-Bit would ever cheat on you though." Kathy relaxes a little and slumps her shoulders forward.
"She really irks me sometimes," Kathy mutters under her breath. "It ain't fair how she's always talkin' crap about Two-Bit, and then when you try to say somethin' mean about Dally, she don't even get mad." I shrug my shoulders.
"If you really love Two-Bit, you wouldn't let her comments bother you," I share. "Sylvia loves Dallas, so what you say ain't gonna offend her. Unless she already knows, and we all know Sylvia ain't gonna deny the truth unless it involves her gettin' thrown into the cooler." I slowly fade out upon realizing how I've gotten off topic. Kathy averts her eyes to the ground and shrugs.
"I really do love Two-Bit," she informs quietly. The two of us walk up the pathway leading to my house. I take the lead, and upon reaching the door, I stick my key into the slot. "Are you really gonna go to Buck's with her Friday?" I nod my head while fumbling with the lock. "You're real brave then, Jenni." I push the old wooden piece of crap open before allowing Kathy inside. Her comment lingers around longer than it should have. Slowly, a dangerous grin forms on my face.
If only Kathy knew what she's missing.
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