The Outsiders: What Would Have Been…
WARNING!! – I am putting an OC (other character for those who don't know) in and changing little bits of the story! NO FLAMES!! I swear, if I see a flame in the reviews, I will reply with chastisement. I had a weird dream about this and decided to put it up.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from The Outsiders; they belong to S. E. Hinton. The only thing I own in this story is the character of Ponygirl Curtis and the differences between this FanFic and the actual book.
A/N: This is still in Ponyboy's POV. I am starting from the top of page six. (if you have the book on you…) And sorry about the madness up there.↑ I just get really annoyed when people flame something you've been working your ass off to finish. You dig?
Chapter 1
Then there were shouts and the pounding of feet, and the Socs jumped up and left me lying there, gasping. I lay there and wondered what in the world was happening – people were jumping over me and running by me and I was too dazed to figure it out. Then someone touched me gingerly on the cut the Socs had cut on my neck.
"Are you alright, Ponyboy?"
The person helped me up and I opened my eyes and looked into the green eyes of my younger sister, Ponygirl Curtis. She was three years younger, eleven years old, but acted like the mother in the family. Ponygirl had dirty blonde hair tied in a high ponytail at the back of her head. She wore black framed glasses. I know what you're thinking, was Ponyboy and Ponygirl intentional? Well, kinda. My parents were prepared with 'Durmió' for a boy (it's Spanish for he/she/it slept) but she turned out a girl (my parents never wanted to learn the baby's gender before he/she was actually born). I was the only one else there and they called her Ponygirl. She was in the eighth grade, skipped up two grades in elementary. I nodded to my sister. She hugged me and kissed me on the cheek.
Sodapop and Darry come loping back. By then I had figured that all the noise I had heard was the gang coming to rescue me. They ran up to me, examining my head.
"You got cut up a little, huh, Ponyboy?" Soda said.
I only looked at him blankly. "I did?"
He pulled out a handkerchief, wet the end of it with his tongue, and pressed it gently against the side of my head. "You're bleedin' like a stuck pig."
"I am?"
"Look!" He showed me the handkerchief, reddened as if by magic. "Did they pull blade on you?"
"They sure did." Ponygirl said. "Look at his cut on his neck." She lifted my head to show Soda my cut. Soda patted me on the back.
"Don't sweat 'bout it. Little Peanut Butter's going to be all right." I fake punched Soda in the stomach. Ponygirl slapped him in the face. "Hey! That ain't fair!"
"What did we say about that?" Ponygirl and I asked.
"Fine… Can Darry and me still call you guys the Ponies?" Soda asked
We rolled our eyes. "Whatever." Ponygirl said.
Soda looked at me more closely. I looked hurriedly away, because, if you want to know the truth, I was starting to bawl. I knew I was as white as I felt and I was shaking like a leaf.
Soda just put his hand on my shoulder. "Easy, Ponyboy. They ain't gonna hurt you no more."
"I know," I said, but the ground began to blur and I felt hot tears running down my cheeks. I brushed them away impatiently. "I'm just a little spooked, that's all." I drew a quivering breath and quit crying.
Soda rubbed my hair. "You're an okay kid, Pony."
I had to grin at him. "You're crazy, Soda, out of your mind."
Darry looked as if he'd like to knock our heads together. "You're both nuts."
Soda merely cocked one eyebrow, a trick he'd picked up from Two-Bit. "What about Ponygirl? She's nuts too."
Ponygirl stomped on Soda's foot with her ballet flat. "I wish I was wearing heals…" She said through gritted teeth.
"Then why don't you?" I asked smiling.
Ponygirl shrugged. She wasn't the kind to wear heels. Once during a rumble, we were in trouble and she was coming along with two Socy girls. She was wearing heels. To tell you the truth, I was the one getting beaten up pretty bad. She noticed me and when I got the guy down, Ponygirl used her heel to finish him where it hurt. We never saw him again. I personally was relieved. "I just feel really uncomfortable in them. They give you that feeling that you're taller than everyone, which is good at first. But then you feel like you're gonna fall any second. You try walking up and down stairs all day in a pair of two-inch heels and tell me how it feels! Besides, ballet flats are better."
Darry shook his head. "You know what? Soda's right. PG-11's crazy too." Ponygirl threw raspberry at him. Darry and Soda loved making creepy nicknames for me and Ponygirl. Sometimes Soda called me PB&J. He wasn't intending the J to stand for Johnny. Somehow it fit like that. Whenever they were hollering at both Ponygirl and me, they either said, "Ponies", "PGB", or any other random name Soda comes up with at breakfast
Soda said, "It seems to run in the family."
Our gang had chased the Socs to their car and heaved rocks at them. They came running toward up now – lean, hard looking guys.
"Didya catch 'em?" I asked.
"Nup. They got away this time, the dirty…" Two-Bit went on calling the Socs any and every name he could think of or make up.
"The kid's okay?"
"I'm okay." I tried to think of something else to say. I'm usually pretty quiet around people in general. I changed the subject. "I didn't know you were out of the cooler yet, Dally."
"Good behavior. Got off early." Dallas lit a cigarette and handed it to Johnny. Everyone sat down to have a smoke and relax. Ponygirl didn't because she could never could get used to smoking. She always said that it enough to smell smoke everywhere but school. She didn't even sit down. Well, I thought that it was reasonable. I mean, today was one of those rare days that Ponygirl wore a skirt. She usually wears jeans like the rest
of us. Anyway, smoking always lessens the tension. I had quit trembling and my color came back. The cigarette was calming me down.
Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow. "Nice-looking bruise you got there kid."
I touched my cheek gingerly. "Really?"
Two-Bit nodded sagely. "Nice cut, too. Makes you look tough."
Steve flicked his ashes at me. "What were you doin', walkin' by your lonesome?"
"I was comin' home from the movies. I didn't think…"
"You don't ever think," Darry broke in, "not at home or anywhere when it counts. You must think at school, with all those good grades you bring home, and you've always got your nose in a book, but do you ever use your head for common sense? Not at all, bub. You should have at least carried a blade!"
Ponygirl's fists clenched. She hated to see or hear Darry getting' mad at me. She was younger and wasn't yelled at at all. "Yo, leave him alone! How come you never chastise me and do it all the time to Ponyboy?" She almost yelled.
Soda was glaring at him. "Leave my kid brother alone, you hear? It ain't his fault he's even smarter than you or that the Socs love to jump us to get some kicks. Even if he had a blade, the Socs would have a good excuse to cut him up all the more."
Darry didn't say anything but laid off.
"Next time around, get one of us to go with you, Ponyboy," Two-Bit suggested. "Any of us will."
I wondered if that counted Ponygirl. She could pass as a Soc and pretend she was taking me to her boyfriend so he could finish me. Soda read my thoughts and said, "Hey Darry, would PG count?"
"If she dressed up like a Soc and pretended to be doin' bad to him. If not, no." Darry said after a moment of thought.
I was relieved and thanked God in my mind. Darry didn't dig me all the time. I guess I'm just closer to Soda and Ponygirl. They stand up for me all the time and I love them the most. I made a mental note to myself to go to the movies next week with Ponygirl.