RE-WRITTEN
Okay, I am re-writing these first chapters becasue I feel they're not as good as the last few. Please read and review telling me if I did better, worse, same, etc. I really hate to ruin the whole day that they died thing, but whatever. It wouldn't work with the book. Ponyboy claims in the book that he's 'been fourteen for a month' so yeah. Let's see how this goes. Oh, and I'm trying to make the chapters longer, because I know you love long chapters and all, but I'm better at short chapters. I don't know why. Don't ask me why.
I just noticed that I always imagined The Outsiders taking place in October, and it's February. Eight months. Think about it :)
Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders.
I was walking home from school. I didn't have much homework because tomorrow was the school dance. I didn't have anyone to go with as far as dates go, but my brothers and gang were coming with me. I have three brothers.
Ponyboy is my twin brother, and yes that's his real name. He's technically older than me by a few minutes or whatever, but we're both thirteen years old; we'll be fourteen in exactly seven months. We look a lot alike, but little differences are key to seperate us. Our hair is a light red-brown, but mine is darker than his. Plus, Pony's sort of bleaches in the summer, making it lighter than in the winter. Most people can't tell, though. His eyes are a dark, forest green with specks of gray in them. He's jealous of my eyes; mine have a little more silver in them than his.
Sodapop is one of my other brothers. He's been sixteen for a few months now, and he's pretty good at making me jealous of driving. He'll walk down to the DX, the gas station where he and his best friend work, pick up Steve's old car, and drive off with the gang. Dad tried to teach him how to drive right, but Steve, his best friend, ended up taking over. Steve ain't my favorite person in the world. Soda has golden-brown hair that does the same thing as Pony's in the summer. The girls fawn over him and those huge, brown eyes. I don't get girls, but Soda says I'll grow into it. Yeah, right.
My last brother is Darrel Shaynne Curtis, Jr. He wins oldest brother at twenty years old. Darry really wants to go to college, and I doubt that he'll never make it. Even though he's a greaser, I'll explain later, he's really handsome and atheletic. Not as handsome as the movie-star looks Soda has, but still good. He's got dark brown hair like Dad's. In fact, most people thought the two were brothers instead of father and son. I don't blame them, but Darry's eyes are different than anybody else I know. They're a real mist-like color-all blue and gray and cold-but they're happiness in there. You can see it best when he's proud of something. When he's proud, wheather it's of me or anyone else, you can see this little glint in his eyes. It makes me feel good inside when I see the little spark.
Anyway, I was walking home-no homework, no date-but I did have to go back to school and help set up the gym. I got in a little trouble with a Soc at my school, but did he get in trouble? No. Why, you ask? Easy, 'cause I'm a greaser. Greasers are considered dirt. We're not, though. Just beacause a guy's poor doesn't make him dirt, but that's the big stereo-type around here. We wreck stuff and have gang fights and hold up gas stations, basically cause all sorts of trouble. I don't do that kind of stuff. Like I said, it's one big stereo-type.
Socs, though, Socs are mean. They're cruel and rich. Snobby and hate-filled. They have beer blasts and wreck houses and jump us greasers for fun. Speaking of which, I had a pretty big chance of getting jumped right now. Those darn Socs are everywhere. I stuffed my hands in my pockets, keeping my head up, and looked around. The road was clear. The alleys are clear. My paths clear, ahead of me. I started casually walking backwards. Nothing. Good. I turned back around and unstuffed my pockets.
I wasn't too far from the DX station. Sodapop could drive me back to school for the dance setup. I think he was going alone, too. Which wouldn't be a problem, or it might be. If you count girls walking up to him with a want 'bad'. I heard him and Steve messing around outside. Steve was running with Soda's hat in his hand. They were best friends; anyone can tell."Hey, Nick!" Soda called, stopping in his tracks. Steve ran up to him, panting hard.
"Hi, Soda, when are you gettin' off work?" I asked him. I actually got in trouble with that Soc today, so I didn't know I'd be held after school.
"Few minutes," Steve answered, "Why? We ain't goin' no where." He always had this thing with me. He thought I was stuck to Soda or something, but it wasn't my fault. Soda always invited me, well, when they weren't bringing girls.
"I know. That Soc that been botherin' me, me and him got in a fight. I have to help set up for tommorrow."
"Oh," Soda said. "Why didn't ya say so? I'll drop you off, but what are you gonna tell Mom and Dad?"
I hadn't thought about that. Maybe I should just tell them the truth. They usually understand. I decided that I was right. "I ain't gonna lie to 'em."
"Lie to who?" A voice asked. I turned around to face my twin brother, Ponyboy, and his best friend, Johnny Cade. I liked Johnny. Johnny's hair was a dark, inky black; his eyes were the same color. He was a nice kid, and he didn't deserved the kind of home life he got. His mom was always yelling at him, and his dad constantly beats him. I once tried imagining my parents doing it to me. I was horrified at the mental picture. Johnny was like a little lost bird. I found a lost bird on the side of the road once. It was black with small streaks of brown, white, gray, and, of course, red. I felt real bad for the bird. I thought of Johnny as that bird ever since.
"Mom 'n' Dad. That Soc gave me after-school set up for the dance." I said.
Johnny spoke up. "I saw that. I thought it was you, but I didn't know for sure. I kind of got the same deal from his friend." Johnny wasn't too loud-I think it was his parents that did it to him-but he was a good fighter. He could stick up for himself and play tough.
"Yeah, I can take ya'll. Ponyboy, you mind tellin' Mom?" Soda grabbed his keys and ran to the truck, me and Johnny following. Pony nodded and headed home with Steve.
"Hey, Nick," Johnny said once we were in the car, "This is your first detention, right?"
"Yeah," I muttered. It kind of bothered me. I mean, I've always gotten good grades. Why did this stupid Soc have to go and ruin it all? Maybe I'll never get into college. Maybe I shouldn't tell Mom and Dad-
"Have fun," Johnny said with a smile.
When I got up in the morning I felt pumped. I was pumped about tonight, this was the first dance I've been to. I'm in the same school as Johnny and Soda becasue Ponyboy and I have moved up a grade. We're both pretty smart. We didn't move up until a few months ago, right after a dance was held. So now is the first one we've been to.
I could tell Pony was ready, too. He and Johnny talked about it some. That's what Johnny said. He's been to one or two dances, and it, apparently, wasn't half bad. Soda, of course, lives for dances, but he also lives for drag races, rodeos, and a whole lot of other stuff. So when he blabbered on and on about how great it was, I didn't pay a lick of attention.
Soda, Steve, Johnny, Ponyboy, and I drove to school together. The truck wasn't really crowded, considering three of us rode in the back. Soda was driving, and Steve, ahem, "helping". The school day seemed to drag on forever and ever. Everyone was ready for tonight. I mean, everyone. The girls would squeak and squeal. The guys would calm them down somehow. I would roll my eyes, along with Johnny. Soda would laugh at us. That's pretty much how my day went.
Arriving home, might I add finally, Mom and Dad were getting ready to leave. Every Valentine's Day, they go out to eat. Our dog, Rocky, was squirming in Dad's arms.
"We're going to drop you boys off at the school when you're ready. Mrs. Matthews offered to watch Rocky for us while we were out." Mom said. I nodded. "Do you know where Darry is?"
"Uh," I looked around, my feet firmly planted where they were, "No,"
My mom chuckled lightly. Darry decided to come out from his room then. "There you are," Dad said, "Are you sure you'll be all right alone?"
"Yes sir, I'm sure." Darry walked off into the kitchen.
Soda got Johnny and me ready. I was wearing blue jeans and nice shirt; I had grease in my hair, that's for sure. Greasers have to keep their reap, even at a dance. Johnny and Ponyboy were both wearing something similar. Soda, though, got all prettied up. He was wearing nice clothes, and not too much grease was in his hair. Hmm. I wonder who's looking for trouble. A.K.A, girls.
"You ready?" Dad hollered from the living room.
"Yeah," Soda yelled back. I swear, those two were the loudest people on Earth. Soda could be standing on one side of Earth and Dad on the other, and they could hear each other cleary. Very clearly. As could the rest of the world.
Dad whistled when he saw us. I laughed at Ponyboy, who was blusing a deep red. "C'mon!" I told him. "Lighten up,"
Rocky howled and barked and made all kinds of noise on the way there. We were all in the bed of the truck, though, Soda, Pony, Johnny, Steve and I. Soda was laughing at the dog. It was quite an event when we pulled up. Rocky howled. I mean, loudly. So loud he beats Soda in a yelling contest. Then a bus screeched at the bus stop that unloaded teenagers. Tons. And. Tons. Of. Teenagers. Which made Rocky mad, or whatever he was. Either way, he started howling even louder. By the time half of the people who got off the bus got there, everyone was holding their ears. Dang. Quite the event.
Mom waved good-bye to us. "I'll be here at eleven," she said. It was an hour later than usual, so I had to smile and tell them, "Thanks, see you."
Don't you hate it when you never know when it's the last time you hear someone's voice?
Note: The next chapter will be shorter. I'll probably get it up tomorrow. It'll be 3rd person point of view. I just hate it when people change point of views in the middle of a chapter. You know? No? Oh well. It makes sense to me.
Oh. Another note: When you see 'RE-WRITTEN' at the top, well, it's re-written. When you see 'CONTINUED' at the top, that means nothing else is left to be re-written.
Please review; any types of reviews are appreciated. Thanks for reading! :)
