Chapter 1
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own "The Outsiders" or any of the Curtis' Gang. Sigh. The real owner of "The Outsiders" is my favorite author, the fabulous S.E. Hinton. I also do not make a profit from the stories that I write here on this site.
A/N: Thank you so much to FrankElza for betaing. She was a huge help!
Johnny's POV
"Johnny, I hate to tell you this, but your failing. I'm sorry, but you leave me no choice. I'm assigning you a tutor," I heard my English teacher tell me.
Wait! Tutor? I imagined a stuck-up Soc telling me that I was stupid and useless. If I wanted a tutor, I could have asked Ponyboy to help me, he's great at English, and he wouldn't call me stupid or make fun of me.
"What?" I asked in my quiet voice.
That'll intimidate anyone, I thought sarcastically.
"Her name is Julie. She's real quiet too, and very smart. You two will get along," he told me, attempting to reassure me, but it wasn't working.
"Class is dismissed," he called louder to the rest of the class.
"Meet her in the library after school. Am I clear?" He told me.
"Crystal," I responded, gathering up my books and leaving in a silent huff.
X
"A tutor, Ponyboy! It's ridiculous, I'm not dumb. I should just drop out." I fumed to my friend after lunch.
"Don't drop out, Johnnycakes. I know, you don't need a tutor," he consoled me softly.
There was a "but you'll get better grades," hinting in his voice.
"Whatever. I won't. Look, I gotta go. I'm meeting her in the library. See ya," I called.
"Bye, Johnny," he echoed, gathering up his reading book.
X
Julie was an average looking girl. Her short, matte brown hair was lying limp at her shoulders in a natural wave. Her golden brown eyes were stuck in the book lying out in front of her. I had seen her before, she hung out with Evie and Karen, Two-Bit's sister, but she also hung out with a few middle class friends.
When she stood up to shake my hand, she looked about 5'3" or so, which was good. I was glad that she wasn't taller than me; too many people towered over me. Even Pony was only an inch shorter than me, but he was 15 and still growing.
"Hey. My name is Julie, and you're Johnny, right?" She asked with a shy smile.
"Yeah, Johnny Cade," I responded, feeling shy also.
She pulled out the English textbook and started reading it out loud to me. She went over grammar and some spelling, but it went straight over my head; E before I except after C or something like that.
She asked me to spell ten words but I only got five of them right. She looked thoughtful throughout this process, but never said anything.
This went on for about a long and boring hour until she told me she had to go.
"Do you want to meet again tomorrow?" She asked.
"Sure," I responded with a shrug.
I honestly just wanted to get out of here. It was too quiet, everything felt fragile, and Socs were everywhere studying. It made me super uncomfortable.
X
"Get over here, Bastard!" My drunk Dad screamed at me.
I slowly inched forward towards him.
"It's y'r fault! Y'r mother and I would be happy if you'd never been born," he slurred angrily.
I winced as though he belted me, which he did normally.
"We don' even got any money to buy any beer!" He shouted at me as if it was the worst thing in the world.
I felt the blows, the punches to the cheek and face, kicks in the stomach. I was doubled over gasping, but he continued to beat on me until he got bored.
He stumbled out of the main room and passed out in the bed next to my Mom. I slowly slipped out and slept in the lot that night.
X
The next day I met Julie at the library and noticed that she was less talkative. She seemed in deep thoughts about something, but I want sure what.
I sat down and she looked up to see my bruise across my cheek, she traced it with her long fingernail.
"How'd you get this?" She asked curiously in a soft voice.
"Nothing. Let's just do the work," I responded quickly, not wanting to get into it.
She understood and started on the lesson.
"Alright, Johnny, can you read something for me?" She asked. I nodded.
"Yeah, sure. What is it?"
She had me read a children's book, which was simple enough. I tripped up on words like 'dat' instead of 'bat,' 'mas' instead of 'was,' and other simple things. Finally, she told me I was done.
"Have you ever been tested for dyslexia?" She asked.
"No. I'm not dumb, you know!" I snapped and I felt guilty when I saw she looked hurt.
"Dyslexia isn't dumb. It means that your brain had some trouble with words and it needs a different style of teaching. That's why you have trouble," she explained, but my greaser reputation wasn't having it.
"Just because I'm a greaser doesn't mean I'm a retard. I'm not dyslexic," I told her angrily. She winced.
"Dyslexic people aren't retarded," she told me fiercely. "I'm dyslexic and I'm not dumb. I think you are Johnny. I know, actually," she explained in a much softer tone.
I felt awful. "I'm sorry. Maybe I do, I guess it makes sense," I told her.
She smiled, but she still seemed distracted.
She went back to teaching subject agreements, which started to make a little sense. I didn't know what it was, but the information stayed in my brain instead of me forgetting it. The way she explained it helped a lot, it was simpler.
X
"I gotta go, but I'll see you tomorrow, alright?" she told me quietly.
I nodded. Maybe this wouldn't be as awful as I had originally thought. It wasn't enjoyable, just bearable, I thought.
A/N: I will take any suggestions. Thanks.
Aufenthalt Gold,
~Alee
