I was walking down the street, my hands holding my sweater close to me. It was a cold Fall day, and I was just walking home from the movies. I didn't have much on my mind, I had just gone to the movies to relax a bit, but I had only succeeded in making myself even more restless. With my hands in my pockets and my head tilted down, I walked quickly back to my house. It was never safe for a greaser to be out on the streets all alone, and since none of my friends had been around, I went to the movies by myself. Not the smartest thing to do.
"Mom's gonna have a fit." I murmured, shivering and trying to hold my sweater closer to me. The skirt really didn't protect me from the cold, either. "I can just imagine her yelling at me." I sidestepped a few greaser guys, almost running into a pole from my inability to pay attention. I did a double-take, taking another look at the greasers who had passed me. I knew that one kid with the dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He was in my class...what was his name again? I was thinking over all the names that came to my mind...Johnny, Joseph, Jason, George, Lazlo, Keith, Greg, Peter, Pongo...
"Ponboy." I said out loud. I must've said it a bit too loud, because the three greasers the I had passed turned to look at me. I blushed, embarrassed, and I was about to turn away and pretend I hadn't said anything, when the oldest guy spoke up.
"Hey, Pone, you know that girl?" The guy walked closer to me, and unknowingly I backed up. He smirked at that. "AW, don't worry, I won't hurt ya babe...much." I gulped, trying to take another step back and running into the pole. I unconsciously tugged down my short skirt.
"Aw, leave her alone, Dal'," Ponyboy called out. "She's a girl from my class." My heart fluttered slightly. He remembers me? Wait, why did I even care if he remembered me? I looked him up and down for a second. That's right. He was pretty good-looking.
"Uh huh. Well then, what's it that you need, little lady?" Dally asked me. I coughed.
"Eh heh. N-nothing. Sorry, I'll be going," With my hand on the pole, I pushed past it. My head was ducked down again as I started off towards my house. Dally grabbed my arm, making me freeze in surprise. He spun me around to face me.
"U-uh, please let go..." I tugged my arm away, but Dally's grip didn't weaken.
"C'mon, Dal', let 'er go." Ponyboy murmured. Dally gave him a dirty look.
"What's wrong, Pony, she your girl or somethin'?" My cheeks turned pink, as did Ponyboy's. He turned away from us.
"Leave 'er alone." Dally rolled his eyes, letting my arm go. I pulled back, stumbling along the sidewalk and regaining my composure.
"You ever want a good time, you can come to me," Dally winked, sauntering back towards Ponyboy and his friend. I gulped nervously, rubbing my arm. I watched them walk away, none of them even turned around to give me a second look. I let out a sigh, this time a relieved one, and I started towards my house. Ponyboy Curtis...hmmm.
School the next day was very interesting. Well, first, a new girl transferred in. Her locker was placed above mine, so I thought I might as well get to know her. I talked to her, soon figuring out she was a pretty cool person. She was smart, pretty, but she seemed timid and quiet. I think that's only because she's new around here.
I walked into Science class with two Socs in front of me. They were making fun of me; I knew by the way they looked at me. Frustrated, I walked over to my seat, placing my things beside me as I waited for the teacher to start class. Ponyboy walked through the door, his backpack slung over his shoulder. His eyes met mine for half a second before he looked away and sat down halfway across the room. Socs began filling the room, only a few greasers got into these kinds of classes. A Soc girl sat next to me, since there wasn't any other seats in class.
I really, really wish Ponyboy had sat next to me, because this girl was a horrible person. She kept blabbing, on and on and on about this disgusting Soc boy. To me, no less. Why would I even care about her love affair? Ugh. I wanted to slam my head into the desk,, maybe that would stop her stupid, mindless chatter.
"Okay, class," The teacher said stiffly, "I am going to move seats. You will not complain about where I place you, or you will get moved to detention." I smirked, knowing full well everyone was going to complain about their new seats. I, however, wasn't going to be one of them, for anyone would be better than the chatterbox I was sitting next to right now. She visibly pouted.
"Awww, come one teach. I like sittin' next to this lil ol' greaser, she actually listens. Isn't that right?" She looked at me, her proud air nearly suffocating me. I smiled, shaking my head behind her back. The teacher let gave me a sour smile, before he turned and walked to his desk.
"We will move seats now. Ms. Venziela, next to Mr. Jones." The girl next to me puffed up her cheeks indignantly, grabbing her stuff and going over to sit next to a Soc boy. I finally had silence. "Mr. Curtis, please take Ms. Venziela's seat." I could feel my face heat up as Ponyboy moved his seat to sit next to me. I wasn't speaking literally God. I just meant you could make the bratty girl move, not actually move him next to me. I glanced over at him, noting the uncomfortable look on his face. What's his problem? Was I that bad?
I scooted my seat away from him, turning my body to face the person next to me. It was one of my best friends, Justina Bailey, thank God. Someone I could actually talk to. She was sitting next to some Soc boy, the poor thing. At least I had a greaser, whether he liked me or not. The class went on, boring and drab as ever. Seriously, this guy had to be the most boring person on the planet. As soon as he started talking, it was like a speech, even though he was just introducing himself. My eyes were beginning to droop, too, and I felt myself drifting to sleep. I let my head rest against the desk as the teacher continued to drone on an on.
"Hey, hey," Ponyboy was nudging my arm, making me jump up in my seat. The teacher was passing out papers now. Probably homework. "Wake up, he's coming." I blunk my eyes a bit, rubbing them to give the impression that I had actually been awake. The teacher passed by without any notice of me sleeping in the middle of his class. I didn't need to get a detention the first few days of school.
"Thanks, Ponyboy." I smiled. "I woulda been in big trouble if you hadn't been there to wake me up." I thought I saw him blush, but he turned away too quickly for me to be sure. He was really cute.
"No problem." He murmured, though I could tell he was smiling. I knew he was. The teacher suddenly started talking again, and loud groan emitted from the room. I let out a tired sigh again, letting my head slam against the next.
"Ow. The desk is hard..." I grumbled, sitting up and rubbing my forehead. Ponyboy chuckled from beside me, making me blush. "Ya shouldn't laugh at someone in pain."
"You did it." I grumbled to myself some more, crossing my arms and pouting. Stupid, adorable Ponyboy, laughing at me for bein' an' idiot.
Class was over in no time. And by no time, I mean it took for freakin' ever. I swear, I was afraid of sleepin' after that, so I stayed up the whole time. Me an' Pony whispered back and forth for most of the class. I found out, we did have a lot in common, even though we were pretty different. One thing we had in common was our large dislike of fighting of any kind. I had seen rumbles happen once or twice before, but I never participated. Plus, it's a rare day when a girl can participate in anything now-a-days. He loved English, which was my best subject. In fact, he was a year younger than me! I couldn't believe that. He was moved up a grade because he was so smart, and he had some classes with that dark skinned boy he was hanging around with yesterday.
Ponyboy was a pretty interesting person when you got to know him. A real sweetheart, you know? I liked his personality a lot, he wasn't like most greaser guys, he was smart and thoughtful. Kind of poetic, like one of those hopeless romantic guys that every girl wanted. He was someone I just clicked with, I would never talk to a boy this long about things I was interested in. I'd never really talked with anyone like I could with Ponyboy...
"I'm sorry about Dally. He'll pick up any pretty girl he sees on the street." Ponyboy apologized for his friend. I smiled at him.
"Don't worry about it." He just called me pretty, didn't he? I couldn't help but feel happy after that. He was so cute! Oh no, I was going to turn into one of those fangirls, wasn't I? I didn't need that to happen, especially not after I met the perfect guy for me. "It was him talkin' not you. he should apologize, but I doubt he will. He doesn't look like the he's the type to apologize."
"Aw, Dal' isn't so bad, you just gotta give him a chance." I scoffed.
"I won't ever give him a chance. It's guys like him that girls usually fall in love with. I ever see him again..." What would happen if I ever saw him Dally again? Would I respect him? Would I even care about him? Of course not. Our conversation ended after that, as we went our separate ways for lunch.
The school day ended unexciting, some girls picked a fight with me at lunch because I was 'reading the dictionary'. Seriously, Soc girls must've never seen a book that didn't have Mickey Mouse on the cover of it. I just kinda ignored them. I didn't need to deal with their crap. So, I didn't eat lunch, and that left me pretty hungry. I had a few dollars on me, so I headed off to the store so that I could at something. It was real doubtful that my mom was gonna make any dinner tonight.
"Hm," The store didn't have a wide variety of things to eat, most of it was out of date or just plain disgusting. I might-as-well get some candy or something that'll hold up until tomorrow. And that's just what I did. I bought some candy, left, and started eating it as I walked down the street. Some kids were running around in front of me, usin' their hands as guns as they shot at each other.
"Hey guys, look at this!" The one kid reached into his pocket, pulling out a real gun. The other kids marveled at this, while I just stared. How stupid can you get? I stomped over, taking them all by surprise. The boy pointed the gun at me with a smile. "Hey, old lady, shouldn't you be shopping or something." I twitched. Kids. I can't stand them sometimes.
"Gimme the gun." I held out my hand, but the boy just shook his head.
"No, it's not yours." I smiled.
"Do you want me to call the cops on you? So you can rot in jail for your life. Kids can go to jail, you know. I know quite a few greasers who went to jail when they were ten. Do you want to take that chance...punks." I flicked his head, making all the kids scream. But also making the kid drop the gun. After they were outta sight, I picked the gun up. "It's not even loaded." I sighed, tucking the gun away so that I wouldn't get in trouble.
"Help! Help!" I stopped short after hearing the cries for help. It was from an all too familiar voice. Ponyboy. It was coming from an alleyway. I had to see what was happening. I snuck around, peering over the side to see what was happening. Ponyboy was pinned beneath two Soc boys, a knife being held at his neck. He was struggling under them, but it was obvious that those guys were stronger than him. A rag was stuffed in Pony's mouth to stop him from screaming, I guess. The Soc boy pulled out a knife, and I began to panic as I saw him slide it across Pony's neck.
"Stop!" I shouted without thinking first. After one Soc stopped and turned to me, Ponyboy tried to push the other guy off, but to no avail. The Soc started walking towards me when I remembered the gun. I reached for it, holding it out in front of me. The Socs froze as did Ponyboy.
"Hey, what are you doing!?" The Soc shouted, taking a step forward. I gulped, holding the gun up higher.
"Go find someone else to jump. Leave him alone." I tried not to stutter, I tried to appear more confident. The gun wasn't loaded, so if they called my bluff, I'd be in big trouble. They were watching me, seeing if I was lying or not. "Go ahead. Test me. I'm a greaser; I'll end up in jail somehow. What's a few Socs blood on my hands gonna do?" That convinced them to leave as quickly as they could. I was probably gonna get in trouble for that later, but it didn't matter right now. I tossed the gun to the ground, running to Pony's side.
"You okay, Ponyboy?" He sat up, rubbing his neck.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine..." He coughed a bit, nodding his head as he held his throat. I bit my lip, helping Pony to his feet.
"Why're you out here all alone?" I asked curiously. There was never a time when it was safe to be all alone as a greasers. Socs always seemed to travel in packs, like a bunch of wild animals. Ponyboy looked like he would've been smart enough to find someone to walk with him.
"I could ask you the same thing. And what were you doing with that gun?"
"Oh." Right, the gun. "Uh, well, you see some kids were playin' with it, so I took it away from them. It isn't loaded or anythin'." I walked back over to it, picking it up and stuffing it away again. I couldn't be seen with it. I had to give it to someone else if those Socs went to the fuzz. I wouldn't survive in jail. I can barely survive when I get 'B' on my report card.
"Right." We started walking down the street, I don't know where we were going, but it looked like the park.
"Ponyboy, where are we going?" I asked curiously, glancing around. I had decided to stick with him, since it wasn't too safe for Ponyboy to walk around by himself. It wasn't very safe for me to walked around by myself, either, but I wouldn't get beat up like he could've.
"I dunno. I just had to get away from my house for awhile. I'm tired of getting yelled at by him." Pony stuffed his hand in his pockets.
"Yelled at by who?" I tilted my head to the side.
"My brother, Darry. He just doesn't understand anything about me. He expects me to be somethin' great."
"Well, I do, too. You're real smart Ponyboy; most people around here aren't nearly as smart as you are. Maybe your brother just realized that, and wants you to do better so that you can have a better life then he does." I didn't know what kind of life his brother had. How old was his brother even?
"Well, he doesn't have to be so hard on me. If he knew I got jumped by a Soc just now, he would be mad. He wouldn't care if I got hurt, he just cares that I got hurt under his watch."
"Well, maybe that's his way of showing he loves you." I murmured. "He doesn't sound like he's had any kids of his own. Maybe he's doin' his best to take care of you, but you can't really see that. You think he's jus' bullyin' you, when he's really tryin' to help you." I didn't even know his brothers, yet Ponyboy was taking this all in like it was God himself givin' the advice. My friends always came to me for advice. I may be the youngest, but out of them, they declared I was the smartest. I liked it when people talked to me. It made me feel like I was there for a reason.
"I guess so." Ponyboy replied, sighing. I took a seat on a park bench, him following me. We just kinda sat there, watching the sun set. I never really took the time to watch the sunset before, I guess I've never really cared much about it. I was quiet as Pony seemed to be concentrating on something. I dunno why, but he looked even cuter in the orange glow of the sun. He turned to look at me, giving me a curious look as to why I was staring at him. I blushed, turning my head back to face the sunset. The sun soon disappeared, and the moon took over. The sky was dark, and that told me it was time to go home.
"C'mon, Ponyboy." I stood up, but he didn't move from his seat. I glanced at him, wondering what was wrong. "Ponyboy?"
"You know that dance thing that's comin' up?" I nodded my head. A few dances were held every year for the graduating kids, and the younger kids were usually invited. I never really went, since you had to show up with a date, or you'd be kicked out. I dunno why, it was only for younger couples and older students. I thought it was pretty stupid, but a few friends of mine that had gone had said it was a lot of fun. I wanted to go too, but only with someone I really liked. Thus, I've never been to those dances. There was one this week, too, tomorrow. A lot of my friends had just decided to ask a few greasers who were out of school, and they all said yes, so I'd be the only one not going.
"Yeah." I replied. My stomach suddenly had butterflies in it. Was he going to ask me to it? That would be great. It really would. I mean, I didn't realize i had developed such a big crush on him.
"Would y-you..." I could tell Ponyboy was blushing, even in the dark. I smiled at him, kind of silently encouraging him to just ask me.
"W-would you go..." I waited patiently. Was he going to ask for someone else? That would be so annoying if he liked someone else, and he wanted me to ask them for him. Please, ask me to the dance, please, please...
"W-would you go with me?" Oh yeah! He asked me to the dance~ He asked me to the dance~ I mentally cheered to myself. I'm going to the dance with Ponyboy! Oh yeah! 'You have to say yes first, genius.' a small voice in the back of my head snapped. It was jusr jealous I was going out with Ponyboy Curtis and it wasn't.
"Sure, I'd love to." I gave him a reassuring nod. He stood up, blushing and rubbing his head.
"Okay. I guess it's a date then."
"I guess it is..." I started to walk off, Ponyboy following my lead. I glanced at him, him doing the same, and I grabbed his hand. He still seemed nervous, but he wouldn't be for long. I mean, if we're gonna be a couple, we're going to see each other a lot more often, weren't we? I couldn't have chosen a better boy either.