As the last bell finally rang, students came pouring out into the hallway. It was a Friday, but I still couldn't believe how much homework was assigned today. At least I had this whole upcoming weekend to do it. Although, my brother Darry would probably make me complete it tonight, so that I'll have it done and out of the way, which is a good plan too. But it was Friday, nonetheless, if anything, I'd put it off one more day. I don't think that would make much difference.
"Kaylie-Jo Curtis!" I heard someone's voice echo from down the hallway. I turned casually to see who it was, but before I had the chance to even get a peek, I felt the weight of someone jump on top of me. The impact of the weight sent me diving forward, colliding into a mess of students hurrying toward the door to leave.
"Hey, watch it, greaser!" I heard a soc or two holler at me.
"Sorry." I whimpered, "Ow." I glanced up to see who tackled me. Turned out to be my best friend Dean Baker, with his girlfriend, Nancy Henderson not too far behind. The three of us have been friends ever since the third grade. Nancy and I first met when she stole my pencil and jammed it into the pencil sharpener. You know, the ones you have to twist around manually. Apparently pencils came in all different shapes and sizes. You got the regular pencil sharpener, then there's this triangular shaped-thing, I don't even know what it is, but it's to be claimed a pencil sharpener. I can't argue with that. Nancy and I hated each other at first. She did nothing but taunt me ever since the third grade. Then one day, that all changed when she came to school one day with her face dripping with tears.
"What's wrong?" I asked her, shyly as I walked her over to her seat.
"Why should I tell you? You filthy greaser!" Little Nancy shot back, closing herself off from the world. She shouldn't even know that word yet.
I winced at that statement, but quickly collected my cool, "Because I can help you." I offered, hoping I could gain at least one friend out of this.
I could tell Nancy didn't want to tell me, but by the looks of it, she needed a friend too.
"Gilbert died!" Nancy broke down in a fit of tears again, but this time she used my shoulder to cry on.
"Who's Gilbert?" I asked, hoping that wouldn't make matters that much worse, but I was curious.
"My goldfish." She whispered softly. She was too hysterical to speak correctly, but I understood her nonetheless.
Back then I knew nothing about the loss of a family member. I used to consider myself lucky. I never had a pet so I never knew what it was like.
"He's probably up there in fishy heaven." I tried my best to comfort her through this time of emotional healing, "He's probably watching you right now, smiling down upon you."
Nancy took a step back. I held my breath, thinking I might have hit a sore spot. She used her hands to wipe away the tears once more.
"Y-you really think so?" She asked, staring hopefully at me.
I just smiled and nodded, "I know so."
And just like that, ever since then, we've been the best of friends. For seven whole years.
Meeting Dean, however, is an entirely different story. He was a transfer student once we were in fourth grade. Always curious about national cultures, I took an interest in him straight away. He claims he was from Washington D.C. You know, where the president lives. I, however, have never been out of Oklahoma. I mean, I've been out of my home town, but never out of state. Nancy, however, thought he was trying to steal me away from her. Where'd she get that idea from? She knew I had this fascination, why did she seem so jealous all of a sudden?
Once Dean and I got more acquainted with one another, I later introduced him to Nancy. Luckily, once the introduction was over with, the three of us practically became inseparable from then on.
"What did you knock me over for?" I asked, collecting my belongings that had flown out of my hands once I hit the floor.
"Sorry, didn't know you'd fly that far ahead." Dean chuckled, grabbing hold of Nancy's hand.
Did I mention they were a couple now? Don't ask. It happened too fast even for me to grasp.
"So you meant to knock me over?" I dusted myself off, while being trampled by other students.
"Preeeeetty much." He nodded casually.
I shook my head at him, "Hey, Nancy." I smiled at her.
It was scorching hot outside and the sun shown brighter than ever. I shielded my eyes both from the extreme heat and the extreme sun rays. We slowly but surely squeezed our way through the crowds of students blocking the stairway leading off school grounds. Once we got to the sidewalk, a couple cars drove passed us, shouting profanity words while consistently using the word "greaser" in between them.
Did I also mention that my two best friends were socs? More often than not, they'd get some lip about hanging out with me from other socs, but surprise, surprise, it didn't bother me none. The term "soc" was nothing more than a label plastered on a bunch of rich kids to me. Sometimes I try to imagine that there are no such things as greasers or socs. Everyone's human, why should one group of people be better than another. Although, most of the time I took pride in being a greaser. It wasn't about the money, or living in a nice house; it was more about the dedication and the friendship we had amongst each other.
"Hey, Kiki. When are we ever gonna see your house?" Nancy asked, as we headed down the staircase leading to and from school.
"No!" I snapped, stepping in front of her, barely allowing her to finish her sentence. If she knew where I lived, our friendship would be over. I mean, she's still a soc after all. She's got the prissy part down to a science.
She glared at me pretty weirdly when I did that. My eyes darted all around, even though I was trying not to act suspicious or anything.
"I asked when not can we go over your house." Nancy clearly enunciated, still raising an eyebrow at me.
"Because," I tried to think of something other than 'it's small,' or 'the neighborhood ain't so great'. I've been to her and Dean's houses before. Lemme tell ya, I've never been anyplace better lookin' in my life. I'd be too embarrassed just to walk into my neighborhood! Them socs live in nice fancy lookin' houses, and live in the better neighborhoods in the area. Us greasers ain't so lucky. My family is pretty poor. My brother Darry's already workin' two jobs just to keep our bellies full. We have just enough to get by in life for now. The house ain't in good condition at all. The paint's all chipped, the lawn needs a good trimmin', the wood floor inside the house is all worn. The house looked like an abandoned food mart from 1927 compared to theirs. That is reason enough not to have my friends come over. Even though they are friends, they're still socs, and socs are still the main source of gossip. If anything, I liked my life the way it was, any gossip about our house would crush any reputation I had at school. Not to mention, socs ain't even allowed in our house anyway. Darry said so, and he makes the rules.
"Because I need to study." I lied. My heart raced knowing they wouldn't fall for it.
"On a Friday? Yeah right." Nancy leaned in close to my ear, "We will see your house eventually. Right?"
"Uh, yeah." I replied, nervously, "Of course." Even though I knew there would be no chance of that, it's better to avoid the situation now and face it when the next time comes around.
There was a brief silence before Nancy tugged on Dean's jacket, "Come on," she turned on her heels, "We're going."
"See ya tomorrow, hopefully?" Dean asked me with a hint of uneasiness detected in his voice.
"Yeah, tomorrow." I said, staring at the ground, a little embarrassed.
I stood there, watching them disappear into the crowd of students pouring out of the building. I felt rather depressed. There's a reason I never bring them over. Darry would kill me. I turned to walk in the opposite direction, heading south to my neighborhood.
Ponyboy and Johnny were walking a little bit ahead of me. I contemplated joining them, then figured they probably didn't want a girl to intrude on their conversation. So I just casually kept my distance and followed them home.
I continued to ignore the calls and taunts coming from the socs passing by in their nice shiny Mustangs. I wish I was old enough to drive, I thought. If anything, when the time comes, me, Ponyboy, and Sodapop would all be sharing Darry's truck. At least, I hope they'd let me drive it. Until then, walking was the only source of transportation for me. That and taking the bus if I had the money. I rounded the corner to my neighborhood. I could tell that my brothers' friends were over. I knew better than to interfere. I did overhear them talking about something related to a rumble later on in the day. I shook my head. Rumbles, fights, whatever they're called, were semi-common in this part of town. Fights against the socs or even other greasers. I wasn't allowed to fight considering I was a girl and it ain't none of my business. They didn't do nothin' to harm me, I had no reason to.
I could hear chatter and laughter coming from the side yard. I peeped my head around the side of the house, "Hi!" I waved to my brothers and their friends.
"Kiki, you got any homework to do?" Darry asked, shuffling a deck of cards, barely even looking up at me.
"Yeah, but it's the weekend. Can't I do what I want for a while?" I asked back.
"As long as you actually get some studying done. I want no more bad grades comin' in from you, is that clear?"
"Yes." I grunted and dragged my feet into the house.
My grades were all right. I had nothin' below a 'C' so as least I was passing. Math and science were my weak points, but I loved English class. Mainly because I loved to read.
"We're gonna get 'em good tonight!" I heard Two-bit as I entered the house, followed by hollers from the rest of them.
I sighed and headed to my room. More fightin'? When is it gonna end? I thought to myself.
I collapsed on the bed that Ponyboy and I share, and grabbed the new book I started reading a few days ago, 'Glory Road' by Robert A. Heinlein, and so far, I liked it a lot. It wasn't long before I found myself drifting off to sleep.