AN: I really don't know what made me think of this story… it just kinda… happened… I was just sitting at my computer one day and thought: Hey, what if the Curtises were Socs? And this just came about because of it…
Also, in this story Darry'll be 18, Soda will be 16, and Ponyboy will be 12, everyone else is the same as in the book. So I'm just mixing up the ages a bit. Hey, it's fan fiction. I can. XD Johnny and Dally are alive, as a side note.
Another warning: Characters may be OOC. Sorry if that happened. I tried my hardest to keep them in character, but, then again, when you move to a new state, you may not be the happiest person in the world, sooo…
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Johnny and Dally would still be alive if I did…
Alright, enough with my ramblings: On with the story!
"I liked Dallas (1) plenty better than this place," Sodapop Curtis grumbled under his breathe as his father drove their new Ford car through the Tulsa streets.
"Soda, enough," his mother warned, "You know we couldn't stay there. It was too much money-"
There was more that she had to say, but her second son chose to tune her out. He knew the lecture she was about to give from the sentences she just said: he'd heard the same speech over and over again for the past couple of weeks. It was all about how he should be "glad that they found such a nice sized home," and that they were "so fortunate to be able to live in a house like this". Instead of paying attention to his mother, Soda let his mind wander, specifically thinking about his brothers. Why weren't they as upset as he was? It was Darry's senior year, after all, and he was suddenly ripped out of his high school and being transferred when he was just six months shy of graduation. Ponyboy, on the other hand, had just skipped a grade, and was in his last year of Junior High, despite being only twelve years old, so he wasn't exactly in the same situation, but he still had the same attachment to the old house that all of the Curtises did.
"Are you listening to me, young man?" Mary Curtis asked, pulling the sixteen year old out of his thoughts.
"Yes, mom," the sixteen year old grumbled, resting his elbow on the arm rest that was on his side of the backseat, placing one side of his face in his open palm.
Mary's gaze at her son through the rear-view mirror softened a bit. "Sweetheart, I know you're upset about leaving. I think we all are, but you have to understand that it was just too much with bills and whatnot to stay. Your father had to take this promotion, and it moved us out here. I miss the house just as much as you do, I've lived there since before you were born, but there wasn't any other choice."
Soda sighed. "Yeah, I know. But that don't make it any easier, just packing up all'a our stuff, and leavin' everything behind," Unlike his mother, who had been born and raised up north in Pennsylvania, Soda and his brothers were southern boys, who had a strong accent from living in Texas their entire lives- until now, that is.
"Well," his mother said after a moment's pause, mulling over her son's words, "Think of it like this: you'll have an opportunity to make new memories here with new friends, and girls do love southern gentlemen, so I'm sure you'll find yourself a wonderful young lady here. That doesn't sound bad, now does it?"
Her son didn't answer. Instead, he gave another small sigh as a reply, and turned his attention to look out the window. It was tinted (2), giving the entire scenery a dark coloring, but it still gave him a good view of the place he now called home: Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Glory, he thought to himself, this place don't even look like Dallas.
Their hometown had been heavily populated, with people on almost every corner you turned at. A crowd of people were always out doing something, no matter what time or what day it was. Tulsa- or, at least the back, secluded streets they were on now- was just… bare. No life anywhere. There was no person bustling to get last minute shopping done, or a group of kids playing hopscotch, despite the unreal summer temperatures. It was just deathly still and eerily quiet.
Seems a bit too quiet for my likin', Soda thought to himself, thinking of all the many ways he could be bored to death here. You can die from that kinda stuff, can't ya? he wondered, and then considered asking his younger brother, the twelve year old that, as far as Soda was concerned, knew almost everything about everything, who was sitting right next to him in the back seat, but held his tongue. Ponyboy was fast asleep, head planted up against the window with his legs slightly slanted under him, hands resting on them. He looked too peaceful to be disturbed by such a stupid question, so the middle brother let him be.
The sixteen-going-on-seventeen year old turned his attention once again to the window, catching the glance of his older brother, who was driving behind them. Their father had bought four new cars in "celebration" for the move(although Soda felt it was more like an "I'm sorry" for moving them out of their home so suddenly) one for himself, one for his wife, one for Soda and one for Darry. He had originally been planning to ship out three of the cars down to the new house, but Darry had caught sight of his in their (old) garage and fell in love with it instantly, begging to get his first drive of it on the way to Tulsa. A honk followed when the oldest Curtis boy saw his younger brother looking out, Pony stirred a slight bit in his slumber, and Soda gave a small wave back, before turning himself back around, and slinking back into his seat.
"When're we gonn' get there, exactly?" he asked his parents, careful to keep his voice at a whisper in case he were to wake his brother up even further.
His dad answered. "About an hour left. Just hang tight for a bit longer."
Soda did just that. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned his head back on his seat, hoping to catch a small bit of sleep before they arrived at their new home.
He must've fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew, Soda was being shaken awake by Darry, and Ponyboy was climbing out of the car.
"We here?" he muttered, rubbing his eyes as he woke himself up.
"Yeah, we are, lil' colt," Darry said, using the nickname that their father had called the middle child after his love of horses was discovered. "Now, c'mon, get some'a your stuff outta the back and help us unpack." He gave his brother a playful push out of the car, and Soda took the hint, and headed over to Darry's new car, where most of their stuff had been loaded, since the oldest had been driving by himself and had plenty of room to spare.
Gathering some of the many boxes up in his arms, Sodapop followed his two brothers and father into the house while his mother instructed the last of the movers about where to put everything. His chocolate eyes scanned over the outside of what they would now call "home".
It was a fairly large house. This thing was nowhere near the size of the one they owned in Texas, but, in comparison to the other homes on the street, it was definitely one of, if not the biggest one there. It stood roughly three stories tall with an all-brick exterior that was covered in windows of all different shapes and sizes. Columns hung down from the balcony on the second floor, surrounding the entrance and giving a nice amount of shade against the Oklahoma heat. Their driveway was a large semi-circle that wrapped around the exterior of the house, easily holding both new cars, another two that were shipped there for both Mrs. Curtis and Soda (who had just gotten his license a few months prior)to drive, and the final moving van that had a few small items left to bring into the house. There wasn't much land in the front (their new neighbors were a bit closer then Soda expected them to be) but if you took a peek at the backyard, it made up for what the front didn't have, with a seemingly ever-expanding yard that looked as if it went on for miles.
It'll sure be easy to play us some football back there, the sixteen year old thought, taking in one last glimpse of the back before walking through the double doors that lead into his new home.
His father led the three boys- who had never been inside this place before, as opposed to Darrel Curtis Sr., who had been there a few times to make sure it was a good home for his family to live in- to their rooms so they could each set down their pile of boxes. They headed past the living room, kitchen (where Darrel set down his stack of boxes), and dining room before turning a sharp left, down a long hallway that passed too many rooms for Soda to know what they were before coming to the stairs at the very end of the corridor. Once the group finished climbing them, and were all on the second floor, their father made another sharp turn, into the very first room, and told Darry it was his. The oldest boy left the group, and Darrel took the youngest two boys down another long hallway, to the room right across the hall from their older brother's.
"Here ya go, boys, this spot's all yours," he said with a wide smile, before turning on his heel, back the way he came, presumably to get some more of the boxes out of Darry's truck.
Pony gave a small whistle at the brothers' shared room (despite the fact that there was plenty of space for each of them to have their own bedrooms, it was a small request on their part to share one: they had done the same thing back in Texas, for the simple reason that both brothers liked the company of the other). It was large enough to fit nearly five people, and had way too much space for only two. But, Soda couldn't say he minded much. He wasn't the neatest person around, and would probably wind up covering the large space with all of his belongings in a matter of a few weeks. The two both threw their boxes on their respective beds that the movers had probably just brought in earlier that day, along with the rest of the furniture that was in their room.
"What'dya think, Soda?" the twelve-year old boy asked, green eyes moving around the room at such a rapid speed, it would be a miracle if he could actually see anything.
" It's not bad, kid," was the reply. Soda didn't need to say much else, Pony knew how he felt about this entire moving situation. The whole family did. It wasn't as if Soda did much to hide his disdain of leaving his home, and his friends, and everything that he grew up with behind.
Ponyboy gave a small smile. "Well, from here, there ain't gonna be lots'a lights, so the sunset'll be lots clearer." His green-gray eyes seemed to light up at that prospect, and the sixteen year old couldn't help but smile at his little brother. He loved things like sunsets a lot, for some deep reason Soda couldn't dream of understanding. All he knew was that Pony loved seeing them every night, and Soda did his best to watch them with him. Who knew: maybe one day, from looking at them so much, he'd see the reason why Ponyboy enjoyed them so much.
"Well," the oldest in the room said, walking by his little brother and ruffling his reddish hair, "we better be gettin' a move on. There're plenty'a boxes waitin' for us outside. "
Soda headed out of their room, Ponyboy on his tail, as he walked back the path back outside. Once they got there, however, their mother stopped them, and called all three boys over (Darry had just headed outside, as well) along with their father.
"Boys, come meet our new neighbors," Mary said cheerfully, her blonde hair whipping all over her face from the unusual Tulsa wind as she turned around, "They came out a few minutes ago, when they saw us pulling in."
A women stepped up first, looking like the traditional '60's housewife. Her light brown hair was so huge and puffed up on her head, not at all affected by the wind and being held in place by a small red headband and pounds and pounds of hairspray. Her face was caked in make-up, as well, with lips covered with cherry lipstick, and eyes completely engulfed with eyeshadow of an identical color, but, underneath all that makeup hid a somewhat attractive face that just looked as if it was buried under foundation. She wore a polka-dot dress that hung a bit off of her shoulders, and popped out at the waist, swallowing up her tiny little form.
She held out her little hand as she introduced herself. "I'm Irene Sheldon," her voice was a bit scratchy- Soda figured she was probably a smoker, either now or when she was younger, "And these here are my boys, Bob and Jimmy, and my husband Robert."
Each of the boys, and their father, shook all the presented hands. Soda noticed how the father looked a bit too snotty for his own good. He wore knee-length khaki shorts, that stopped almost directly where his socks began and led into a pair of freshly-shined loafers, with a pink polo that had a sweater tied overtop of it at the neckline. His black hair was combed back, managing to stay in place with something that Soda wasn't all too sure of, but sure didn't look like hair gel. He, like his wife, was a twig of a man, tiny and thin and barely reaching Darry's chin- and Darry was six-foot-two. Robert also stood as if he had a stick up his ass, and his nose was up in the air as if he just smelt something terrible.
The boys, however, were somewhat normally dressed. The older one, Bob, was wearing a white madras and some khaki pants. Jimmy, who couldn't have been much older than Ponyboy, was just clad in a gray tee-shirt and some jeans, with brown hair slicked back, like his father's. Out of all of the Sheldon family, Jimmy looked the most relaxed, and the most natural. Irene looked a bit too overly happy, Robert looked stuck-up, and Bob just looked annoyed while his younger brother was cool and calm.
Irene, with her too-wide-to-be-true smile, turned to Ponyboy once all introductions were made. "You're in ninth grade, right, dear?" Mary had also managed to slip ages into the conversation before the boys arrived. When the youngest Curtis nodded, Irene's smile got wider, which no one believed to be possible, "So's my Jimmy! Oh, how nice; you'll both be in the same grade!"
Mary grinned, too. "That's great! At least he'll know someone when he starts on Monday. It's hardest to make friends in the middle of the school year."
Mrs. Sheldon nodded in agreement, and said something that Soda wasn't really paying attention to that launched the mothers into a conversation over something he also didn't know.
The middle brother saw Darry give a look to their dad, and without a word the two went back to Darry's truck to grab some more boxes. Soda gave Pony a small tap on the shoulder, and the two brothers followed the others' lead, and grabbed some more things to bring inside. Bob and Jimmy had left and went back inside their home, and Robert was sticking around with his wife, probably just out of some type of politeness. Or to make himself look better. Soda figured it was more along the lines of the second one.
Once again, the middle brother followed his two siblings and father into the house with a fresh arm-full of boxes. He took a peek at his neighbors from the corner of his eye, drinking in both of their ridiculous outfits for the second time.
I wonder if all'a the people from Tulsa are this weird… he thought, then shrugged his shoulders lightly- or, as best he could while carrying boxes- Maybe they'll keep this dull town somewhat interestin'.
AN: Now that I take a look at this again, I think I should've made this from Pony's POV… but, oh well. It's gonna stay as Soda's. Once again, I'm sorry for any OOCness. I did try, but who knows if it worked or not.
I hope this chapter was good so far! Sorry for any mistakes. Please leave me a review, and let me know how I did. Criticism is welcome: I want to be a better writer, and I'm open to any suggestions you guys have to give me :D
Next chapter will be on the way soon!
(1): He's talking about the city in Texas, in case any of you were confused. Dally isn't in this just yet ;) XD
(2): Tinted windows were invented in 1961, in case any of you were concerned: I Googled it, to make sure it fit in the timeline.