A/N: I do not own any of the Outsiders characters (Ponyboy, Johnny, Soda, Darry, Dally, Two-Bit, Steve, Cherry, etc.) But most of the characters especially from the beginning are mine. Thanks, and please review to let me know if you like it or not! I will update asap! ;D
Chapter 1:
I was walking home from the DX with Chrissi Daniels. The DX is a gas station that greasers like us like to hang out at. We were silent most of the way- Chrissi and I never really talked much, even if we were the only two girls in our gang. She was two years older than me. Eighteen years old may not be much older than sixteen, but Chrissi sure did act like it was. She popped a bubble of her gum loudly and we kept walking in silence. Chrissi preferred a stick of gum rather than a cigarette. The wind was blowing harder than usual, but it was October in Tulsa, Oklahoma after all. Chrissi's straight, long, bright blond hair was all getting in her face. My light brown straight hair was in my face too. My bangs, especially, were covering my eyes. I must've bumped her or something, because Chrissi soon said, "Watch it Mariela!" She said it with the same tone of voice she liked to use when talking to Socs.
"Sorry Chrissi!" I said, wiping the hair out of my eyes. We were soon at my house.
"Tell Bennie I say to take care and don't' get into trouble." Chrissi said to me as she began to walk away. She looked real pretty with her natural highlights in her hair. She wasn't wearing makeup, but she didn't have to. Chrissi always said that she would never wear makeup and become a fake. Chrissi Daniels was about as real as it got.
"Will do." I replied and opened the gate. I walked into my house, which wasn't really anything special. It was a simple, small house with chipped paint and a slightly cracked window out back. It was the kind of place you weren't exactly proud of, the kind you didn't stick around for too long. My brother Bennie was sitting on the couch watching TV when I came in. His wavy dirty blond hair was slicked back. His dark blue gorgeous eyes that I shared looked up at me.
"Hey, Mare. Where were you?" He asked quizzically, calling me by my nickname. Bennie wasn't angry, he just wanted to know.
"I headed over to the DX with Chrissi. She says take care." Bennie laughed goodheartedly and smiled. "That Chrissi." He mumbled under his breath. Chrissi and Bennie had a peculiar relationship. Chrissi was hard, sarcastic, and tough, yet pretty, charming, and witty. Bennie was kind, sort of shy, and caring, yet handsome, mysterious, and tough. They were both eighteen, but acted much older. They were pretty much opposites which is why they teased each other and got along so well. "Mom working late?" I asked, knowing the answer well before I asked the question. Our mom worked in a hospital and always worked late. "Yeah." That was all Bennie said. He sat back down on the couch, and I sat next to him. I didn't know what he was watching, but I didn't care. All I needed was something to focus on, to get my mind off of things. My last week of school had been rough. My chemistry class was all but enjoyable, thanks to my partner Johnny. Johnny Cade.
Johnny was a greaser like me, but he was different than the rest. He always seemed scared of me, and it kinda bugged me. I mean, I usually don't care about stuff like that, but this time it's different. He would look at me with his large dark eyes and say something real quiet, and I wouldn't hear. He wouldn't repeat himself at all. I pretty much had to do our whole experiment because Johnny and I just didn't communicate too well. I usually ended up doing most of my partner projects because of my incredibly meticulous manner and stubbornness, but not because my partner and I didn't communicate well. He just sat there most of class, his dark hair in his eyes, staring at our beaker.
It bugged me that he didn't want to talk to me. It was silent the whole way. Not Chrissi silent, but a different, more profound silence. It's hard to explain. But I wanted to talk to Johnny, maybe something was wrong and I just didn't know. So I just stared at the TV, just to be doing something. But it's hard to get your mind off of something so quick.
And hour or so went by, with me just staring mindlessly at the television screen. I checked the wall clock- 9:30. I decided to get to bed because I was tired and tomorrow was Saturday and who wants to be tired on your days off of school. I headed up the stairs, put on my pajamas, and went straight to bed.
I woke up the next morning to the sun shining through my curtains. I got dressed in my loose jeans, Bennie's old black t-shirt, and my pair of black sneakers. I didn't like to wear any fancy clothes like other greaser girls, so I mostly wore Bennie's hand-me-downs. Chrissi mostly did too. I headed downstairs for breakfast. Mom was gone, but that was no surprise. She was usually gone before I got up, even on Saturdays. Unless I got lucky, which was usually never. Bennie was still asleep which kinda surprised me. Bennie is an early bird and usually wakes up and makes breakfast on Saturdays. I was too lazy to do anything so I just sat down on the couch and picked up a book. I didn't even bother to look at the title; I just flipped open to a random page and read. After a paragraph I realized it was Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. I read on, even though I wasn't really in the mood for something so dark and spooky. My life was dark enough all on its own.
The back door opened and Jack Baner hopped in. Jack was a member of Bennie's gang. I guess I should say my gang, but I'm not really in it. I just say I am sometimes to impress people, and I guess it's the closest thing I have to a gang. Jack was nineteen years old, but still in high school. He was held back because he isn't too smart. He had light brown hair, a strong build, and was a little short for his age, but his muscles made up for it. His eyes were hazel and he was always lightening the mood. Jack couldn't stand to see anybody sad.
"Hey there Mare!" He said playfully, ruffling my hair. "Hey Jack." I said, putting down my book.
"Whatcha readin' Mare?" Jack asked. Not like he really cared, he never once read a book for fun.
"A Christmas Carol." I replied.
"Hate to tell you Mare, but you're about two months off." Jack said grinning. I rolled my eyes.
"I know Jack, I was just reading something I could find." I said to him.
"So where's Bennie?" Jack asked, looking around. "Asleep in bed." I answered. "Bennie? Asleep? At this time on a Saturday? Naw, that can't be right!" Jack said. "I know I can't believe it either." I responded. "He musta been doing something late last night- maybe with someone special?" Jack asked. He liked to suggest that we all went out on dates, when no one really did. "Naw, you know Bennie. Curled up on the couch watching TV until late." I said.
That was true. Bennie was very handsome, but his shyness hurt him. He hardly ever talked to any girls other than Chrissi, not even greaser girls. Too shy to get a good conversation going. Now Jack on the other hand…
"Hey Jack whatcha doin' here so early? Haven't you got more important places to be?" Bennie asked as he wearily walked down the stairs.
"Bennie!" Jack and I shouted in unison. "Easy ya'll, you see me every day!" Bennie said to us, prying us off of his white t-shirt.
"Hey ya'll!" Cal Covone said as he and his little brother Ray walked in. Calvin was another member of the gang. He was tall, lanky, had a large nose, and had dark hair and sideburns that he always put a lot of grease in. His skin was pretty pale compared to everyone else's, and he didn't look too good standing next to Jack and Bennie. He was seventeen. Ray was almost a miniature of Cal, except with slightly better looks and a slightly smaller nose. Ray was fifteen, making him the youngest of the gang. Cal said, "Had to come, I heard there was some powwow going or something."
"You're darned right there is!" Jack answered back. Ray walked over to me. We were good buddies. Even if Ray wasn't the best looking guy I ever saw, he was real nice. We understood each other real well because we were the youngest of the gang.
"Hey Mariela." Ray said to me. "Hey Ray." I said back. We stood there in silence while Cal said hey to Jack and Bennie. "Mare!" Cal said and walked over to me and gave me a hug. Cal was a hugger. "I knew you were at the powwow! I just knew!" Cal liked to use all the fancy words he learned like powwow. He really liked vocabulary class at school (that was pretty much the only class he liked at school).
"Well ain't this a sight!" Chrissi said as she strolled in superciliously. Our house was kinda the meeting place for the gang. "Hey guys!" She said to everyone. "Hey Chrissi!" Everyone shouted back. Chrissi was very proud and tall. She liked to show off, and she had the looks and talent to do so. She always popped loud bubbles of gum just to show off that she was different and liked gum.
"Where's King?" Cal asked Chrissi. King was Chrissi's older brother. He was twenty and the gang leader (although there really wasn't a leader in the gang). King's real name was Sam, but a guy like King shouldn't be called a boring name like Sam. King was always getting into something. Whether it was a fight, a party, or something else that was illegal, King was always there. He often got arrested, even if he didn't do anything (the cops just knew that King was bad and automatically associated him with the bad things that happened.) King was tall, strong, and had long dark brown straight hair that he greased. He didn't look much like Chrissi.
"Hell if I know! He was out late last night, and last I saw he was over at the drive-in causing trouble to some Soc gals. The little bum…" Chrissi said. She was probably the only person who could talk about King like that and not get slugged. "Oh I'll bet!" Bennie said with a laugh. "King is always getting into something like that!" Cal said loudly and everyone laughed. Well, everyone except Chrissi. Chrissi Daniels didn't laugh. She just smirked at jokes. She thought that if you laughed then you didn't look as tough. But everyone else still laughed. It was a bit odd how we found it funny for a guy to be messing around and getting into trouble all the time.
"Well, are we just gonna stand here? I'm hungry!" Jack bellowed. "We don't have enough food for all of you!" Bennie said back. "Matter of fact, we probably don't even have enough food for Jack alone!" That got a good laugh out of everybody. "Well then I gotta jump! My stomach needs food!" And with that, Jack ran out. Jack liked to make an entrance and then run.
"And I gotta head over to work. I'm gonna be late if I stay here any longer." Cal said hastily and ran out behind Jack. Cal had a job working at a local drug store on the weekends. So all that was left of the gang was Bennie, Chrissi, Ray, and me. "Well, anyone wanna take a walk? It's pretty nice out today, and I wouldn't wanna waste good weather like this. It ain't gonna be warm much longer." Chrissi said. Chrissi liked to take walks because they calmed her down. "Sure I'll head over with you." Ray said. "We'll join you after breakfast." Bennie said. "See ya there." Ray told us as he and Chrissi walked out. It had just gone from a full house to just Bennie and I in the course of a few minutes.
"Are pancakes ok for breakfast?" Bennie asked me. "Sure thing." I replied. I sat down on the couch and picked up A Christmas Carol again. I read a few more paragraphs, when Bennie said, "The eggs are done!" I went into the kitchen and ate my pancakes. We both ate pretty quick so that we could meet Chrissi and Ray. "Done?" Bennie asked me once I had finished my pancakes. I nodded and put my dishes away. We both beat it out of there after our dishes were put away.
Bennie and I ran to catch up with them, but what we found was a gruesome sight. We could barely see Chrissi and Ray's outlines from down the block. There was a blue mustang pulled over next to them and one of the guys in it was talking to Chrissi. They must've been Socs. Socs are the rich kids in town. They like to jump us greasers just for fun. And they liked getting drunk before they jumped us which made them extra dangerous. Chrissi didn't like talking to Socs for too long and if one of them said the wrong thing… Bennie and I kept walking up the street but Chrissi and Ray were still far off.