Okay. I could get flames for this or whatever and I have two other stories in progress. But this is something I really wanted to do. A while back, I was reading an interview on S.E. Hinton and she mentioned that young adults really could relate to the Outsiders, because the Soc and Greaser thing is still sort of going on. It's the same thing, two different groups of people who may seem opposite to each other, and may have negativity between each other. Matter fact, the same thing is just about going on with me. I first noticed it two years ago; a major problem was growing in my school. Rednecks vs. Blacks. It didn't blow up real big. It only lasted for a week. But later on that year, something else happened between my school, and another school in a different county. And that problem is still going on. I thought this would be interesting to write, in a re-mix sort of way. But don't think I'm just gonna copy down everything word for word, with different settings and stuff. There are going to be some changes in it, so I won't be copying S.E. Hinton's great work. The characters may be a little different, and there will be extra chapters and characters. Alright. Enjoy!

The Outsiders: Now-A-Days

I don't own The Outsiders

Chapter 1: Who Am I?

The sunlight from the outside world made my eyes squint, because of the dark movie theater. I had just seen a Keanu Reeves and Morgan Freeman movie, so they were on my mind. But I also had to think of a ride home. I think Keanu Reeves has a good camera friendly face, but I look nothing like him. Unlike the friends my brothers hang out with, I'm mixed of white and black, so I look like a light skinned black person. My eyes are dark brown and unlike my two brothers, I have long hair. I used to have a wild looking afro, but I got tired of taking care it. Plus I look stupid with one. So my brother Patrick, we call him Soda, had one his girlfriends put my hair into cornrows. She only did it once, since Soda has a new girlfriend. But now one of my friend's sisters does it. I look a little better and slightly tougher with that. My hair is dark brown, and it looks like it could turn black at any point in my life.

It was a long walk to my house, so it would have been a good idea to ask one of the gang to come with me. But I like to go to movies alone, so I can focus on it better. If someone goes with me, they would probably be whispering things to me every three minutes, which annoys me a lot. All of them do that, well except my oldest brother Darrel, he has a nicknamed also as Darry, doesn't really like to watch movies. They bore him. I think it's because he's so focused on working. He's too hard on things, especially me. I'm fourteen years old and he acts like I'm still a baby. But Soda's easier going than him. He's wild, reckless and just straight up fun to be around. Almost everyone in our gang has a nickname. My real name is Michael, but everyone calls me Ponyboy. Probably because I liked to go the ranch when I was younger. We really don't have the time or money to go out there now.

Anyhow, I was walking on to the house and wished I had brought along somebody when I saw that up to date Cadillac rolling down the street behind me. Our type of people can't walk alone majority of the time. They call us, Kenns and they are S.C.'s. We're called Kenns because we go to the public schools, named after J.F.K. and they are called S.C.'s because they go to the private schools, St. Christopher. Kenns can't walk around by themselves or they'll get jumped, or some S.C.'s might drive by and yell "Kenn!" or some other stuff. It wasn't exactly the greatest feeling. Our neighborhoods weren't too far away. A couple lived in between. There were Kenns, S.C.'s but majority that lived there weren't exactly in a class at all. Just middle class. We're poorer that the other two classes, and from what I've seen, we're a lot wilder also. I mean, I've heard that S.C.'s have thrown wild parties, but they were beer blasts. And you can do some crazy thing when you're drunk. I've never experienced it, but Two-Bit, another in the gang, was all the evidence I needed. Kenns are more likely to rob and stuff. We get into gang fights more often also. We really only have ourselves to hang with. All the upper class call us a disgrace and the police definitely don't have a good relationship with us all. Don't get it twisted; I don't do things like that. Darry would murder me if I did. My mom and dad were killed in a car accident, and Soda and I had the chance to live with our brother. So Soda and I have to behave a lot or we'll get thrown in a boy's home. We do some crazy things, but careful to not get caught. The most common Kenns do that, like we don't always look casual, like we may wear a button up, but it's usually unbuttoned. We commonly wear different color T-shirts and hoodies that are slightly bigger and our pants are baggy. When we get the pants, they're already baggy, but we pull them down a little off our waist which makes them look a lot baggier. It's a style from jail that we all just happened to pick up. The S.C.'s though, can be found wearing their school uniforms or dressed neatly in button-up shirts and sweaters. One thing that was noticeably different was our music tastes also. Kenns seem to listen to more local and underground artists, but the S.C.'s won't listen to anyone unless they have a record deal.

As I saw the Cadillac tailing me, I came to the conclusion that I should have waited until Darry or Soda got off work to drop me off and pick me up. I don't know. I'm supposed to be a smart kid, but I don't think half the time. I was a couple of blocks from my house, so I picked up the pace in my walk. I had never been jumped, and it wasn't something to be excited about. Especially after seeing what Johnny looked like when he was jumped by some S.C.'s. And he didn't exactly look his best after that beating. He was sixteen.

I glanced back to see if the Cadillac was still there. It wasn't and I slowed down my walk and relaxed. When I turned my head back around, the car was right there slowing down right beside me. I wasn't thinking, otherwise, I would have made a run for it. Five of them were out of the car in a split second, about to surround me. The picture of Johnny's face flashed through my mind and my stomach cringed.

I frantically searched around for a stick or something. Steve, Soda's best friend, had held off some S.C.'s with a busted bottle. That would probably be the only time I used a weapon to seriously hurt someone, if there was no other alternatives. I didn't have long to look because the S.C.'s were right in front of me, and I felt sweat on my hands.

"Hey Kenn," said one of them, sounding more evil than friendly. "You really don't look like you should."

Dude was wearing a blue button up, with matching kakis. Another cussed at me a little bit, and I was silent. Most Kenns would have probably acted like they weren't scared and made threats at them, but I knew that doing that would probably make the situation worse.

I cut my eyes to the side and saw a broken stick. There were five against one, and it would be an act in self defense in my opinion. I quickly picked up the weapon and started swinging. I felt the stick collide with one of the S.C's head, but I didn't have time to see because one of them wrenched the stick from my hand and the other three had me down in a second. The one that got rid of the stick sat on top of me and had all his weight on my stomach, taking a couple of breathers out of me. Two of me held down my hands. I happened to see the one behind him with his side bleeding a little. He must have been the one that got hit. I smelt some nasty cologne from one of them and I felt that I would suffocate. I was trying to get loose, but the one on top of me gave me four punches to the side of my face. I felt tired and barely had any strength to move. The one on top reached into his back pocket and flicked out a blade.

"Let's give his face some make-up."

I knew exactly what they were talking about and I went hysterical. I wasn't gonna get my face cut up, so I started screaming for my brothers or anyone that popped into my head. They knocked my face again to shut me up, but the punches didn't last long. Before I knew it, they were jumping up and through all the confusion I heard people yelling, foots stamping and all sorts of things. My head was dizzy and I didn't think sitting up would help, so I laid there collecting my thoughts. I then felt my self rising up, and it wasn't my legs helping. Someone had me under the armpits and on my feet. The person swirled me around quickly and shook me. It was Darry.

"Ponyboy! Ponyboy!"

"I'm fine. I said I'm fine!"

Darry quit shaking me instantly and mumbled "Sorry." I knew he wasn't. He was always rough with me, verbally and physically. It's weird that he looked almost like Dad, but acted completely different. Dad was more of a wild one, like Soda.

Darry is pretty tall and twenty years old. He's light skinned like me, but he doesn't have long hair. His hair is cut short which people say makes him look like a model. His hair is dark brown like mine also. His eyes are straight forward. At times, he can seem okay. But when he's mad, it's like his eyes turn mysterious. I really had never seen anyone that looked like that before. He has a pretty good size of muscles, like a slightly slimmer version of LL Cool J. He was a pretty straight forward guy, who didn't believe anything until it was proven. Well mostly, anything.

I slowly sat down on the sidewalk, holding the spot where I got punched the hardest. I could Darry sticking his hands into his pockets roughly.

"Did they get you bad?" he asked.

"Nah," I replied simply.

The truth was, I thought I would start crying. My face was hurting badly as well as my chest. I was pretty nervous about what just happened. I heard slight footsteps and I took a look to the side and saw Soda walking towards us. I noticed the rest of the gang in background throwing rocks and doing other things. It occurred in my mind that the whole commotion was them rescuing me. Soda took a glance at my head, dropped down and leaned it over to him.

"'Ey. Don't panic. But you've got a cut up here."

I looked at him with surprise.

"I do?"

Soda pulled out a napkin from his back pocket. It must have been from his job because there was a bit of dirt on the tip of it. He pushed a clean part on the top of my head and I felt a sting. He then showed me the napkin. It magically turned red.

"Exhibit A," he said with smile.

A lot of girls like Soda. They say his nickname was cute, which he got from chugging liters of Sprite, Pepsi and Coke. That's just goes to show you how wild he is. He had a tan which makes him a little darker than Darry and me, but not too dark. He has his hair cut like Darry's but it's in waves instead. He's not as tall as Darry and slimmer, but has some muscle for good power. His face let's you know right away that he's a good person. He was my favorite family member, almost the perfect brother. The only problem I had was that he's a dropout. Even then, Darry didn't yell at him. See what I mean when I say he's always on my case? To help make ends meet, Soda works at a grocery store in town. It really was the best one, so they got some nice customers, and girls hang out there sometimes. I believed it was because they found out Soda worked there. Soda works there full time at the age of sixteen. Yeah, he's a dropout and I'm not too fond of it. That was the only thing I found wrong with him. But one thing that can prove my point is that Darry didn't yell at Soda when he dropped out.

I guessed I had the appearance that I was going to start crying, 'cause Soda put his hand on my shoulder and said,

"Easy Ponyboy. They ain't gonna hurt you."

"I know," I said, trying hard to not sniff. "I'm just freaked a little."

I really had no reason to cry. This was bull compared to the way Johnny looked after he got jumped.

I cut my eyes over to the side again to see the gang walking towards us. Every single one of them hoods.

First off, there's Steven Randle. Like I said, we all have nicknames, so his obviously is Steve. He was about Soda's size, and a little slimmer. He was a tall, white boy with long blonde hair that barely reached his shoulders, but some of the hair in the back was able to reach. He was pretty cocky and was pretty nice with automobiles. I'm serious. He can jack cars, fix em' up, throw nitro in them and a whole lot of stuff. The only thing he didn't do was painting and putting decorations in cars. That type of stuff really didn't phase Steve. He didn't care if it looked flashy, just as long as it was able to move fast. He's been Soda's best friend since I could remember and they both work at the grocery store, but he didn't like me. That's mainly because Soda always asks me to hang out with them and Steve thought I was a tag-along. The only reason I let him talk was because he was Soda's best buddy. And he was most likely the least of my problems.

Then there was good ol' Two-Bit Matthews. As you probably though, Two-Bit is his nickname. His real name was Keith. We really didn't give him that nickname; it was his mom who gave it to him. We were over his house once and he wouldn't stop talking, his mom walked in and said,

"You always have to get your two-bits worth in, don't you?"

So we all just ran with it. He was black and a little shorter than Soda and Steve, but still taller than me. He had various hairstyles. His hair was shorter than mine, so he either wore cornrows, short dread locks, or just a wild looking afro; which he happens to look tough in, unlike me. You can always suspect something from his signature grin, and he always makes good jokes. He's just as wild as Soda; I was surprised that they weren't best friends instead of him and Steve. What made it worse was that he was held back and I don't think he ever has any intentions of making it any further in school. He just went to see people and goof around. I don't think he's embarrassed by being a seventeen year old sophomore. He's known for entertaining girls at parties and lifting things. He also has this nice switchblade that he carries around.

The only female in the gang was Two-Bit's sister, Kira. Kira was her middle name, and I really never learned her first. If someone ever told me, I forgot. She had long black hair that was put into braids every time I saw her. She was a year older than me and a year younger that Soda and Steve. She really didn't hang out with us 24/7, she said that she had to be with her girls sometimes, but he was able to be sweet and rough at the same time. I think Two-Bit rubbed off on her. She was pretty nice when you would first meet her, but she's like Jekyll and Hyde. If you piss her off, she would snap on you and she really could fight. I barely saw her in rumbles, but if she was, her and Two-Bit would be fighting side by side. But majority of the time she doesn't show up. I think Two-Bit keeps her at home secretly or something. I remember her saying that she liked fights once.

The true hood of the group was definitely Dallas Winston, nicknamed Dally. He came straight out of New York, and is now here in Georgia. You can tell when he's pissed off at someone, by his voice and face. He had dirty blonde hair, which stuck up a little. Even with his signature black leather jacket, you could tell he had a lot of muscle. His face had the coldest look I had ever seen. His face looked real demanding, and that fit his personality perfectly. He lived in the tough part of New York for about three or four years, it slips my mind every once in a while. He was the toughest of the group, and everyone knew it. He had his own file down at the police station, so he had a big enough rep. He did just about everything your typical Kenn would do, times two. He wasn't exactly my friend. We just knew each other, but I respected him, it was demanded.

And lastly, there's Johnny. He does have a nickname, but we only call him it when he needs comforting. His nickname's Johnnycake. He was Hispanic, and had brown hair that flowed down each side of his head, the back, and a little in the front. He had a tanned face which looked too innocent. But that innocence didn't pay off much. He gets beaten badly at home and was jumped by S.C.'s, like I've mentioned before. His mom beats and yells at him, but his dad actually tortures him. We've tried to convince Johnny to tell the police, but it didn't work. Because we're Kenns. The police did nothing but ignore. I hated the police in this town. He was pretty quiet also, and didn't speak much, not even around us. If it hadn't been for us, I think Johnny would have killed himself or run away. He was the gang's pet; he had it worse than anyone else I knew.

I cleared my face quickly to make it look like I hadn't been crying.

"Did you get 'em?"

"Nah. Punks got away," answered Two-Bit, then muttered a couple of dirty phrases. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

I wanted to change the subject. And I'm usually not the one to start up a conversation.

"I thought you got jailed, Dally?"

"Rumor," he replied pulling a cigarette out of his pocket. "They couldn't prove nothing."

Everyone sat down and Dally passed around a couple more cigarettes to whoever wanted one. I wanted one, to calm me down. It worked and I felt a little better. Smoking always does that to me. Two-Bit did his known eyebrow cock and looked at me.

"Damn. They got you good," he joked.

"That was cold," said Kira with a smile. "Disregard his comments."

Two-Bit just smiled more, and I noticed Steve blowing smoke almost in my direction.

"Why were you by yourself?" he asked.

He didn't have to ask that. But he did cause he doesn't like. And frankly, I don't like him majority of the time we see each other.

"I wasn't thinking about-"

I was cut off by Darry's strong voice.

"You don't ever think. Only at school, which is probably why you get those good grades. But outside of that building, you don't ever use common sense. You need to start using your head and stop acting remedial."

Darry rattled on and I just stared at the rock on the ground. I told you he was mean to me. All this shouting wasn't necessary. He was never satisfied with me. If I brought home something lower than an A, he wanted it to get higher. If I brought home A's, then he wanted it to stay there. It seemed like I could never make this fool happy.

"That was useless," said Soda, making me look at him. "You can't blame Ponyboy for the way the S.C.'s act. It ain't like the kid is psychic and he can tell when someone is about to jump him."

Soda always sticks up for me, thankfully. Darry doesn't yell at Soda. It's hard to. He kept looking at him and Darry smiled.

"I'll ask advice when you get in my situation."

Two-Bit nudged my knee to catch my attention.

"Just ask if we'll roll with you next time."

"Speaking of movies," said Dally stretching. "I'm going to stir up a little Friday night. Anyone else want to come?"
"I gotta work," said Darry with his head down. He had so much work that he couldn't do anything fun.

"Me and Soda are taking the ladies to the game tomorrow," said Steve.

He cut my eyes at me like I was gonna ask if I would come. Actually, I never go if Soda has a date. He barely asks me anyway. Dally looked to the left to the remainder of us.

"Well…Two-Bit, Johnny, Ponyboy, Kira. What about y'all?"

I looked at Johnny. He noticed my stare and nodded. That meant that he would come. Johnny wouldn't talk unless he was forced to, and we never forced him.

"Me and Johnny will come," I told Dally.

"I was thinking of gettin' tipsy and screwin' my self up. I might run over and find you all," said Two-Bit.

"I'm hanging out with the girls, but I'll show up to keep my brother out of trouble," said Kira smiling.

"You can try," replied Two-Bit. "Hold up, Dally. I've heard a little rumor about you and Sylvia."

Everyone told their attention to Dally who was getting up to leave before Two-Bit called his name. He had smirk on his face.

"Yeah. The broad thought I was jailed too, and I caught her foolin' around with one of Shepard's boys. I would have slapped her around if there wasn't people around."

The Kenn type of girls were wild. Most of them were bad chicks. The type that would make you lose your virginity on the first nights. And all of them wanted tough and bad boys like Dally, and unless you can charm them over like Two-Bit, then you wouldn't have one. But like I said, most of them were bad chicks. Soda's girl Sandy was pretty and nice to us. Steve's girlfriend had a little more of an attitude, and it seemed like the perfect match for him. But the S.C. chicks were a completely different definition. They were a lot more sophisticated, but I don't think they're perfect. They want the expensive stuff and in my opinion, I think they're goldiggers. Every time I saw one they looked at us, like we weren't on they're level. In money wise, it was the truth, but with that type of attitude, they'd be living in the basement and I'd be in the penthouse. A complete switch.

I was thinking about that as we all got up and headed on home. It was getting late. Soda, Darry, and I walked over towards our dad's old Chevy and got in. I had done my homework before I went to the movies, so I didn't have to worry about Darry going crazy over that matter. I just sat there and re-read an English assignment while Soda gave Darry a back rub. But after a quick while, we had to go to sleep since we all had to get up and go somewhere.

When Mom and Dad died, me and Soda moved into their room and shared a bed. We had to sell a couple of things to make ends meet. Soda hopped in the bed beside me and I cut the lamp light off. I guessed something was bothering Soda, and he addressed the issue.

"Hey, Ponyboy."

"Yeah."

"When Darry yells at you, don't take him. He just gets frustrated a lot and wants you to do good. He's proud that you get all those good grades, and wants you to keep doing that. He's got a lot of things on his hands. Just don't take all that yelling seriously. Aiight?"

"Uh-huh," I lied. I really wasn't hearing that.

"Soda?"

"Hm?"

"Why'd you drop out?"

It was quiet for about three seconds, and then he said,

"Cause I'm stupid."

"You're not stupid," I argued.

"Just drop it and listen. Don't tell Darry though, okay?"

"Okay," I agreed, anxious to know what this secret was.

"I'm thinkin' of marrying Sandy at some point in the near future."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Not right away though."

"Soda. What's it like being in love?"

"It's lovely."

I pulled down on my basketball shorts. I don't like it when I wear shorts and they go above my knees. Makes me feel uncomfortable. I thought about what Soda just said to me. Darry doesn't care about me. I would be in a boy's home right now, if Soda didn't let him throw me into one. I tried to let that sink in, but I usually catch myself lying to myself.

-I know there weren't many changes, but I this is just the beginning. I might do a couple of extras next time around.