A/N: Okay some of the OC's in this story are based on the actual characters from the book only they live in this time and not in the 60s. Their personalities are kind of spread between the OC's so see if you can guess them! Oh, and this is when you meet Cameron for the first time and you'll be seeing more of him throughout the story so pay attention to him.
Disclaimer: I do not own "The Outsiders" but I do own Kendi and Cameron.
Ponyboy's Point of View:
It was the last day of summer. Both Kendi and I will be going back to school. She will be heading back to the classroom to study, learn, and to do work. I will be going back to teach and to be the one who gives the work. She will be doing homework every night trying to balance school with her social life. I will be grading papers every night trying to balance work with family life. In other words, life isn't going to give us any breaks after today. Still, I thought that Kendi should be outside with her friends and celebrating the last day before high school. Not inside strumming her guitar in the basement alone. I went downstairs to see what she was doing. She was playing some punk rock song on her electric guitar.
"Kendi, shouldn't you be out with your friends? Tomorrow, you go to school, so why don't you hang out with Maya or something?"
Kendi looked at me with her dark blue eyes and said, "Dad, Maya is off somewhere doing her last-minute back-to-school shopping. And I don't really want to go outside today."
This seemed unheard of to me. What kid didn't want to get out of the house and get some fresh air?
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," she said before going back to play her song. Sometimes it's hard to understand kids today.
After I left Kendi alone, as I was walking up the steps, I swear I heard someone singing. I'd never heard Kendi sing. The voice was too soft for me to figure out if it was really Kendi or just her CD player with the volume raised to the max.
I went back to the room where Kendi was practicing and I didn't hear any singing. Either I'm losing it or Kendi's hiding something again.
Cameron's Point of View"Might as well enjoy this day while you can 'cause tomorrow you'll be entering Kesata High and that won't be no easy thing."
"Yeah, yeah," I said. I was just lying on the couch trying to doze off the last day of summer. Who knows, maybe I won't wake up for the first day of school. I was also half listening to my brother, and half wishing he would just shut up. I wasn't looking forward to the first day of school but I wasn't going to sweat about it.
While I was being a couch potato, Rodney was sitting on the floor watching "Drake and Josh." I was kind of watching it too. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Why would two teenagers want to watch a Nickelodeon show? Well, Rod and I related to this show a little. It was about two brothers; one was a rocker and the other was this funny dude who attempts at magic tricks. Attempt is the key word here. It's a funny show and sometimes Rod is the rocker and I'm the dork or the other way around depending on how we felt.
Our other brother, Dan, came into the room. At eighteen, you'd expect him to be getting ready for college or something. True, he received a football scholarship to this Ivy League college but because our dad lost his job last year, Dan decided to stay and help support us. Sometimes, I wonder if he hates us because we prevented him from going to college.
"Cam, what are you doing? Are you just going to sleep off your last day of summer? Why don't you go hang out with Rawley or something?"
"Hmmmm…" I groaned as I tried to pick myself up from the couch. Trust me, I would've done anything to just be able to lie there all day. But I knew that if I didn't get up now, Dan would just keep on nagging me. I would have to get up eventually.
I decided I would just go to the park instead of visiting Rawley. As I left the house, I said, "I'm going out!"
"Be back at five and stay out of trouble!" I heard Dan call. Whatever.
When I went to the local park, there were already a number of people there. I leaned against one of the trees and pretended I was just waiting for someone, which I wasn't. No one saw anything peculiar about a teenager just lounging around. There were a few family picnics and some teenage couple hanging out at the snack bar. They both looked older than me and I wondered if I would be seeing them in high school. I was already getting bored and I wished I had brought my guitar There wasn't much to do here when you were alone.
Suddenly, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I whipped around and I saw Rawley standing there behind me.
"Oh, hi Cam," he said. He wasn't much of a talker. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."
"It's alright, I was about to doze of anyways."
"You want to go to the arcade?" he asked. I shrugged. It was better than doing nothing.
Looking at Rawley and me, you'd know immediately that we weren't related. Rawley, being about a year older than me, is slightly taller. He also has black hair that stopped right behind his ear and black eyes. I, on the other hand, have blonde hair that goes until the middle of the back of my neck and gray eyes. Rawley's still my best friend, though, and wasn't going to change.
Rawley and I started playing a game of air hockey. I was winning by two points.
"So Cam, how's your dad?" I froze. I didn't even notice that the puck had slipped into my goal until Rawley told me to put it back on the table.
I hate talking about my dad. Dad lost his job last year. I wasn't too surprise when I came home from school that day to find him home early. It was bound to happen at some point. Sometimes, people ask me what he does for a living. I'm always tempted to say, "He's an alcoholic." But instead, I end up saying that he's having trouble looking for work. At least that's what I say now. I don't remember what Dad's job was. When people, particularly teachers, would find out about my dad's unemployment, they would always give me looks of pity. Pity's not what I want, though.
"I guess I chose the wrong time to ask," Rawley said after a few moments of silence.
Rawley knows about my dad but he just asks a few times just to make sure everything was okay.
"He's fine." Rawley decided to just change the subject.
"So, you're going to Kesata High tomorrow. Looking forward to it?' I knew Rawley was just trying to find something to talk about. He knew I was less than eager to go to school.
"Kind of."
"C'mon, Cam. It's not like middle school."
"You never know."
"Jed Meyers isn't going to be there. You got nothing to worry about."
Jed Meyers was this kid who used to pick on me during middle school. He was stocky and had a strong right arm. I should know having encountered the kind of punch it could produce. He used to make fun of me for wearing black, for being small and shit like that. Dan and Rodney tried to give me tips on how I should handle it. Dan said I should go to a teacher or some other adult. Rod told me that I should give him a "good whack between the eyes." I liked Rod's advice better. Too bad Jed was twice my size.
Finally, during eighth grade, I got taller and I matched Jed's height. I got the guts to challenge him in a fight. He might seem stronger physically, but I was the one with the grudge and anger built up. I got a black eye but Jed got worse. I managed to give him a bruised nose, a fat lip and even knocked out a few of his teeth. Sure, I was suspended for two weeks but it was definitely worth kicking Jed Meyers's ass. Sadly, Jed's going to some private school so he won't be able to plan his revenge on me. I hope.
"You aren't going to skip school, are you?" Rawley asked randomly.
"No, I won't," I said. I wouldn't unless I needed to.
A/N: I know it's kind of a weird ending but I didn't think there was anything else that needed to be said. At least you know a little bit about Cam now. Oh, and R&R if you can. The next chapter should be up soon.