Something New: The Ponyboy Edition, Chapter 2
Note: Hey! Here is part 2 of the story! Hope everyone enjoys it.
Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own "The Outsiders"; S.E. Hinton does.
Later in the day...(see chapter 1)
(Pony's POV): Well, the first day of school has gotten off to a pretty good start...so far, at least. After English, I managed to make it to my Biology class. I have a brand new teacher this year in that class. Once more, I had to do another one of those dumb sheets about "what is my name" and "how old am I" and "what is my favorite movie" and "what is my favorite time of the year" and...well, you get the picture. I tried hard to concentrate on the paper, but..well, I couldn't get that girl Ashleigh out of my mind! I mean, I still don't know much about her at all, only that she likes "Gone with the Wind" and "The Ten Commandments" and she's fifteen. I just hope I get to talk to her more...
My Biology teacher must have seen me daydreaming. She walked right up to my desk and started fake "clearing her throat".
"Ahem," she went. I shook my head and looked up at her, and kinda smiled. I couldn't think of anything else to do. "Mr. Curtis, I don't think this school allows stone statues to sit in a classroom. I suggest you do what you are supposed to be doing," she said sternly. I looked down at my paper ashamed. A few Socs started giggling in the back and that started making other people giggle. "Yes, ma'am," I said quietly. She snorted, and walked back up to the front of the classroom. I was tempted to make a face or something to mock her, but I held back. Weird, huh?
Later at lunch, I began looking for Two Bit and Johnny. I don't know if they had the same lunch as me, but it didn't hurt to look. I didn't look in the cafeteria, though. We greasers hardly ever eat in the cafeteria. It's weird, though. Whenever food fights or something similar happens in there, they always blame us...even though we weren't there. Guess the school can't believe the Socs would do something bad like a food fight or worse. Anyways, I got outside the front and saw Two Bit and Johnny! Two Bit was talking to yet another girl, and Johnny was standing by just as quiet as can be. He's always shy like that. Well, that girl must have got mad at Two Bit, cause she rolled her eyes at something he said and stormed off. Two Bit just laughed. I walked up to them, and they saw me as I approached.
"Hey! Pony! How's school so far, man?" Two Bit asked gleefully. I shrugged my shoulders. "Eh, could be a bit more exciting. How bout you, Johnny?" I asked. Johnny frowned. "My classes so far are filled with Socs and some middle class guys. Jeremy is in one, so that's cool. But those Socs...already throwing paper balls at us," Johnny said. Two Bit laughed at that. Johnny and I couldn't help but laugh either. Like I said before, Two Bit could make anyone laugh, even if they had just had their hand cut off or after they had just been hit by a truck or something.
"Hey, Pony, what about girls, man?" Two Bit asked slyly. I blinked for a second. Should I tell him about Ashleigh? I don't know if I should. What would Two Bit think if he thought I was taking an interest in a black girl? I decided against telling him. Made me feel pretty pathetic, though. "Uh...er...not much, man. Just some..ah, Soc girls, know what I mean," I said dodgingly. Two Bit cocked his eyebrow. "Well hey, Soc girls are girls too," he said, then added "remember that Cherry and Mary..Marsha...Mazda..." he stammered. Johnny sighed. "Marcia," he said. Two Bit grinned widely. "Yeah! That's it! Well, anyways, tough luck about girls," Two Bit said. I just shook my head with a smile on my face, and happened to look over across the yard. I saw her standing there!
Ashleigh was standing alone by the front of the school. She had her lunch with her. Guess she didn't like eating in the cafeteria either...oh man, why am I focusing on where she eats or what she's eating?! Anyways, I'm sure glad she's out here. I just wonder how I can get over there with Two Bit and Johnny standing here. That would blow my whole "don't let Two Bit know I like a black girl" kick! I had to think of something quick, since she started walking away.
"Hey, uh, Two Bit, I gotta go," I stammerd. He and Johnny looked at me perplexingly. "Uh, where?" Johnny asked. I just kept looking toward Ashleigh and back. Two Bit cocked his eyebrow again. "What's so dang important, Pony?" Two Bit asked. Ashleigh started to walk back inside the school, maybe to the cafeteria. "Gotta go!" I said, and hurried off. I kinda wish I could have seen Johnny and Two Bit's faces. They were probably looking at me like I was a moron.
Well, got in the school, and I saw Ashleigh walking way down the hall. A big, stupid looking smile crept across my face. I started rushing down the hall, but then, there was trouble. As Ashleigh was about to turn a corner, she accidently ran into a Soc who was carrying a few books. They must have bumped each other pretty hard. She kinda fell back and the Soc dropped all his books. A Soc girl and two other guys were standing there with him. I saw him look at her with an angry face. I started walking faster towards them.
"Why you!...Look what you did!" he angerly said to Ashleigh. She was getting scared, I could tell. The other Socs were just sneering at her. The two Soc guys outnumbered me, but I had to help Ashleigh out. If it came to fighting, then...well, I would fight. The Soc was just about to wrap his hands around Ashleigh when I came up. He and the other Socs turned thier attention to me. He didn't touching her.
"What do you want, greaser?" He sneered at me. I stared him right in the eyes. "You better back off," I said. The Socs looked shocked for a second, but then they got these nasty grins on their faces. "Ah, I see," said the Soc Ashleigh ran into. "So the trash goes with the trash, huh? Greaser and a blackie?" He sneered. They actually laughed at that. I could feel my face getting hot. My fists were balling up without me even knowing it. Even if the other Socs beat the tar outta me, I still would have liked to have socked the Soc at least once. Just when I was about to land one on him, I felt Ashleigh's hand wrap around my wrist. I looked down at her. She shook her head a bit. I guess she knew what I was going to do. The Socs were still laughing and they didn't notice anything. I let my hands unball, but kept looking at the Soc. They stopped laughing and he looked at me in the eyes.
"Ain't gonna do anything then? Pity. Would have loved to have seen you take on three of us. Let's go, guys," he said to his rag tag group of Socs. They walked down the hall. I shook my head at their backs. Man, one punch on that Soc...anyways, I turned my attention to Ashleigh. "Let me help ya up," I said kinda quietly. She smiled. I already had forgotten how great her smile is! I helped her up by holding her hand and bringing her up. It's kinda funny. We just stood there for a minute, with me still holding her hand, looking each other face to face. Her smile had made me smile now. I could have probably stood there all day...but the stupid bell rang, which meant that lunch was over. She laughed a bit.
"I guess I have to go," I said. Believe me, I didn't want to at all. She smiled again. "Me too. But, uh...you want to talk later, maybe?" She asked. I can't believe it...SHE asked ME if I wanted to talk to her again! I was going to ask her...or maybe I was SUPPOSED to, ya know, to make it noble on my part. Anyways, I probably had the biggest, stupidest looking grin on earth when she asked that. "Definatley!" I said resoundingly. I hope I didn't sound TOO excited. That might have looked bad on my part. "Uh, maybe right after school, we could meet up at front," I said, then added, "and, if you live close, I'd love to walk you home." I hope that wasn't too much! She actually smiled larger. "Yeah, I live close by. I'd love for you to walk with me," she said. I was still holding her hand, and tightly now. I began to notice people were walking by and staring at us. They probably couldn't believe what they were seeing...a beautiful black girl and a...well, a greaser. But I didn't care. I didn't even care if Two Bit and Johnny saw us. "See you later," she said quietly. She let go of my hand, and walked down the hall, all the while looking back at me. I just stood there with that goofy grin on my face. People were still looking at me weirdly. I stood there for maybe a minute after watching her walk off. The bell rang again, which meant I was two mintues to being late. But now, instead of running, I just put my hands in my pockets and walked to class, whistling a funny tune all the way.