Five For Fighting
Rated: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own no one important (ie the Outsiders) just Amber and other minor stupid characters that I put there for necessity sake.
E.I.G.H.T.
My schedule looked boring.
Homeroom, history, math, English, Intro to Economics, Lunch, Spanish, Gym or Art depending on the day.
"I've been assigned to bring you to your homeroom." I looked up at the older boy with a meek smile, straightened my skirt and stood up from the chair where I had been abandoned by the school secretary after she had finished typing up my schedule for me.
I had been driven to school by Mr. Adams since I had to get there early, tomorrow I would have to walk the three miles with the other girls and boys from the house. It was still cold outside and I didn't look forward to this.
"I'm Ron by the way" He offered as I clutched my white binder to my chest and scanned the halls for Ponyboy or Johnny, though I didn't know if Johnny went to school.
I saw Two-Bit down the hall and waved frantically as he caught my eye and tried to make his way over to me. Before he could get halfway down the hall two taller broad-shouldered boys stepped in front of him pinning him to the lockers.
The grin fell from his face as he struggled against them.
"Greasers are nothing but trouble" Ron said scornfully. He was wearing Madras just like the other two boys and myself.
"Greasers?" I asked questioningly staring at Two-Bit struggle, wanting to go help but Ron took a firm hold on my arm
"Best not get mixed up with his kind" He said knowingly as he lead me across the hall and into another section of the school.
"But I know…" I tried to protest but lost my train of thought as Ron pushed open a door and ushered me inside.
"See you later" He called, leaving me quickly.
"Ponyboy!" I shrieked scaring the daylights out of my brother who had been sitting plaintively at a desk, head down.
My binder clattered to the floor as Ponyboy leapt forward and gathered me in his arms swinging me around.
The whole room was staring at us, but I didn't care.
He looked me over as if to make sure I was really all there and ok. He wrinkled his nose in disdain at the Madras skirt I was wearing. It was green and gray and brought out our eyes I thought.
Once he made it past the skirt and realized I was really there in his arms he let me go and smiled dragging me over to take the seat next to him.
"What's it like? Where are you living? How are the girls you're with? Do they feed you O.K? Gosh but Soda and Darry and I miss you, it's not fair what they did. Darry said he's going to court with this, but it'll take a few weeks so hang in there. Let me see your schedule."
I laughed and handed the slip of paper to him taking in all of his movements relieved to be next to him again.
I felt twice as strong with him near me, like nothing could hurt me.
"We have English and lunch together, I'm glad they put you into my grade," He said looking at me.
"Me too, I tried to tell him I was in ninth grade thinking that's where you'd be, but Mr. Adams knew where you where and put me here on purpose, I really think he feels bad about what happened." I told him.
We continued talking loudly in excited voices, dense to the staring pupils that surrounded us until the teacher yelled so loudly for attention that we finally noticed that homeroom had been called to order and we were the only ones talking.
"Explain yourself Mr. Curtis" The tall wiry women requested pulling Ponyboy up to the front of the room.
I'm sure if he hadn't been grinning so much it would have been an embarrassing moment however he took it well and said simply, "My sister is back, I haven't talked to her since yesterday and before that I never talked to her, so we have a lot to say to each other" He ended with a shrug and a false sounding apology.
"Amber Curtis, I presume?" She asked.
I nodded and she marked something in her book then took the roll and we all filed out into the hallway.
"I saw Two-Bit this morning" I said as we walked towards my history class. I knew Pony had class at the other end of the school but he was on track and could handle the run despite all his smoking, he said. Besides I wanted to ask him why Ron had called Two-Bit Greasy when as far as I could tell Two-Bit was a relatively clean kid bar the smell of cheap cologne and alcohol.
"Oh yeah?" He asked.
"Yeah, cept before I could talk to him some kids came up and pinned him to the lockers and Ron took me away before I could help him, called him greasy or something." I looked at Ponyboy in bewilderment.
He looked at his shoes "Don't worry Amber, they were just playing around."
I didn't believe him and it hurt that he would lie to me but I accepted what he said without anymore questions. Clearly he didn't want to talk about Two-Bit's enemies.
"I'll meet you at your Math class and walk with you to English." Ponyboy said a minute later erasing the uneasy silence that had fallen between us.
I nodded as he opened the door and yelled for a kid named Mike to come talk to him.
"Hey, can you walk my sister to Room 286 after this?" He asked after slapping high fives.
"Since when have the Curtis's had a sister?" He asked eyeing me much to Ponyboy's annoyance.
"Since yesterday" I said brightly "And about fifteen years before that, despite our lack of knowledge"
"I'll explain later" Pony promised "Or Amber will, I gotta run, just bring her there and don't let anyone bother her or I'll skin them personally."
Ponyboy left and Mike made the girl in the seat next to him move so I could sit there. She was wearing a nice skirt and blouse and scowled at me and Mike.
"Ain't you a little Socy to be a Curtis?" He asked more freely looking me up and down without Ponyboy breathing down his neck. Like I said Ponyboy was strong and could easily take Mike.
I stared at him dumbly not knowing what he meant. I guess I didn't know the Tulsa slang, Socy wasn't in my vocabulary, nor was greasy a word used while "playing around"
I shrugged as the class started and took overly concentrated notes to keep my mind off my questions.
At the end of the class I introduced myself to the teacher who said my transcript from my other school would be fine and I could start assignments right along with everyone else, starting with the fifty pages of reading tonight. I don't mind history, I find it interesting and all so I nodded with a smile and left with Mike who brought me to Math.
Stares followed me down the aisle as I made my way to an empty seat in the back of the room. I blushed under the constant gaze of a boy in a football jacket. He was really cute, but he didn't make my heart throb the way Dally did with his dangerous eyes and blonde hair.
The boy physically removed the kid sitting next to me, a boy in ripped jeans and tennis shoes. The football player threw the boy's worn leather coat at him and knocked his book onto the floor.
"Beat it grease." He sneered, then turned to me.
I stared at him, "Why'd you do that?" I asked scrambling to my feet and helping the boy pick up his books.
The boy in black cast me a terrified look and hurried away like I had the flu and he was gonna catch it if he stayed near me.
I returned to my seat as the teacher started her lesson right in the middle of something I had never seen before as though I should know what was going on. There were a lot of parenthesis and numbers scrawled on the board and I tried my best to follow along.
"Pst…"
I looked over at the football player. Blonde hair, green eyes, perfect nose and lips that formed a perfect smile around his perfect teeth.
"I'm Jake" He mouthed with a flashy grin.
I'm sure he'd picked up countless girls with that smile.
"Amber" I mouthed back blushing though I wanted nothing to do with this boy after what he'd done to the other kid.
"Meet me after class" he scrawled on a note flicking it onto my desk.
I shook my head no and turned back to my notes seeing anger flash in his eyes.
The class ended thirty three minutes later and I rushed out the door holding my books to my chest waiting for Ponyboy, leaning against a locker.
"So what do you say about the Drive-In this Friday?" I looked up and saw Jake leaning against the locker next to me, and arm starting to creep around my shoulder.
I turned away, "I don't think so"
"What, you already got a guy?" He asked hotly
I sighed in relief seeing Ponyboy strolling down the hallway. Maybe he could explain the situation to Jake, I didn't think I could put it into words.
"Hey Amber, ready?" Pony asked looking at Jake and then back to me, confusion in his eyes.
"Him?!" Jake all but roared "You've got to be kidding me, you know you're better than that trash"
"Don't call my brother trash" I spat out slapping him across the face before I could even think about what I was doing.
He stood staring at me dumbfounded as Ponyboy yanked me down the hallway so hard I thought my arms would fall out of it's socket.
"God damn murderer's sister just hit me for Christ's sake" I heard him bellow as Ponyboy continued to pull.
When he finally let me go we were in front of our English room.
"Pony, you have to answer my questions now. I'm not dumb I know something's going on, I don't know what, but you have to tell me, this isn't fair." I begged.
"I'll explain at lunch"
"He called you a murderer, why?"
"Amber I said I'd tell you later" He said pathetically.
"Ponyboy!"
"Amber! Please!"
I frowned but nodded as he brought me to the English teacher (you, sir) where you told me I had to write this, since you know what happened during your class I'll skip ahead.
"We don't eat in the cafeteria" Ponyboy said opening a door to the side of the school where a lot of kids, all dressed in shabbier clothes were congregating, then spreading out in different directions.
I knew better than to ask why, no one answered my questions anyway.
Leading me around the side of the building and down the road we kept the talk casual until we reached a gas station about five minutes later.
"Hey, doesn't Soda work here?" I asked as I was swept up from behind and hugged tightly by the man in question.
"How ya doin kiddo?" He asked with a bright grin. "The house isn't the same without you, we're doing everything we can to get you back."
I didn't respond, just hugged him tighter and waved to Steve who was leaning against a car and drinking a Pepsi.
Ponyboy reappeared and handed me a cold Pepsi and a plastic-wrapped sandwich which I took hungrily but dropped when I saw Darry pull into the station.
Diving towards the open window of the Ford truck before he came to a complete stop I pulled open the door and dove onto Darry's lap as he put the car into park.
He smiled and stepped down from the truck with me hanging from his neck.
The questions I had left my mind as Two-Bit appeared next and I had a blissful twenty minutes with my brothers and his friends before Darry loaded us into the truck and took us back to school.