Chapter 2: Greaser? Soc? Huh?

The halls of Tanner and Kayla's new school were crowded with teenagers in their own clicks. They were all staring, already judging the two girls walking down the hall. They watched Tanner and Kayla like hawks, and whispered as they passed. Kayla didn't seem to notice. "Well," Kayla smiled, "this is it, our new high school. We can start all over. We can even be new people if we wanted to!"

Tanner wanted to throw up at her sister's excitement and stupid TV-like comment. Kayla had always said the perfect things at the perfect time and the fact that Kayla was always so happy bothered Tanner.

The girls came to where the halls split into two directions and went their separate ways. Tanner stood in front of locker #4783, intimidated by the whispering girls that she was surrounded by. "She's probably a Greaser." She heard, "Then why was she with that Soc looking girl" she heard another say.

'Greaser? Soc? What the heck!' Tanner thought in confusion. A hand grabbed Tanner's shoulder. 'Oh no' she thought. She whirled around to see a tough looking girl that stood in front of her, knots formed in Tanner's stomach. "What are you doin' in my locker?" the tough girl snarled.

"Um…isn't this my locker?" Tanner stammered as she handed the girl a piece of paper.

The girl read the paper that clearly stated locker #4783. "Dang!" she whispered.

"I could…uh…see if I could get my locker changed."

"No, don't bother, just don't touch my stuff." She said as she took a Science 2 book out of the locker.

"Science 2," Tanner observed, "that's my first class also."

"Really?" the girl asked. "We can walk together then. My name's June. Yours?"

"Tanner." She said as she lightly shook June's hand.

Tanner was confused.Why was this girl being so nice? Before she looked like she was about to rip Tanner's head off. Now she was acting friendly. Tanner didn't understand.

The girls entered Science lab 2. The both of them took a seat at the table in the second to last row. Tanner examined the room noticing the nicely dressed people who looked sophisticated and then noticed the greasy looking ones that looked like trash. Three tall greasy looking boys walked in the classroom and took the three empty seats behind June and Tanner. "Hey baby" said one of them.

"Excuse me?" Tanner turned around in her seat to see a guy smiling.

"Not you, I was talking to June." He chuckled.

"Oh…" Tanner laughed back in embarrassment.

"Hi sweetie." June smiled as she gave him a peck on the cheek.

Tanner turned back around a watched as another greasy boy came walking in. 'They must be Greasers.' She thought. 'They sure look greasy enough'. The boy took a seat at the table next to Tanner. "Hey." He smiled.

"Hi." Tanner shyly smiled back looking down at her desk.

"Are you shy?" he playfully teased.

"No." Tanner blushed.

A big fat man with a thin comb over entered the room. "Class, settle, settle. I'm Mr. Winslow and I'm only introducing myself because we have a new student. Miss Kistner please stand and tell the class a bit about you.

Tanner's legs shook as if there was a massive earthquake happening. "Um…I'm Tanner Kistner and…um…I moved here from Fort Lewis in Florida about a week ago."

"Thank-you Tanner you may sit down now." Mr. Winslow smiled.

Then class began

After her third class, Tanner peeked at her schedule. Finally, it was lunch. Tanner went to her locker to grab her money when she saw June taking out her geometry book. "Don't you have lunch?" Tanner asked.

"No, I have the B schedule you must have A."

"Oh." Tanner sighed.

"Hey, don't worry about it girl, you'll be fine." June smiled and disappeared into the crowd in the hallway.

Tanner found her way to the cafeteria which was crowded so it took Tanner a while to get her lunch. Eventually, she found an empty table by the trash cans. "The reject table." She heard a voice say behind her.

"Yeah," Tanner giggled. "I figured that."

"I'm Ponyboy." The voice said as he sat down.

"Is that a nickname?"

"No, Ponyboy is my real name — Ponyboy Curtis." He proudly smiled. "I even have a brother named Sodapop, but we call him Soda."

"Wow, that's really different." Tanner chuckled.

"So…" Ponyboy continued. "You're new…how do you like the school so far?"

"I like it fine."

"That's good."

"Yeah…." Tanner said as she ate.

The rest of the lunch period was silent between them. Tanner felt so uncomfortable that she left him all alone ten minutes before lunch was over without saying a word.

'Why did I do that?' she thought as she pushed open the bathroom. 'That was so mean!'

The ringing of the end of the day bell made Tanner jump. She darted out of Mr. Syme's English classroom anticipating on getting home. "Hey! Wait up!" she heard some one yell.

Tanner turned around to see June running after her. "Hi, want to walk home together?" June panted.

"Trust me, I'd love to, but I've got to walk home with my sister. Sorry."

"It's fine, I'll just walk home with my boyfriend. See ya!" June scurried off into the leaving crowd.

Tanner had been watching June's behavior all day, as if she were studying some animal. June was so random and crazy, but in a controlled way that Tanner couldn't help but to admire. There weren't a lot of people who could pull off purple and blue highlights to bring out chestnut brown hair and still look gorgeous like June did. June had three piercings on both ears and a little nose ring that was shaped like a sun. She was tall and thick, but surely not fat and she had bright green eyes that always seemed to be smiling, even if she, herself wasn't. June was a free spirit and Tanner adored that quality in June.

Tanner walked out the double doors that had imprisoned and sat on the steps leading up to the school. She again, she opened up to the passage in her Shakespeare book that she had been trying to translate the night before. Ponyboy took a seat on the step behind her. "What are you reading?" he asked peering over her shoulder.

"Romeo and Juliet." She continued to read.

"I've read that one. But it wasn't as good as I was expected it to be."

She turned around and confusingly gazed into his brown, intense eyes that were staring back at her.

"What?" He smiled. "Surprised that a guy like me reads Shakespeare? Hasn't anyone ever told you not judge a book by its cover?" he mocked.

"Well…I just didn't expect…I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it." He smiled. "At lunch today…Did I say — or not say something?"

"Oh, Sorry about that" Tanner blushed. "I never know what to do in awkward silence. I hope you don't take it the wrong way."

"It's okay."

"Well, I see my sister coming so I better go." Tanner said getting up to leave.

"Good-bye." He waved.

Tanner got up and ran over to Kayla. She felt a really giddy feeling inside she had never experienced before. "Well, you look like you're glowing with happiness. Why?" Kayla grinned.

"I'm not sure…" She smiled.

The nippy November breeze sent chills up Tanners neck. She loved that feeling. She loved fall. She loved how the trees would show off the most remarkable colors of red and orange, yellow and burgundy; the sounds of fall—the leaves crackling beneath her feet, the whistling breezes , the smell of fall—everything.

"I need to talk to you." Kayla said suddenly on their walk home.

"Then go ahead and talk."

"Well…people have been telling me about these two different social groups and—"

"The Socs and the Greasers? I heard that too, but I don't get it." Tanner interrupted.

"Yeah, well, Soc stands for socials. They're popular, they dress nicer and they are more respected. The Greasers…well they're like hoods. So, I'm starting to think that you shouldn't dress that way anymore and you may want to re-think the people that you were hanging out with today. Some one even told me that boy was involved with a crime."

Tanner didn't know how to respond. She knew her sister meant well, but who was she to tell her what to wear and who to hang out with. They continued their walk home in silence.

When they got up to the front door, Mrs. Kistner swung the door open. "I missed you so much! How was your guys' first day?"

"It was awesome mom! I loved every bit of it!" Kayla blurted.

"Come, tell me more about it!" Mrs. Kistner guided Kayla into the kitchen and left Tanner alone.

"Mine was fine mom." Tanner sighed.

Tanner clomped up the stairs and went into her room. She slammed the door shut and flung herself on her cushy purple and black bed. She stared out the window as the rain started to pour down, thoughts ran through Tanner's mind at 100 miles per hour. 'Why does that guy keep talking to me? He's probably a Greaser or whatever. Was he really part of a crime? He seems so sweet. Does he like me? He can't possibly like meNo one even pretends to like me unless they're trying to get to Kayla.' Her thoughts were interrupted when her mom walked into her room.

She positioned herself on Tanner's bed looking as if she had something important to say.

"Tanner, Kayla told me about the whole issue at school with the Socs and the Greasies."

"They're called Greasers, mom." Tanner corrected.

"Yes, Greasers. Anyway, well…I think you should mind your sister. She's right, a reputation is really important and you don't want to get the wrong one. And I certainly don't want you around that boy Kayla told me about. So from now on, you can find new friends and you are surely going to be dressing differently, understood?"

"Yes, I understand…but I don't know if I can do that."

"Well, I don't care because you're going to anyway and that's the end of that." Her mom said walking out the door.

Tanner laid back down and resumed to her thinking. A thought appeared in her head that would be on her brain for a long time: 'Am I a Greaser or a Soc?' She knew what her mom and Kayla wanted her to be, but who did she want to be?