Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders. Never have. Never will. But I do own the characters you don't know.
Chapter 1: Making it Better
Note: This is a story I'm writing at school that is 2 parts with 103 pages, and takes up two notebooks.
Lately, every day's been the same. Incredibly quiet and very dreary. I wake up and Darry's reading the newspaper and Soda's showering. Breakfast is quiet and I hate it. I've never liked silence, it's too...quiet. Somehow it's become awkward between me and Darry again and Soda's caught in the middle. I could sense another akward moment coming when Soda was fixing to leave the room. Just the tension between us was enough to make me wanna leave. At the doorway, Darry stopped me, "Hey...wait up, Pony. Tonight, do you want to see a movie?" Immediately, I whirled around. Did Darrel just ask me if I wanted to see a movie? He couldn't stand movies and found them awful boring. But he knew I loved 'em. He had a strange shy sort of look on his face as I stared at him, "Sure, I-I'd like that." He smiled broadly, "We'll go after I get off work." My head bobbed curiously but was translated to a makeshift 'yes'. I turned around and plopped on the couch. Since no one tackled me, I assumed that Sodapop was already on his way to work. A movie with Darry. The idea was strange in my head, I thought as I took a drag on my cig. I couldn't picture him sitting still for an hour mind as well two. Man, this would be a disaster and make things even more eerie. Oh well, let's see what happens.
I fell asleep and slept through the whole afternoon. Darry shook me awake at about seven, "You comin' or not?" I smiled, feeling better about the evening he had planned and nodded. Darry seemed really happy that we were spending some quality time together. I told him about different movies and good ones and bad ones and he seemed genuinely interested.
The movie that was playing was strange and had a lot of explosions and girls in bikinis. It held Darry's interest though. This surprised me but it was good. He'd parked the car a little ways away purposely so we could talk on the walk back. He kept talking about different scenes from the movie and I truly loved it. It wasn't awkward anymore! We were brothers again! Unexpectedly, he stopped walking and I bumped into him. Before I could look to see what the hold-up was, Darry's hand was pushing me away. Then, I noticed that he was standing straight up like he does when he's gotta look tough and his right fist clenched.
I finally saw what had alarmed him. A seriously drunk Soc stumbled out of the alleyway. I thought that he would turn around and try to belt Darry but he didn't even notice us. He had on the traditional blue madras jacket but it was covered with dirt. The creep had bright red hair and a wide face. Oi, he was a stringbean, tall and freakishly thin. He wandered back into the alley but came right back out talking to a much shorter blond woman. It was too dark to see her clearly but she looked awful pretty. The Soc snaked his arms around her waist but she pushed him away. He tried it again and this time she slugged him right in the stomach. Casually, the girl lit a weed and walked by us without a glance as the Soc doubled over and threw up.
I don't know why I said it but I did, "Hey, didn't you used to go to my high school?" Darry whirled around just as fast as she did, "Probably. What's your name, kid?" Her voice sounded familiar in some way but I couldn't place it. Darry was eyeing her like a hawk, "Erk, Ponyboy." She took a drag, "Yeah, I think I remember seeing you around. I'm Jess, Jess O' Malley." I smiled, ignoring Darry, "We hung out for awhile. Right? You're Red Leader?" It was Jess's turn to laugh, "That's right! It's nice to see you again, Pony. I gotta be goin' but you should come hang out down South sometime and visit me." "Will do." I replied cheerily. Darry cleared his throat rather loudly which either meant that he wanted to leave or that he wanted to be introduced, "Oh, sorry. Jess this is my older brother, Darry." She tipped her head at him, "Nice to meet you Darry. I'm Jess. Well, I better be gettin' down to my turf 'fore I get jumped. See you two around and say 'hi' to Sodapop for me." She disappeared around the corner and we continued walking the other way towards the car. Eventually, Darry asked, "What'd you two mean by 'Red Leader'?" I chuckled, "Ever heard of the Reds? Well, they're a gang on the South side of town. They're pretty much greasers but are a bit classier and are all girls." It took him awhile to process but he finally stated bluntly, "She was real pretty." I laughed at him as we got in the car and drove off.