Chapter 3:
Disclaimer: All Outsiders stuff belongs to S.E. Hinton. By the way, sorry if I screw things up, I am not historically accurate nor am I in college, so forgive me if I screw some things up.
Darry wiped at the applesauce. He got most of it off, but there was still a large, wet stain on his shirt. Great, I'm going to look like a complete slob, Darry thought sarcastically.
He stared out the window, watching the countryside race by. The trip from Tulsa to Chicago was only a few hours long, but just long enough for him to fall deeply asleep and be jolted awake by the loud noises of Chicago when they arrived.
The whistle blew and the train slowed down to a complete stop. "Chicago, Illinois!" the conductor yelled. The doors flew open and passengers rushed to get off.
Darry stepped off the train and onto the platform. He retrieved his bags and left the station, glancing at his watch and getting a shock as he realized he only had an hour to find the university.
How hard can it be? Darry thought. He immediately realized how hard. He was completely and utterly lost in ten minutes.
He glanced up at the nearest street sign. Cottage Grove Drive. He stopped an old man to ask for directions. "Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to the University of Chicago?"
The man stuck out a thin, brown hand. "Got a quarter?" Darry sighed and handed him a dime. "That's all I got."
The man pointed forward. "You go forward there, and then take a left at the first intersection. Then you walk straight and turn right, then walk up the big stone steps and you're there."
"Thanks…" Darry started, but the man had already walked off. Huh. Weird people around here. He started off towards the university, too excited for words.
A.J. threw up her hands in disgust. "Lucky, I just cannot believe you sometimes!" she shouted loudly enough for everyone at the outdoor cafeteria to turn around and stare at her.
Lucky, the coolest guy at U of C, grinned at A.J., his best friend, looking at her from over his shades. He stretched out, putting his big, sneaker clad feet on top of A.J.'s books on the table and lit a cigarette. "What?" he asked, like he didn't know.
"Lucky, you are such a moron sometimes," A.J. snarled. It wasn't good as far as insults went, but she couldn't control her mouth sometimes, especially when she was angry, like now.
"I know. How else would I have been held back three times?" Lucky said cheerfully, inhaling from his cigarette happily.
A.J. yanked her books out from under his feet and took his cigarette, smashing it beneath her foot. "Stop smoking. You'll die of cancer. I don't know how you can be so cheerful. Do you want to be a senior here for the rest for your life?"
Lucky shrugged. "I dunno. Ask me in ten years. Besides, we're finally in the same grade. I can just copy from you, you bookworm," he laughed, but not unkindly. A.J. opened her mouth to yell some more, but was interrupted. "LUCKY!"
Lucky looked up at Jay, the resident dumb jock. He had only managed to get into U of C for two reasons: his mom was an alumni and he played a killer game of basketball. "Hey, Lucky. I heard you was hanging out with Mini this weekend."
"Who told you that?" Lucky demanded. "Mini," Jay snarled. Mini was Jay's ditzy, beautiful blonde girlfriend. A.J. thought she was a slut, but that was what guys seemed to like around here.
"So what if I was?" Lucky said coolly. He leaned back. "It's a free country. She can hang with who she wants."
"Not when she's my girlfriend!" Jay roared. "You're going to pay!" He started to raise his fist when Mini herself sauntered up.
"Hey, sweetheart," she said seductively, wrapping her arms around Jay's waist but looking directly at Lucky with her baby blue eyes. Lucky lowered his shades and winked his bright brown eyes back at her, running a hand through his auburn hair.
She's wearing so much makeup that if she turns around suddenly she'll leave her face behind, A.J. thought viciously. She hated Mini, simply because Lucky liked her. He deserved better.
Alright, alright, she had to admit to herself, she liked Lucky as more than a friend, but she knew that it was hopeless. He would never go for her.
She was Indian—her real name was Anjali Jahaji—and she had naturally tan skin, long black hair and big, dark brown eyes and preferred jeans and sneakers, and was a vegetarian and quiet and bookish.
In other words, she was the exact opposite of Mini, who got her nickname for the micro mini skirts and blouses she wore. Did she borrow her outfit from her younger sister? A.J. often thought.
Jay put his arm around Mini and continued to scowl at Lucky. "You stay away from Mini!" he growled. "Or?" Lucky said provocatively. Jay merely scowled and raised a fist.
Just then, a kid wearing large glasses ran up to him. "Hey, Lucky! There's a freshman who thinks he can take you on!" Lucky was known around the school for his talent at arm wrestling, of all things. A.J. rolled her eyes.
Lucky grinned evilly. "Bring him in," he said in a tone that he thought was dangerous, rolling up his sleeves.
A tough looking kid stormed up to Lucky, sat down, and put his arm on the table. He lost in three seconds and walked away, his pride hurt more than his arm.
"Playing with kids, Lucky? Some champion," Jay jeered. "I can take you on." Lucky half shrugged. "I normally like to arm wrestle a real man for a challenge, but what the heck, I'll wrestle you too."
It took a moment for Jay to register the insult, and when he did, he scowled. "You'll pay for that one!" he roared, sitting down and putting his am on the table.
Lucky lit another cigarette, which A.J. immediately took from his mouth. "A.J.!" Lucky protested, but A.J. held it out of his reach.
"C'mon, Lucky, let's get it on!" Jay said. "Chill, man," Lucky said. "What d'you say we make this interesting?"
Jay frowned with the effort of thinking. "I'm listening," he said suspiciously. "Whaddya say that the loser faces punishment of the winner's choice?" Lucky said. Jay nodded. "And the winner?"
"The winner…" Lucky looked around for inspiration. "The winner gets to kiss Mini," he said impishly. A.J.'s eyes grew wide; Jay growled angrily and said "Forget it."
"What, scared?" Lucky taunted. Jay scowled. "No way!" he yelled. Mini smiled densely and began applying lip gloss.
The wrestling match began. For a second, the only way you could tell that it had begun was by the guys' strained faces. Then Jay was winning…then Lucky pushed his hand back over.
A.J. bit her lip nervously, shooting venomous glances at Mini. She prayed and hoped and wrung her hands, not wanting Lucky to win for the first time. Then she noticed that she was still holding Lucky's lit cigarette.
Stealthily, she bent over to Lucky's arm, where his sleeves were still rolled up. She gently applied the lit cigarette to his arm, and the effect was electric.
Lucky howled and relaxed his grip. Jay slammed Lucky's arm down and stood up, victorious. Mini stomped her foot, obviously disappointed. Lucky yelled at A.J., "Have you gone zonkers!"
A.J. stared back at him innocently. "Me? What did I do?" she said, grinding something beneath her foot.
Lucky opened his mouth angrily, but Jay turned away from Mini and said, "Hey, Lucky, punishment time."
"What is it?" Lucky asked, defeated. "You see that gate?" Jay asked, pointing towards the entrance gate of U of C. "Yeah, so?" Lucky asked, still sour.
"I want you to push over the next person that comes through those gates." Lucky laughed. "Whatever. No sweat knocking over a puny freshman."
"Is that your puny freshman?" asked a guy named Andy, laughing as he pointed towards the gate. Lucky glanced that way and his eyes grew wide. The guy coming through the gate was huge!
Darry stepped through the large iron gate into what must have been an outdoors cafeteria of some sort. Students were milling around, sitting on tables, eating, talking, and studying.
There were buildings scattered here and there over the huge campus. Darry had walked around for the past half an hour, trying to find the admissions office. Someone had told him it was around here…now if only he could find it.
He looked around and saw a nervous looking kid coming towards him. The kid had auburn hair, brown eyes, and was wearing jeans and tennis shoes and a t-shirt that said "Lucky".
A lot of the kids around here wore jeans and sneakers, Darry noticed, even girls. The girls who weren't wearing jeans dressed like the sluts back home.
He started walking towards the kid. Maybe he could help him find his way around him.
Dun-dun-dun! What's going to happen? Review and maybe you'll find out.
