Chapter Five: Oh, No, Not You!
Disclaimer: Outsiders belong to S.E. Hinton. I am doing this for my own amusement.
Darry dropped off his books at his dorm. He glanced over the dorm information. It said that his roommate was someone named Roger Stanton. Huh, Darry thought. I wonder what he's like.
He flung his suitcase to the side of the room that looked untouched. My roommate is a slob, Darry thought disgustedly, glancing over the room. The bed was unmade and there was a box of half eaten pizza lying on it. Clothes were strewn everywhere.
Nearly tripping over a stray sweater, Darry glanced at his watch. He had twenty minutes to get to his first afternoon class, which was Physics. Might as well leave now, Darry thought. I'll probably get lost.
He changed his shirt before he left.
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"You should've let me take him on, A.J.!" Lucky whined, crossing his arms. A.J. rolled her eyes at him. They were hanging out in the Physics classroom five minutes before class.
"For the millionth time, Lucky, we thought he was that new teacher! How the hell were we supposed to know that he's back to school because he couldn't come when he was supposed to?" she snapped, her large brown eyes flashing with anger. "We were saving you from getting expelled!"
Lucky scowled at her, shoving his long auburn hair out of his eyes. "Well, he wasn't a teacher, was he? He totally insulted me!" A.J. sighed. Lucky was impossible sometimes. It was all she could do right now to keep from whacking him over the head with her notebook.
Mini came up and wrapped her arms around Lucky's shoulders. "Hey, Lucky," she said breathily. "Hey, doll. Where's your boyfriend?" Lucky asked, looking around warily.
"Trying out for that game," she said vaguely. Lucky frowned. "What game?" he asked, swiveling around to face her.
"You know, that game where they throw around that funny looking ball and tackle each other," Mini said densely. "You mean football?" A.J. laughed scathingly. Wow. She's dumber than I thought, A.J. thought.
Mini glared at her. "Maybe I'm not as smart as you, but I'll be in Vogue someday. Then we'll see who's laughing."
A.J. grinned and pretended to think. "Nope, it'll still be me," she said, just to provoke Mini.
Mini's face crumpled as she gave A.J. a dirty look. "At least I don't look like I have a permanent suntan," she said nastily.
A.J. rolled her eyes and snickered, pretending that Mini's comment about her Indian skin didn't sting. "Is that the best you can come up with?"
Mini was about to say something, but Lucky cut in. "Ladies, ladies, chill. We're all friends here. Now separate and shut up."
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Darry finally found the classroom. He was a couple of minutes early, but that was okay. He stopped outside to catch his breath. He had run as fast as he could to make it.
He looked around the classroom as he stepped in, looking for a place to sit…Then he spotted that girl he had met earlier. What was her name…A.J.? That was it.
He approached their table. "Excuse me, A.J. Do you mind if I sit here?" A.J. looked up and her eyes widened. "Oh, hi, Darry. Sure, I don't see why no-"
Lucky sat up and cut her off. "Excuse me," he mocked Darry. "But the senior citizen's table is over there." A.J. elbowed him. "Shut up. Don't mind him; you can sit here if you like."
"Thanks, but I can see I'm not wanted here," Darry said coolly and sat at the next desk over. Then the professor entered. He was a tall, round man with a trim mustache and thinning black hair.
He strode over to the students, who all immediately put their folders and books up over their faces. Darry saw why as the professor began talking. He spit after practically every syllable.
"Good morning, class." He strode up and down the rows between desks. "Ah, Lucky. Back again? No, no, don't bother to put your feet down. After three years, consider this classroom your home. In fact, you fall asleep so often, consider it your bedroom!"
He was clearly a bitter old man. Either that or he just liked to be mean. He moved on. "Ah, Percy. You're physics major, aren't you? Well, good luck! You'll need it," he laughed evilly and manically as Percy turned pale and swallowed hard.
Then he rounded on Darry. "You…" He got a nasty look on his face. "You're new, aren't you?"
"Yes, sir," Darry said, a bit confused. "Well," the professor said. "Welcome to physics. I am Professor Chaplin. No relation to Charlie Chaplin." Professor Chaplin cracked up at his own pathetic joke.
"Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes. Well, relax, relax. We'll start soon. How old are you, my boy?"
"I'm thirty, sir," Darry replied. "Thirty? Well, you're not much younger than I am. In that case, why don't you call me by my first name? It's Warren."
Darry was flabbergasted. "But, sir-" Professor Chaplin cut him off. "No, no, I insist," he said, barely concealing a wide, evil grin.
Behind him and around him, Darry could hear students tittering quietly. What he didn't suspect was that they were laughing quietly. Professor Chaplin was not a nice man, and he played this sort of nasty trick on every new student.
"Um," Darry said, unsuspecting. "Well, if you insist, um, Warren." The effect was electric.
Professor Chaplin slammed his hand on Darry's desk. "How dare you!" He spit. "How dare you! Stand up!" Darry stood up hastily. Professor Chaplin continued to roar. "How dare you! Follow me to the principal's office! Follow me! I said FOLLOW ME!"
Darry wiped the spit off his face, repulsed, and said shakily, "Sir, if you'd just walk ahead, I'd be able to follow you." It was true. Professor Chaplin had not budged an inch.
"Oh, cheeky, are we? Well, come on then!" He grabbed a shocked Darry by the arm and pulled him to the door. In the door frame, they ran into the principal.
"Principal! I want you to expel this not so young man immediately!" Professor Chaplin spit-shouted, jabbing his pointer finger at Darry. Darry ducked as the Professor's arm and spit came toward him.
"You're overreacting, Chaplin. Now, there's a new student here, named Darrel Curtis." Darry interrupted. "Principal? I'm Darrel Curtis!"
"Hmm? Oh, yes! Come with me," the principal said, pulling Darry to the front of the class.
"Class! This is Darrel Curtis, your new classmate! About ten or so years ago, Darrel had to give up college due to some family responsibilities. Now, he's back to complete his education! Who will help him find his way around the campus?"
Almost immediately, every student in the class hid their face behind their book. Darry whispered to the principal, "How about A.J.?"
"A.J.!" The principal shouted, pointing the wrong way. Darry gently pushed his arm in the right direction. "Right, A.J.!"
A.J. lowered her book, defeated, and moved over so Darry could share her desk. "Hello," Darry greeted. A.J. nodded awkwardly and rolled her eyes when Darry wasn't looking.
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For the rest of the day, A.J. showed Darry from class to class. They had a different schedule, so sometimes she had to give him directions and then rush off. Luckily, Darry was smart and caught on quick.
Truthfully, A.J. was a bit intimidated by him. He was so big, but friendly. Listening to him talk between classes, A.J. learned that he had two brothers, named Ponyboy and Sodapop, honestly, those were their real names, their Dad had been an original guy, well, had been, their parents had died in a car crash ten years ago, that was why Darry had given up college, to take care of his brothers, and now that they had some money he could go back to school.
A.J. thought that he had made a huge sacrifice for them. In all honesty, she didn't care much for his life story, but he had been so enthusiastic when she had asked him about himself that she didn't have the heart to tell him to shut up.
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The day was over. The rest of his classes had passed normally. His last class, calculus, had been canceled because they had not yet found a replacement teacher for Professor Nomi, who had retired.
Darry was exhausted, more mentally than physically. He went up to his dorm, carefully sidestepped the clutter, and flopped on his bed. He could hear the key turning in the lock a couple of minutes later, and sat up, eager to meet his roommate.
His roommate stepped in, and Darry's jaw dropped. His roommate's jaw dropped too. "You're my roommate!"
Darry scowled. "I could say the same for you." He was incredulous. "I don't believe it! You're Roger Stanton!"
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Ooh, who's his roommate? Review and maybe you'll find out.
