Disclaimer: The Outsiders is most defintely not mine. I am writing with S.E. Hinton's characters for entertainment purposes only and no copyright infringment is intended.
A/N: Thank you so much to all my reviewers- Chocky-Pocky, Maddie Miguel, Lifted, Laughing, K.L. Verne, ANGELMEGAN, and animalsare4life- you guys were awesome! Good questions, good guesses and great suggestions! Sorry for the delay in up-dateing but I had a hand injury that kept me from typing. I hope you didn't lose interest in my story. Enjoy and please review.
Babygirl
"Yep, it's an original name, but my dad was an original person..."
Chapter 3: Curtis Law
As odd a group as we thought we were, the rest of the school thought we were even odder. They called us the mis-match bunch. They thought it was clever, which it certainly was anything but. Still, Miles, Nelly, and I stuck together. On the playground we were kept from playing games with the other kids. I was used to that, but this time it was all of the other kids instead of just one group. At first we fought to play, then we stood around trying to look tuff. None of it worked in the slightest. So, we began to entertain ourselves with a ball and couple gloves.
I couldn't have one, according to my 'parents', because I was supposed to be a respectable young lady. Miles, who had no more use for a baseball glove than a Soc has for hair grease, lent me his. Nelly and I would throw back and forth as Miles read the latest of our adventure books aloud. I always wondered if Pony had read this book before.
Us enjoying recess made everyone else mad for some reason. They all stopped talking to us completely. They cut in front of us constantly so that we were always last in line. Although we didn't even notice at first, the mean stares, rude cutting, unfair exclusion, and extreme silent treatment grew to be impossible to ignore. I'm no tuff greaser and to tell you the truth, though I didn't like them, that hurt my feelings. The teachers eyed us weird too, like maybe we'd done something awful to deserve to be so ostracized.
Things were bad. That meant, they were going to get worse. It's called the Curtis law.
Steps were being taken to ensure our futures. By this I mean, we weren't doing what anyone expected of us and they decided to take drastic measures in order to change that. We just saw it as them trying to ruin our lives.
Nelly was told that hanging out with a boy and a north side kid was not exactly heading in the right direction to be adopted. Nelly firmly maintained that she didn't want to be adopted. We knew she was lying, but neither of us said anything. The other orphans had admired this in Nelly; the Soc's were horrified by it's unnaturalness; and I understood it. The chances of Nelly getting adopted were slim to none and if no one wanted me, I'd say I didn't want them either. To improve her manners and enhance her lady-like charm the sisters had enrolled her in etiquette classes.
As for Miles, he would have been happier if you closed the library. His parents had high hopes for him and were pleased with his grades but not so much with his conduct, as they put it. Miles never got in trouble so the only thing this could mean is that they were worried about him being outcast by the school, reading constantly, and hanging out with girls. Thus, they sentenced him with little league baseball.
Me, I got off easy. You can imagine my new guardians weren't too pleased with my choice of friends as well. Plans were made for my new schedule.
Afternoon was to be a time for piano lessons with the horrid old bat 'Miss' Stephanie Rolands. This delightfully charming form of torture took place between the hours of 4 and 5 pm on Mondays and Fridays. Marginally less painful is the Wednesday plan for ballet lessons with Madam Lousie. At least, I thought it would less painful. Unfortunately, when the awaited Wednesday came around, I was proven wrong. Between stretchers, humiliation at my lack of coordination, and death glares from the multitude of aspiring prima ballerinas, ballet practice quickly became the horror of horrors. a part of me felt ashamed too, like I could never face Dally or Two-bit again after prancing around in a tutu and leotard. You see, they used to say that to get rid of me or pick on me. "Hey kid- get outta here. Go twril around in a little pink tutu!" I would get so mad, and now, I was actually doing it!
These were my most demanding problems of the week, which I eagerly shared with my only true confidant: Eugene.
Eugene has wonderfully warm, and caring eyes. He is the kind of person who takes everything I say seriously as no one has done since my parents passed away. Eugene gives you the feeling of always being on your side and has a laugh as infectious as Two-bit. Eugene is the driver and now also helps out around the house. As nice as he was, he was dirt poor. I mean he was worse of than the Shepards. I had no reason to mind hanging around him though. As far as I was concerned, I still was a north-sider. This was other people's house, other people's stuff, and other people's lives. I was just temporarily staying here.
Whenever I thought I could get away with it, I liked to go into the kitchen and chat with Eugene while snacking on fruits. I learned to go to him for advice. When I told Eugene of the situation with my friends, he came up with the perfect plan. He said that I should concentrate on helping out my friends. He was right, as usual.
"How?" I wondered.
"Well, you say your friend Nelly is going to have to take a class on manners and being a lady?"
I nodded solemnly.
"Then, why don't you tell your mama that you don't like Ballet but would like to take ettiqute classes. Ain't no way she'd object to that child."
I grinned at his wisdom, but didn't interrupt.
"As for your friend Miles, don't you agree he'd like baseball if he just gave it a chance?"
I nodded slowly again, a bit puzzled.
"Why don't you and Nelly get him to put that book down a recess and drag him out on that field?"
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. I thought I could see where he was going with this.
"I bet he wouldn't be so miserable if you just helped him learn all you guys know at recess. He wouldn't have be embarrassed and he'd do better. That'd make his parents happy. His parents being happy means he gets to play with you which makes you happy too." He grinned at his own solution.
"Eugene," I said.
"Yes ma'am?" he called me (even though I"ve told him not to a million times).
"You're brilliant." At this he threw back his head and laughed like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. I threw him an odd look, grabbed an apple and went up-stairs.
A/N: So, my main concern is what you guys thought of this chapter, Eugene (who is based on someone I once knew), and what you want to see happen next. I know there are a lot of questions and I'm going to answer them eventually, but it has to build up to that. A bit more action is planned for the next few chapters but please tell me what you want to see more of? Would more dialogue or specific incidents improve it? Suggestions welcome-PLEASE review!