Author's Note:
I decided to release Chapter 2 a little early. Yes The Bouncing Ball Killer is a real killer from the 1950s and 1960s. I did a little bit of digging on it to be a little more accurate on it when incorporating it in the story. I hope you like Chapter 2
Disclaimer: The Outsiders is owned by S.E. Hinton.
Chapter 2
(Harley's first day of classes & Pony hits the first-week mark without Harley)
Harley's POV:
It was my first day of classes and I was super excited. The courses I was most looking forward to this semester were the Reporting and Writing course for journalism and the Psychology and Law course for pre-law. With my luck, I had both today.
I woke up bright and early for the day and to my surprise, Linda was already up. "You're up early," I commented wearily as I made my way down the ladder from my bunk bed. Linda looked me up and down. I could feel her judgment. "Well, today is a big day with classes starting and all," Linda said snootily. Great, this is probably an indicator of how this year is going to be, I thought wearily. "Yes, it is a big day," I retorted. "I'm going to go and head to the gym," I said to her as I changed into my gym clothes. "I have afternoon classes. Linda rolled her eyes. "You don't need to tell me anything. I'm not your keeper," Linda said haughtily. I sighed and left out the door. It was a nice fall afternoon, and I decided that I wanted to jog around campus instead to see what the campus looked like in the morning. The campus was wonderful as I jogged around campus. By the time I got back to my dorm, I was worn out.
When I walked into my room Linda was gone and I sighed in relief. Then I saw a note on my desk. It read in nice cursive:
Dear Harley,
I hope you have a good day of classes. I have classes this morning, so I'll probably see you after dinner. I think it would be wise of us to help each other out this year and make sure we each succeed. We can help each other study and proofread each other's papers. I look forward to working and living with you this year.
Sincerely,
Linda Carlyle
I could feel a headache coming on. I was right, this was going to be a long year. I pushed my sweaty bangs off of my forehead and made my way to the communal bathroom to shower. God, the shower feels good. The morning rushed together in a blur as I ate breakfast in the dining hall and prepped for classes. Before classes, I knew I wanted to work at the student library and work in the tutoring center, so I needed to go and apply there. First, I needed to dress nice for the first day of courses. I decided on a maroon-colored short-sleeve shirt with hip hugger blue jeans and my nice black pair of Converse. As I walked through campus with my messenger bag, I walked to the main campus library, Doheny Library, and then to the tutoring center. I was able to get a job at Doheny Libary no problem, due to my history of working at a library over the summer. The tutoring center was a different story. Since I was a freshman and hadn't taken any courses yet, I wasn't the strongest candidate. They told me to come back in a year or two. By that time it was time for me to head to classes.
I sat down in my Reporting and Writing course. There was a mix of characters in this course. Soc-looking characters, Greasers, Hippies, and so on. Finally, the professor started the lecture. "Hello, my name is Dr. Greene, I am your professor for Reporting and Writing this semester." Dr. Greene said sweeping his glance across the classroom. Dr. Greene had sandy brown hair, blue eyes, a smattering of freckles, round glasses, stood 6 ft, had a lean build, and was wearing a tweed suit. "Throughout this semester, you will be tested and pushed. I have designed this course to root out who will cut it as a journalist. Who will be cutthroat? Who has what it takes? Being a journalist means a lot in today's society. The nation and the world as a whole depend on us to share information that will impact their day-to-day lives. That is why I've designed the course to be cutthroat. Does anyone choose to leave?" Dr. Greene looked around the room. No one moved. "Good," Dr. Green continued. "We shall see who succeeds." Dr. Greene made eye contact with me before continuing. "The big continuous assignment this semester is to find a story that you will investigate and report back to me different articles throughout the semester about your findings. I will also be teaching Visual Journalism next semester where we will be using these same stories and research, so choose wisely." This earned murmurs throughout the classroom. I smirked. I knew exactly what story I wanted to research, the Bouncing Ball Killer. The murders were still unsolved and it was one of the stories that got me into true crime and journalism. I knew immediately I had chosen correctly with journalism. The course flew by the rest of the time and I was sad when it came to an end that day.
At the end of the course, I walked up to Dr. Greene, hoping to get his approval on my topic. "Dr. Greene, may I speak with you for a moment?" I asked hopefully. Dr. Greene looked me up and down with pursed lips. I shifted uncomfortably. "What can I do for you, Miss…" Dr. Greene asked haughtily. "Cooper," I said. "Harley Cooper." Dr. Greene nodded in acknowledgment and jotted something down in his notebook. "I wanted to run my topic by you," I said trying to disguise my nervousness. "I was thinking about researching and writing articles about the Bouncing Ball Killer." Dr. Greene cocked an eyebrow and smirked. "Ah… a true crime person," Dr. Greene said. "How about you give me a test article next week with your research and then I will decide if you can do it. Sound fair?" I nodded energetically. "Sounds fair!" I said. "Thanks, professor!" I hurried out of the classroom to head to my next course, Psychology and Law.
I looked around the classroom. This time, it looked like I was the lone outlier in a sea of Socs. I gulped. Hopefully, I can survive pre-law. The professor cleared his throat. "Good afternoon class, I'm Dr. Lawrence." Dr. Lawrence said clearing his throat. Dr. Lawrence had black hair that was slicked back and eyes that appeared black that were framed with horn-rimmed glasses, and he wore a rusty orange color suit. "Welcome to Psychology and Law," Dr. Lawrence continued in an LA accent. "In this course, we are going to be talking about how psychology can affect how you practice law. How you craft your argument, how jurors perceive you and your argument, the psychology behind types of criminal acts, and so on. Psychology can play a huge role in criminal cases and using it to your advantage and weaving it into your argument….." As Dr. Lawrence continued, I thought about how I could incorporate psychology into my research for my research article for Dr. Greene and how the arguments that could be made about his defense and prosecution and the reasoning behind his acts. After class, I walked up to Dr. Lawrence. "Dr. Lawrence, do you mind if I ask you something?" I asked with curiosity and a sparkle in my eye. "Sure, what can I do for you, Ms. Cooper?" Dr. Lawrence asked. I was taken aback. "You know who I am?" I asked in surprise. Dr. Lawrence smiled at me softly. "I do," Dr. Lawrence said smoothly. "I subscribe to many newspapers throughout the country. I read an article about you and your brother and found it interesting. A real psychological criminal case." I gulped. Great, I thought. Another person who knows my story. "I'm also majoring in journalism along with pre-law," I said hoarsely. "I am writing about the Bouncing Ball Killer. I was wondering if you would have some time to talk about the findings and the psychological theories behind them." I looked at Dr. Lawrence with hope. Dr. Lawrence thought about it for a minute. "Well, since I find you intriguing and you need some help," Dr. Lawrence said with authority. "Why don't we do a trade? Come in during my office hours this week and you can ask me questions, while I ask you questions about your family. Sound fair?" I gulped. I don't want him dissecting my life, but I want to deep dive into this case. "Deal," I said trying to sound confident. "See you tomorrow."
I went to the library after class to start my research and to schedule my first shift for this coming weekend.
Pony's POV:
It was Friday, and it had been a long day at school and I had off-season track training after school. I also knew I had a long shift at the library tomorrow. As I came out of the locker room I saw Cathy Carlson, who I met with Harley last year at the homecoming dance. "Hey Ponyboy," Cathay called with a smile when she saw me. Crap, I thought. I just wanted to get on my Vespa and head home to prepare for dinner with Mrs. Adams and work on homework. "Hey, Cathay," I said wearily. "What can I do for you?" Cathay batted her eyes at me flirtatiously. "I was wondering if you would like to catch a movie with me tomorrow," Cathay said hopefully. "It's 'Bonnie and Clyde'." That might be a good movie to go see, I thought. But, it would feel like I was betraying Harley. "Let me run it by Darry and Soda and I'll phone you," I said resignedly. Cathy brightened. "That sounds great!" Cathy chirped. "Let me give you my house number." Cathy wrote down her number and handed it to me on a piece of notebook paper. She practically skipped away. I slowly made my way out to my Vespa and headed home. Darry was home and most likely working on his college application. Soda was most likely finishing up a shift at the DX or a class with Steve. The same could be said with Two-Bit or he could be passed out on the couch drunk again. As I was walking in, I made sure to grab the mail. As I was shifting through the mail, I noticed a letter with a return address in LA. My heart skipped a beat as I realized it must be from Harley.
"You ok, Pony?" Darry asked as he looked up from working on his application at the table. "Yeah," I mumbled. "It looks like the weekly letters from Harley are starting." Darry raised an eyebrow and looked at me in worry. "What does it say?" Darry asked hesitantly. I opened it and started to read it.
Dear Pony (and the gang because they are probably nosey and read this even though it says TO PONY),
The first couple of days have been great. My favorite courses are Psychology and Law and Reporting and Writing. It turns out my past is chasing me here to LA. My Psychology and Law professor heard about what happened earlier this year. It filled me with dread. I was hoping to escape my past here. It worked out in my favor though, because my Psychology and Law professor is helping me with a paper for my Reporting and Writing course about the Bouncing Ball Killer. Don't be surprised if you don't hear from me too much as it gets later in the semester, as I can get too wrapped up in my research. It's been known to happen in the past. For example, my law professor and I talked about what the meaning would be behind the Bouncing Ball Killer for bouncing a ball after he committed the murders and why he would be wearing Ivy League type of clothes. My theory is that the clothes are a way to invoke trust with his victims and the bouncing ball could be some sort of anti-social behavior. Also, we talked about the motivations for killing older women. I could go on and on, but I don't want to bore you.
Please get outside of your comfort zone please Pony and spread your wings and fly. I can't wait to hear about what stories you have come up with and all the shenanigans you and the gang have gotten into. Let me know if you need help with college applications and scholarships. The same goes for Darry. Tell him that. Tell the others that I would be happy to help with anything. Also, tell Two-Bit and Steve that I can still pay rent because I got a job at the campus library and I am going to tutor privately on the side because the campus tutoring center wouldn't hire me due to my age. Tell the gang hi for me.
Sincerely,
Harley Cooper
P.S. Don't forget to go to the monthly dinners with my grandmother.
Darry chuckled and shook his head. "Typical Motorbike," Darry said with a sigh. "At least we know that she is enjoying herself and that she found her passion already with that journalism project." I nodded along. "Talking about getting out of my comfort zone Darry," I said hesitantly. "I ran into Cathy Carlson before coming home today and asked if I could go and see a movie with her tomorrow after my shift at the library. Is that ok?" Darry turned around at the sink and beamed at me. "Sure that's great!" Darry said enthusiastically. "I'm glad you are listening to me and Harley and getting out there." I blushed and decided to start working on my homework before dinner with Mrs. Adams.
Before I knew it was 7 pm and we were all heading over to Ms. Adams's house. Soda was a bundle of energy in the car rideover. I couldn't see how because he had work and classes together. "How do you still have so much energy?" I asked Soda wearily. Soda turned around and looked at me with a big grin. "I'm just excited to get some good food, that's all," Soda said emphatically. I rolled my eyes but chuckled anyway. Darry smiled and shook his head. "Did Pony tell you that we got a letter from Harley today," Darry asked Soda. "No he didn't," Soda said glancing back at me. "What did it say?" "It said basically she is enjoying classes and she is going down a true crime research rabbit hole for one of her classes, so don't be too worried if we don't receive letters or phone calls as frequently," I explained. "She also said that she wants me to get out of my comfort zone and that she is willing to help with any homework or applications if we need it." Soda smiled at me. "At least she is spreading her wings and hasn't forgotten us," Soda said with relief in his voice. "Speaking of spreading their wings," Darry said with a smirk. "Soda has a date with Cathy Carlson tomorrow after work?" I glared at Darry and felt a blush form on my cheeks. "No way!" Soda said staring at me with wide eyes that sparkled. "My little brother has a date!" Soda crowed. "Stop it," I whined. "It's not a date, it's just a movie." Soda shook his head. "Whatever you say, honey," Soda said chuckling. We couldn't pull up to Mrs. Adams's house.
As usual, Mrs. Adams greeted us at the front door with hugs going around. When we all settled at the table, we were served with beef wellington. Well, there is a first thing for everything, I thought as I looked at the foreign food in front of me. "So, how is everyone doing?" Mrs. Adams inquired looking at each of us at the table. Darry cleared his throat offering to go first. "Well, everything is going well at work," Darry said. "Got to go to a work party this past week, and I worked on my University of Tulsa application so far." Mrs. Adams nodded in approval. Soda went next. "The DX is the same old same old," Soda said wearily. "But on the upside at the DX, our boss is letting Steve and I work on our mechanic skills to help with our school work. Classes have been going good as well, especially with Steve there." Mrs. Adams grinned at him in approval. It was my turn. I gulped. "School and track are going well," I said hesitantly. "The library isn't the same though without Harley. But on the plus side, I'm going to the movies with Cathy Carlson tomorrow after work." There was silence in the room as everyone looked at Mrs. Adams worriedly to see her reaction. But to my surprise, she beamed at me. "Good for you Pony!" Mrs. Adams exclaimed. "I know how much Harley was worried about you when she was leaving. She will be happy for you." I sighed relieved. At least I escaped a possibly tense situation. I just hope she is right about Harley. I looked at Two-Bit begging him to go so I didn't have to answer any more questions. He seemed to get the hint, but he still elbowed me teasingly. "School is going great," Two-Bit said with a mouth full of Beef Wellington. "Better than I thought it would be. I'm surprised that I actually like school." Mrs. Adams nodded approvingly. Then it was Steve's turn. "DX is going about the same as Soda mentioned," Steve mumbled. "I do like school, but I don't think the teachers understand my sense of humor and they are trying to break my habits already." Mrs. Adams reached forward and patted Steve's cheek. "Don't worry honey," Mrs. Adams said. "I love your humor, so don't change." Steve smiled at her.
The rest of the dinner went well. Surprisingly I liked Beef Wellington. Everyone was joking around and sharing stories. I kept on glancing through at the empty chair where Harley used to sit and I felt an emptiness in my chest. As we were packing up for the night to head home, Mrs. Adams pulled me aside. "You doing ok, pumpkin?" Mrs. Adams asked me with a hint of concern in her voice. "I'm ok," I said in confusion. "Why wouldn't I be?" Mrs. Adams smiled at me meekly. "Well, Harley is far away and I can tell you still miss her," Mrs. Adams said softly patting my cheek. "I can tell in your eyes you feel like you are betraying her by going on to the movies with Cathy tomorrow. You aren't, I promise you. Harley wants you to be happy and grow without her. She told me." Mrs. Adams smiled at me reassuringly. I hugged her. "Thanks, Mrs. Adams," I whispered in her ear. "I needed to hear that." Mrs. Adams hugged me back. "Anytime, sweetheart," Mrs. Adams said. "Anytime you need anything, I'm here." I nodded and walked out to the car.
When I got home I called Cathy to let her know that I could go to the movies with her. "Carlson residence," I heard a woman say. "Hello ma'am," I replied in a polite way that my mother had taught me. "This is Ponyboy Curtis. I'm calling to talk to Cathy regarding her invitation to go to the movies tomorrow." There was a moment of silence on the other side. "Let me go get her," I heard the woman say stiffly. I heard some commotion going on in the background. "Hello, Pony," Cathy chirped on the other end of the line. "Can you go to the movie tomorrow?" I cleared my throat nervously. "I can," I said nervously. "I can pick you up on my Vespa after my shift tomorrow at 7:30. Is that ok?" I could hear Cathy giggle happily on the other side. "That sounds great, Pony," Cathy said. "See you tomorrow." The line went dead. The rest of the night I finished my homework and looked forward to my date tomorrow.