Chapter 1 The Start of our Story
Tulsa, Oklahoma 1965
When we stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I only had two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home….
That's how our story started.
But the beginning of that story opened up to a scene where we could see two teenagers, one being a boy and the other one being a girl, sitting down in a bright room.
The boy looked to be a little bit younger than the girl. He was a young teen with fair skin, brown hair that was slicked back a bit, and wore nothing more but a simple black t-shirt.
The girl, on the other hand, had light, peach skin, light blonde hair that was tied up into a high ponytail, and was wearing something simple as well, which was a yellow t-shirt and blue jeans.
Their names were Ponyboy and Opalescent Curtis, but Opalescent liked to go by Opal for short, mainly because she believed it sounded less "feminine".
Anyway, both of the kids seemed to be thinking about something, but that made sense since Ponyboy was sitting at a desk while holding a pencil, and a notebook was right in front of him.
Opal, on the other hand, was standing close to the boy behind the desk, and also seemed to look down at the paper as well.
Clearly, the two kids were thinking about something to write, but they didn't know what that was going to be. It also wasn't really clear to us as to who these two kids even were, but we could tell something. The two seemed to have been through a lot and because of that, they just didn't know what all they could write down.
However, Opal's eyes went wide when she seemed to have remembered something, and Ponyboy looked up to face her. She then smiled at him, indicating that she knew what to write about and Ponyboy smiled back at her, understanding what she meant.
The two kids then looked back down at Ponyboy's notebook, and he opened it up. The girl then stood close to him as he started to write something down, and as he started to write the first sentence down, he began to narrate what it was he was writing down.
"When we stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie home, I only had two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home…"
As Ponyboy announced what he was writing, the scene with the two kids started to fade away, as what now was shown seemed to be a small, rural town in 1960s Tusla, Oklahoma, and a movie theater showcasing a sign at top that read "Paul Newman: The Hustler" while also showcasing "Gidget goes to Rome" on the other side was shown.
Just as a car was passing by, the scene of the movie theater changed to a scene of a young teen boy and girl, but these were no different than the two kids we saw at the beginning of our story, since they were the same.
Ponyboy was now wearing a hoodie over some jeans while having his hair completely slicked back, and Opal was now wearing a black leather jacket over her blue shirt and jeans. She also had on a black choker, brown belt, and her blonde hair was still tied into a high ponytail.
The two were looking at their reflections in a mirror and moved around their fists a bit, indicating they were trying to look tough.
However, just as the two admired themselves in the mirror, something else showed itself in the mirror - a red Mustang car.
Ponyboy then turned around and motioned Opal to get out of where they were, and they did.
The thing was, Ponyboy and Opal were just leaving the movies, and were going to walk home by themselves, much to the annoyance of their two older brothers, whom they would meet again later. But anyway, the problem with walking home by themselves was that they didn't have any weapons with them, so it would make them easier targets of being jumped, or being caught by some of the rich, older kids, who happened to be none as the Socs.
Just as Ponyboy and Opal were walking along the sidewalk, the same car passed by, and the boys in the car looked at the two kids as if they were outsiders and were yelling at them.
However, that really didn't stop the two kids from walking along, as they continued to do so while walking out of the main town.
Ponyboy and Opal then started to walk along a path that was in between a moving train and some tracks, but the two were doing nothing but minding their own business.
But just then, out of nowhere, the same red Mustang car could be seen parked on top of a bridge, and the boys in the car began to throw trash at the two kids underneath the bridge!
Ponyboy and Opal didn't really mind much of it, as they tried to mind their own business. But after something hit her in the head, Opal threw it high up and back at the boys to get a piece of their minds. Ponyboy also threw something back up towards the boys, and after doing so, the two kids just continued to walk along.
The two were then seen walking a sidewalk, and Ponyboy was bouncing what seemed to be a small red ball in his hands while Opal twirled around a dried cigarette in between her fingers. The two were once again just minding their own business.
But just then and out of nowhere, that same red Mustang came speeding up and honked its horn behind them!
Shocked by the reappearance of the mean kids, Opal motioned her brother out of the way before the car could hit them.
The car full of laughing teens then passed by, and after realizing they weren't going to stop following them, the two kids knew they had to make a run for it.
Running through a small neighborhood, the two were about to cross a street, but then came the same car again! It passed by the two kids before it could hit them, and just as the two believed it was safe to cross, they went running through the street while the car pulled from behind them after they crossed safely.
The two kids looked over to see the car was still after them, and both ran while the car pulled in from behind them.
But after they did this, the two kids stopped and so did the car, since they couldn't move anywhere due to the car door opening right in front of them.
Then came out five teenage boys, who all seemed to be older than Ponyboy, and maybe around the same age as Opal, as they finally approached the two of them.
Both kids backed away, and Opal glared at the boys as one of them, who was most likely the leader, walked up to the two of them. He then put his fist out towards Ponyboy, but he pushed it away as Opal threatened to punch him while bringing out her fist.
But just then, another one of the boys wearing a yellow shirt, who was the one driving the car, jumped at the Ponyboy and started to fight him!
Opal watched in horror as the boy fought her brother, and just then, another one of the boys began to attack her as well!
The group of teens all fought each other as the two siblings tried to break free, and just as Ponyboy was being strangled around the neck, he tried breaking himself free from the other boys' arms, but it was no use. The other boys kept grabbing him by the arms, legs, feet, and hands and it was no use for Opal ethier, as she was less strong than her brother and couldn't find a way to break free at all.
But just then, the boy wearing the light blue shirt pulled out a switchblade, and Opal screamed with horror after seeing it! She then broke free from one of the boys' arms and tried running away, along with her brother, who also noticed the blade and tried to get away from the boys as well.
But the group of mean boys kept following the two of them and soon, were able to grab the both of them back in a matter of seconds. They then threw Ponyboy on the ground while they held Opal back, and she tried to break free with all her strength, but was just too weak.
The group of boys then tackled Ponyboy on the ground and soon, he started to become just as weak as his sister.
Because he couldn't take the other boys' strength anymore, the group of boys were able to keep him down on the ground, and his sister couldn't do anything about it due to being trapped within one of the boy's grasp.
The boy holding the switchblade then pointed it directly at Ponyboy's chin, and Opal watched in horror as she tried letting go of her capturer with all her strength. But she just wasn't strong enough to become free from the boy's arms.
The one holding the switchblade then slid it around Ponyboy's chin, almost slicing the skin off while doing so.
But just then, he recovered his strength again. He tried fighting back as Opal finally broke free from the boy holding her hostage, and tried fighting back with the other boys.
The boys would easily hit her as she tried to hit them back and her brother, who was still on the ground, was still being tackled by the other boys.
But just then, something unimaginable happened.
Just as one of the boys was shoving a piece of cloth in the boy's mouth, some of the boys started to run off with fear. They all seemed to be running away from something, and left Ponyboy to lay on the ground as they ran back to their car.
As Ponyboy laid on the ground in pain, he began to notice some more of the boys running for their car, and right out of nowhere came another group of boys, but this time, they were allies of Ponyboy and Opal!
After all the boys ran to get in their car as fast as they could, the last one was about to get in as well before one of brother and sister's friends tried to fight him off.
The two fought each other before the mean boy made it back in his car, and another one of the sibling's friends shut the car door as another friend jumped onto the car and flipped over the front!
Two other boys then appeared, and one of them saw what was happening, running quickly to take action. He jumped onto the porch of a home as the other boys continued to fight the mean ones in the car.
Just as one punched one of them through the window, the car began to back out and drive off!
The group of good boys then ran after the car, and one of them picked up a stick and tried to throw it after the fast speeding car.
But it was no use, as the car had already driven far ahead, and the group of boys were just left without a proper defeat.
But that didn't matter now, as one of the boys, who seemed to be the oldest out of all of them, went over to check on Ponyboy. Another boy, who seemed to be related to the oldest one and Ponyboy, also came running over to check on his brother. Opal, who was also related to the other two boys, came running over as well.
The two other boys checking on them were Darrel and Sodapop Curtis, Ponyboy and Opal's older brothers. However, Darrel liked to go by Darry while Sodapop simply went by Soda for short.
Opal was badly bruised by the boys who were holding her hostage, but she wasn't as hurt as Ponyboy, so Soda made sure to see if his younger brother was all right.
"Ponyboy, did they pull the blade on you?" Soda asked Ponyboy.
Ponyboy looked up at his older brother, and moved his head around while shamefully admitting the truth. "Yeah,"
Soda then touched Ponyboy's chin and grabbed it while looking him in the eyes. "They can't hurt you no more." He assured him.
Opal nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'll always be there for you, Ponyboy, just don't count on me to win a fight." She said as Soda smiled at her.
However, Darry, the oldest of the three siblings didn't seem to say much, and he almost acted like he didn't even care about his younger siblings' health.
But that didn't matter, as Opal and Soda helped Ponyboy off the ground before they started to walk away.
"Man, walking by yourselves? You don't even think," Soda said as he, he, Darry, Ponyboy, and Opal all started walking back down the street to their house.
"All me and Opal did was walk back from the movies," Ponyboy assured his brothers.
"Yeah, how are we supposed to know we're gonna be attacked by some crazy Socs?" Opal added.
Darry hadn't been saying anything throughout the conversation, but finally broke the silence. "Movies and books. You know, I wish that you two could concentrate on something else just once in a while." Darry told Ponyboy and Opal.
"You concentrate about girls and cars, it works for me." Soda said to his younger siblings, making his sister chuckle a bit.
"Sure, Soda." Opal replied with a smug grin.
"Look, if…" Darry began with a sigh. "If you had to go by yourselves, you should have carried a blade."
"Oh, yeah," Soda exclaimed. "That would have been a great excuse for that Soc to cut his neck a little more there, and for them to cut her's as well." He then pointed to Ponyboy and Opal's necks.
Opal's neck was fine, but may have had some small scratches or bruises while Ponyboy's neck had a huge cut in it from the boy's switchblade earlier.
"Hey, if I want my kid brother to tell me what to do with my other kid siblings, I'll ask you all right, kid brother." Darry said to Soda before walking away.
Ponyboy and Opal's oldest brother, Darry, was very harsh on both of them. The reason why he was so harsh was because eight months earlier, his and his siblings parents were killed in a car crash, and he was left to raise them and be their legal guardian.
He wasn't as harsh on Soda, it was just mainly Ponyboy and Opal who he seemed to despise, but he really didn't. He was only harsh on them because they were younger, and he was trying to help them with their futures.
He also worries a lot about Opal, due to her being a girl, and doesn't always appreciate her tomboyish and outgoing attitude.
But if only Ponyboy and Opal could see that he was only trying to protect them from the dangers of the world, then they wouldn't have to feel like their brother didn't love them.
Just as Darry left Soda and his two younger siblings, another one of the siblings' friends appeared, and had just witnessed what went down between them and Darry.
"Geeze, Soda. Why's he always gotta be like that?" He asked as Soda looked back over to Ponyboy and Opal.
"Just got more worries than he used to." He responded.
Opal rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it."
Their other friend, who's name was Dallas or Dally for short, walked up to the three of them. "I was a kid, I turned out fine." Dally responded.
Just then, another friend of theirs, who's name was really Keith Matthews, but went by Two-Bit, walked up to the three of them. "What are you doing out of the cooler, Dall?" He asked Dally before looking over to see Ponyboy and Opal. "Hey kids, what were you doing walking by your lonesomes on the street, huh?" Two-Bit asked the two.
"None of your business," Ponyboy responded.
"Let me know my business! It is my business! Look at my nose!" Two-Bit snapped as his friends tried to hold him back from getting in Ponyboy's face.
"I know, it's huge." Ponyboy responded, making Two-Bit shut up.
"It's none of your business unless we tell you it is, and don't call me a kid." Opal added, giving a frown to Two-Bit.
Two-Bit just shrugged.
Just then, another friend of theirs walked over to them, Steve Randle. "Hey, Dally, how you doing?" Steve asked Dally.
"Doin' all right," Dally responded.
"I thought you were in for about 90 days," Steve said to Dally, who had been in jail for a long time and was recently released.
"Yeah, yeah, I got out early. Man, good behavior, you know?" Dallas responded before smoking from his cigar.
"Oh, Dally, please don't tell me you got caught again." Opal pleaded with concern for her friend.
"Yeah, but I'm out now. It's fine, Opal, I'm doing good now." Dally responded to make Opal feel better. But she still had the look of worry in her eyes.
"Yeah, Opal, stop bein' such a sissy!" Two-Bit teased, making Opal annoyed.
"Shut up!" She yelled before getting her fist out in front of Two-Bit's face, making him back away a bit in fright.
"Come on, Opal!" Dally shouted to calm Opal down.
While Opal was a teenage girl living in 1960s Oklahoma, she was nowhere near being a so-called proper young lady. Opal was a tomboy with a fiery attitude who grew up in the household of three brothers who were all part of a gang, and therefore, turned out to be more of a tomboy than a proper young lady. But it's not like Opal cared about the type of girl she was, as she liked fights, smoking, drinking, wearing pants instead of skirts, and did all kinds of things boys did.
However, Opal wasn't necessarily good at them, as she was somewhat weak compared to her other friends, due to being a young woman, and wasn't usually able to stand up to Ponyboy when he was being tortured by the mean, rich kids, much to Darry's disappointment.
But that didn't matter much to Darry, as while he was still just as hard on her despite her being two years older than Ponyboy, he liked her being a part of their gang, and coming across as a female gang member was something different at the time.
Just as the six friends were talking to each other, Dally noticed that one of their friends was standing behind Soda and had been awfully quiet during the whole conversation.
"Hey, Johnny, man. How ya doing, bro?" Dally asked the younger looking boy standing behind Soda, who's name was Johnny.
However, he actually wasn't the youngest of the group of friends, he only looked younger and was actually the same age as Opal.
"You got a lot better, closest thing on the south side of town." Johnny responded as he and his group of friends all started to walk away.
"Now, don't worry about that, Johnny," Steve assured him. "We're gonna have it out with the installation."
Opal walked closer to the front where Johnny was, and put her arm around his shoulders, giving him a flirtatious smile as well.
"We sure as hell are, they keep coming over to our side of town," Two-Bit added as they all stopped walking for a bit.
"Those are the same guys that got you," Dally explained to Johnny, which they were referring to the same type of guys who attacked Ponyboy and Opal earlier.
"Know other guys?" Johnny asked.
Opal stood close to him while Dally looked around, making sure nobody else was around them.
"Now that I'm out, I'm gonna make it my business to get the guys that did that to your face." Dally promised, pointing to the scar on Johnny's face.
"And I'll help you too, Johnny. I may be just as strong as you, but I'll pay back each and everyone one of those pieces of white trash that did that to you." Opal promised to Johnny as well, making him feel a bit better.
The rival group that beat up Johnny and gave him a scar were the same type of guys who beat up Opal and Ponyboy earlier that day, and they were known as the Socs. They were the rich kids of the town who liked to put down the poor kids, and Ponyboy, Opal, their brothers, and friends were all part of a gang known as the Greasers, which the Socs absolutely despised because of their greasy hair and leather jackets.
The Greasers wanted to get revenge on the Socs for what they did to Johnny, as they jumped him about a month ago and gave him a long, jagged scar on his right cheek, which Johnny said was because of one of the Socs wearing rings.
After his terrible experience with the Socs and not having a good homelife ethier, Johnny had come across shy and more quiet compared to the rest of his Greaser friends, but that didn't mean he was less liked.
Ponyboy was actually extremely close to him, almost seeing him as a brother, and the rest of the gang loved him just as much as well, treating him like the pet of the group.
Opal was also extremely close to Johnny as well, and had promised him she would stand up to the Socs for what they did to him one day. She also thought he was adorable and such, and would sometimes flirt with him, but she never really had feelings for him.
Or at least not yet.
Johnny, however, secretly did have a small crush on Opal, but he was too afraid to admit it to her since he'd thought she'd turn him down.
However, Opal could tell from the way he acted around her that Johnny did really like her deep down inside.
Dally also had a soft spot for Johnny as well, but maybe all of that was due to Johnny being the youngest of the Greasers next to Ponyboy, but it also could be that even Dally saw Johnny as a little brother, too.
"We think about maybe becoming your personal bodyguard," Two-Bit joked.
Opal smiled. "I sure am," She said while putting her hand around Johnny's shoulder again, pulling him closer to her.
"I don't think it's too hot of an idea." Ponyboy commented.
Dally and Two-Bit just shrugged at Ponyboy's comment and gave him looks.
Steve then decided to change the subject. "How about you and Silva coming over to game with us tomorrow night?" He asked Dally and Two-Bit.
"I'll go," Ponyboy steped in.
"Oh, we're taking Eva and Sandy, which means no kids allowed. Big deal?" Steve asked Ponyboy, making Opal annoyed.
"But me and Johnny ain't goin' if Pony ain't goin'." She protested.
"No, no, no, no. I'm gonna go hunt some action. Little kids aren't allowed." Dally responded while turning around.
"I'll go with you." Johnny said.
Opal nodded in response. "I'll go if he's goin'."
Ponyboy then walked up to her, Dally, and Johnny as well.
"What bout' you, Pony?" Johnny asked.
"I don't know, I can't get in trouble with the cops," Ponyboy responded.
"I don't really care if I get in trouble with the law," Opal admitted. "Just as long as Darry doesn't get mad at me."
"Johnny says the coral splits up for sure if I did. Hey, who's looking for police? Trouble, man, I just wanna go see a movie like the good ol' days. Right, Johnny?" Dally asked as he grabbed Johnny, Ponyboy, and Opal.
"Yeah," He responded as they all smiled while Dally grabbed their shoulders and pulled them in for a small hug.
Meanwhile, Steve and Two-Bit were sitting on the front of a car while Soda walked towards the group of friends.
"I plan on putting down a couple of six packs above, but if I don't get too drunk, I'll come over and join you." He said while walking past the group, causing them to walk off with him as well.
Two-Bit and Steve continued to fight before Two-Bit walked off and stood on top of the car. "Check your salary!" He said to Soda before trying to jump off the car by doing a flip, but failed miserably as he landed on his back with a yelp. But he was fine, and got up before running away for the night.
Soda then got in his car as his other friends stood by. "All right, let's go!" He called out before he drove off.
However, because they were so poor, Ponyboy, Johnny, and Opal had to push his car to get it moving before he did finally drive off.
Once Soda was gone, the three friends walked back over to Dally, who had started to leave as well.
"I don't know, man. Should I go?" He asked his friends while walking away.
"After you get Chris Bagwell." Johnny responded as he, Opal, and Ponyboy walked back over to Dally, who stood in front of a gate. He walked through the door before closing it back shut.
"That broad was two-timing again when I was in jail," Dally responded. "Man, it's cool." He then looked behind himself to make sure nobody else was around. "See ya guys later." He said before running off.
Opal waved to Dally while Ponyboy looked ahead, and Johnny just smiled.
"All right, let it be, Dall." Johnny responded.
He, Opal, and Ponyboy then turned around to see the door from behind the porch of the Curtis sibling's house open.
"I told you kids you got homework," Darry reminded them.
Opal became annoyed. She hated doing school work, but Ponyboy did like to do it, only because he was a good student and got good grades. Opal got fine grades most of the time too, but maybe that was because Ponyboy would help her a lot.
"Going home, Johnny?" Ponyboy asked Johnny, who didn't really know what to say.
"I don't know." He responded.
Opal looked at him with sympathy while Ponyboy walked back inside his house. Opal then walked over to Johnny, sat down by him on the steps, and put her hand on his shoulder for comfort.
"What's the matter, Johnny? Did something bite your tongue?" Opal asked.
Johnny looked up to face her. "Not really." He simply responded.
"Did your parents do somethin' to ya again?" Opal asked.
Johnny sighed. "Nothin' much, I just don't got a lot to look up to." Johnny responded with a frown.
Opal smiled. "You got me,"
Johnny smiled in return. "Yeah, that's true." But Johnny blushed when he looked at Opal again, now catching sight of her pink bra, which was visible due to her shirt being sagged down from getting jumped.
Just as Opal saw his face and went to see what he was looking at, the door opened once again. "Opal, I told you to do your homework with Pony," Darry reminded her.
"Yeah, man, I'll do it," She said before looking back at Johnny. "Bye, Johnnycakes, see ya later." She then walked back into her house.
"Yeah." He responded before walking off and leaving the Curtis siblings to their own business.
Hey guys! This is my first story of the 1983 film The Outsiders and I wanted to let you know that I actually once published this story before, but I deleted it because I wasn't very happy with the final result. So this is more of a revised version of it, and I'm still in the works of writting it, so I'll try to publish as many chapters as I can. I know this chapter is super long, but the next two will be a lot shorter. I also inspried this chapter by a deleted scene from the movie, which is featured on the Complete Novel edition of the DVD and can also be found of Youtube. The Outsiders is one of my FAVORITE movies ever, so I really hope you all like this story and my OC Opal.