Ponyboy Curtis leaned his head on his hand as he casually scrawled a
picture in his English notebook. His eyes began to get heavy as the
professor droned on his monosyllabic lecture. Pony's mind drifted,
thinking of his parents who passed on nearly a year ago; he decided he
couldn't bear it if any of his family or friends were to leave him again.
"Ponyboy," Patricia Curtis caught her son's wrist, "stop that fidgeting."
Ponyboy looked up to his mother's soft face expressing a mean glare in an attempt to get him to obey her order. Ponyboy looked down to his shaking leg and consciously stopped it from bobbing up and down.
"Mom," he moaned in response, "I'm bored."
"Keep quiet son," Daryl Curtis eyed his son with a wide smile. Something about Mr. Curtis's calm happy mannerisms soothed Pony's aching desire to be out of this huge arena. "You're brother only graduates once."
Ponyboy leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest. Pony managed keeping still for a matter of seconds before leaning up in his chair hoping to catch a glimpse of his brother's head. Then he felt a soft hand on his arm. After examining the perfectly manicured natural nails, Ponyboy looked up to the soft brown eyes owned by Darry's girlfriend Bonnie, she smiled warmly at him. Pony loved Bonnie.
"Hey Pon," she said, "Calm down, we'll be out of here real soon."
"Promise?" Pony asked hopefully.
"I promise," she nodded, "and then we'll be going to dinner. It'll be fun."
"Ponyboy," a classmate nudged the back of his chair.
Ponyboy shook his head coming back to consciousness, he frowned remembering his dream. He missed Bonnie, he missed his parents and he missed Darry the way he used to be. He sighed picking up his books, Darry had begged Dally to pick him up from his last day of junior high and he knew Dally wouldn't wait if he were late.
As if reading his thoughts, the end of the day bell rang, freeing the sleeping students of the snore that is junior high school. Grabbing his bag, Ponyboy leapt out of his seat and was out the door before most of the other students had even realized that school was out for the day. He bolted down the hallway and out into the sun, his knapsack banging heavily against his back. Squinting in the bright light, Ponyboy scanned the student parking lot for Dally's car, mentally conjuring up an image of the battered vehicle.
"Dented fender," he muttered to himself. "Broken window…no hood on the car." Then he laughed, spotting Dallas lounging on the trunk of his car. "Okay, maybe there IS a hood on the car."
He began walking towards his friend. The tow-headed greaser was very obviously trying to come on to a pretty blond (a Soc, AND a cheerleader… "Who is he kidding?" Ponyboy couldn't help thinking). If Dally managed to score, he would undoubtedly leave Ponyboy in the dust. Pony started to walk a little faster. However, he had nothing to worry about – the girl wasn't having any.
"Go play with your own kind hood!" she said snappishly, turning away from Dallas. Her eyes met Ponyboy's and she sneered again. Turning to her other cheerleading friend, she said loudly: "God this place is going to the dogs! Greasers crawling everywhere."
Her friend giggled and Ponyboy felt his ears turn red. He hated when this happened. His mouth went all dry and his brain stopped working, leaving him feeling embarrassed and mad at the same time. "I'm not a greaser!" he blurted out before he could stop himself. The two girls only laughed again, and Dally shot him a look that seemed to say something along the lines of: "Well that did a lot, you stupid moron."
Blushing even more, Ponyboy hurried to get inside his friend's car, and away from the still giggling Soc girls. Dally didn't move, but glared at him through the dirty front window.
"Real loyal, huh Ponyboy," he said sarcastically. "Denying your heritage and all that."
By this time the two girls had been joined by their boyfriends, two tall, smart and equally handsome boys, now also laughing at the greasers. Ponyboy sank down in his seat, feeling none the less embarrassed knowing it was Dallas they were laughing at now.
"It ain't my heritage Dally," he mumbled insolently. Luckily for him, Dally wasn't listening.
"What the hell you laughing at?" he shouted at the group of Socs. Dallas didn't wait for a reply. He was pissed off, and before you could say, "irrational dimwit" he'd jumped on one of the Soc-boyfriends and was trying to beat him to a pulp. The girls shrieked, and the other boy started hollering, but before he could do anything to Dally, the blond cheerleader grabbed hold of his arm.
"There! That's the little snot that talked back to me," she snarled, pointing a finger at Ponyboy.
'Oh bloody hell,' Pony thought, as the second Soc approached him. He got out of the car (no sense in getting trapped) and suppressed the urge to cringe. He didn't even have to wait and see what happened – he could already imagine what Darry would say when he got home…
Ponyboy dodged a blow, followed by several others. He missed a couple punches and threw a few of his own. Before he knew it Dally was dragging him off toward the car; as the cheerleaders were hysterically crying and tugging on their boyfriend's sleeves begging them to stop.
One of the jocks jabbed a finger in Dally's direction, "This isn't over hood! We'll get you, I promise that!"
"Not if I get ya'll first!" Dally screamed and Pony now found himself dragging Dally toward the car. Pony didn't remember how he got Dally in the car, or if it was actually him that convinced Dally to take him home but he was glad to be on his way there. Pony peeked his head out the window examining his face in the half connected rearview mirror. Gingerly he reached out and adjusted the mirror so he could see himself in it. A gash from a ring was on his chin and a puff bruise was beginning to form under his eye.
"Nice shiner," Dally said. Pony wondered how Dally could be so angry one moment and now humored by the color of Pony's cheek. He shrugged it off and let it go, knowing that Dally's way to relax and let off steam was by fighting. Pony turned his attention back to the kid in the mirror. He swore internally wondering how he was going to explain the black eye to Darry and Soda.
"Real tuff," Pony added sarcastically. He dabbed the cut on his chin with the collar of his tee shirt wiping the blood away. Finally he gave up and let the mirror dangle again; he was horrified to see that Dally wasn't headed to his house at all and Pony began to get a sick feeling in his stomach wondering where Dally intended on going while dragging him along.
Pony suppressed a groan and attempted a curious tone, "Where we goin' Dal?"
"I gotta pick up Sylvia, little broad wants to go to the drive in," Dally shrugged pulling a pack of smokes from his front pocket, then slinging the pack so several emerged one of which he fumbled with his lips to grab as he was using the other hand to steer. He lit it up and looked over to Pony, "Maybe if I'm lucky I'll get laid."
Pony blinked awkwardly at the rough teenager, wondering if he heard properly. After he decided he had he jerked his head forward again with a blank stare, "Dal, where are we going to pick Sylvia up at?"
Dally shrugged giving it little though, "Buck's."
An instant panic came over Pony, Darry had threatened to beat his head in if he came within a mile of Buck Merrill's place.
"Couldn't you, ya know… drop me off first?" Ponyboy asked as casually as he could, his heart pounding like a jackhammer at the thought of Darry finding out that he'd been at Buck's. He'd be doubly grounded.
Dally swerved, barely missing a parked car (as old a lemon as it was, Ponyboy didn't think whatever guy owned it would be pleased if Dally had flattened his car). He skidded to a stop, bumping one tire over the sidewalk. The jolt sent Ponyboy flying into the door, whacking his head hard on it. The stupid seatbelt hadn't worked.
Dally leaned over and opened the passenger door. "There," he said, pulling the weed from his mouth, "consider yourself dropped off." When Pony didn't move, he motioned at the open door, simultaneously flicking his ashes off in every conceivable direction. "Well? What ya waitin' for? A goddamned written invitation?" Still Ponyboy didn't move. He had no clue where he was – walking home from here wasn't an option. He was hoping if he didn't move Dally would forget about it and pick up Sylvia with Ponyboy still in the car. Dally didn't have much patience.
As expected, Dally got tired quickly of waiting, and soon enough they were back on the road, speeding for Buck's, Sylvia, and (to Ponyboy) hell.
They pulled up at Buck's dismal "pad" (as he called it) and Dally hopped out, leaving Ponyboy to try and disappear into his tee shirt. Clouds had appeared out of nowhere, and the smell of rain was about. Five minutes ago there'd been blazing sun. The weather was so unpredictable in the summer. Pony shivered, wishing he'd brought a jacket. It didn't help that Dally was taking forever. Hell, they were probably doing it already. He'd probably forgotten about Ponyboy completely. Pony stepped out of the car and headed for Buck's hut. At the very least, he could call Two-Bit for a ride. He opened the door, and then had to duck as a plate very nearly took his head off. The next second his ears were greeted with the undeniable sounds of Dally swearing.
"You stupid bitch, messing around with that asshole Buck?! What the fuck do you think you're doing? Who the fuck do you think-"
Ponyboy tore for the car, not bothering to listen to the rest of Dally's rant. He'd witnessed a Dally/Sylvia breakup before and had no desire to relive the experience. Both of them screaming could make bunch of preteen Beatles groupies at a concert sound like quiet mice. Seconds after Ponyboy's door closed, Dally came barreling out of the house, swearing loud enough to be heard in Africa. He was followed closely by Sylvia, who was dressed only in a sheet and screaming that oh-so-familiar phrase: "We're over! You hear? You fucking hood! We're over! Over!" Dally jumped in the car and took off, tires screaming. Ponyboy gripped tight to the seatbelt; useless or not, it was the most reassuring thing in the car.
Dally muttered to himself, turning down an unknown street, his face flushed and angry. Before he could stop himself, Ponyboy had opened his mouth and was saying: "Guess you aren't so lucky then." And before he knew it, Ponyboy had two shiners.
"Ponyboy," Patricia Curtis caught her son's wrist, "stop that fidgeting."
Ponyboy looked up to his mother's soft face expressing a mean glare in an attempt to get him to obey her order. Ponyboy looked down to his shaking leg and consciously stopped it from bobbing up and down.
"Mom," he moaned in response, "I'm bored."
"Keep quiet son," Daryl Curtis eyed his son with a wide smile. Something about Mr. Curtis's calm happy mannerisms soothed Pony's aching desire to be out of this huge arena. "You're brother only graduates once."
Ponyboy leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest. Pony managed keeping still for a matter of seconds before leaning up in his chair hoping to catch a glimpse of his brother's head. Then he felt a soft hand on his arm. After examining the perfectly manicured natural nails, Ponyboy looked up to the soft brown eyes owned by Darry's girlfriend Bonnie, she smiled warmly at him. Pony loved Bonnie.
"Hey Pon," she said, "Calm down, we'll be out of here real soon."
"Promise?" Pony asked hopefully.
"I promise," she nodded, "and then we'll be going to dinner. It'll be fun."
"Ponyboy," a classmate nudged the back of his chair.
Ponyboy shook his head coming back to consciousness, he frowned remembering his dream. He missed Bonnie, he missed his parents and he missed Darry the way he used to be. He sighed picking up his books, Darry had begged Dally to pick him up from his last day of junior high and he knew Dally wouldn't wait if he were late.
As if reading his thoughts, the end of the day bell rang, freeing the sleeping students of the snore that is junior high school. Grabbing his bag, Ponyboy leapt out of his seat and was out the door before most of the other students had even realized that school was out for the day. He bolted down the hallway and out into the sun, his knapsack banging heavily against his back. Squinting in the bright light, Ponyboy scanned the student parking lot for Dally's car, mentally conjuring up an image of the battered vehicle.
"Dented fender," he muttered to himself. "Broken window…no hood on the car." Then he laughed, spotting Dallas lounging on the trunk of his car. "Okay, maybe there IS a hood on the car."
He began walking towards his friend. The tow-headed greaser was very obviously trying to come on to a pretty blond (a Soc, AND a cheerleader… "Who is he kidding?" Ponyboy couldn't help thinking). If Dally managed to score, he would undoubtedly leave Ponyboy in the dust. Pony started to walk a little faster. However, he had nothing to worry about – the girl wasn't having any.
"Go play with your own kind hood!" she said snappishly, turning away from Dallas. Her eyes met Ponyboy's and she sneered again. Turning to her other cheerleading friend, she said loudly: "God this place is going to the dogs! Greasers crawling everywhere."
Her friend giggled and Ponyboy felt his ears turn red. He hated when this happened. His mouth went all dry and his brain stopped working, leaving him feeling embarrassed and mad at the same time. "I'm not a greaser!" he blurted out before he could stop himself. The two girls only laughed again, and Dally shot him a look that seemed to say something along the lines of: "Well that did a lot, you stupid moron."
Blushing even more, Ponyboy hurried to get inside his friend's car, and away from the still giggling Soc girls. Dally didn't move, but glared at him through the dirty front window.
"Real loyal, huh Ponyboy," he said sarcastically. "Denying your heritage and all that."
By this time the two girls had been joined by their boyfriends, two tall, smart and equally handsome boys, now also laughing at the greasers. Ponyboy sank down in his seat, feeling none the less embarrassed knowing it was Dallas they were laughing at now.
"It ain't my heritage Dally," he mumbled insolently. Luckily for him, Dally wasn't listening.
"What the hell you laughing at?" he shouted at the group of Socs. Dallas didn't wait for a reply. He was pissed off, and before you could say, "irrational dimwit" he'd jumped on one of the Soc-boyfriends and was trying to beat him to a pulp. The girls shrieked, and the other boy started hollering, but before he could do anything to Dally, the blond cheerleader grabbed hold of his arm.
"There! That's the little snot that talked back to me," she snarled, pointing a finger at Ponyboy.
'Oh bloody hell,' Pony thought, as the second Soc approached him. He got out of the car (no sense in getting trapped) and suppressed the urge to cringe. He didn't even have to wait and see what happened – he could already imagine what Darry would say when he got home…
Ponyboy dodged a blow, followed by several others. He missed a couple punches and threw a few of his own. Before he knew it Dally was dragging him off toward the car; as the cheerleaders were hysterically crying and tugging on their boyfriend's sleeves begging them to stop.
One of the jocks jabbed a finger in Dally's direction, "This isn't over hood! We'll get you, I promise that!"
"Not if I get ya'll first!" Dally screamed and Pony now found himself dragging Dally toward the car. Pony didn't remember how he got Dally in the car, or if it was actually him that convinced Dally to take him home but he was glad to be on his way there. Pony peeked his head out the window examining his face in the half connected rearview mirror. Gingerly he reached out and adjusted the mirror so he could see himself in it. A gash from a ring was on his chin and a puff bruise was beginning to form under his eye.
"Nice shiner," Dally said. Pony wondered how Dally could be so angry one moment and now humored by the color of Pony's cheek. He shrugged it off and let it go, knowing that Dally's way to relax and let off steam was by fighting. Pony turned his attention back to the kid in the mirror. He swore internally wondering how he was going to explain the black eye to Darry and Soda.
"Real tuff," Pony added sarcastically. He dabbed the cut on his chin with the collar of his tee shirt wiping the blood away. Finally he gave up and let the mirror dangle again; he was horrified to see that Dally wasn't headed to his house at all and Pony began to get a sick feeling in his stomach wondering where Dally intended on going while dragging him along.
Pony suppressed a groan and attempted a curious tone, "Where we goin' Dal?"
"I gotta pick up Sylvia, little broad wants to go to the drive in," Dally shrugged pulling a pack of smokes from his front pocket, then slinging the pack so several emerged one of which he fumbled with his lips to grab as he was using the other hand to steer. He lit it up and looked over to Pony, "Maybe if I'm lucky I'll get laid."
Pony blinked awkwardly at the rough teenager, wondering if he heard properly. After he decided he had he jerked his head forward again with a blank stare, "Dal, where are we going to pick Sylvia up at?"
Dally shrugged giving it little though, "Buck's."
An instant panic came over Pony, Darry had threatened to beat his head in if he came within a mile of Buck Merrill's place.
"Couldn't you, ya know… drop me off first?" Ponyboy asked as casually as he could, his heart pounding like a jackhammer at the thought of Darry finding out that he'd been at Buck's. He'd be doubly grounded.
Dally swerved, barely missing a parked car (as old a lemon as it was, Ponyboy didn't think whatever guy owned it would be pleased if Dally had flattened his car). He skidded to a stop, bumping one tire over the sidewalk. The jolt sent Ponyboy flying into the door, whacking his head hard on it. The stupid seatbelt hadn't worked.
Dally leaned over and opened the passenger door. "There," he said, pulling the weed from his mouth, "consider yourself dropped off." When Pony didn't move, he motioned at the open door, simultaneously flicking his ashes off in every conceivable direction. "Well? What ya waitin' for? A goddamned written invitation?" Still Ponyboy didn't move. He had no clue where he was – walking home from here wasn't an option. He was hoping if he didn't move Dally would forget about it and pick up Sylvia with Ponyboy still in the car. Dally didn't have much patience.
As expected, Dally got tired quickly of waiting, and soon enough they were back on the road, speeding for Buck's, Sylvia, and (to Ponyboy) hell.
They pulled up at Buck's dismal "pad" (as he called it) and Dally hopped out, leaving Ponyboy to try and disappear into his tee shirt. Clouds had appeared out of nowhere, and the smell of rain was about. Five minutes ago there'd been blazing sun. The weather was so unpredictable in the summer. Pony shivered, wishing he'd brought a jacket. It didn't help that Dally was taking forever. Hell, they were probably doing it already. He'd probably forgotten about Ponyboy completely. Pony stepped out of the car and headed for Buck's hut. At the very least, he could call Two-Bit for a ride. He opened the door, and then had to duck as a plate very nearly took his head off. The next second his ears were greeted with the undeniable sounds of Dally swearing.
"You stupid bitch, messing around with that asshole Buck?! What the fuck do you think you're doing? Who the fuck do you think-"
Ponyboy tore for the car, not bothering to listen to the rest of Dally's rant. He'd witnessed a Dally/Sylvia breakup before and had no desire to relive the experience. Both of them screaming could make bunch of preteen Beatles groupies at a concert sound like quiet mice. Seconds after Ponyboy's door closed, Dally came barreling out of the house, swearing loud enough to be heard in Africa. He was followed closely by Sylvia, who was dressed only in a sheet and screaming that oh-so-familiar phrase: "We're over! You hear? You fucking hood! We're over! Over!" Dally jumped in the car and took off, tires screaming. Ponyboy gripped tight to the seatbelt; useless or not, it was the most reassuring thing in the car.
Dally muttered to himself, turning down an unknown street, his face flushed and angry. Before he could stop himself, Ponyboy had opened his mouth and was saying: "Guess you aren't so lucky then." And before he knew it, Ponyboy had two shiners.