Teasing Fate |The Outsiders|

02. The Curtis Gang

"I WASN'T SUCH A LITTLE KID ANYMORE."

***

I think teachers think I'm Darry sometimes. That has to be the only reason they corner me at my locker and ask me to do things like this. If it was anyone else, I probably wouldn't have cared, but I liked Tim about as much as I liked my brother's new friends.

I kept my mouth shut until Mr. Rodgers was done talking. I didn't catch a word of it though, I was too busy glaring at the greaser with the same hate and intensity he did me. Our principal finally cleared his throat and brought the thick, round cigar back to his lips as he waved us away. I didn't waste a second getting out of there, but Tim wasn't so lucky. Officer- whatever his name was- grabbed him by the shoulder and said something before he could slip out.

There were only ten minutes left of last period when I got out of the office, so going back to class seemed like a waste of time. I decided my locker was the next best place to be since there was a high chance Sylvia was waiting for me already. As it turns out, Tim was waiting for me, too. It must be in the genes, showing up somewhere when you were certain you had just seen them somewhere else.

"What are you playing at, Curtis?"

"What do you think?" I responded cooly. He was standing in front of my locker, with his arms crossed over his chest. The chipped blue paint made his jacket stand out, same with thick dark hair and watching blue eyes. I rolled mine and did my best to shove him out of the way. "Helpin' you in science isn't how I wanna spend my free time either."

I swear all guys in this town think they're the closest thing to God. Like he was entitled to my time, or that I should be on my knees in front of him. He narrowed his eyes and landed his head against the neighbouring lockers, his eyebrows furrowed beneath dark curls. "So how'd you get stuck with the job?"

"Mr. R cornered me when I was headed to the bathroom."

"Huh. Finally got caught smoking dope?"

I grabbed my book bag and swung it around onto my shoulder. Taking one last look at my textbooks, I grabbed the one marked American History and tucked it under my arm. My locker slammed shut with a metallic clang as I wrestled the lock into place and turned back to the greaser. "What's wrong, still mad you got caught shankin' middle schoolers at The Dingo?"

I bit down on my tongue so he wouldn't see me smile. Judging by the way Tim clenched his fists, I knew I struck a nerve. I swung my bookbag around onto my other shoulder and tucked my jacket through the straps. The fabric was starting to rub against my skin, giving me either a bruise or a rash. Momma would probably lecture me 'bout not wearing my jacket, so I had to move it around before I got caught. "Your unit test is next month," I said suddenly. Tim nodded seriously, his eyes burning holes in the lockers to our right. "I think you just need to study. You get a good mark on that, an' your grade's gonna shoot up."

Doors creaked open and teenagers flooded the halls around us. With only a few minutes left until all of Will Rodgers High saw me talking with Tim Shepard, I rushed through my next sentence, just loud enough for him to hear. "You know where I live, right? I'm pretty sure I can get the house to myself Saturday."

Momma would probably be headed over to Ms. Mathews' place since she just had a baby an' all, Dad would be at work. Besides, it ain't like the boys would wanna hang out at the house when they know Saturday is cleaning day.

Tim mumbled something I couldn't understand and glanced over my shoulder. I turned, only to notice a boy with red hair walking towards us. Patrick Macrorie. I only knew his name because he was tangled up in Tim's gang. "The Shepard gang". It didn't take a genius to figure out he didn't wanna be seen talking with me, hell, I might tell the whole school he was flunking science. But, as of right now, I had no reason to. Tim had to be a whole other kind of stupid to pull something on me, but I wouldn't put it past him. He ran his tongue over his lips before he spoke again, "yeah, whatever. Saturday?"