the outsiders ~ vertigo

one

"Next!"

"I'm here to get my schedule–"

"Name? Miss,"

"Lou."

"Yes, Lou what."

"Armani–"

"Here you are, room six, first period– Next!"

Lou grabbed the single sheet of paper, waiting for a smile, or perhaps a direction from the lackluster lady behind the messy desk. Feeling the eyes of antsy students behind her, she began to shuffle from the cramped office.

The bright hallways of Will Rogers high had a wide variety of pupils, some eager to learn, while others for legal obligation; after playing hooky for weeks on end, they were on the brink of risking truancy.
Lou wasn't so sure which group she resided in yet, she promised things would be different this time, a fresh start she crucially did not want to mess up.

As the hallway's banter and chaos intensified, defeat lingered in Lou's worn shoes as they skid across the tile floor.
room six... room six.
She thought while staring down at the foreign paper. The overpowering fluorescent lights above made her vision shaky and eyes itchy.

Upon looking up, she singled out an older looking kid at his locker, who fortunately didn't have anyone around him. Dressed in a leather varsity jacket, his light-brown curly locks were styled neatly to his head. Much like Randy Anderson, his younger brother Richard had quite the reputation to uphold, socially and academically.

"Look, can you point me to room six?" Lou asked with attempts of leisurely. 
Caught off guard, Richard swiftly spun towards the voice, surprised by meeting the unfamiliar student.
"Room six?" He asked in disbelief, staring at the girl blankly. Lou nodded apprehensively, not understanding the complexity of her simple question.
He shook himself from his trance.

"It's just down–" Before Richard could get his answer out, his buddy, and school football captain tackled him from behind. Richard often questioned Tommy's intentions and influence, but nonetheless tolerated his antics—it was for his own good.

With class starting shortly, and the hallways clearing quickly. Lou slid past them, mumbling obscenities under her breath from the inconvenience.
The students were rather chipper for it being nearly eight-am, something Lou would have to get used to. Girls scurried past her, their long skirts flowing and hair bouncing. It was no use to try to stop them.

Amidst the rush, she found another boy by his lonesome, scrambling to exchange copious amounts of books and papers from his locker. She cautiously approached him, settling on a more polite introduction.
"Excuse me, I'm lookin' for room six?" She hummed, taking a breath in hopes this interaction would be a successful one.

The smaller boy turned towards her, he displayed a gentler demeanor with a softer expression.
"Uh yeah, sure, I have Mr. Syme too, I can take ya?"
His boyish voice carried a mix of rasp as spoke, he couldn't fool no one that he wasn't a smoker, a heavy one at that. The boy had come to enjoy deceiving others about his age, especially strangers.

At a comfortable distance Lou gave a silent nod as the boy shoved his locker shut, retrieving a large novel.
"Say, you must be one of those new transfers. I'm Ponyboy Curtis." He broke the silence with a smile.
"Is that—"
"Yes it is." Ponyboy cut her off, her eyebrows raised at his witty response.
It was odd, but not unusual for students to come and go in the middle of a school semester, those privileged enough for temporary placement as their old man was relocated to Tulsa for a work opportunity.
But it was different for Lou, and the others knew.

"Lou," She stopped walking, and extended her hand towards him, he took her offer.
"Yeah, today's my first." She explained, staring down at both of their dusty sneakers walking in unison.
"I can tell. You don't look from around 'ere." Ponyboy proposed with a small toothy smirk.
"What's that supposed'ta mean?" She asked defensively while meeting his now nervous gaze. 
"Oh— well, not inna bad way." Ponyboy's attempts to backtrack consumed his train of thought. But before she could respond they approached a worn door.

"After you." He cleared his throat awkwardly, holding the door with a shy smile, brown eyes glistening towards her.
The room was nearly packed, causing Lou's eyes to scatter.

"You must be Miss Armani, I'm glad you made it." Mr. Syme's voice boomed, breaking Lou from her trance with a startle.
—"and it looks like you've already made a friend." He continued, eyes gazing over her shoulder towards Ponyboy.

"Go ahead, c'mon in and take a seat Curtis." He ushered Ponyboy away from the door, gesturing towards his vacant desk.
His eyes darted to Lou's aided with worry, she avoided his gaze which made him hesitantly approach his desk.
Ponyboy tried to shake the pit in his stomach, which only grew as moments passed. He has witnessed first hand how the animals he calls peers treat new kids—especially the ones like Lou.

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A/N: decided to rewrite this in 3rd person. I think I like it better. Will be posting on ao3 in the near future... this is also my first time writing 3rd person 🤭