My Greaser Girl

One

A m a n d a

I walked along the sidewalk, my black boots skidding against the concrete. The cool fall wind sent shivers down my spine and I pulled my black jacket closer to my body.

A red mustang passed me full of Socs, one leaned out the window and shouted "Greaser!" and threw something at me. I kicked the object and kept walking, rolling my eyes.

"When are you gonna grow your hair out?" One asked. My hair wasn't long like other girls, heck, I wasn't like other girls. It was short on both sides and hair sprayed up in the front, I hated having long hair, it bugged the shit out of me.

I gave them the bird and stared straight ahead. They laughed and threw a few more things at me before speeding up.

I saw Ponyboy walk out of the theater a few yards ahead of me and my lips curved into a smile. I had always thought Ponyboy was an odd name, until I met him, everyday I noticed how well it suited him. The Socs stopped by him and started shouting similar things they said to me, except they asked him when he was going to cut his hair.

I ran up beside the car and put my hands on the side and they jerked to a stop. Ponyboy stopped walking and stood behind me, studying what I was going to do. I took out my switch blade and held it out in front of the guys nose in the passenger seat.

"Tell me," I said, spinning my blade in between my index and middle finger, "what were you sayin' to Ponyboy over here?"

The guy in the front seat leaned back, keeping his eyes on the blade in my hand. "N-nothing, Manda."

I poked the tip of his nose, I hated with Socs called me that, it's what my momma called me, and I only let my kind call me that. "Don't call me that."

"Sorry, Amanda," he whispered.

I took my elbows off of the rim of the window and put away my switch blade. "Now scat!"

The guy in the drivers seat struggled with the keys before driving off. I leaned back and smirked in satisfaction, that was one good thing about being the only girl greaser, people were usually scared of me.

"Thanks, Manda," Ponyboy said. We started walking and took the back way towards the Curtis house.

"No problem," I flashed him a smile and ruffled his dark hair.

"Hey," he swatted my hand away lightly and laughed lightly, "you comin' to my house?"

"Duh," I said. He smiled and looked ahead.

I had always had an interest in Ponyboy, he was sweet, not like other Greasers. He had a major soft side at most times and watched sunsets with me. He amazed me. I also thought he was pretty cute, but I hated when I had a soft side, I never cried, never let my feelings get ahold of me, would never let anything hurt me.

Ponyboy's hand grazed against mine and I felt my stomach tighten. Butterflies. I looked down at our hands that were very close, too close for me.

I looked away and saw him look down in the corner of my eyes. He looked back up at me but I kept my eyes focused ahead, ignoring the unfamiliar feeling in my stomach.

We stepped up to the door and walked in, being greeted by Sodapop and Steve.

"Where were you?" Sodapop asked from the kitchen.

"Theater." Ponyboy answered shortly. "Brought Manda back with me."

"Manda!" Steve pulled me into a tight hug. "How are you?"