Life in The Outsiders Imagine

The Girl I Forgot

Saturday and Sunday was spent inside my house. Cara would stay inside with me, but she got kind of annoyed hearing me talk about Johnny and Dally all the time. She would go hang out with Ponyboy. I asked her about it, but she'd always say no whenever I asked if she liked him. Liar. Aw well, it was Cara, what else could I expect?

Today is Monday. Cara shakes me, waking me up. "Get up, Violet. Get up."

She pokes me. "Get up." Pokes me again. "Get up." Then it's faster as she pokes me repeatedly. "Get up get up get up getupgetupgetupgetupgetupgetupGETUUUUUHHHP!" She sits on me. I groan, "Ugh, Cara!" I push her off.

Her response is, "WELL, we're gonna be late!" If I ever accused her of anything, or said her name in that groaning tone, her response was "WELL," or "WHAT!?" Good old predictable Cara. "We have school, you know." Oh, I forgot! It was Monday, and I'm in The Outsiders, and I have to go to SCHOOL! Now I'm excited to see what 60s school looks like! Quickly, I race to get ready, brushing my teeth and doing my hair and makeup and all that jazz. My hair is still pretty blue. Cara and I walk to school with Ponyboy, Johnny, Two-bit, Steve, and Dallas, for now. Dallas is 17, and he would be out of school pretty soon. He turns 18 in May. It's November 14, 1965.

We all walk to school, mostly in silence. Two bit starts telling us jokes about where he and his girlfriend Kathy went, and what happened. Cara (who is 15, younger than me, same grade as Ponyboy) talks about school with Pony. Johnny and Dally are eerily quiet, and they sometimes sneak glances at me. I already ruined the friendship. 

When we finally get to school, I realize it's not that much different from ours, except everyone dresses different, and there's definitely not as much technology. My intuition kicks in again, and I remember which classes I have to go to. As Cara and I walk up to the steps of the school, a  girl comes over to greet me and Cara. Her brown hair is in a pixie cut, which looks really cute and unique. Most girls in the 60s wear their hair long, or in short bobs, but not pixie. 

"Hi!" she says cheerily. 

"Hey Olivia," Cara says.

"Yeah...hi!" I say nervously. I don't quite remember her. Then... Slowly, as I watch her talk, lips moving happily in excitement, I recognize her finally. Olivia. She was one of our best friends in middle school. I was a lot closer to Cara then her, because we drifted apart slowly over those three middle school years. Apparently, that drifting away never happened in this world. And, oh yes, when we saw The Outsiders together, she loved Johnny. Her pretty big blue eyes look over at me. I think she just asked me a question while I was trying to remember her. Oops. 

"Huh?" I ask dumbly.

"How are you, Violet? I heard you were in the hospital... You doing ok?" Her eyes full of concern.

"Yeah, I'm much better," I nod my head. 

"So... Now that we're all caught up with the scoop of who's going steady with who, I have a question. Oh, and Cara, if you got your eye on Pony, watch out for the Soc Cherry Valance. She might like him too." 

"I don't like him," she responds plainly.

"Ok..." Olivia trails off, but quickly restarts with, "so, is Johnny single? You know I kinda dig him. There's not that many sweet, thoughtful, caring, sensitive..." She sighs her blue eyes sparkling with a daydream. "Anyway, there's not many guys like that out there, especially who's single! So, is he? Please tell me he's single."

"He is," I say. A new girlfriend! Maybe this is what we need for Johnny. Cara and I exchange a look. We both have the same idea. 

"YEAH... Why don't you get to KNOW him? You'll like him maybe." Suggests Cara, her tone very obvious and kind of funny, like usual (to get a good grasp on how Cara really talks, check her out on my YouTube channel! Yes she's real. Violet Stardove...look me up I want views I'm desperate! ok sorry I'm done talking about that byeee). 

"Do you think I should? I mean, I'm kinda shy..."

"So is he! So goooo..." Cara pushes her toward Johnny, who's standing near the rest of the gang nearby. Cara looks at me. "I know what your idea is." Before I can ask, she sighs and says, "and FINE I'll try to help you. Good luck." I look over and Olivia and Johnny. They'd make a cute couple. 

The entire day at school is spent avoiding Johnny, who was in four of my seven classes. To a lesser extent, I avoided Dally, but he's a senior so it isn't that hard. Johnny is in my grade. Olivia is in five classes, and Cara is in one, which was a special elective class for all grades. I shared it with Johnny, Pony, and Olivia as well. We all sat near each other. Today there's a sub taking the attendance.

"Cara Seriguchi..." (She is half Asian, but has green eyes. It's possible.)

"Here!"

I am bored out of my mind. When will this day be over? I catch Johnny looking at me out of the corner of my eye. I look at Olivia. She looks over at Johnny without him noticing. Did I just make a huge mistake here? No. I refuse to accept that. Everyone will get their happy ending. My vision for the future is a giant group date with me and Dally, Pony and Cara, Olivia and Johnny, and maybe Two-bit and his girl, Kathy. Steve has Evie, but he would never go on such a big group date, especially with Pony there, at least in my opinion. 

Olivia talks to Johnny and laughs a bit. It's obvious. Pony darts his eyes between the two and looks over at me, with a "did-you-set-this-up?" Face. I shrug, looking guilty, and he rolls his eyes. Cara, green eyes wide as usual, nods her head at Pony. This exchange of facial expressions could last a lifetime. 

Outside, I hear yelling in the hallway. "Hey punk you better get back in your class!"

"Who's gonna make me, huh?" It's none other than the infamous Dallas Winston. "You want me to go to class, fine, I'll go to a class!" He runs into our class. Once he realizes I'm in this class, he winks at me. Our sub starts yelling. "Who are you? You're not supposed to be in this class!" His yelling intertwines with the other teacher's yelling. Dally just runs away. What a scene. I guess I can't ask him about it though.

After school, I head to the lot with Olivia. "Johnny's so nice, do you think he likes me? Or at least that he could like me?" I smile. "Of course," I say. I think she has a very good chance with Johnny. Her bubbly, fun personality could cheer him up. When we get to the lot, we stop dead in our tracks. Johnny is there, his back to us. We can hear crying. I want to immediately help him, but I must see what Olivia will do. She slowly approaches him, and asks him what's wrong. I stay back, listening and watching. 

"Johnny, what's wrong?"'she asks.

"Oh... Hey Olivia. You're a nice girl, and I don't want to, uh, b-bother you and all, but-"

"Shh..." She hugs him, and looks him in the eyes. "It's not a bother at all. And remember, everything negative has a positive. And I'll always be here to help you find something positive. So what's wrong?"

"I just can't do this. I go to school, and my parents fight. I get home, and my parents fight. I'm always on the other end of it. I get beat, but I guess that's better than not being noticed at all. I guess I'm just sick of it. And everybody's sick of hearing about it, but I just can't keep it inside, it'll rip me apart. I mean, I don't wanna die, I haven't lived long enough, but I don't...I don't know man. You're not the first person to hear all this, though. Your friend, Violet. She heard about all this only maybe a month ago."

"It's ok..."

Before Olivia continues, I head home. I hope things work out for those two, I really do.