Gold - The Outsiders Fanfiction

Life lessons

"Hey, Charlie," someone greeted.

I closed my locker and saw Luke standing there.

"Hi," I said.

"Do you wanna come over after school? Ponyboy can come too," Luke said.

"Sure," I agreed.

"My mum wants to meet you guys," Luke confirmed.

I felt someone's arms around me from behind. Of course, it was Ponyboy so I turned around and gave him a kiss.

"We're going to Luke's house after school," I told him.

"Just us three?" Pony asked.

I nodded.

"I wish we had gym today," I complained.

"First time I've heard you say that," Laughed Pony.

"Just because the cheerleading trials are tomorrow and I could do with some more practise," I said as I got out my English and my maths book.

"I'm sure you'll do great," Pony reassured.

"Hopefully," I said.

I shut my locker and the three of us walked down the hall towards English. We passed Cherry and some of her friends and Pony and I tried not to give her a bad look. Pony put his hand on my waist and steered me away from her gaze and into the classroom. We took our usual seats at the back and waited for the teacher to arrive.

"Where've your friends been this year?" Asked my friend Jordan. "Johnny, Two-Bit, Steve and your brother. What's his name again?"

"Soda," Pony said.

"Oh yes, Soda," Jordan answered. "I haven't seen those three around this year. You and them were the six that were always together, what happened?"

"Johnny died," I told him.

"Really?" Exclaimed Jordan. "How?"

"You didn't read it in the paper?" Pony asked in disbelief.

"I don't read the paper," Jordan said.

Luke gave him an unbelieving look.

"It's true, he doesn't read anything," I laughed.

"Very true," agreed Jordan. "So what happened?"

"He died saving kids from a fire," I said.

"How quaint," gushed Jordan sarcastically. "And the others?"

"It's not really your business," Luke said, sounding a bit angry.

"My brother dropped out and Steve and Two-Bit come when they feel like it," Pony said.

"Oh," said Jordan, turning around in his seat to the front as Mr. Syme walked into the classroom.

"Good morning everyone. I trust you had a good nights sleep?" Mr. Syme asked.

The class responded with yawns and a few heads hit the desk.

"Come on, wake up!" Mr. Syme cheered. "Today is going to be a good lesson. Can everybody please sit in a circle at the front of the classroom?"

Everyone groaned and we did as he said.

I sat between Luke and Emma and Mr. Syme began to explain the activity. "I want to go around the circle and we are all going to say one thing that we've learned in life,"

"And what's the point of this?" Asked Dana, a snobby girl.

"You will see once we're done. I'll start. In life, I have learned to take nothing for granted," said Mr. Syme.

We went around the circle and then it was my turn.

"And you, Charlotte?" He asked.

"Things will always get better no matter how bad it seems," I said.

"Wonderful," responded Mr. Syme. "Luke?"

"If you love someone, tell them," he said.

Mr. Syme nodded in satisfaction.

"And you, Ponyboy?" He asked.

"You don't stop living just because you lose someone," Pony said.

"Last but not least, Jordan?" Asked Mr. Syme.

"Never compliment a teacher on her figure," Jordan said proudly.

The whole class laughed remembering the incident back in middle school when Jordan had tried to make a move on our geography teacher. He complimented her every day, and when he complimented her on her figure he was suspended for a week. The teacher quit because of it and we all thanked Jordan because if I'm being honest, she was kind of a bitch.

"If you read into everything each student has said, you can get an idea about what they've been through. Now, I'm going to introduce the assignment. You are going to take the line you said today, think about how it relates to you, your life, a situation or something you've been through, and present it in any way you like," Mr. Syme told us.

"How would we besides writing an essay?" Emma asked.

"Well, there are many ways!" Mr. Syme said. "An oral presentation, drawings, in photos, if you have access to a camera, you could do a performance, write it as a narrative, the possibilities are endless!"

"I could probably think of about three more," Alex argued.

"What are the three others?" I asked, knowing he didn't know anymore.

"Um," Alex said slowly.

"Knew it," I said cheekily.

Alex smirked at me.

"Can we bake something?" Cheyenne asked.

"You can do anything that symbolizes your topic," Mr. Syme told us.

"Can we work in groups?" Dana asked.

"Partners only," Mr. Syme answered. "Now you can have the rest of the lesson for planning."

We stood up and walked back to our desks.

"Partners?" Asked Ponyboy.

"Sure, I said. "You're thinking what I'm thinking, right?"

"We write about that crazy summer we just had," said Ponyboy.

"Yes! That's the first time you've answered that question right!" I said with a laugh.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked Jordan and Luke, who were working together.

"We're doing a photo sequence," Luke said.

"Oh, so like a story in pictures?" Pony asked.

"Yeah, what do you think?" Asked Jordan.

"That sounds cool," I said.

"Charlie and I are writing a narrative," Pony told them.

I nodded in agreement. This was going to be one amazing story.