The Outsiders: A Girl in the Gang

Chapter 5

        Ponyboy, Two-Bit and Johnny were the only ones who still went to school, though Sodapop, Steve, and my brother should all still be in school.  It didn't surprise me that they weren't though.

        I like to lone it most of the time, and that's what I was doing in English Tuesday morning, pretending to go over homework that I didn't do in order to study for a test that I didn't need to study for.  It was supposed to be partner work, but since no one dared go near me, including the teachers, after seeing my banged up face that morning, I was doing it myself.

        So I was really surprised when Ponyboy appeared next to my desk, but I ignored him, not letting my surprise show.  I looked up when he quietly asked,

        "Would you mind studying with me?"

        I shrugged a shoulder indifferently and mumbled, "Sure," not really caring.

        He sat around backwards in the desk in front of me to face me.  We were supposed to be studying the different types of sentences and clauses, but then he randomly asked, "Do you and Dally get along well?"

        Okay, I don't know why he asked that but seeing as how I was still grounded from Friday night, I gave a, "Nah," that could be taken as a 'yes, but I don't really care', a 'no, but I don't really care,' or whatever else he wanted it to mean. 

        I stared at the notes I had taken in class for an eternity that only lasted a few seconds before he began quizzing me on clauses.

        During lunch that day, I decided to go down to the DX station.  I'd been there before, and I had seen Ponyboy, Johnny and Two-Bit down there a few times, too.  And now that I knew who they were, I had seen Sodapop and Steve down there, too.  I assumed that they worked there.

        While I was walking, I all the sudden heard the scuffing of shoes on pavement, and more than one person.  Thinking I was about to get jumped again by the Socs, I whipped around, my hands balled into fists partially raised at my sides.  I was never one to scream and jump like a girl when I was caught off guard.

        Instead of being confronted by Socs, it was Two-Bit who had been trying to sneak up on me, Johnny and Ponyboy behind him.

        I had seen all three of them flinch the slightest bit at my reaction, but it wasn't very noticeable.  Two-Bit grinned and then inquired, "What's a cute girl like you doin' walking by your lonesome?"

        He did not just say that.  "Knockin' your block off if you keep talking to me like that," I said icily.

        "Told you she was Dallly's sister," I heard Ponyboy jeer quietly.  Wait, so they had talked about me before?  Well, I suppose with all the staring they did, it must have been for some reason.

        Two-Bit gave Ponyboy a glare, and Johnny tried to stifle a snicker.

        "Come on, ain't you got a sense of humor?" Two-Bit asked, brushing off my blow-up quickly.

        "No," I said, keeping my voice cold and even.  Honestly,  I was attempting to be sarcastic, but it didn't come out that way.

        Two-Bit was surprised by my serious answer, and the whole way there and back he kept cracking jokes that had Ponyboy and Johnny doubling over cause they were laughing so hard in an attempt to get me to laugh.  I would have laughed, but I was being stubborn on purpose.  It was really hard, but all he got out of me was an occasional smile that I tried to suppress, which I did a pretty good job of.  I don't think he caught me even once, though Johnny might have, not that he said anything.

        I didn't say much either, and on the way back to school, Two-Bit made more than one joke about me being quieter than Ponyboy and Johnny, making sure I could hear every one.  I didn't know if that was true or not yet.