East West Sunset - A Darry Curtis Fanfiction

Chapter Eight

Ponyboy's high school was about five blocks away from the Curtis house, and it was huge. It was an intimidating tan brick building with a large number of jail-like windows that caught the sunlight and reflected it blindingly back into my eyes. "Welcome to hell," Pony said dryly. "Tulsa Central High School."

Soda rolled his eyes. "Come on, Pony, it's not that bad." He turned to me sympathetically. "Really, don't listen to him. It's not."

Something in his tone made me doubt him.

"You could say that. You only went here for a year and a half," Ponyboy grumbled.

"Well, school wasn't for me. But for a bright kid like you, Pony, it could really help you find your full potential," he said wisely. "Just tough it out and you'll be better off than the rest of us."

"Whatever." Ponyboy rolled his eyes grumpily. It was clear that he hated the place.

Soda clapped his hands together and looked Ponyboy hard in the eye. "You bring Diana right to the principal's office and tell her that she wants to go to school here. She probably won't ask for proof of Tulsa residency, but if she does, you just tell her she's a cousin staying at the Curtis residence for the school year and she don't got her fancy papers yet. Alright, Pony?"

"Alright," he mumbled. He grabbed at my hand and pulled me along after him. "Come on, Diana. Bye, Soda," he said to his older brother.

"Don't make no trouble, you hear?" Soda called after us before heading in the other direction, off to work, no doubt.

I felt nervousness stir deep in the pit of my belly as Pony dragged me along. The hallways of the school were jam-packed with so many students that I couldn't believe that there were enough lockers for everyone. Then I noticed two girls struggling to put both of their backpacks in the same thin metal compartment and realized that at this school, you had to share lockers. Dread took its turn in my stomach as I saw kids pushing other kids' heads into water fountains and teenagers slamming each other into the walls. As a bathroom door was pushed open by one sobbing freshman, a cloud of foul-smelling cigarette smoke wafted out. I covered my nose to avoid breathing in the disgusting stuff as I followed after Pony, down the hallway and towards an office whose door was opened invitingly.

"Hey, Mrs. Gibson," Pony mumbled to the lady at the front desk. "Uh, this girl... wants to, um... register here for the semester...?" He said it like he thought I was insane for wanting to do so.

"Another one?" The old lady at the desk peered up at me crankily from under her thick bifocal lenses. She adjusted them fussily as she ruffled through the papers littering the desktop. "Just what we need, another kid. Well, it's not like we can turn you down. Public school, it's the law that we have to accept everyone, no matter if we've got more kids than we can handle." She snorted and extracted a green colored sheet from the stack of paper. "What grade are you in?"

"I'm a senior," I croaked and cleared my throat.

"Great, we don't have many of those left. Now, you have any previous high school credits?" she asked. "I'll need to contact your old school for your transcripts if you do."

"Um, yes. Stanley Junior High and High School in Stanley, Oklahoma is where I earned all my credits," I said nervously.

"All right, you're good to go for now. I'll contact them later. Here's a basic schedule for you," she said, practically throwing me another sheet of paper from the multitudes on her desk. "Mr. Curtis, if you'd help Ms. Jean here to her locker. She'll be sharing with you."

"Wha-! Um, okay, Mrs. Gibson," he muttered. 

Mrs. Gibson pulled two notebooks out from somewhere under her desk, grabbed a few pencils and pens from the mug on the desktop, and handed it all to me. "Take these supplies. Your teachers will lend you some textbooks. Now, hurry off to class, the first bell rings in five minutes," she grunted as she turned away from us and waved us out dismissively.