East West Sunset - A Darry Curtis Fanfiction

Chapter Thirteen

The next day at school I was greeted with a lot of strange looks; people either stared at my bandaged arm or avoided eye contact with me entirely. I was sure Ponyboy, with his black eye healing but still a resolute purplish-yellow, was getting the same amount of attention. Thankfully, though, to my knowledge neither one of us was harassed by the Socs that day. I saw Arnie's big blond head looming at the end of the hall as I was heading off to math class, but I scurried away before he or his pals could see me. Overall, it was a blessedly tame day, though I certainly had more homework than I had had the day before. 

I met Ponyboy at our locker right when the final bell rang at 3:10, a stack of books in my arms and a bag Pony had stolen for me that morning slung over my shoulder. It was full of the books I'd need for homework that night, while the ones in my arms were the ones I could leave at school. Pony unlocked the padlock for me and tossed his schoolbooks inside, littering the floor with paper and notebooks. I wrinkled my nose at the mess but said nothing. I would slowly organize the locker, I resolved, so that Pony and I wouldn't have to live with such blatant disorganization. I was just orderly that way. 

Nobody talked to us as we went by, though I saw a few Soc girls give me pointed looks as they turned their backs on us. I felt myself become more defensive as we walked past more people who were obviously judging us for the injured state we were in. I saw the redheaded girl from my English class frown at me and shake her head pityingly; Pony stared down at his feet, his cheeks flushed in anger and embarrassment. I couldn't stand him feeling that way for something I blamed myself for, so I took action. 

"What's the matter?" I stopped dead in my tracks in front of the girl. "Is there something wrong?" My voice was sickly sweet and polite as could be. I even gave her a smile, even though my words were bursting with anger. I didn't want to stoop to the Soc's level, though, so I kept my rage and hostility in check. I didn't really want to start a fight, I just wanted to teach this Soc girl a lesson.

"You're hurt," the girl said. The words were nice but her tone was like an admonitory mother.

"Yes," I admitted, brandishing my arm so that she could see the little spots of blood marring the clean white fabric. "Thank you for your pity."

The girl flushed at the last sentence, though I thought I had spoken them nicely enough. "That's what you get, hanging around boys like that. You get hurt." 

There was no mistaking the condescending tone in her words now. I tried to stay calm but my composure was slipping. "I'll get hurt either way. All boys can hurt you," I said. I started to turn away and leave it be before I'd do something I'd regret, but her voice rang out behind me and stopped me.

"Don't make the same choice I did." Her voice was colder than an April blizzard. 

"Cherry..." Ponyboy grabbed my elbow and started to pull me away, hurt in his eyes as he stared at the girl.

"I'll make whatever choices I want, thank you," I said coolly, wrenching my arm away from Pony's grasp. I gave her one last hard look before turning my back on her on my own terms. I didn't hear Pony follow me as I stalked away. I felt betrayed. "I certainly won't choose to be such a stuck-up bitch about it, that's for sure," I muttered under my breath. I glanced behind me and saw that Pony was standing in the middle of the hallway by himself, looking like a puppy someone had left out in the rain. Cherry had left him standing alone, and he looked after me with a lost expression. I felt guilty at once for leaving him there all by his lonesome, and I stopped and turned back. He trudged towards me and met me halfway. His hands were shoved into his pockets, and his back was hunched over. He looked upset.

"Sorry, Ponyboy," I murmured. "I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry."

He shrugged his shoulders but didn't look at me. "It's okay. It just hurts when-- hurts when someone you think was your friend..." He shrugged again. "When they regret ever being your friend in the first place."