Golden Days // The Outsiders

Chapter Two:

I woke up to the sound of Soda's loud alarm clock, which meant it was time for Soda to get up and get ready for work, and for me to get ready for school.

I have always loved school because I guess I'm just so good at it.
I'm not a genius or anything, but I got put up a year in grade school. I'm a freshman, and I'm not even old enough to be going to high school yet.
But recently, I haven't been doing so hot in school. I guess everything that has been happening has really started to have an affect on me and everything that I do.

Soda crawled out of bed and went to go take a shower. I got up and got my clothes out and started getting dressed, until my clothes really caught my eye.
I began studying the clothes, as I did to my eyes the day before.
The dull colors, the bagginess . . . when did I start dressing like this?
I thought about it for a second.
It seems like all I wear these days is gray sweatshirts and sweatpants. I mean, it's not like I've ever dressed so great anyways, but it's never been this bad.

I looked inside of my closet, trying to find something not so dull.
I saw my purple jacket that I used to wear all the time. I decided to wear the jacket over a white t-shirt with some jeans. Not much of an upgrade, but better than what I had on before.

Soda walked back into the room with a towel around his waist after showering, grabbed his clothes, and went back into the bathroom.
He didn't even look at me, crack a joke of some sort like he used to.
I want to say that the same thing that has been keeping me so depressed is keeping him depressed, too. It is, but that's not the main thing.

Months ago, Soda had a girlfriend that he loved very much. Her name was Sandy. But, it turned out that she didn't love him like he loved her. She got pregnant with someone else's child and left Tulsa to go live in Florida with her grandmother, leaving Sodapop with nothing but a sappy note that she wrote him.
Soda loved her so much, he had even planned on marrying her.
So, I'm pretty sure that that's the main thing that's been keeping my happy-go-lucky brother so depressed.

I went into the living room and saw Darry sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. "Hey, Pony. You hungry? I made some eggs and bacon," Darry asked me.
"No, I'm good. Thanks," I replied.
I don't really find any interest in eating constantly like I used to. Like, yes, I still eat, of course. But what's the use in eating three times a day? Breakfast, lunch, dinner . . . it's kind of pointless.
"Come on, Pony. You gotta eat somethin'," Darry said, looking at me.
"Really, I'm not hungry," I said back to him.
Darry gave me that sympathy look. Everyone always gives me that look. I hate that look. It's like when people say, "Oh, I'm sorry," to you when something goes wrong in your life. Except, they're not actually sorry. They have nothing to be sorry for. Just one of those things that people say for some reason that they don't actually mean.

I picked up my binder and notebooks for school and said goodbye to Darry, and yelled goodbye to Soda. He didn't yell back, though I know he heard me. I walked out and began another dreadful day, walking to school, desperately hoping not to stumble upon any Socs.
I just wanted to get this day over with, as I do every day.