ETHEREAL | OUTSIDERS

･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

♪ : baby blue — action bronson

❝ i hope you ruined this for a reason. ❞

I SLOUCHED AS I approached my locker, waiting for the bell to ring for my last period. I had a mirror in my locker, so I fixed myself up. My outfit was a pair of jeans and a white crew neck. My hair was curly from me putting it in braids.

The bell rang loudly, and my head perked up. As I walked down the hallway to get to my last class, the collar of my shirt was tugged, so my whole body followed into an empty hallway. Lifting my head, I saw two familiar faces. Cherry and Tessa.

"Oh my god, what the hell do you want?" I was done with her crap at this point, it was going on too long.

"That's not how you talk to me, you slut." She spat at me, jeez her breath smelt so bad. I waved my hand in front of my nose, indicating that her breath stank.

Her face turned red, like a tomato. Then, she pushed me into the locker behind me, which made me crouch down on the floor. It knocked the wind out of me, making me a bit dizzy.

This girl is always messing with me, and I don't even know what I did wrong. Tessa is a soc, why would she even want to be associated with greasers? Nonetheless, I know that she'll always mess with me.

"You know, I will get Ponyboy back, and I will do anything to ruin your life." She threatened, her voice cracked in the middle of the sentence.

"You're just so self-absorbed, huh? You're a slut, living with a house of boys. Wanting all the attention, needing it from them." Tessa sneered at me. Cherry just stood there and gave me a dirty look. I guess she was just there just in case we started physically fighting. I wasn't in the mood though, I let her yell in my face.

"What is going on? Girls, you're supposed to be in class." A door creaked open, revealing a teacher. I watched as Tessa's expression changed completely.

"Oh, sorry miss. I was helping her up since she tripped." She held out her hand to me, and widened her eyes at me. I reluctantly grabbed it, and she helped me up.

"Alright, just get to class now." With that, the door closed, and it was silent. Tessa turned towards me and slammed me back into the lockers and onto the floor again, making a loud banging noise. Then, the two brats walked away. I checked to make sure that she was gone, then whispered.

"I hope you ruined this for a reason."

——

"How was your day?" Johnny asked me, wind blowing in my hair. My expression was dead, I had no expression.

"Meh." I replied, keeping my head down. He looked at me, worriedly then turned to Ponyboy.

"You okay, Ellie? You seem down these couple days." Ponyboy asked, I wasn't in the mood to answer, or tell what happened today.

"I'm okay, don't worry guys." I replied, my voice was monotone. Life was just a hassle, and it was like I was done with it.

——

"God, what the-" My pencil scribbled out everything on my paper. Math was not my thing, clearly. I was getting frustrated with this one math problem. Ponyboy turned his head towards me, then came over to wear I was sitting.

"You need help, Ellie? You know I can help you whenever." I nodded desperately, burying my hand in my face. My head blanked out the whole time he explained, I just focused on the thought of Ponyboy.

"You dig?" Ponyboy asked, and I snapped back into reality. I nodded quickly and thanked him, and he smiled back as a response.

"No problem, anytime." He said, while getting up. He helped me up by giving me a hand and we went to go eat dinner in the dining room.

"Thanks Darry, it was good." I said, washing my own dish and heading into the bathroom to wash up. When I looked in the mirror, my face looked so dull. I could barely recognize myself, my sleep deprivation provided me with bags underneath my eyes. My complexion was pretty pale, as well.

'Maybe today's just not a good day.' I thought, hoping I would look normal tomorrow morning. As I changed into sweatpants and a hoodie, I stared at myself one more time, then walked out of the bathroom.

Tucking myself under the sheets, I closed my eyes. Later, I felt the other side of the bed shift which indicated that Ponyboy was here. After a bit, he turned and wrapped his arms around my waist. It was one of the only reasons for comfort.

The next morning was a hassle to get ready, I hadn't picked out my outfits the night before, so I was a mess.

"C'mon Ellie, we might be late!" Ponyboy yelled from the living room. I rushed out, slipping on my shoes. This day was not any better, and I knew it wasn't going to get better.

As we got to the front of the school, it was strange. A lot of people were staring at me, which was unusual since I was like a shadow to everyone. I shrugged it off, not having the energy to ask why.

People snickered in the hallways at me, pointing to me and whispering to their friends or anyone close to them. They scrunched their faces in disgust. I never got to get to my locker in the morning since I had to rush to class.

Around lunch time, I stopped by my locker. Putting in my combination, I opened it. There was a small slip of paper in there, so I picked it up. I was shocked at what the content on the paper was.

'Eleanor Collins is a whore, she lives in a house full of boys.' I read, in horror. There were more things on the paper, but not very appropriate things. I heard footsteps rush towards to me, getting louder and louder.

"Oh my god, El did you hear it?" I recognized the voice as Annie's so I turned toward her direction. I held up the paper in my hand so that she could see it.

"Who made these up, and who put it in my locker?" I asked, hurt. My eyes were watering, threatening to spill tears. She sighed sadly at me, then hugged me. I didn't hug back, I was too dazed out. While she hugged me, she whispered in my ear.

"Tessa did it, she made a lot of rumors about you."