The Outsiders: A Soc's Betrayal

Chapter One

Clouds hung miles in the sky as I walked, listening to the birds chattering, singing small tunes. A soft breeze rustled the branches, stirring the leaves awake as they skid across the road. It was a bright Saturday morning, and I occupied myself by taking a long stroll through the park. My light sweater drooped over my shoulders, though the reason I wore it was a question I couldn't answer. The sun shone brightly down on the baking pavement. I blinked and watched the morning turn to afternoon.

The house was busy that day. Dad was working intensely on the computer, Mom was in the kitchen cleaning the dishes, and my older sister was reluctantly completing her weekend homework.

Weekend homework. I practically let out a snort of laughter. What was the point when those were the only two days you got off for the week?

I scraped at the mulch on the park's grounds and listened as cars of all sorts zoomed by the neighborhood. I fiddled around with my sweater for quite some time, then glanced up and spotted a lean figure approaching the entrance to the park.

Cherry! I instantly recognized the glinting green eyes and her orange red hair flowing out behind her in the gusts of wind.

I rose from my seat on the bench and watched her until she squeaked the gate open and made her way across the park's grounds.

"I knew I'd find you here," she told me, smiling in greetings, "It was worth a try. Looks like I'm right."

I gave her a playful bump on the arm in return and she beckoned me towards the red vehicle she had parked on the opposite side of the street. "Come on; let's hang."

Sherri Valance, or Cherry for short, was probably one of the best friends I'd ever had. We met on the last year of middle school, and we were inseparable since then. We knew each other so well, we practically knew what was on the other's mind. She was a great pal to have around.

We buckled up. She stepped on it and off we rode, cruising down the main streets of the neighborhood. As we went, we chatted like we always did, gossiping about what had happened lately at school, and whom Cherry loved to speak of, Bob Sheldon. Bob was her beloved boyfriend. Although he didn't impress me much in my opinion, he was decent. I respected him for who he was. He was her number one man; I had to play nice with him for that.

Once, on one of our many hang outs, Cherry had asked me if I'd ever thought of picking up a man of my own. Golly, I had thought, I'm not even sure I'm prepared for a relationship. Then again, I yearned for one most of the time; Cherry always assumed I was afraid a guy would ditch me, throw me to the curb if I tried. Perhaps it was true, maybe I was frightened. But part of me realized I just hadn't found the right guy yet.

A blurred movement from the corner of my eye broke me from my conversation with Cherry, and I turned to observe the commotion. I noticed that she had done the same. The car had slowed and the back of her head shown bright red in my field of vision; she was interested in it as much as I was.

"Who are they?" I wondered aloud, making out several buff guys who were tossing a football back and forth to each other.

Greasers.

The cola drinking, greasy haired, blade pulling kind of people that lived around our neighborhood. They roamed the streets. They were tough in rumbles. They played it rough 24/7. Socs like me preferred to steer clear of them for the best. Others just looked for fights, and most of the time, they got what they wanted. Greasers could be feisty. Personally, I admired the way they stood out. The continuous rivalry made my blood boil, especially when the only thing that separated us from the greasers was wealth.

I had always been quite fond of the opposing side, and my respect for them had grown strong in the past few months. I never once let these feelings slip because of how bad I would have it then.