another us | sodapop curtis

10. Looking To Belong

"I'm right here." He whispered from behind us.

"I was just talking to the soc." He said.

"What did he say?" Dally asked putting a hand on his shoulder.

"He said he won't apologize because he did it on purpose." Johnny replied.

I think this is when Dally and the whole gang started hating the socs. They were all wondering how anyone could hurt such a sweet and innocent girl like me. I looked over to my kindergarten teacher who was outside supervising and saw her watching us. I saw her holding a book and pen.

We all knew we couldn't do anything to change what had happened. Darry somehow convinced Dally not to go yell at the boy.

*Grade 1*

"I hurt my knee!" I exclaimed as Pony and I walked out of class.

"What happened?" He asked. We saw the gang walk over to us as we waited for them.

"I was running when I fell on the ground!" I exclaimed pulling my pants up to show him my bruise.

"We're in the same class, how did I not know about this?" He asked himself.

"You were sleeping." I said obviously.

"That makes sense." He shrugged.

"What happened?" Darry asked as he looked at my leg.

"I was running and I was too fast so I fell!" I explained.

"C'mon, my mom can fix it." He replied.

"Where's Dally?" I asked.

"He went home early." Johnny replied. Little did I know that he'd actually been told to stay after school for getting in trouble.

*Grade 3*

I started liking this boy. The gang found out and Soda made sure he explained very carefully that some boys are dangerous.

"Don't worry Soda, he's really nice." I smiled.

"Yeah, we'll see about that." He said putting his hand on my shoulder.

*Grade 4*

"I like you." I told the boy.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yeah, but you can't tell anyone." I replied.

"Don't worry." He replied walking out.

~At lunch~

I walked outside after I ate my lunch and tried finding Ponyboy. I turned to the playground when some of my classmates saw me.

"Hey Riya! I didn't know you like Kendall!" A girl exclaimed.

"W-Who told you that?" I asked shocked at what they said.

"Oh no one..." She said walking away.

Don't worry Riya, they probably just heard you telling him. They won't tell anyone. I ran to the slide when I saw Ponyboy. I stood in front of the slide waiting for him to come down.

"Riya!" He exclaimed sliding down.

"Why did you tell Kendall?" He asked me.

"H-How do you know I told him?" I asked wide eyed.