Billie's the first to arrive to class.
She didn't plan to be the first person to class, but she couldn't spend a second longer in homeroom. For twenty minutes, she was met with questioning stares and hushed whispers. Billie knows what they were talking about without hearing their conversations. They were gossiping about why she was in school when her older siblings were hoods, and hoods were notorious for skipping school and causing trouble.
Billie wishes that her every move won't have to be scrutinised. It was a false hope that she would be able to go to school unnoticed. But she is a Shepard, and Shepards have a reputation in Tulsa. And for as long as she is in Tulsa, her every move will be scrutinised.
Billie feels the eyes of students as they walk past her in the corridors. She ducks her head, trying to avoid meeting the gaze of curious students with the same question on all their lips. She focuses her gaze on her mud-stained Doc Martens. Curly had gotten mud on them when he came home one night covered in mud from being pushed into a ditch by Lloyd and Billie hasn't been able to clean the mud stains since.
Billie hears a voice calling her name, and she looks up from her shoes to see Curly standing in front of her, flanked by Dean and Lloyd.
"We're gonna skip school now, you okay?" Curly asks, pointing to Dean and Lloyd beside him. Billie notices that Curly's other friend Scott is not with them, which surprises her. Usually, the four of them are inseparable.
Billie nods her head. "Yeah," she says softly.
Curly flashes her a smile that Billie hasn't seen all summer. The smile that Billie was used to seeing had been quickly replaced with a smirk or scowl that mirrored Tim's. It was unnerving how similar Tim and Curly really were.
Lloyd nudges Curly roughly. "Come on! The broads are waiting for us," he says impatiently to Curly.
Billie bites down on her bottom lip at Lloyd's comment. Offensive terms and profanity were quite common in the vocabulary of people on the East Side, and her siblings aren't an exception. Billie, on the other hand, is. She can't get used to the frequent swearing around her, leaving a foul taste on her tongue if she used the rare cuss word.
Dean snorts at Lloyd's comment. "You're the last person a broad would want."
Lloyd turns to Dean. "Fuck off, will ya," he cusses crossly. Under his rude demeanour, Billie can see how his cheeks flush slightly, hinting embarrassment. It's no secret that out of the four boys, Lloyd was the last one girls would turn to. Billie understands why. His offensive comments and unpleasant attitude was a turnoff and were one of the reasons why Billie steers clear of him.
"See ya, Bil." Curly waves to Billie before walking down the corridor. Dean gives Billie a small smile before walking off, whilst Lloyd walks away, ignoring Billie completely. Billie doesn't mind; the feeling is mutual.
During the exchange, students have started to arrive to class. Billie recognises some students from homeroom, others from around town and the rest are unfamiliar faces. Billie recognises Ponyboy Curtis, a fourteen-year-old Greaser whose brothers Tim is circumstantial friends with.
Like his brothers, Ponyboy also has a reputation around town. Ponyboy is known as being a bright kid, his marks above average. Billie remembers Curly telling her that Ponyboy was put up a year in school because of how smart he was. Billie didn't know if that was true or not, as Curly was closer to Ponyboy than she was. She's lost count of how many times Curly has raved on about the youngest Curtis brother, saying that he was a good kid.
Billie's eyes focus on the youngest Curtis brother, with his hands tucked in his jean pockets. He's slouching up against the wall, his head lowered, gaze directed to his ratty tennis shoes, the white of the shoe turning an ugly brown from lack of care.
Suddenly the youngest Curtis raises his head. His grey-green eyes, wide with surprise, stare into Billie's dark blue eyes, making her quickly look away as she diverts her attention to the ground.
Billie's cheeks flush in embarrassment, and as she looks up again, she sees Ponyboy quickly lower his head. He looks out of place, standing there amongst the crowd of Socs, chatting animatedly about who they were with and what they did over the summer.
Unlike homeroom, Billie and Ponyboy are the only two Greasers here. They stick out like a sore thumb amongst the Socs in a sea of preppy and colourful outfits, the overpowering smells of overpriced aftershave and perfume mingling into one nauseating smell, giving Billie a headache.
This is what gives her the courage to walk over to Ponyboy. She stands beside him silently, and she watches as he watches her movements with the same wide-eyed surprised expression as before.
"Hi," she says politely, giving Ponyboy a small smile as she clings onto the strap of her backpack.
"Um, h-hi," Ponyboy stutters in shock, not bothering to conceal his surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Same thing as you," Billie replies, not quite understanding Ponyboy's question.
"I mean what are you doing here?"
Billie felt her cheeks flush in anger, contrasting to several moments before when she flushing in embarrassment. She felt insulted that Ponyboy was insulting her intelligence, just because he was put up a year for being so bright. This Ponyboy was not the same Ponyboy Billie has heard Curly raving on about.
"You're not special. There's other smart Greasers here. That title doesn't only belong to you," Billie snaps crossly, glaring at Ponyboy, mirroring the trademark Shepard glare unknowingly. She saw Ponyboy's eyes widening in shock, and she turned around before Ponyboy could reply.
Billie hears the sound of her new English teacher's voice telling the class to stay silent as they filed into the classroom. Getting back in line, she follows her new classmates inside the classroom.
The lights suddenly flick on and the classroom is illuminated. Each desk is grouped into two, with four pairs in each of the four rows. The walls are bare, exposing the rough red brick. There are cream coloured curtains covering the windows, highlighting the red brick.
The teacher's masculine voice cuts through the silence in the classroom, as twenty heads turn to face the owner of the voice. "Once I call your name, you may sit in your seat," the teacher explains, as he picks up a sheet of paper from his desk.
He goes through the list of names in alphabetical order, pointing to the table which each student will sit for the upcoming year. Billie watches, putting names to faces. She watches as friends giggle giddily at being placed next to each other. She watches as others politely smile to their new partner for the rest of the year, with no intention of becoming friends. Billie wonders who she'll be seated next to. She wonders if the weight of her surname will frighten them, causing them to keep their distance to not cross paths with Tim Shepard's little sister.
Ponyboy is sitting next to Elizabeth Cowan, and Billie watches as Ponyboy shuffles to his seat next to the perfect princess that was Elizabeth Cowan, cousins to the perfect All-American princess known as Cherry Valance. Elizabeth gives Ponyboy a sugary sweet smile as Ponyboy gives her a small smile in reply.
Billie didn't hate Elizabeth, but she is wary of her. She is wary of all Socs, really. Her brother had instilled in and Curly to never trust a Soc. Socs are slimy, sneaky people who manipulated people through money and power. They never took the fall for their wrongdoings. Instead, it was inflicted on those who couldn't defend themselves; the Greasers, those 'hoods', those good-for-nothings that were the cause of every problem in this town.
"Belinda Shepard." Billie turns to see that her teacher has called her name, and is pointing to the vacant seat in the third row, next to a Soc dressed in a lemon-coloured preppy dress with a matching bow in her honey-coloured hair.
Billie doesn't miss the way the girl's body stiffens at the news. As Billie sits down beside her, her body turns even more rigid. She refuses to look at Billie, her gaze focused intently on the chalkboard at the front of the room. Billie doesn't particularly want to converse either, so she pulls out her notebook and grabs a pen from her backpack.
Billie sees the girl doing the same thing, and as she takes her notebook, the label on the book catches Billie's eyes. Cynthia Reynolds - her name - is written in immaculate cursive handwriting, contrasting to Billie quickly scribbling her name on the cover on her notebook the night before.
The teacher clears his throat and all eyes turn to face him expectantly. The teacher smiles before he begins talking. He looks to be in his late fifties, his hair greyer than any other colour. "I'm Mr Symes, your English teacher for this year. Welcome to high school."
The class is silent as Mr Symes explains the year ahead. He tells the class what book they would be reading - a book by the name of Robinson Crusoe. Billie has never heard of it, but the students around her smile in excitement. She makes a mental note to find it the next time she goes to the store.
"And finally," Mr Symes says, "I want you to know that I will be challenging you to think. You have probably guessed that you are in the advanced placement classes. You'll be reflecting on books and films studied and how they relate to your own lives. I don't care where you come from, I am only here to help you become the best student you can be."
As he says this, Mr Symes makes eye contact with both Ponyboy and Billie. Billie lowers her head and focuses her attention on flicking the cap on her pen.
The bell rings, cutting off the teacher mid-sentence. She helplessly watches on as the class begins to pack up to head out for lunch. Billie is one of those students and as she steps out of the classroom, she disappears into the crowd of bellowing students who are racing to meet up with their friends to talk about their new teachers and classes.
Billie's just happy to be out of History. As soon as they had stepped into the classroom, her History teacher was practically shaking with fright. She mumbles to the class to choose their seats, and as students rush to sit with their friends, Billie makes a beeline to the back of the classroom so she can sit by herself, the seat beside her vacant. Ponyboy has the same idea as Billie, but instead, he sits right at the front.
Billie couldn't understand why Ponyboy would want to sit at the front. He's put a target on his back for the class to aim at. He's basically given the class ammunition for the whispers and looks his way. This is why Billie is at the back, away from the prying eyes of her classmates.
As Billie is walking down the corridors, she spots the top of Curly's newly shaved head. It would be a while until Billie is used to seeing Curly without his curls. She supposes this is just another change as Curly transitions into the miniature version of Tim.
Darting in between older Socs, she sees that Angela is walking alongside two of her friends, heading through the open school doors, most likely to head to The Dingo for lunch. Billie knows that Tim makes Angela and Curly stay at school for the first day, but she thought that Curly would have listened to Tim rather than Angela, as Angela preferred to break the rules rather than listening to them.
Billie was right, as Angela and her two friends walk down the school steps and run out of the school gates, laughing victoriously and not looking back. As Billie looks closer, she can see that Ponyboy is right behind them, this time he wasn't alone. He was with Steve Randle and Two-Bit Mathews, the only members beside Ponyboy to attend school, with Steve's mother not letting her son drop out and Two-Bit attending school for the hell of it considering he is eighteen and still is a junior.
She watches as the figures of Angela and her friends in front of Ponyboy and his friends disappear from view before she turns around and hesitantly heads to the cafeteria to get something to eat.
The cafeteria is large, and Billie instantly feels small. As she waits in line with her tray in her hands, she feels exposed and all she wants to do is abandon her lunch and run out of the cafeteria. But her stomach growls his protest, and she chooses to stay.
She's handed her food on her tray, a measly sandwich and a packet of chips that she could have easily got from the vending machine. She scans the room, looking past tables full of friends laughing and eating together. Billie soon finds a spare table in the corner of the room and she quickly walks towards it. She slams her tray down on the table and slips into a chair. She places her backpack on the vacant chair beside her.
As Billie goes to open the packet of chips, she feels a pair of eyes drilling holes through her. Cautiously looking up over the packet of chips, she sees a beefy blonde haired Soc staring at her menacingly. She gulps before looking back down at the packet of chips in her hand.
Throughout lunch, Billie feels the same pair of eyes on her, and she tries her hardest to ignore it, hoping that the Soc will go bored and focus his attention on something else. After finishing eating, Billie stands up, ready to leave the cafeteria and get away from the menacing Soc.
She gasps in shock as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich flies and lands in front of her tray, splatting all over the table. She steps back in shock, still holding the tray in her hands, her mouth agape at the sight in front of her. She didn't know where the sandwich had come from, but as she locked eyes with the intimidating Soc who had been staring at her since she had sat down, she knew it was him.
"Greasers aren't allowed in the cafeteria," he yelled out loudly, his lips turning upwards in a cruel smirk. "Didn't your brother tell you that?"
Billie looks down in embarrassment, her cheeks hot. She bites the inside of her mouth and wills herself to be strong.
The Soc answers his own question by saying, "well he dropped out, didn't he? Dropouts don't know much." That response caused his Soc friends on his table to start laughing, as though he had told them the funniest joke they had ever heard.
Maybe she was the funniest joke they had ever heard.
Wordlessly, Billie grabs the napkins on her tray and picks up the sandwich, depositing it on her tray before putting it in the bin. As she exits the cafeteria, she can still hear the Soc and his friends laughing at her.
Now she understands why Tim despises the Socs so much.
Billie is waiting on the front steps by the time Angela and Curly walk through the front gates. As she spots her siblings, Billie stands up and grabs her backpack, slinging it on her back.
As Angela and Curly come closer, Billie sees that Angela is mad. Her cheeks are flushed with fury, her eyes are dangerous slits and her fists are clenched tightly. As they approach Billie, Billie can almost feel the rage radiating off Angela.
"Wait until I get my hands of that bastard Charles Minor! He won't know what hit him!" Billie hears Angela yell, her fists flailing angrily in the air as Curly tries to calm him down.
Billie doesn't know what has gotten Angela so angry. She couldn't have known about the cafeteria incident, she wasn't at school. Word couldn't have possibly travelled that fast, could it?
"We heard about the incident in the cafeteria," Curly explained to Billie. Billie is surprised to see that Curly is so calm; he has a temper and is quite easy to set off.
"Billie, I love you, but you gotta know to use your head! Greasers never sit in the cafeteria! Socs like Charles fuckin' Minor start causin' trouble and we get blamed for it!" Angela tells Billie, as her eyes flick dangerously behind Billie, most likely trying to find the Soc.
"I'm sorry," Billie responds meekly, her cheeks heating up in embarrassment once again.
Angela focuses her gaze on Billie, sighing loudly. "It's not your fault. You weren't to know. Just promise me you won't sit in the cafeteria again, alright?"
"Alright," Billie promises as Angela pulls Billie into a tight hug.
"Fuckin' Socs, always tryna stir shit up," Curly sneered, his lips turning into a scowl.
Angela sighs beside him. "You got that right. Now, let's go. I don't wanna be here any longer."