Rag Doll
Chasing Pirates.
Jackie and I made our way to first period; we sat down in our usual seats beside the window. There was only one Greaser in our class, her name was Dani. I didn’t know her that well at all, I knew that she hung out with the Curtis brothers but that was it. I had only talked to her once and that was because I was on the yearbook staff and she didn’t show up for picture day, which I was in charge of, so a couple days later I had to hunt down everyone who didn’t show up and get a picture of them if they would let me. It was her and Dallas Winston that I had to hunt down; as usual he wasn’t even at school that day so I took her out to the hallway and snapped a picture of her. That was all that happened, she returned to class and I went on searching for more ‘picture day skippers’.
Dani comes into the room and sits in front of me; she doesn’t say anything to anyone. In fact she didn’t even look at anybody; she just looked around at everyone like she hated them all. I wouldn’t blame her for it if she did hate us all though. I had seen the way the upper-class, including my own brother and my best friend, treated Greasers. It was awful.
Anyway, she opened up her text book and started on Algebra homework that would be due as soon as the Mr. Hart came in. I could tell she was scribbling down random numbers just to have something to turn in; she had plenty of time to work out the problems because Mr. Hart was almost always ten minutes late in the morning. I still felt sorry for her though, I didn’t know what it was like at her house but I had heard awful stories about that side of town. So, I decided I would try and help her out.
“Hey, Dani, you can copy my homework if you want,” I say and pull it out of my binder; suddenly there was a bunch of people looking at me like I had committed some terrible crime or something. Some people started snickering as if I was pulling a prank on her even though I wasn’t.
She notices this and doesn’t turn all the way around; instead she looks over her shoulder at me suspiciously.
“This isn’t some trick is it?” She asked me, I shook my head in response.
She turned all the way around in her seat and took the paper from me then turned back around without saying a word. She copied it quickly and turned back around; she placed the paper on my desk.
“Thanks,” she mumbles and turns back around just as Mr. Hart was coming in the room.
When class was over Dani practically runs out of the room, I walked out slowly with Jackie on my trail.
“I can’t believe you did that for that Greaser! Bobbie, seriously, what would Ronnie do if he found out! Or what would your parents do if they knew you let a Greaser copy your homework!” She yelled, causing people of both the Soc and Greasers to stare at us like we were insane.
“If you would stop yelling Ronnie won’t figure out, and if he doesn’t figure out my parents won’t either. So keep your mouth shut!”
She looks at me as if seeing me for the first time, “Why can’t you just be like the rest of us?”
“Because you’re all mean to them just because you think we’re better! But we’re not!” I say that just as we walk by Dani, a small smile appears on her lips.
I push my blondish-brown hair over my shoulders and stop at my locker, Jackie’s locker was right beside mine so she was able to keep the argument going.
“We are better than them though! They’re trash!”
“No they are not! They’re still people, and a lot of them are a hell of a lot better than us,” I say before Ronnie walks up and the conversation is dropped. By the end of the day Jackie had completely dropped the whole thing and we were at her house getting ready to go to the drive-in.
Dani comes into the room and sits in front of me; she doesn’t say anything to anyone. In fact she didn’t even look at anybody; she just looked around at everyone like she hated them all. I wouldn’t blame her for it if she did hate us all though. I had seen the way the upper-class, including my own brother and my best friend, treated Greasers. It was awful.
Anyway, she opened up her text book and started on Algebra homework that would be due as soon as the Mr. Hart came in. I could tell she was scribbling down random numbers just to have something to turn in; she had plenty of time to work out the problems because Mr. Hart was almost always ten minutes late in the morning. I still felt sorry for her though, I didn’t know what it was like at her house but I had heard awful stories about that side of town. So, I decided I would try and help her out.
“Hey, Dani, you can copy my homework if you want,” I say and pull it out of my binder; suddenly there was a bunch of people looking at me like I had committed some terrible crime or something. Some people started snickering as if I was pulling a prank on her even though I wasn’t.
She notices this and doesn’t turn all the way around; instead she looks over her shoulder at me suspiciously.
“This isn’t some trick is it?” She asked me, I shook my head in response.
She turned all the way around in her seat and took the paper from me then turned back around without saying a word. She copied it quickly and turned back around; she placed the paper on my desk.
“Thanks,” she mumbles and turns back around just as Mr. Hart was coming in the room.
When class was over Dani practically runs out of the room, I walked out slowly with Jackie on my trail.
“I can’t believe you did that for that Greaser! Bobbie, seriously, what would Ronnie do if he found out! Or what would your parents do if they knew you let a Greaser copy your homework!” She yelled, causing people of both the Soc and Greasers to stare at us like we were insane.
“If you would stop yelling Ronnie won’t figure out, and if he doesn’t figure out my parents won’t either. So keep your mouth shut!”
She looks at me as if seeing me for the first time, “Why can’t you just be like the rest of us?”
“Because you’re all mean to them just because you think we’re better! But we’re not!” I say that just as we walk by Dani, a small smile appears on her lips.
I push my blondish-brown hair over my shoulders and stop at my locker, Jackie’s locker was right beside mine so she was able to keep the argument going.
“We are better than them though! They’re trash!”
“No they are not! They’re still people, and a lot of them are a hell of a lot better than us,” I say before Ronnie walks up and the conversation is dropped. By the end of the day Jackie had completely dropped the whole thing and we were at her house getting ready to go to the drive-in.