Stay Gold

I thought running away would be a good thing for me. Man, was I wrong. I had made that decision after I mistakenly ended up on the East end, the Soc side of town. I had never really been around this area, the boys thought it would be safer if I stayed around our neighborhood. If I was to be alone and get in any trouble, it could mean me getting taken back home and Pony and Soda getting sent to a boys home. Too bad I didn’t listen to them. I never listen to anybody, and look where it got me -- lost in a ritzy part of town, broke, and cold. The East side made me cringe. Everything here was so...neat, taken care of as opposed to ‘greaser territories’, which were messy and an all-around eyesore to most people who weren’t familiar with the West side. I never minded it honestly, I knew where everything was, unlike here. I got weird looks by people walking down the street, especially the girls.

“Look at her clothes!” I heard one girl exclaim. “Look at her makeup!” Another one shouted out from behind her. I pretended to not hear them, it was the only thing stopping me from trying to pick a fight. Oh, how I wanted to start a fight with these broads. I was used to having people call me names, but I always socked them in the face like I would to Dally or one of the boys and then we’d be okay. Here, if I tried a move like that, I’d probably get killed, or kill someone. Either thing could go. I started walking faster in hopes of finding a pay phone or something so I could call Darry to pick me up.

When I finally found a phone, it was broken. “Dammit,” I said under my breath. I have had enough of bad luck happen to me for one day. All I wanted now was to be home in my nice, warm bed cuddled up next to Pony and Soda. I was stupid to think I could handle being on my own. Then again, I was stupid; I was just a hotheaded seventeen-year-old.

“You look lost,” Someone said from behind me, grabbing my arm. I flinched, quickly cocking back my arm. A tall man, or boy for that matter hovered over me. Eighteen or nineteen maybe, blondish hair, dark eyes, reeked of French cologne and bourbon. He smiled menacingly at me.

“Look, friend,” I began, “I ain’t lookin’ for any trouble tonight. If you you’ll excuse me, I’ll just skedaddle on outta your way now...” I tried to get around him, but he stood in front of me like a skyscraper.

“I just wanna talk,” He slurred, trying to put his arm around me. “I ain’t seen you around before, where ya from?”

“Not here,” I bluntly said as I pushed his arm off of me.

“Why don’t we go back to my place and we can get to know each other?” He said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me toward his car. I dug my feet into the ground as hard as I could, resisting every way I could.

“I don’t wanna know you, pal. You ain’t my type,” If I hadn’t known any better, this could have been Dallas Winston’s Soc cousin, certainly acted like him -- only I think I’d rather have Dally make a move on me than this bastard. I got away from him again and started to walk away until he grabbed me again. This time more violently.

“Wait a minute, I think I know ya,” He mumbled. “Ain’t you that broad that hangs out with the quiet kid?”

Right there, everything came back to me. I remembered this guy -- he was one of the Socs that attacked Johnny and I that one day in the lot. If it wasn’t for Dally chasing them off, they could have had their way with me and could have really hurt Johnny.

“Yeah, and you’re the douche bag that almost had his way with me. Get lost.” I tried sounding intimidating but it didn’t work that much. It just made the Soc laugh and think he was mighty and powerful.

“Man, did we have fun beating up your friend. You and I could’ve had fun that night too if your boyfriend didn’t ruin it --” My blood was boiling, it took everything I had to control myself to not slug the guy in the face. Oh, how I wanted to so bad!

“First of all, Dally’s my friend, not my boyfriend. Second of all, you will never have a shot with me in your entire life. And third of all, you ever touch Johnny again and you’re gonna have to deal with me,” I shouted, spitting in his face. That must’ve really pissed him off because he backhanded me across the face and threw me over his shoulder, carrying me to his car. I kicked, screamed, did everything I could to draw attention to myself, to get him to let me go. I even screamed for Dally even though I knew it wouldn’t do no good. Suddenly, I remembered what I had in my back pocket -- my blade. I wiggled free enough to grab it, flipping it open and slicing the Soc’s arm open. Instantly, I was on the ground finally able to make a run for it and I did just that. I ran to a nearby liquor store and bawled my eyes out so I could use the phone, immediately calling Darry soon after. I was so scared that I was shaking. A cancer stick sounded perfect right about now. What would Darry say when he found me? Call me an idiot? I think I feared that the most -- being put down. I heard enough of that from my old man, from Ponyboy, from everyone. There was only so much of that stuff I could handle before I finally snapped...and that could’ve been anytime now.

It seemed like a lifetime before Darry came to my rescue. Boy, was he mad when he stormed into the store. His eyes were dark, every muscle in his body was sticking out. He was just full of mean. Not even mean, really, just anger.

“You wanna tell me the meaning of all this?” Darry asked, gesturing over to the store clerk. The clerk gave me a disgusting look and walked over to Darry.

“The girl came flyin’ into my store like a bat out of hell, goin’ on and on about some man grabbing her. I think she’s fibbin’ though. We don’t have that kind of trouble on our side of town.” Those last four words stabbed me like a thousand knives. Everyone was right, the Socs were jerks. Worse than jerks, even. Whoever said money could buy happiness was a lying bastard. All it did was make you cold, heartless. What real person would want that? Darry looked over at me then cocked at eyebrow at the clerk.

“She’s lying, huh?” Darry said, pulling me up from where I was sitting at. “Do you see her face? Do you see how swollen it is? You have a lotta nerve callin’ my little sister a liar. Go outside, Elaine. I’ll be out in a minute.” I didn’t hesitate to get out of that store. From the way Darry was yelling at the store clerk, you would have thought they were about to rumble. After a few minutes, he finally came out of the store. I was soon swarmed with questions.

“Are you okay?”

“Did that bastard hit you?”

“What are you doing this far out of our neighborhood?”

“Are you fucking stupid?”

Not all of these questions came from just Darry. They came from Soda, Steve, and even Dally. I was more surprised when the insult didn’t come from Darry, but instead Steve Randle. All I heard on the way back home was how much of an idiot I was. This went on for days after the incident happened. I had to admit it though, it was a very stupid decision to think about leaving again, and especially thinking that Soc Town was safe. My bruised, swollen face was a reminder to myself for a whole week and a half, that I was stupid.

That whole week I had a beat up face, I refused to step out of the house, even for a smoke. Every time Two-Bit or anyone else would stop by, they’d make a crack at my face. Let me tell you, it don’t feel so good when you have your friends making fun of your looks. I couldn’t help that I looked bad. As I thought about it more, that whole situation could’ve been avoided easily; I stop thinking negatively, I keep my mouth shut, I stay in one place. If I did that, I wouldn’t find myself getting hurt by scumbag Socs. Just rethinking of that night made me cringe, made me feel...filthy, if there was even a word to explain how I felt.

Christmas had passed and soon everyone was talking about New Year's Eve plans since it was only a few days away.

“I’m takin’ Sandy out for a night on the town,” Soda said grinning ear-to-ear. New Year's Eve was his and Sandy’s one-year anniversary so he wanted to do something special. “Steve’s takin’ his girl out, too.” Well, that wasn’t a shock. Wherever Soda or Steve went, the other one was sure to follow, and I wasn’t talking about their women.

“Sounds fun,” I sighed.

It seemed like everyone had plans for New Year's Eve, except me. Even Ponyboy had plans, but he didn’t tell me what he was doing. Johnny wouldn’t be going out this year, for some unknown reason. So, it was just me, myself and I.

“So what’s this about Dally taking you out for New Years?” Soda said laughing. As he said that, I had been taking a drag off a cigarette, soon coughing up the smoke after hearing that bit of information.

“W-What did y-you just say?” I said in between coughs. This was the first time I had heard anything about this whole plan Dallas Winston apparently. By this time, Pony was propped up on his elbows and laughing.

“He told Two-Bit, I guess. And well, you know him, he can never keep his mouth shut,” Pony added. He was all ears now. I was starting to wonder if everyone else knew this, but me.

“Hey Pony, look at Elaine!” Soda began, “She’s turnin’ red, I think she’s got the hots for Dal.”

Well, he wasn’t exactly wrong, but I sure as heck couldn’t have admitted it without being laughed at. I managed to mumble a ‘shut up’ at the boys before they continued laughing.

“I do not have the hots for Dallas Winston! Knock it off, you two!” I probably looked like a lobster by now, I could feel myself turning redder by the second.

“Dally and Elaine sittin’ in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G,” Soda and Pony sung. I simply sat down with my head between my knees. There was no way of stopping them now. Ponyboy must’ve noticed the way I was lookin’ and assumed that I was upset -- which I was.

“Aw, c’mon Elaine,” He said sitting next to me, “we’re just messin’ with ya. We don’t mean it.”

I sighed, “It’s okay, man,” I paused, “but let me just make this very clear to you two and anyone else that wants to listen: I will never have the hots for someone like Dallas Winston, plain and simple.” Pony and Soda were now wide-eyed and I couldn’t figure out why.

“Aw, Elaine,” A New York-accented voice said from behind me, “you’re crazy about me!” I didn’t even have to turn around to see that it was Dally. Embarrassed wasn’t even the proper word for how I was feeling now.