ITS ABOUT TIME ➤ Ponyboy Curtis

25

𝙶𝚎𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚊 𝙳𝚊𝚠𝚗 𝙼𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚠𝚜
    ♫ - "Baby" by Donnie & Joe Emerson

It wasn't too hot, which is good when it's the first day of school. I had worn a red corduroy skirt from junior high and a white blouse. It wasn't what I was used too, but I didn't mind it. My mind was too busy thinking about how this school year would go.
"This year'll be different Georgie, don't cha worry. We'll all be there for ya'." Two-Bit gave me a quick pep talk as we were about to reach the school.
We walked from our house to the school since driving there would be a waste, given that we lived pretty close. The building was in view and I was dreading walking up the concrete steps and through the big doorway.
Steve took a hold of my shoulder, rather abruptly. "Don't sweat it, kid." He said, before adjusting his book bag and passing in front of me to walk alongside my brother.
Ponyboy squeezed my hand. He had assured me the night before I that he'd be there for me no matter what, along with Steve, Two, and Johnny. It definitely made me less nervous, but I still hated school. I never learned anything anyway, and it was pointless to me.
"Do you think we'll have any classes together?" Johnny said aloud, not asking any of us in particular.
"I reckon me, Steve, and you'll be in a few together. These two—" Two-Bit turned around and pointed his finger and Ponyboy and I, "will definitely be in all those Social classes with eachother. Them being little Einsteins and all."
I groaned "I'm not looking forward to that at all."
"Gee, I woulda thought you'd be happy to have some classes with me." Said Ponyboy, and cocked an eyebrow. He had picked that habit up from me and Two-Bit.
"Yeah, you'd think." I smiled.
Ponyboy laughed, wrapped him arm around my waist and pulling me closer.
We arrived in front of the school's front stairs. Two-Bit gave us a quick wave before running off with Steve to catch up with some old school friends. Johnny, Pony, and I waited a little longer for school to start.
I looked around and noticed all the same faces I knew last year. Smiling at some, and ignoring others. Some people were looking at Pony and I, eager to share some gossip with their friends. I'd be lying if I said we weren't doing the same.
"Look at Rob Nelson. Boy, did he get tall." Johnny admired. "He looks like some Russian robot."
I nodded to Cindy Clark and Patrick Booker, a seemingly new couple who were making out on the front steps. "Looks like they got close over the summer." I didn't want to be too judgey, but some people were too comfortable.
Johnny smirked a little bit. "I bet that's what people are saying about ya'll." He said. I laughed at that because it was true.
I waved at some people: an old friend of mine from grade school, a girl that Johnny liked last year, one of Two-Bits school friends, a boy who came into the DX a lot, and some kids who were in my classes the year prior.
I ended up having a lot of the same people in my classes from last year, plus a few new people like Ponyboy. Pony and I had most of the same classes, but our seats were not anywhere near each other. We would steal glances and smiles from across the room. Anytime I would catch up with somebody familiar, they would ask me about Ponyboy and when we started going steady. I didn't mind it. I could talk about that boy for hours.
I spent most of the day thinking about what the year would be like. School work wouldn't be hard for Ponyboy and I, so we would have more time to relax and help Two-Bit like we promised. I tried not to worry about my classmates and what they'd say to me this year, but I couldn't help it.
I just didn't get it. why was I such a big target? I knew I was a greaser and everything, but so was half of the city. I knew I had tattoos, that I had started to regret getting, but a lot of greasers had tattoos. It made no sense to me why I was seemingly the only greaser girl to get treated like this.
Ponyboy had told me that other greasy girls didn't look like me, and that they were jealous. I didn't believe him, only because Ponyboy was my boyfriend and that's what they're supposed to tell you. Two-Bit would tell me that Socs didn't like seeing us greasers decent, and that they just looked for stuff to hound us about. I guessed that was true, but it didn't make me feel any better. Darry was the only one that eased my nerves.
Darry, when I told him about it that morning, said about the same thing that Pony did. He told me that I was a pretty young lady and that the other girls wished they were as lucky as I was. He said that they were probably intimidated by me, given that my brother was a tuff greaser and that I was a smart kid. I don't know why Darry was the only one that I believed. Maybe because Darry wouldn't lie to anyone, especially in hopes to make them feel better.
Darry's words did ease my nerves, and I felt at least a little more ready for school than I had been the day before. Part of me was exited to see what my classes were like. They ended up being pretty good.
I had both Pony and Johnny in my gym and health class. They liked gym, mostly because they could show off their strength, and partly because it was a break from school work. Pony, Johnny, and I had lunch with Two, Steve, and Curley Shepherd. We spent our lunch period talking about the rumble that was coming up, and who in the Shepherd's gang was fighting. Curley Shepherd didn't show up at school often, so most of the time it would just be Two, Johnny, Ponyboy, Steve, and me. We had two classes after Lunch. They were my favorite classes, Mechanics and History. Mechanics was great since I loved cars. History was filled with Socs who I could hear whispering. I would've let it upset me, but I was too exited for school to end.
Dallas picked us up from school that day in Buck's car. He had promised to take me to Bucks to see Ray. The boys tagged along for the ride, but were dropped off at the Curtis house before we arrived at Rays. Ponyboy decided to stay, though. He said he wanted to watch.
There was an upcoming high school rodeo in town that I was thinking about entering. I missed being in rodeos. I used to enter all the time, before I got hurt. About a year ago, I fell off barrel racing and my leg got caught up in the stirrup. I got a concussion. I hadn't been in a rodeo since, partly because I didn't want to get hurt and partly because I didn't want to embarrass myself if I fell off again.
I had been riding horses since I was a kid, and I knew I was good. But after I fell off, my confidence dwindled and I wasn't sure anymore. That's why I was practicing. I wanted to place high and not fall off, so I needed to get Ray and I ready if we were to enter the rodeo. I took rodeos very seriously, though I didn't need to. It wasn't a big rodeo, just a highschool one. Just like every other rodeo, it held many rodeo events. Bull riding, Team roping, Calf roping, Saddle bronc, and Barrel facing were only a few.
I barrel raced, and was pretty good too. Barrel racing, or "chasing cans" as Two-Bit likes to call it, is when you run a set pattern around barrels as fast as you can. Your horse has to be fast and able to weave and turn fast. It's also good if you're riding a mare, 'cause they're smaller and have more room to weave. Although Ray was not a mare, he did great with the barrels and didn't need too much work. He was a Fox Trotter after all.
"Looking good, Georgie!" Ponyboy called from the opposite side of the paddock. He sat on the fence post and watched me and Ray. I still got butterflies when he looked at me.
It had gotten hotter when we were in school. I had to put on my cattleman hat, cause it was real sunny out and I couldn't see that well. I didn't have the best vision to begin with, but my hat helped block the sun.
It was a cedar colored hat, made of cowhide leather with a matching leather chinstrap. It had curved brim, and a braided hat band that was embellished with delicate knots and leather straps at the back. Two-But had gotten it for me, through his best talent of shoplifting, when I entered my first rodeo. It had always been a little big on me. I still wore it, but it falls off sometimes. For that reason I really only wear it when I'm trail riding, but today was real runny and I didn't wanna get burnt. I had pretty fair skin that burned easily in the hot Tulsa sun. I blamed it on being a redhead.
The barrels were already in place before I tacked up. To be honest, we really didn't need any practice. Ray was a great horse and well disciplined. He was one of the best barrel racing horses I'd seen, besides some of those purebred horses at the professional rodeos. I wished to compete in a professional rodeo one day, but I had to get back into open rodeos first.
"Here Pone, can you take this?" I guided Ray over to the fence where Ponyboy sat. To no one's surprise, my loose hat wouldn't stay on and I had to take it off. Ponyboy nodded and took the hat from me, placing it in his lap and continued to watch me in the paddock. I noticed about a half an hour later than he had put my hat on when I wasn't looking.
After un-tacking Ray and leading him to his stall, I walked back over to Ponyboy. "You look pretty good wearing my cattleman hat." I stood between his legs, placing my hands on his jean-covered knees. "You know what they say, wear the hat kiss the cowgirl."
Ponyboy slid off the fence post, landing right in front of me. "That's not what they say." Pony smirked, looping his two pointer fingers in my belt loops.
"Well that what I say!" I argued. Ponyboy laughed and dipped down to kiss me.
Ponyboy was a good kisser. His lips moved smoothly every time we kissed, making it feel like his lips were dancing with mine. I was his first kiss, so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pleasantly surprised.
My hands slid up from Pony's neck to the back of his head, ever so slightly pulling his hair. He pulled me closer, one hand still in my belt loop and one in my back pocket. Pony soon changed his hand placement to were both of his palms were pressed up against my back pockets, slightly grabbing at my clothed skin. His hands moved like waves, needy and hungry for something to grab.
A heavy bang heard from inside the barn pulled us apart from each other. It was Dallas, tripping over a bucket on his way to gather me and Ponyboy. I sighed, not wanting to end our rather heated kiss.
"I don't got all day, let's go." Was Dallas's way of politely telling us he was done shooting pool with Buck and ready to go home.