Trade Mistakes

13

That night, after me and Lizzie were getting ready for bed, I could hear Darry and Soda talking in low voices.

Lizzie was eavesdropping around the corner from the kitchen, and I gave her a confused look. "They're talkin' about grandma," she whispered. "We got a letter a few days ago, she was asking about mom and dad, just be quiet and listen."

We were both silent, listening to what our brothers had to say.

"You think she's off her rocker, huh?" I heard Soda ask.

"I called her the other day, she asked to talk to mom and dad." Darry explained.

"But she was at the funeral..."

"I know. I think since mom and dad died she's started goin' a little crazy. And now that grandpa's gone, too..."

"It's not safe for her to live alone?"

"No." Darry said.

I heard Soda sniffle, and I knew he was upset about the whole thing. I was, too, and so was Lizzie. I was pretty sure Darry was, but he wasn't the greatest at showing emotions.

"She can't pay to live in an old folks home."

I looked up and Lizzie gestured for me to walk away. I followed her down the hall towards our rooms. "What are they gonna do, you think?" She asked.

"I have no idea. I'm sure they'll work something out, though." I said, even though I felt just as hopeless as she looked. "Come on, let's go to bed."

"'Night, Pony."

"'Night." I watched her go into her room and close the door before I did the same. Soda probably wouldn't be to bed for a while, so I just turned the light off and went to sleep.

Lizzie's POV

The first few weeks at school were surprisingly good. Me and Georgia were getting along fine, but there was one thing I learned soon: she was a Soc.

She wasn't one of the bad ones, but the other Socesque girls and boys in her classes were hanging out with her, too. Me and her had tried to get together a few times, but her other friends were always dragging her away.

Georgia soon started to become biased, and started treating me just as bad as the rest of them. She didn't seem to realize it at first, but after she did, it only got worse.

I always walked home with Pony and Johnny, so I fell behind them some days so they wouldn't see me crying.

.

My birthday was worse than I thought it would be. Pony had gotten jumped the weekend before, and Soda and Darry had to work all day. And school was hell.

I was making an attempt to talk to Georgia, and she seemed to finally snap.

"Look, Elizabeth- I haven't been in this town for that long, but what I've learned is that you and your kind are just white trash with greasy hair. You and your brother are the scum of this school, and your little gang is the scum of this town. Your clothes are ugly, and so are you. The reason you don't have any friends is because you're a weird little freak and you don't deserve any."

My face burned hot and my eyes stung as I fought back tears. I could tell that my face and my ears were bright red. I wanted to curl up and die in the lunchroom, and I could feel everyone's eyes on me.

"Oh," I said. My hands were shaking and my voice broke as I said, "Okay."

.

I kept my head down the rest of the day. I was one of the first kids out of the school. I walked so fast I nearly tripped a few times, but I didn't care. I wanted to go home and I never wanted to see Georgia Richards ever again.

The house was empty when I got home, so I could slam the door to my room without getting in any trouble.

As soon as I was in my room, I burst into tears and collapsed on my bed.

Ponyboy's POV

I had heard what happened to Lizzie at school and I felt awful. "Johnny, you can come to my house if you want, but Lizzie's probably really upset."

"It's okay, she'll probably want to be alone, anyways. See ya."

"Bye, Johnny." We split up at the corner of our street. He walked towards the arcade and I walked home. Once I was inside, I could hear her crying from her room. I awkwardly knocked on her door.

"Go away!" She sobbed.

"Lizzie, come on, it's me."

A moment later, her door opened, and she stood there, staring up at me. She looked horrible- her eyes were red and there were tears tracks all down her cheeks, and her face was bright red. "What?"

"I wanted to ask you if you're okay."

"She said we're the scum of the school!" She sobbed, and I hugged her. "And she called me a weird freak and said that's the reason I don't have any friends, and also because I don't deserve any!"

"Aww, Lizzie, come on. First, we are not the scum of anything. And you are not a weird freak, and you do too deserve friends."

"No, I don't. I keep losing them and they keep finding people better than me. I'm not good enough to be friends with anybody,"

"You know that's not true."

"I don't know. I don't even know anymore. I just want friends that won't do things like this to me."

"I know. You don't deserve any of this, Lizzie." I sighed.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"I don't know. What not for, I guess?"

I laughed slightly, and she seemed to cheer up a little. "Come on, I'm starving. Wanna get some ice cream?"

"Yeah, sure. You-"

"Nope, I'm paying and there's no argument. It's your birthday and you've had a tough day, and I'm your brother." I said, and she laughed.

"Fine."

I might not be updating much for a while. My aunt passed away today and I'm really upset about that (of course), and I have to go to my dads house for a few days and I can't write much while I'm there.