"Nothing But a Hood"

Introduction

A/N: Just something to cure my writer's block. It isn't fancy sushi served on a silver plater, but it's something, right? If I continue this, then Dally and Johnny will be alive, since Ponyboy met this 'Good looking girl in yellow' before. Uh, review, I guess!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Outsiders, nor will I ever!

She strolled down the dusty hallway, the clattering of her heels echoing in the distance. Not a soul was adjacent, as she scurried to open her locker and go to class. This was the third time the girl was tardy to school, due to her mom's inability to wake her up. She took her time, trying to remember her combination.

23...19...4...Click

Wobbling her lock, she yanked it out of place, breaking the recently bought device. Now she has to remind herself later to go buy another. She threw the lock on the hard floor, letting it make a loud clot sound. Just as the girl closed her locker, one of her friends, Sheila, walked right past her, not noticing her struggling friend.

Sheila then spun on her heels, walking up to her friend. "Hey, Heather! I see you broke your lock...again."

"Yeah, I don't know how I manage to do it." Heather leaned against her locker. "How was cheer leading practice, yesterday?"

"It went well." She smiled. "Are you coming after school? Cherry really wants you there."

Heather nodded, moving away from her locker. "Of course, I have no other choice, now do I?"

"Nope! I'll see you at lunch, ok?" Sheila began to walk but stopped halfway. "Oh, don't bring a book for Pre-Calculus. We have a substitute. Bye!"

With that, she wandered the rest of the halls, leaving her friend at her locker. Heather forced her locker open, threw the book inside, and slammed it shut. The words, "You could've told me that sooner," came out of her lips as she proceeded to her class. Pre-Calculus was one of her best subjects, since she was passing it with an 83.

As she entered the class, everyone was silently doing their work. The substitute noticed her presence, handing her a sheet of paper while she walked to her seat. Heather gently took the paper, sitting down in her regular seat near the window. She took a look at her paper, and her eyes seemed to pop out of her head.

"What is the slope of the line that passes through the points (9, -7)?" She read, disbelief in her voice. "What is this, Algebra 2?"

Kathryn, the girl next to her, rolled her eyes. Heather didn't really like her, because Kathryn thought she could pass anything with looks and popularity.

"Since when did you get so smart?" Kathryn asked.

Heather shrugged. "It just came to me." She lied, not wanting to admit she was given help by a greaser a few months back. As if on cue, a certain greenish-grey eyed greaser entered the class with a late pass.

When the teacher handed him the work-sheet, he spotted Heather and sent her a warm smile. She gave one back, yet hers was small, fragile. Ponyboy wanted to say a simple hello, but didn't have the courage. He sat behind her, and tried hard not to stare.

It was true, Ponyboy Curtis was a little infatuated with her, and Heather couldn't stop thinking how irresistible his eyes were. But they kept that to themselves, knowing that hell would break loose if anyone knew. Ponyboy grasped a random pencil from his pocket, and began doing his work-sheet.

On the other hand, Heather started to fidget with a string that happened to stick out of her green blouse. She smoothed the speckles of eraser shavings off of her khaki skirt, and anticipated for the bell to ring. Even though Pre-Calculus was on of her best classes, it was also the most boring. And she couldn't wait for lunch, so she could gossip with her friends.

Bringg...Bringg...Bring...B-Bringg...

Once the bell rung, everyone rushed out the door. Ponyboy packed up his stuff, his stomach grumbling as he the thought of food entered his mind. While he went to leave the classroom, he bumped into Heather. They both immediately backed up, embarrassed by their actions. Ponyboy let Heather go first, earning him a thank you.

As Ponyboy walked the opposite direction, Heather continued walking to the cafeteria. She already felt heat rush up to her cheeks, realizing this was the first time she had blushed this hard. On her way, she stopped by the water fountain, and splashed her face with water. She suddenly felt cool enough to head back.

At the cafeteria, everybody was scattered all over the place. Usually, the middle-class sat on one side, Socs on the other, and the greasers took the left overs. Not feeling hungry, she speed walked to her friends, who decided to sit in the middle of the cafe. They all patted a sit for her.

"So what's the latest?" Asked Sheila, the only blonde of the group.

Rebecca, the oldest red-head grinned. "Ok, so you know that chick, Amy? Well, rumor has it, that her dad got his lawyer's badge take..."

The red-head's words were blocked out in Heather's eyes as she spotted Ponyboy walking past her table. This time, he sent her a toothy grin, and she shyly waved back at him. Someones hand was placed on Heather's shoulder, causing her to jump. It was none other than her first, and best friend, Caroline.

"Now what do we have here?" Caroline asked, smirking. "I told you to stop eyeing that greaser, didn't I?"

Heather sighed. "Come on, he ain't a bad guy. He's helped me before, and I haven't seen anything bad."

"That's what they want you to think." Rebecca picked the dirt out of her nails. "One second they're nice, then the next..Bam! They pull a blade."

"Becky..."

Sheila got up from her seat. "Heather, come with me to get lunch?"

She stood up and shrugged. "Might as well."

Both girls grabbed their pocketbooks and left to the lunch line. On their way, Christina, another one of those snobby girls and her friends, bumped into Heather. They dropped all of their food on her, smudging everything on purpose. Heather stood there in shock, not knowing what to do. When Christina stopped, she backed up.

"Oops, sorry." She said with a sarcastic tone. Her and her posse walked away, giggling as they did so.

"Yeah, real funny Tina!" Sheila shouted. She guided her friend out of the cafeteria, and into the nearest bathroom, which was exactly next to the cafeteria.

Inside, Sheila took out a pair of extra clothes for Heather. The brunette looked at the clothes given to her, and smiled as she inspected the color of them. It was one of her favorite colors. Yellow. She rushed into the stall, and tried to put the clothes on. Silence filled the restroom as neither girl spoke.

"Why'd you have extra clothes in your bag?" The brunette asked from inside the stall.

Her friend thought about it, not knowing why she did. "I...honestly don't know. I just had a feeling."

Heather waltzed out of the stall, looking like a ball of sunshine. "Good thing, I don't know what I would've done without you."

Taking out a bottle of lip gloss, Heather spread some around her lips. She mushed her lips together, creating a squishing noise that caused her friend to start laughing. Soon enough, they both started laughing.

"You really are a Soc." Her friend laughed.

Heather smiled. "And I'm proud of it."

"Did I mention you look great in yellow? It's the first time I've seen you in it."

The bell rang as Heather gave a thanks. She grabbed Sheila's hand and they both headed outside. "Lets go, I have Biology next."

Before the bell rung again, Heather sat down in any random seat. To her luck, she had seated herself next to Ponyboy, who was twirling a piece of his hair. Heather tried not to make a scene, so she looked ahead, and focused on the board. She began to mess with the yellow lint on her shirt. Ponyboy noticed her sitting next to him, and spoke up.

"Hi, Heather." Ponyboy said quietly.

She turned to him. "Oh, hello Ponyboy."

Her voice sent shivers down Ponyboy's spine as he smiled at her. Indeed, they've talked before, but this time it felt different for the both of them. Minutes later, their biology teacher Mr. Byrd arrived. Both teenagers grimaced when their teacher told them they had to dissect a worm.

He passed out the supplies to each table, making sure there was enough for everyone. All they were given were plates, a worm, a razor, napkins, and a cup of hydrogen peroxide. Ponyboy picked up the razor and tried desperately to cut the worm open. Failing, he dug into his pocket for his only solution.

As Heather went to grab a paper from her notebook, the young greaser pulled out a six inch blade from his pocket. The glint of the blade was the only thing the girl saw when she turned to face the boy. His stomach began to twist as he saw the look of horror that was plastered across the girl's face. Ponyboy started to stutter, but was lost for words.

The brunette didn't know what came over her. Everything happened too fast for her to gather her thoughts together. And that one line her friend said during lunch kept replaying in her head.

"That's what they want you to think." ... "One second they're nice, then the next..Bam! They pull a blade."

Frustrated she leaped out of her seat. "They are right. You are a hood!"

The bell rung once the words left the girls mouth. Realizing what she had said, she ran out the room, leaving poor Ponyboy to be laughed at by a group of Socs. She knew what she said was wrong, and she hated herself for it. Heather thought Ponyboy would hate her now. Ponyboy got up to look for her, to apologize to her, but she was no where in sight. Nothing could be done to change anything.

To Heather, Ponyboy was just like any other hood who was growing up on the wrong side of life. He was a delinquent to her at this moment.

Nothing but a hood.

A/N: So how was it? I mean, It ain't anything special. Should I continue? Tell me if I should, this was only going to be a one-shot for my writers block. What do y'all think? I do appreciate ideas :) Well, R&R!