Chapter Text
Darry did not tell Ponyboy that he loved him.
Instead, he got into a screaming match with him after he saw that Ponyboy had left his science homework uncompleted and went to the drive-in anyway. Cordelia had just stayed in her room and tried to ignore the fact that she told Ponyboy she would help him with his work before everything happened, so it was technically her fault too.
Darry now knew everything. They had sat outside for over two hours, eating chocolate cake and drinking Pepsi, as he read each detail and asked questions when necessary. Despite his promise, Cordelia had caught him watching her with even more worry than before and he had yelled at Two-Bit when the boy had jokingly shoved her shoulder. In a way, it was nice for someone to finally know everything, but it also left her with overwhelming anxiety that he would tell everyone else or start treating her differently.
He also told Cordelia that she had to register for school, although he gave her a week so that she could recover as much as she could after losing their brother. The boys were all nicer than normal the whole week and Ponyboy stayed glued to her side, Johnny usually following around if Dallas wasn't there. Soda brought home every type of candy that the DX sold for her and Dallas 'forgot' a pack of cigarettes on the front porch. Cordelia was almost excited for Monday morning because she could escape their pitying looks.
"You ready for school?" Ponyboy asked with a yawn, his hair carefully greased back despite the early hour. Cordelia just shrugged and grabbed a banana to eat. She had carefully chosen an outfit for the day, but she feared that she still looked cheap and dirty. It wasn't like she had that many clothes to choose from.
"Let me see your schedule," Steve said with his hand already extended out. Cordelia grabbed the piece of paper from her book bag that Darry got her and passed it over. Two-Bit and Ponyboy both looked over Steve's shoulder to examine it. "We'll have math together with Johnny, but you're on your own for everything else."
"Nah, we have science together. Ms. Givens is a total babe, unmarried, and knows that I'm a legal adult," Two-Bit said with a wink. Cordelia curled her lip up in disgust and shook her head at the man.
"Ms. Givens hates you," Ponyboy retorted as he put his plate and Soda's in the sink. The older boy had raced out of the house before he could even finish his eggs since he overslept and was almost late for work, his younger brother grumbling about having to clean for him.
"She'll see the light one day," Two-Bit shrugged with a smirk.
"Johnny, you have English fourth period, right?" Steve asked. The dark-haired boy nodded in response and looked up from his science homework that was only half done. Cordelia was glad to see that he didn't have any new bruises on his face, but his clothes looked dirty and crumpled. He had spent the night at Two-Bit's the night before and taken a shower, but Cordelia guessed that he had spent the past few nights at the lot instead.
"I guess we'll be in that class together," Cordelia said, frowning at the paper. Darry had handled everything so Cordelia hadn't even been to the school yet. She wasn't excited for everyone to stare at her since she had joined a few months after school had already started.
"Dally said he might go to school today," Johnny spoke up.
"Dallas Winston at school?" Two-Bit laughed. "I'd pay to see that. I didn't even know he was still registered."
"He goes often enough that they don't call the cops or drop him," Johnny explained with a shrug.
"I'm smart, Mathews," Dallas said as he slammed the front door open.
"Don't slam my door!" Darry yelled from his room. Dallas rolled his eyes and plopped down onto the couch next to Johnny.
"I've never seen you at school," Two-Bit said to the teen.
"I usually just go for the first class and then skip. I can't have them callin' my pops, or it'd be a shitstorm, and I do plan on graduating eventually. Don't wanna be like you, a junior at eighteen," Dallas retorted.
"You got the grades to graduate?" Steve asked with a raised eyebrow.
"'Course I do," Dallas scoffed. "As long as I show up for the tests, I'm golden."
"I thought you'd dropped out like Soda," Ponyboy said seriously. Darry came up front in his work shirt and grabbed his eggs to eat over the sink. He took a glance at the clock and started shoveling them in his mouth so fast he could barely chew. Cordelia had learned that none of the Curtis brothers were great with time management.
"Nah, horsekid. Just have better things to do with my time," Dallas responded
"Everyone better be ready to go," Darry said seriously. "Cordelia, I won't have time to walk you in, but stay close to one of the guys and they'll help you out."
Darry looked anxious when he dropped off Cordelia and Ponyboy at the front of the school, but he didn't have time to talk to either of them. Will Rogers wasn't huge, but it was bigger than Cordelia's last school. Students were walking around and leaning on their cars in the parking lot and the class divide seemed more evident than ever before. The socs parked on the left side of the parking lot in their nice cars and perfect outfits while the greasers were on the right side. Some of their cars looked like they would fall apart when they were turned on and most of them had stains or tears in their clothes. Ponyboy nodded his head at Cordelia and walked over to where Steve and Dallas parked. Dallas' car was the only exception on the greaser side because he was driving a Thunderbird that some of the greasers stared at enviously.
"You gonna last the whole day, Winston?" Cordelia asked.
"Nah. Those socs make my skin crawl. I've got a test in second period, then I'm out of here," Dallas responded, his lip curling up when he made eye contact with a group of socs on the other side. He beckoned Cordelia to stand next to him where she could get a better view of the look on the soc's faces.
"They look like they hate you," Cordelia noted. Ponyboy leaned on Steve's car with Johnny in an attempt to finish their homework before the bell rang, Two-Bit and Steve wrestling after the older one said something nasty.
"'Course they do," Dallas said. "The tall one, that's Bob. He's the one who beat Johnny so badly a few months ago and gave him the scar. His friend with curly hair that's Randy. Then there's Chet, Trip, and Brill. All of them are dicks who don't care about anythin' but beatin' us for existing."
"Who's that?" Cordelia questioned when she saw a redhead, blonde, and brunette join the group. Bob grabbed the redhead in his arms, her laughter filling the parking lot. The brunette grabbed Trip's hand while the blonde practically jumped into Brill's arms and started kissing him like they weren't in a parking lot.
"Cherry Valence, Beverly Jitney-Bush, and Marcia Strong," Two-Bit said wistfully since he was done wrestling. "The hottest girls in the school. Damn, what I would do to see what's under those skirts."
Steve slapped the back of Two-Bit's head while Dallas smirked in agreement. Cordelia raised an eyebrow at them and gave them a disappointed look.
"What would you do if someone said that about me or your little sister?" Cordelia asked. Two-Bit blinked in surprise and opened and closed his mouth as he tried to find an answer. Steve chuckled at his predicament and Two-Bit punched his arm.
"I'd probably punch 'em," Two-Bit said sheepishly.
"I'll punch you if I hear you say somethin' like that again," Cordelia said seriously. "Women don't exist just to make men happy."
Two-Bit nodded and poked Ponyboy's arm when the bell rang. Cordelia just followed after the group since she had no idea where she was supposed to go. Luckily, the first class was with Johnny and Steve so she just walked behind them. As expected, everyone stared at her when she came into the classroom, but the teacher didn't make her introduce herself like some others had in the past. Cordelia was bored the whole class and almost fell asleep since she already knew everything. The teacher seemed not to like greasers because he would purposefully call on them to answer the most difficult questions and wouldn't chastise the socs when they laughed at the wrong responses.
Steve walked Cordelia to her next class, which was full of socs that all stared at her when she sat down at the back of the room. Due to her homeschooling, Cordelia had been free to study ahead so she tested into the advanced history class. Unlike the math class, Cordelia actually paid attention in history and the teacher didn't seem to even notice her appearance.
Unfortunately, there was no one to help Cordelia walk to her next class. Cordelia just walked down the building to try and find the geography class, but the warning bell rang and she still didn't know where to go.
"You lost?"
Cordelia turned around to see Chet looking at her with a small smirk. He was tall, practically towering over her, and he was handsome with dark brown hair and eyes. He had a letterman jacket on and a senior class ring on his pinky, letting her know that he was a year above her.
"Yeah, but I'll be fine," Cordelia lied. She turned back around and kept looking at the numbers but they didn't match what it said on her schedule.
"Let me see," Chet told her, grabbing the paper from her hands. Cordelia let out an angry huff and glared at the older boy.
"I don't need your help," Cordelia spat as she ripped the paper away from him. Chet raised an eyebrow with amusement and watched her as she continued to walk down the hallway.
"That class is up the stairs and down another hallway," Chet said before she could get too far. "My class is right next to it. Come walk with me."
Cordelia hesitated for a moment before sighing and turning around to walk with him since she knew there was no way she could find the classroom on her own. Chet smirked victoriously and led her to the opposite side of the hallway where there was a staircase.
"This your first day?" Chet asked.
"Yeah," Cordelia answered shortly. Chet raised an eyebrow at her attitude and snickered a little.
"Saw you with the Curtis gang this mornin'. They're bad news," Chet warned.
"I live with the Curtis gang and it's funny that they said the same thing about you and your friends," Cordelia retorted.
"You family?"
"Somethin' like that," Cordelia muttered.
"Well, if you ever want to hang out with someone a little more civilized, just let me know. There's a restaurant I've been wanting to try, but I'd hate to go alone," Chet flirted.
"Go with Bob," Cordelia suggested with a pissed-off tone. "Aren't you two friends? Beating on a smaller kid helps strengthen a bond, doesn't it?"
"So they told you about Cade," Chet said, clicking his teeth. "I wasn't there when they did that, promise. I wasn't even in Tulsa, and trust me, I gave Bob and the others an earful when I saw the cut on his face. It wasn't right what they did to that kid."
Cordelia gave the older boy a long look and could tell that he was telling the truth. Chet leaned against the wall, and Cordelia stopped to stand across from him.
"I still don't think they'd be too happy about me hangin' out with you," Cordelia said truthfully.
"What they don't know won't hurt them, sweetheart," Chet smirked, pushing off the wall to grab a piece of paper from his backpack. He handed it over to her with his phone number on top. "Now let's get to class before we get in trouble."
Chet was nice enough to explain the situation to Cordelia's teacher, who didn't seem to mind her tardiness with Chet there. He winked at the girl before heading off to his own class, his number burning a hole in her pocket.
Dallas was already gone by lunchtime. Cordelia followed the guys as they walked over to the DX since they told her that socs had claimed the lunchroom for themselves. Soda smiled at them when they entered, and he already had a Pepsi ready for Ponyboy and a Coke for Cordelia.
"How's your first day goin'?" Soda asked Cordelia.
"It's fine," Cordelia shrugged.
"I hated school. I'm so glad I dropped out," Soda said. A customer came into the store so the group migrated outside to eat their lunch since his boss was sitting in the office watching.
"Any socs give you trouble?" Two-Bit inquired.
"No, they've mostly ignored me," Cordelia assured him.
The rest of the day went the same. Cordelia was able to find the rest of her classes a lot easier after that and she had the last class with Chet and Trip. The taller boy shoved Trip out of his seat when he saw Cordelia enter the classroom and he waved his hand for her to sit next to him. Trip glared at her, making the girl look down at the ground as she sat.
"I prefer to sit in the back," Cordelia told Chet.
"Trip's a horrible partner, and I think you'll be better. We're starting a partner project this week and I want to actually get a good grade," Chet explained.
"I might be horrible at English," Cordelia said with a small smirk.
"Something tells me you're not," Chet said, leaning in some. Cordelia rolled her eyes and looked up at the board. She completely forgot that Johnny was in the English class with her until he came into the room and his eyes widened at the seating arrangement. His eyes went down to the ground and he sat in the back of the classroom and didn't even pull out his books. Cordelia frowned and tried to catch his eye, but he wouldn't look up.
"So if you're a senior, why are you in this class?" Cordelia asked.
"It's just for this unit. A senior is paired with a junior cause the teacher is on leave for something," Chet explained. Sure enough, the teacher made it very clear that all the students needed to be on their best behavior since there were more kids than normal in the class. The assignment was easy, evaluating and comparing two of Shakespeare's works, but most of the teens groaned and complained. They would also have to do a majority of the work outside of the classroom so the teacher could attempt to teach as much as possible.
"There's no way you can come over to my place, so we'll have to find somewhere else to work," Cordelia said to Chet once the class was over. Johnny was lucky enough to be paired with another greaser, so he wouldn't have the same problem.
"We can work at my house. My parents wouldn't mind," Chet offered.
"No," Cordelia said immediately. "No, we can work someplace public, like a diner or the library."
"Sure," Chet responded, furrowing his eyebrows at her harsh tone. "Give me your address and I'll pick you up at six tonight to start. Dinner at the Starry Night diner, on me."
"I'll have to ask Darry first," Cordelia told him. Darry wouldn't even be home until five-thirty or later, and she doubted that he would be thrilled with her asking about going out with a soc, even if it was for school.
"Curtis?" Chet asked. Cordelia nodded in acknowledgment and followed Chet out into the hallway, walking by his side. "Figured you were stayin' with the Mathews 'cause I know his mama's still around. My friend, Paul, he's a bit older, so he used to buddy around with Darry back in the day. Just tell him I'm Paul's friend and I'm sure he won't mind."
"Okay. I'll call you when I know," Cordelia said, approaching the boys. All of them seemed to stand up straighter at the sight of the soc.
"I'll be waiting," Chet said with a wink before he headed off to his own friends.
"What'd he want?" Ponyboy asked anxiously.
"We're partnered together for English so he's just tryin' to find a time for us to work," Cordelia explained.
"He's a soc, Delia," Two-Bit complained.
"Doesn't change the fact that we're partnered together," Cordelia responded. Johnny approached, and the group all headed out to Steve's car so he could drive them to the DX so he could work, and then they would walk home together. Soda wasn't thrilled with Cordelia being paired with a soc either, especially since he was friends with Bob, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. The girl noticed that Johnny seemed to trail back some when they started heading back home so she slowed her pace to walk next to him. Johnny peered up at her through his bangs and then looked back down at the ground.
"Chet said he wasn't there when they hurt you. Is that true? 'Cause if he lied and he was actually there, I'll talk to the teacher and change partners," Cordelia asked.
"Nah, he wasn't there," Johnny confirmed in a soft voice. "Doesn't mean he's much better than then, though. He picks on us just as bad as they do."
"I'll talk to the teacher and find another partner," Cordelia decided.
"It's just for two weeks, you don't gotta do that," Johnny shrugged. "Just watch out for him. Chet's sneaky."
Cordelia decided to go to her room when they made it back home. Two-Bit had to take care of his sister so the younger boys headed off to the lot. In an attempt to make Darry less stressed before she asked the question, Cordelia decided to make dinner for the family. She turned on the radio and lost track of time, barely hearing the front door open.
"Cordelia, you made dinner?" Darry asked when he came home, putting his work belt up and stretching with a grimace. He winced a little at the loud music so the teen turned down the music and nodded.
"Yeah. Sorry about the radio, that was one of Eli's favorite songs," Cordelia said in a soft voice.
"It's fine, honey. This is your house too. As long as you're not wakin' us up, listen to the radio whenever you want," Darry assured her. Cordelia nodded again and washed her hands before she sat down in her spot at the table. Darry's eyebrows were furrowed as he looked through the mail.
"So, I have a project for English and it's a partner project. Do you mind if my partner picks me up so we can start workin'?" Cordelia asked.
"Sure," Darry said, not looking up from the mail. "Who's your partner and where are ya goin'?"
"Umm, it's one of Paul's friends," Cordelia said. That made Darry put the mail down and he gave her an inquisitive look.
"You know Paul?" Darry asked in a cautious tone.
"No, Chet, he just said to tell you that they're friends and that you'd let me go," Cordelia answered. "He said we'll go to the Starry Night Diner and he'll pay. It'll only be for an hour or two and then he'll take me back here."
"And it's for school?" Darry asked. Cordelia nodded in confirmation and tried not to frown when Darry's face twitched. "Alright, but I want you two to work at the library after this. And if Paul or any of his friends show up, call me and I'll come get you. Curfew is eight, which means your feet are in this house at eight on the dot."
"I promise, Darry. I'm not really feelin' up for anythin' major. It's been a long few weeks," Cordelia said softly. Darry sighed and gave her a closed-lip smile.
Chet answered after only a few rings and he said that he would be right over. Cordelia made sure that she looked presentable and sat outside on the porch to wait. A blue Corvair turned onto the street and slowed down to find the right house, Cordelia bounding down the steps to wave it down. Chet parked on the street and immediately hopped out to open the door for her.
"We'll have to work at the library after this," Cordelia informed him after they greeted each other.
"Sure, that's fine," Chet shrugged, turning up Elvis on the radio. They made small talk to get to know one another, although Chet did most of the talking. He told her that he was the oldest of five, his dad was a banker, and his mom stayed at home to take care of the kids since the youngest was only three. He talked a lot about football since he had been playing since he was five, and he mentioned Paul some. Cordelia wanted to know more about Darry's reaction to his old friend's name, but she figured this wasn't a good time.
The Starry Night dinner was on the social side of town, and it was filled with girls and guys wearing much nicer clothes than Cordelia's. She felt self-conscious in her old clothes, but Chet didn't seem to notice or care. He let her order whatever she wanted, even ordering a milkshake for the both of them, and they started on the project. It seemed like everyone knew Chet because by the time it was 7:45 and they would have to leave, they had barely started working because they were interrupted every five seconds. Cordelia was a little upset, but she could also see how kind Chet seemed to be. And he sure did have a nice smile.
"Right on time," Chet grinned when they parked at 7:59. Cordelia smiled when Chet once again opened the car door for her, walking her up to the door even though the blinds were open and Ponyboy and Soda were clearly staring outside.
"The library next time," Cordelia said. "You have too many friends and I want to get a good grade on this."
"Yeah, that's fine. See you tomorrow?" Chet asked. Cordelia nodded and Chet bounced on his feet once before smiling at her and heading back to his car, not pulling away until the front door closed.