vic•tim
/'viktəm/

noun

a person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime, accident, or other event or action.

//

bul•ly
/'boolē/

verb

using superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants.

//

1982

BOB SLAMMED ME against the locker, making my head bang against the metal. I winced in pain, but didn't make a sound. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me in pain. He's just still pissed off that I chose to be a greaser.

Bob Sheldon had the biggest crush on me. Well, that was until I told him I was a greaser and said I'd rather date a tree the rest of my life than get with him.

Can you blame me though?

"Since you're a greaser I should just go rub your face into some dirt." Bob sneered as he got close up to my face.

I scoffed. "Yeah and since you're a Soc I should bow down to you."

"Wait, what?" He asked, confused.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought we were saying things that didn't make any sense." I sassed and pushed Bob off of me, making him crash into a few Soc girls who gave me dirty looks. I threw a fake smile at them and flipped them off.

Bob was fuming now, and I gulped. Nobody was in the hallway now and it was just him and me. He gave me a devilish smirk and started walking towards me slowly. I tried running away, but he grabbed me by the collar and threw me into the ground, causing me to groan in pain. He laughed in satisfaction and started walking towards me again.

Someone please save me.

He picked me up and got behind me, getting real close to my ear. "If only you were a Soc, but no, you chose to be a poor ugly ole' greaser. The consequences are tough, huh?" He whispered, making chills go down my back. And not the good kind of chills.

"Hey, you leave her alone!" A voice shouted from behind us. A wash of relief poured over me as Bob finally walked away from me, walking towards the other person. I whipped my head around and saw a boy with bleach blonde, greased backed hair.

[I'm making Pony have his blonde hair in this book!]

"Well, what do we have here?" Bob questioned while walking over to the bleach blonde boy. "The little hero who tries to save everyone. You can't save every single one of your greaser buddies that I pick on, alright?" He asked in an arrogant voice which made me roll my eyes in disgust.

"Lay off of him, Bob. If he wants to save the people you pick on, let him do it because it just shows greasers are better people than Soc's by the minute." I smirked, knowing it would tick him off.

Bob snapped his head around towards me and looked at me, anger visible in his brown eyes. "How about you shut your trap, Smith? Or you know, I could slam you against the locker again and beat the hell out of you. Your choice."

I laughed. "It's not like you haven't done it before. Go ahead. Keep showing that greasers are better than Soc's. Keep showing that Bob Sheldon is just a little hormonal teenage boy who likes to pick on me because I'd rather date a tree than let him get in my pants."

He ran towards me and I ducked right as he raised his fist to hit me. The boy took my hand and dragged me away from Bob, running extremely fast. He must be in track or something. We disappeared behind a wall, and Bob ran right past us. I breathed out a sigh of relief and glanced over at the boy who saved me. "Kieran Smith. What's your name?"

"Ponyboy Curtis." He answered and I immediately grinned. "I like your name. We both have unique names."

He smiled at me. "Yeah, I guess we do."

I looked at him in panic. "We better run to our classes before Bob comes back."

He nodded in agreement and we both ran to our class. His was right across from mine and before I entered mine, I mouthed thank you.

He laughed. "No problem."

I entered in science class and all eyes were on me. Mrs. Gretski glared at me and crossed her arms. "Where have you been, Ms. Smith?"

I opened my mouth to speak but closed it. I can't say anything about Bob bullying me or he would do ten times more damage than he already does. "I was in the bathroom."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "For thirty minutes?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I had a stomach ache."

She rolled her eyes and yelled at me to sit in my seat. I huffed once I sat in my seat and crossed my arms. My friend, Eagan, who was sitting behind me tapped my shoulder. "I know you weren't in the bathroom. Bob, again?"

I nodded and she sighed while shaking her head. "He needs to get some sense smacked into him."

I chuckled. "More like he needs a truck slammed into him so he can just die and not hurt me anymore."

She laughed and we talked throughout the whole class. Mrs. Gretski's class was one of the worst and it was my last class of the day, but at least I had my best friend to get me through that one hour.

Once the bell rang, I ran out the door and out of the school building. I ran into someone and cursed. "I'm so sorry." I apoligized and we both raised our heads up, bumping heads.

We both cussed at the same time and laughed. When I looked up, I gasped. "Ponyboy, long time no see."

He laughed. "Kieran, right?"

I shook my head yes and he gave a light smile. "You know, you're pretty tough. You should come over to my house and meet the gang. They'd love you."

I chuckled. "I just met you and you're already asking me to come to your house?"

He shrugged. "I need some friends."

I slowly nodded, taking what he mentioned into consideration. "I'll have to go by my house and check and see if it's okay with my Gramps. If it is, then expect to see me." I started walking away and Pony yelled, "Do you like chocolate cake?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. This kid is nuts.

I slowly turned around and gave him a weird look. "Yeah.... why?"

He smirked. "You'll love my brother's chocolate cake."

I laughed and turned away. "Bye, Ponyboy!"

I ran inside my house, scaring my grandpa half to death. "What in the world are you busting into this house for?" He questioned, while putting his hand up to his chest, as if to check if he were still breathing after me coming through the door like a mad man.

GIF of Grandpa Smith below! (I love Tom Hanks haha)

"I made a new friend today and they invited me over to their house. Can I go? Please, Gramps." I begged, actually getting on my knees and holding my hands together.

His eyebrows raised. "What friend? Boy or girl?"

I groaned and mumbled. "Boy."

I just know if it's a guy he would decline. Grandpa is extremely over-protective over me ever since my dad and mom died. They got shot by a guy while they were walking in town together at night. I was never really the same after that.

My grandpa took my answer in and squinted his eyes at me. "Are you going to do anything stupid?"

I shook my head no and he stood up. "You better be back in an hour or I will skin you. You hear me?"

I nodded and jumped up and down while squealing. "Thank you, Gramps!" I pulled him into a hug and ran out the door.

Ponyboy told me he only lived a street over from me because he saw me outside with Gramps once. I walked over to the next street and when I hopped up on the porch, I took a deep breath before entering.

There were hoots and hollers coming from inside and I knocked. A handsome guy with black hair, bright blue eyes, and a DX jacket answered the door and smiled when he saw me. "Ponyboy! Kieran is here!"

I scrunched my eyebrows together, confused as to how he knew my name. I'm guessing Ponyboy told him. Ponyboy came over and smiled when he saw me.

He introduced me to everyone, starting at the guy who answered the door. "That's my brother, Sodapop. Another unique name you'll probably like." I grinned and shook his hand.

He pointed to an older guy. "This is my oldest brother, Darrel Curtis. You can call him Darry."

I gasped. "He's the one who makes the good chocolate cake!"

Darry smirked at Ponyboy. "Aww, Pony? You told her my cake was good?"

Pony rolled his eyes which made me giggle. He then pointed to a guy with a Mickey Mouse shirt. "That's Two-Bit. He's the jokester out of all of us and he's obsessed with Mickey Mouse."

He pointed to another guy with a DX jacket and a chocolate bar in his hand. "This is Steve. He works with Soda and he's good with cars."

Then he pointed at a kid who was crouched down, and he looked super shy and sweet. "This is my best friend, Johnny. He got beat up badly by Bob and his friends. One thing you two have in common." I gave a light smile at Johnny and he gave me one back. I have a feeling we'll be best friends.

"This here is Dallas Winston, but you can call him Dally. I'm sure you've heard of him before." He explained while pointing to a guy in all black and a leather jacket.

I nodded. "I have. I like how you beat the hell out of Bob. That's one thing we have in common."

Two-Bit chuckled. "I guess that's one thing we all have in common."

Everyone started laughing and Dallas had a serious look on his face. "So, Bob bullies you every day at school and no one notices?"

I sighed and nodded my head. "He does it whenever no ones in the hallway. He told me that if I ever screamed to where a teacher would come out, he'd make my pain ten times worse, so I learn to keep my mouth shut."

All of the guys got highly pissed and started yelling. "Alright, guys! Calm down!" Darry shouted and everyone instantly went silent. "Come in the kitchen and I'll give you some chocolate cake."

I walked in there and once I took a bite of it, I moaned. "This is the best thing I ever tasted! Ponyboy, you weren't kidding!"

He laughed and Darry gave me a high-five. "I like this kid already."

I continued having fun with the guys until it was time for me to go home. I said goodbye and Pony offered to walk me home.

Once we got to my front steps, I grinned. "I really dig your friends. They're pretty cool."

He smiled. "Come over whenever you like. We'll always be there."

Once I walked inside, I found my grandpa rocking in his rocking chair watching Andy Griffith. "How was it?" He questioned as I collasped on the couch grinning.

"I'm going to take the smile on your face as it went well." He chuckled when I didn't answer.

Today was a great day.

//

Hope y'all enjoyed the first chapter! It's actually the longest one I've written in a long time, 2200 words!

Please vote and comment so I can have feedback on this!