Chapter 3

 

            It was hot, I was in the garage under the hood of a car working on changing the oil. I had no idea where Skimps was, he liked to help out at the garage. Couldn’t get a job here because the home needed to okay him, and they didn’t. So he would come and help out when he didn’t want to go to school.

            I heard a car pull up outside, they honked their horn and called. I wiped my hands on a rag and stepped out into the bright sunlight to the car.

“Socs” I mumbled under my breath. I could tell by the way they were dressed, and by their fancy car.

“Common, Grease! Hurry up, we got places to go!” a boy said from the front seat.

            I walked around to the other side of the convertible and started filling the tank. I stood there feeling out of place while they watched me from the car. There were three girls and two guys.

“Haven’t we seen you around school?” one of the girls asked.

“Um-“

“He’s a drop out, Mary Anne.” The guy driving said loudly, the other guy snickered, “He couldn’t stay in school if he wanted to. Just a jerk hood is all he is.”

            I didn’t say anything, I stared at the gas pump and pretended I wasn’t listening.

“Tom, keep your mouth shut.” Marry Anne said.

“Why should I? He’s a nothing, a nobody.”

            I bit my lip, and tried hard not to tell Tom a few choice words of my own. If it was Skimps he was talking to, he’d have a bloody nose. If I wasn’t working I might have taken a swing.

            The tank was full, I pulled the nozzle away and put it in its holder. I stepped up to the window, “Five dollars.”

            Tom scowled and reached into his pocket and gave me a five, “Here ya go, grease.” And he sped off, nearly running over my foot with their rear tire.

            This is why my hate for the west side rich kids, still grows. They think that just because they have money, they’re better. That just because we got the tough breaks, we’re trash. I went back into the garage to keep working on the car.

            Later after work I still hadn’t seen Skimps, he was probably picked up by the cops or back at our house. It was growing darker by the second and more people were out on the streets. Whenever someone stared at me I’d jam my fists into my pockets and look down. I was a social outcast, a greaser, hood, and there was nothing I could do to change that. So, I kept up my appearance, wore the grease in my hair, got drunk, hung out at the greaser joints like AJ’S and Ben’s Burgers.

“Grease!” Someone shouted as they passed by in their car, I looked down.

            Rounding the corner, I ran straight into someone.

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!” She said.

“No, it’s okay.” I told her.

            She looked up at me, her eyes were a china blue and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and I almost thought she was a greaser girl. But there was something off about her. She was different compared to the greasy girls I see around/

“I wasn’t watching where I was going, I’m sorry.” She brushed the bangs out of her face.

“Really, it’s okay.” I said again.

“I’m Jenni.” She held out a hand and I took it.

“Ren.” I replied, and waited for the ‘that’s a strange name’ or something like that, everyone always says that to me.

“That’s a nice name.” She said.

“Thanks.” I felt stupid, that was all I could say?

“Do you work at a gas station or something?” she asked.

“Yeah, how did-“

“You have car grease on your shirt.” She smiled, “How come I haven’t seen you around?”

            I thought about the places she would go, she’s not a soc, or a greaser. She wouldn’t see me around because she doesn’t go the places where I go. I bit my lip and looked down, “I’m a greaser.” And before I could let her get a word in edgewise, I walked past her. I don’t know why, but I didn’t want to be a greaser around her, only for a second. But in that second, I didn’t want to be a greaser, why?

            That girl, Jenni, she sparked something inside of me. I didn’t know what it was. I’d met a bunch of greasy girls that talked about…never mind what they talked about, but none of them ever made me want to change for them.

            I got home later than normal, Skimps was asleep on the couch and pop was nowhere to be seen, no surprise there. I wasn’t hungry, so I just went to my room and tried to sleep, but lay awake thinking of how odd that girl had been. Not a greaser not a soc, it seemed like there had never been an in-between person. Her blue eyes were mesmerizing, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. She wore blue jeans and rolled up dress shirt like a greaser, but was polite like a girl soc, but she wasn’t either of those.

            There had to be something else. Someone who doesn’t care what you are, greaser or soc, there had to be.

Author's Note

Hey everybody! thank you so much for reading, please tell me what you think!!

Reviews

[barleygirl]

WOW! I'm blown away by how differently this chapter is written! I love it! It's an absolute pleasure to read thru this piece becuz there are minimal insignicant mistakes & no long run-on sentences. This is manicured like a professional & I thank you so much for that *smile*

Your story is well-written & compelling. Dialogue is clear & realistic. It's good for you to remind us of the social differences thru-out, becuz this is obviously central to the character's way of seeing the world. At the end, you've set up a "carrot" to tempt the reader into continuing to the next chapter.

I think the paragraph indentation is a little confusing. My preference is to NOT indent (I think having a blank line in between paragraphs serves the same purpose of separation). In this chapter, you've indented most paragraphs, but not the ones starting with dialogue -- if you want to stick with indenting, it seems like every paragraph should be indented for uniformity.

Looking forward to your next chapter! (((HUGS)))

[matpat]

Thank you so much! I've been working on editing everything, thanks again!