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These were Pony’s favorite days. Days where it was just cold enough to stay outside without sweating, a beautiful shining sun, and a good book. She walked down the calm street. Getting to see Josie for the first time all week made her heart skip a beat, even if it was only wednesday.
The greaser was in her usual spot. Curled up on a battered bus seat with a cancer stick hanging out of her mouth. Pony had always been jealous of how pretty she was. Sodapop was very pretty, but in a different way. Josie looked so… pure. Like she was sent down from heaven and just stayed for a laugh.
Maybe that was true, Pony’d believe it. She didn’t belong here. On these messy streets with horrible people.. she should be in a book. She would be the character that every reader loved the second her name appeared on the page.
Though a book could never describe her beauty. She had big chocolate brown eyes. She has a little scar on her cheek from a nasty fight, that didn’t keep her from being pretty. She’s a little shorter than I am, but also a little older. She has short fluffy hair. She has magnificent curls that just frame her face perfectly.
You know how Hemingway writes? He could never capture Josie’s face. He’d say something like ‘it was a pretty face.’ That would never be enough to describe her. She needs someone like Dickens, or maybe even Tolstoy. Someone who’d take a full page. Talking about her eyebrows, her jawline, her nose, her eyes. Someone who’d talk about the little face she makes when she’s trying hard to comprehend something, or when she’s genuinely happy.
Not that I think about that often.
“You alright?” She asked, giving me a quizzical look. “You’ve been standing there for a while.” She looked a little uncomfortable, but not upset. Darla would always get mad when I space out for too long. She would go on about ‘what would happen if you did that in a rumble?’ or ‘no wonder you can’t pass geometry, you can’t even focus on a simple conversation.’ I knew she was just worried for me, it didn’t stop how angry those comments would make me.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinkin’.” She nodded and patted the seat next to her. Josie never pushed me for more when I didn’t wanna explain. Yet she always listened and helped me when I’d complain to her. Even though I had no right. She was going through so much, just for me to go on about how a teacher yelled at me for talking when it wasn’t me.
“Whatcha got?” She looked down to the books in my arm. Josie couldn’t read well. She explained it like the words got all blurry when she tried. I think it’s a mental thing, Josie isn’t stupid or anything. Far from it.
She enjoyed books just as much as I did though. Sometimes we’d sit at the lot and I’d read to her until it got too dark to see the words. Those were the best days. We could just sit there together, the real world far far away.
“Thought I’d read a bit today.” Her face lit up, “I was thinking, ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ but I also brought ‘I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings’ if you want that.” I handed her both. She looked at both of them for a moment. Her eyes scanning over the covers and her lip turning down a little. She must have been having trouble. She handed me ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’. “This one?”
“And which one is that?” I smirked a little. “Don’t do this to me, Pone.” She groaned out. “C’mon, try your best. I promise I won’t make fun of you.” Her frown deepened. “I know I’m dumb Pony, you don’t gotta rub it in.”
“I’m not trying to! I just want you to try, okay? For me?” I would never make fun of her. I don’t think I could if I tried. She was so perfect. “Um… Mockingbird?” She said, pointing to the bird on the front cover. I smiled. “Yep! You’re good at this Sweetheart!” The nickname was a joke, but the way her face faded into a deep red made me a bit happier that I had said it.
I think that was my favorite color. A deep scarlet tinted with the olive color of her skin, shining in the falling sun. Her lips were parted and her eyes were wide. “What’d you call me?” She tried to laugh it off. Tried. “Sweetheart? You like that?” My smile got wider as she glared at me, the red on her face getting slightly darker.
“Cut that out.” She said, pouting a little as she laid back on the seat. But I couldn’t let this drop. “Josie Cade likes when I call her little nicknames?” I creeped closer to her, seeing the red a bit closer now. “Pony!” She whined. I started giggling, I couldn’t help it.
It was crazy to me how someone so exquisite could get so red at just a few names. “What next? You go head-over-heels cuz’ I called you Honey?” Her eyes went large, her mouth opening quickly, as if she wanted to say something back. It closed just as fast. “Love?”
“Pony.”
“Darling?” She sunk farther into the seat. “It’s not funny.” She pouted. “I think it is.” I laughed a little louder. She sighed and grabbed the front of my shirt. “You have ten seconds.” She muttered. “Till what? You gonna kiss me?” She pulled me down, closer to her face. “Do you want me to?”
“Do you want to?” I replied. “I asked first.” She smiled a little. I nodded my head, gawking down at her like some sort of animal. She pulled me down by the collar of my shirt. The kiss didn’t last long, just a little peck. Yet it was the best one I’d ever had.
Her face faltered when she pulled back. She let go of my shirt, and pushed herself back. “I’m sorry! That was a horrible idea… I really need to go-“ I grappled onto her shoulders, Making her stare into my eyes. “Don’t apologize to me, I liked it.” Her shaking hands stilled around mine. “R-Really?” Her voice squeaked out like a broken dog toy. “Jeez Josie, Maybe you are an idiot.”
This time, I was the one pulling her up. Connecting us in a way that we have been taught shouldn’t happen. But we were greasers. Since when did we listen to the rules?
This one was much longer. It was just like Soda explained to me, no matter how simple and sweet it was I felt like my insides were exploding. We pulled away slowly this time. Josie looked at me with the wonder of a starstruck child. Maybe that did something for that lil’ old ego of mine.
“I can’t believe we just did that.” She gaped, steadying her breath. “Me neither.” I smiled at her. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while..” I admit. “Thank god we got it over with then.” She smiled back.
And in that moment, the world was eons away. The two of us were in a different universe, where it was just us. The ideal world some might say.