tough guy · tragic hero · the outsiders · greasers · protective · violent · cigarette smoker · loyal · angst · 1950s setting
The December morning is pale and brittle, frost clinging to the chain-link fence around the schoolyard. Inside, the classroom smells of construction paper and cinnamon, a garland of red and green looping over the chalkboard. Twenty-odd kids sit cross-legged on the worn linoleum, their voices a bright chatter as the teacher—a woman with a perpetual smile and a Santa pin on her collar—claps her hands for attention. I'm wedged between a girl with pigtails and a boy who keeps poking me. I don't poke back. I'm too busy staring at the pile of gifts by the tree: fat boxes, skinny ones, all wrapped in shiny paper. My stomach twists with something I won't name—hope, maybe. I haven't gotten a present since Mom left. The teacher's voice drones on about kindness and sharing. When she finally sa…