Chapter One (Nick POV)

"Are we there yet?" I asked my mom tiredly.

"Almost, Nick. Almost," she replied. I sighed.

See, my name is Nicole, but all of my friends call me Nick. I'm fifteen, in grade ten. I lived in West Virginia, but my mom made us move to Tulsa because she thought there was better pay here. I don't really mind, I never really had many friends back home anyways.

I have a brother named Jason, but all of his friends call him Jay. We're twins, but we look nothing alike. I have dark curly hair, which goes down to about my elbows. I have hazel eyes, which sometimes look green, depending on what I'm wearing. I have very pale skin; I can't get a tan no matter how hard I've tried. I'm average height, about 5'5". On the other hand, there's my brother. He is tall and muscular, and he's captain of the football team. Well, he was anyway. He has light brown skin, and a tan. He was always a looker.

"So, Nick, you gonna find you a boyfriend when we get there?" My brother asked teasingly. He nudged my arm.

"I don't know, you know what happened last time…" I trailed off, remembering. He looked like he regretted bringing it up.

The last time I had a boyfriend, he, well…let's just say he wanted only one thing, and would do anything to get it. That one thing was my virginity, and I told him I wouldn't give it up. He didn't listen. He tried to force me. Luckily my brother and his friends happened to be passing by before he got too far…

Before I knew it, we arrived at our "new" house. It was an old thing, a little worn down. But my mom said we would do repairs. There was a house next door, a one level it looked like, and there were two guys sitting on the porch. One had green eyes and brown hair that was greased back. He was pale like me. He was bouncing a ball. The other one had black hair, which was greased back also. He was tan, darker then my brother. He had brown eyes.

We pulled up beside the house, and both boys looked up. My brother ran in to claim his room, and my mom went after him to make sure she got first pick. Meanwhile, I struggled with my bags. I dropped one, and I heard a shout.

"Hey!" I looked over to where the sound was comin' from. The two boys came over, the tan one trailing behind, hands in his pockets, looking down. When I saw him up close, I noticed he sure was good looking.

The one with green eyes spoke. "Want us to help you with that?" he asked.

"Sure," I replied and smiled.

"I'm Ponyboy, and this here is Johnny. You the new neighbors?" He shook my hand.

"Yeah, my mom, brother and I just moved here," I attempted to pick up my bag again.

"And your dad?" he asked.

I think he saw the face I made, and said quickly, "I'm awful sorry, I didn't mean nothing by it. Golly, don't get upset."

"It's okay; it's just a sore subject for me, that's all." He nodded understandingly.

I stared at Johnny, he still hadn't said anything. He noticed me staring and blushed and looked down. I chuckled to myself. He's really cute.

"Here, we'll help, right Johnny?" Ponyboy questioned.

Johnny nodded and they both took a bag. I only had two so the helped me get inside.

We found my room, they put the bags on my bed, and I led them outside. We started talking, and I told them I had come from West Virginia.

"Did you like it there?" Ponyboy asked.

"Eh, it was okay, I didn't have many friends though," I said and sighed.

"Well, why don't you come to the movies with us? I'm sure Johnny would like that, right Johnnycake?" Ponyboy nudged Johnny and of course Johnny blushed and muttered a "sure".

"Okay, we'll pick you up at five," Ponyboy said. I nodded and went inside. It was 2:45.