Chapter 1:
Elizabeth's POV
The train screeched as it pulled out of the station. We were finally free. I looked around the station. It was mostly deserted; it was about seven in the morning. I sighed not really knowing where I was or what I was going to next. All I knew was we were as far away from home as we had ever been in our lives. It was the greatest and scariest feeling. Amelia pulled on my sleeve and I looked down at her. Her pale blue eyes sparkled in the early morning light. Her red highlights stood out on her brown hair as she gently nudged me toward the exit. She was the greatest person in my world. She was my best friend and the fact that she was my sister made it even more wonderful. I didn't care how much money we had as long as we had each other, every thing in the world was good; at least to us it was.
"Elizabeth, when are we going to eat?" She asked.
"Soon, Amelia, let's go find a café or something."
Amelia's POV
Elizabeth seemed really convinced that everything would turn out fine. I couldn't help but smile. We had escaped the trailer park with all of the drunken wanderers and loud music.
" Elizabeth, what do you think George is doing right now?" I wondered out loud.
She didn't answer right away, but glazed absentmindedly out of the dirty windows that lined the terminal.
"He's probably still in England," She murmured softly. Elizabeth then readjusted her rucksack and said, "Come on, this place smells."
George was our older brother by three years. Back when we were in the trailer park, he was the only one who could stand up to our old lady. Our dad had disappeared years ago and our mother would have left us to if she had somewhere to go. The three of us basically lived on our own; spending days exploring the neighboring woods only to emerge to for dinner and school. Earlier this year, George joined the British National Guard. He had been working on becoming a British citizen for years, but his leaving was the worst day in my sister's and my lives. He promised to send us money and toys when ever he could. He did, George always kept his promises. He had escaped; he had a chance to make something of his self. Now it was our turn.
" Elizabeth, can we go shopping these clothes are filthy looking. Look at them they have holes every where and they don't keep me warm or dry. You know George would want you to." I pleaded.
Elizabeth looked down and took in her faded jeans and T-shirt that was two sizes to small.
"Hey, I guess your right. But first, let's blow this joint."
We stepped out into the bright late-summer morning. There was a hint of rain in the air, but it wasn't coming until tomorrow. I smiled; we definitely spent too much time outside.
We turned right and walked down the sidewalk. After walking for a while we finally found a department store.
" Oh, I think this shirt would look good on you. The blue really brings out your brown eyes and the shape really makes your brown fluffy hair seem fluffier."
"Great" She smiled and looked like she was going to punch me, but then she pulled this hideous pink sweater with a puffy kitty on it. "Now this is perfect," She tossed it to me. "Consider it an early birthday present," Elizabeth winked and moved on to the next rack.
We flipped through a few more racks.
"Yes, I think I've found it." I said eagerly. I picked out a pair of dark jeans and a blue tank top with a horse on it. "Do you think I need new shoes?"
"Yeah, I guess so." Elizabeth frowned at the thought of spending more money. "You have been wearing those shoes for two years now. Go pick out a pair," I disappeared behind a shelf, "And not too expensive!" She called after me.
I went to the side of the store where the shoes were. After looking through all the shoes twice I finally found a pair of black tennis shoes that I liked. Then I went back to Elizabeth. "How about these?" She looked at them and handed them back. "Okay, just get yourself some socks too; I don't what you getting blisters."
Elizabeth's POV
I finally decided on a deep red T-shirt and a pair of jeans with a design on the right back pocket. My boots were still in working order, but I could use some new socks. Luckily Amelia read my mind and threw two pairs of white socks at me.
"Ya happy now?" I asked as we walked toward the cash register.
"Yep, but I'm still hungry."
"Good for you." I laid the clothes on the counter and Amelia put hers on top.
It was 30 total. I reluctantly paid the money fully aware that we still had to find a hotel room and hopefully after that buy our own house. George had only given us a couple hundred bucks. We were almost out the door when Bump
"Sorry," I apologized. I had almost run over some kid with light-brown hair and grayish eyes.
"That's okay," He said, and he and his dark-haired friend moved aside to let us through the doorway.
"Thanks, " Amelia and I mumbled as we left the store.
Amelia's POV
We found a general store and weaved our way through the lunch customers to the restrooms in the back. After changing into our new clothes, we helped ourselves to a bag of pretzels (the best breakfast ever!) and continued our journey around the town.
"Do you even know where we are?" I asked after a moment of silence.
"It's someplace that begins with a "t", Tulum? Tulip? Tulsa…yeah something like that. O'well, it doesn't really matter as long as we have each other." She smiled at the last comment.
"Great, a lot of good that will do me." Elizabeth smiled at my sarcasm and we walked faster not knowing what our future would hold.
We rounded the corner munching on some pretzels. My bag had gotten heavier now that my old clothes were in it, but I wasn't complaining. I looked around me and observed that the houses were becoming smaller and more rundown looking. There were fewer cars traveling on the road and the sidewalk disappeared into a narrow dirt path along the road. Elizabeth shifted onto the road and let me have the path. She started humming the song from The Sound of Music that we usually sang as we ran up hills and climbed trees. I found myself humming along and for a brief moment I forgot that we were in a strange new place and could almost hear the birds chirping in the tree tops.
In high spirits we crossed the street and walked up a narrower street that connected to numerous houses. The only sign of life was an old dog that slept on the porch of a small rundown yellow house and a blue Mustang that drove slowly to the corner and then stopped. About four guys got out dressed in madras's and kaki pants. They seemed to be overly dressed for this side of town. Curiosity had always been one of our weaknesses. Giving into the temptation we walked a bit faster. As we reached the end of the block, Elizabeth slowed down and I followed suit. Across the street there was a field; its grass was golden in the sunlight. The well-dressed boys were kicking and taunting something on the ground. At first I thought it was a dog, but as we moved silently across the dusty road it appeared to be a kid. I met Elizabeth eyes and she nodded. We tossed our rucksacks to the edge of the road; the guys still hadn't noticed us.
We had gotten into loads of fights before. Our old place was crawling with tramps and other desperate people who would settle for the shoes on your feet. George had bought a book on karate and we had spent the summer kicking planks of wood and flipping off of tree stumps. He made sure we knew how to defend ourselves.
Quietly, we glided over the trampled grass; there were blood stains everywhere. Elizabeth tried not to notice them. I swallowed hard. We crouched on the ground about ten feet away from the rich kids. The heap on the ground yelped as a foot collided with his ribcage. We had to help now.
Elizabeth pointed to a medium blond one, and I nodded in understandment. She herself moved behind a tall brown-haired one. I counted to three softly and then leaped onto the blonde's back. He yelled in surprise and tried to get me off but I clutched onto his hair. One of his friends attempted to pry me off, but I swung my legs back and kicked him in the stomach. After landing on the grass, the blond guy tried to give me a good punch in the head, but I blocked it and uppercut him. He spat out some blood, but charged at me again. Elizabeth appeared just in time and clunked him on the head. He swayed on his feet a bit before stumbling back to the car.
"Lets get out of here!" One of them called. Before you could say "chocolate milk" they were back in the mustang and speeding down the road and out of sight.
We turned and knelt around the boy on the ground. Elizabeth gently turned him over so we could see his face. It was the dark-haired kid we had seen earlier at the store. His face cut up and bruised and swollen, and there was a wide gash from his temple to his cheekbone. His white T-shirt was splattered with blood. I prayed silently that he wasn't dead. I looked at Elizabeth hoping she knew what to do now.
Elizabeth's POV
I put my hand on his shoulder and slowly shook him, hoping that he would wake up. Our evening wasn't turning out in the best way I had dreamed. The kid groaned a little. He seemed to be trying to say something. I wished there was something more I could do, but my brain seemed to have stopped working. I didn't know where the hospital was, and I didn't even know this teenager. As I sat trying to think of what to do next, I was completely oblivious to approaching footsteps behind me. Amelia did and she receded away. A boy about sixteen took her spot. His dark gold hair was long and silky. His deep brown eyes were boiling with anger and despair. Another guy appeared at his side, groaned, and dropped to his knees beside his friend. This one was taller and his hair was combed in complicated swirls. The one that I had run over in the clothing store stood behind me. Another guy with long rusty-colored sideburns walked over and stood beside him. His gray eyes were stormy. A bigger dark-haired guy ran across the field followed by another with blond-almost white hair. They slowed and surveyed the scene. One of them was swearing under his breath. I didn't bother to find out whom. I had turned back to the beaten kid on the ground. Amelia had moved next to me and we both could feel the awkwardness of our situation. But the teens said nothing. The cute blond one across from me lifted up the poor kid and held him against his shoulder.
"Johnny?" He gave the limp body a slight shake. "Hey, Johnnycake."
The boy didn't open his eyes, but there came a soft question. "Soda?"
"Yeah, it's me," the one called Soda said. "Don't talk. You're gonna be okay."
"There was a whole bunch of them," Johnny went on, ignoring Soda's command. "A blue Mustang full …I got so scared…" He tried to swear, but started crying instead. He sobbed into Soda's shirt.
"Its okay, Johnnycake, they're gone now. It's okay." Soda held him and pushed Johnny's hair out of his eyes.
Slowly, between sobs, Johnny managed to gasp out his story. He had been hunting a football when the Blue Mustang had arrived. One of the guys (the blond one that Amelia had jumped on) was wearing a lot of rings- that's what cut Johnny up so badly. When he got to the part where we came in I could feel the eyes move from Johnny to us. Amelia and I pretended not to notice to calculating glances. I lent forward and whipped the blood off his face with my hankie that I had in my pocket.
Soda slowly stood up taking Johnny with him. The poor little kid couldn't stand on his own, so the big dark-haired one picked him up and carried him like a baby out of the lot. Amelia and I stood; dusting off our new jeans. Soda turned toward us and smiled, "Thanks," he said.
"Anytime," was all I was able to get out as his dark brown eyes looked into mine.
"Wait till I get my hands on them Socs," the elfish looking guy said throwing in a couple of choice phrases as he impatiently paced the ground like a trapped lynx.
"Don't you worry, Dally," the one with the sideburns said to him. "We'll have it out with them soon."
"Anybody got a cancer-stick?" the one called Dally asked.
"Yeah, here." The tall teen with his hair swirling around his head tossed Dally a cigarette. After lighting it and taking a drag, Dally turned and left without another word.
A moment of silence passed. The feeling of awkwardness brushed over Amelia and me again, but the boys didn't seem to find our presence unusual.
"Man, why did it have to be Johnny? He has it rough as it is. Why they got to get him more jumpy?" Soda said softly and flicked a stray hair out of his eyes.
"I'm going to go check on him," the small one behind me said, speaking for the first time. He left the lot.
"I should go find Kathy; I told her we could go see a movie tonight."
"See ya, Two-Bit," the two remaining boys called after him.
I caught Amelia's eye and we both agreed that it was time for us to go. It was getting dark and we still had to find a hotel to stay in. Soda and the other guy were having there own conversation, so we just walked away. Amelia picked up our rucksacks and tossed me mine. We started back up the sidewalk when the two boys caught up with us.
"So, who may you two lovely ladies be?" the golden one asked.
"Elizabeth," I answered. "And this is my sister Amelia." To be honest, I tend to be a bit shy around strangers, and Amelia is even quieter then me.
"Sodapop Curtis," he introduced himself. "And that's Steve Randle." He indicated to the guy with all swirls.
"Nice to meet you," I replied back, fully conscience of how disheveled my hair looked.
"So where ya form?"
I swallowed. "Not far away."
"Are you just visiting?" His smile was starting to blind me.
"Do you ever stop asking questions?" I smiled back.
"Nope."
"Well, in that case, we are not visiting, although I'm not really sure where we're going to stay." I admitted the last part softly to myself.
"You ain't running from the law are ya?" Steve asked.
"No," Amelia and I answered together.
"Then consider us your new friends," Soda beamed. "Come we'll give you the grand tour."
They lead us up the road and turned right, past a crumpling park. They showed us the DX, the gasoline station where they both worked. Walking up Tenth Street, Amelia pointed out the Tasty Freeze. I hadn't had some ice cream in the longest time.
"So where do you live?" Sodapop asked as we stood on the corner waiting for some cars to pass.
"As of now, nowhere," Amelia admitted.
"We were hoping to find a hotel our something until we get enough money to get our own house." I finished.
"I don't know about hotel, but old lady Putnam has a room for rent at her place." Steve said, "It's probably cleaner, although the place is crawling with cats."
Amelia smiled. She loved cats.
"Okay, we'll try there." I said.
"Here, we'll show you where it is."