Hanging out in front of the movie theater late at night is a decent way to start a story.
That's what I was thinking as I leaned against a streetlight, watching Echo smoke a cigarette. I wasn't smoking, I wasn't allowed to. What's more, if I came home smelling like cigarettes, I'd get the living daylights beaten out of me.
I made sure to stand downwind of the smoke, and I blew it away as I straightened out my skirt. I hate wearing skirts, but I was too lazy to do laundry this week so it was the only clean thing I had.
"So that's when Skittery says, 'I'm busy now, can I ignore you some other time?'" Echo rambled on, finishing a story. "You know there's no way in hell I was gonna take that, so I decked him and said he was a no-good, ape faced, hard-ass-"
She proceeded to use her extensive vocabulary of cuss words, and I was impressed at how long she kept it up. It must've been six minutes straight, and she didn't stumble once.
"Anyway," she continued, once she had run out of ways to combine the expletives, "when I was done, Skittery just stood there, kind of stunned, until he finally stuttered an, 'I'm tellin' your brother!' I just laughed at him, and said Two-Bit would probably buy me a cherry soda. So, sorry, but it doesn't look like we're going to get the Stallions on our side for quite a while."
I nodded thoughtfully. It would've been nice to form an alliance with the Stallions, the small gang across town, but if Echo couldn't get along with the leader, I don't think the rest of the Royal girls would either.
I'm the leader of the Royal Flushes, or just the Royals if you're gonna shorten it. It's kind of an ironic name, since none of us have ever been dealt a good hand in our lives, but it just goes to show that sometimes all we need is luck on our side.
It's a pretty tuff gang, mostly because we all learned from the best- the Greasers. The Royals members are all kid sisters of someone or other: there's Echo Matthews, Two-Bit's kid sister; Scarlett Randle, Steve's kid sister; Montgomery Winston, Dallas's kid sister, Lindsay Cade, Johnny's kid sister; and Mickey Shepard, Tim and Curly's kid sister.
Echo's my best friend, and her real name is Ashley, but we hardly ever call her that. She got her nickname because she tends to repeat everything her brother says, so she has the biggest mouth of us all. She can lie real good, and can cuss even better. She's 16, like me. Another thing she gets from her brother is her sticky fingers. She don't get caught nearly as much as he does, though.
Scar is our firecracker. She has the shortest fuse out of anyone I've ever met, and she'll beat the daylights out of you before you can blink twice. No one can tell she's only 14, as she's tall for her age. Her short temper usually gets the Royals in trouble with other gangs. I can't think of a fight that didn't start with her.
Montgomery's 17, and even though she's the oldest, she never wanted to be the leader. Sometimes we call her Spots, on account of she's always got paint spots on her- in her hair, on her fingers, sometimes even on her face. She's something of an artist, and she's managed to sell a few of her own pieces off.
Lindsay is the baby, only being 12. To put it kindly, well, the kid is scared of her own shadow. We keep her around, because she can usually be counted on to keep her head and think stuff through for us. Also, it keeps her out of her house. Her old man don't care he's beating up a girl when he's drunk. I think Johnny's glad we took her in.
Finally, Mickey. She's kind of slow on the draw, but handy in a pinch. She's in the middle, being 15, and even though sometimes we don't get along, she knows that I'm the leader, since its my gang. She's got long, golden blonde hair and wide set blue eyes. I've always thought she was the prettiest out of all of us, but Lindsay and Montgomery insist it's me. They think I look like a movie star, but I don't see it.
"He's cute, though, don't you think so, Ace?" Echo asked, probably referring to Skittery.
Oh yeah, to the gang, I'm Ace. That's not my real name, but since my parents had a thing for unusual names, there's no way I was gonna let anyone call me by my given one. Anyone who so much as mumbled my name would get some sense knocked into them real quick.
I grinned. "He's not bad."
Echo nodded thoughtfully, and we stood in silence for a few moments.
"Ace, ya think we should be getting back?" Echo finally asked, tossing down her cigarette and shoving her hands into the pockets of her oversized jacket.
"Your mom's probably getting worried about you," I agreed, running my hands through my shoulder-length, dark reddish brown hair.
"Hell nawh, she ain't even home tonight," Echo laughed, as her blue eyes sparkled. "I meant you. You're gonna get your ass whipped if you're not home pretty soon."
"You're probably right," I sighed, glancing up at the stars. "I think it's past my curfew. I'll catch you later, Echo."
"See ya," my friend waved, as she skittered off through an alley.
I headed back to my house. As I approached it, I saw that all the lights were on. Figures.
When I reached the porch, I quickly brushed the dirt off myself so I looked presentable. My arm was still bleeding a little from where I had sliced it hopping a fence running away from some Soc's earlier today, but I couldn't do anything about that now. I combed my hair with my fingers for one last attempt at neatness, then pushed open the front door.
"Where the hell have you been, Emerald Grace?" Darry demanded when I entered the house.
I sighed. Only my brothers could get away with calling me by my name, but that didn't mean I liked it.
"Chill, Darry," Sodapop put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "It's only 10:30."
"Yeah, she ain't that late," Ponyboy stuck up for me from the couch.
Darry sighed loudly. "Still, Em, where've you been?"
"Out with the girls," I answered calmly.
Darry shook his head. "Do you always have to be hanging around with them? It seems like the Royals have brought you nothing but trouble."
"You're one to talk!" I exclaimed. "The Greasers are just as much trouble, and then some!"
Soda met my eyes, and I could see him trying to hold back a grin. Darry couldn't think of a comeback for that, so I tried to duck past him quickly so he wouldn't see my arm.
No such luck. As soon as I stepped around him he grabbed the back of my shirt.
"What's this?" he asked concernedly, taking my arm and examining the cut.
I pulled out of his grip. "It's nothing, I just caught it on a fence."
"Ponyboy, go get the first aid kit," Darry ordered. Pony jumped off the couch and led me to the bathroom.
I sat on the bathroom counter as Pony cleaned and bandaged my arm, and Darry stood in the doorway with a disapproving look.
"What?" I asked, looking him in the eye. "I'm only a half hour late."
Darry sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You've got school tomorrow, Emerald," he said finally. "I won't keep you up. Just get to bed as soon as you're done." He headed into his and Pony's room.
Ponyboy hadn't said anything while he was fixing me up.
"Are you mad at me, too?" I asked.
"Heck, you know I ain't," Pony said, giving me a smile. "But you know how much we all worry whenever you're late. You're giving Darry more gray hair than Soda and I put together."
"I'm sorry," I muttered, hopping off the bathroom counter once he had finished. "I'll try and keep track of time better.
"It's okay, Em," Pony said, ruffling my hair. Like Darry, I always kept my hair neat and washed- no grease for me. "Let's get to bed."
Our house is pretty small, and it's only got two bedrooms. Since Pony and I are the smallest, Pony shares a room with Darry and Soda and I get the smaller bedroom. Soda and Darry are too big to share a bed.
While I was changing, Soda came into the bedroom. Not that I cared, we were brother and sister after all. I've seen him in his boxers more times than I care to count, and he's doesn't care if he walks in on me naked.
Not that I was, I had just pulled on my pajama shorts and one of Pony's old T-shirts to sleep in.
"Did you have a good day, Emmy?" Soda asked as usual, as he pulled off his shirt and rolled into bed.
I laid down on my side and shoved him over a bit. "Yeah. Echo cussed out Skittery Andrews today, so I don't think we're gonna be buddies with the Stallions anytime soon. And Scarlett shot her mouth off to the leader of the Prisms, and now they want to have a rumble tomorrow."
The Prisms were the mostly-female South Side equivalents of the Soc's, but not nearly as tough. They weren't nearly as tough as the Royals either, but there were a lot more of them than us. I was sure we could beat them anyway, but if they bring knives again we might be in trouble.
Soda frowned as I reached up and turned off the light. "Ain't there boys in that gang?"
I shrugged into the darkness. "So?"
Soda rolled onto his side and propped himself up on one elbow. "So, I don't want no boys to be beating up on my kid sister."
I scoffed. "They're wimps. We'll be fine."
Soda still looked concerned. "What time's the fight?"
"6:30"
"Where?"
"Crystal Park."
"We'll all be there, for backup," Soda said, relaxing into his pillow.
"Good, I was gonna ask y'all to come anyway," I said, rolling over onto my side so I was facing him. "The Prisms don't always fight fair."
"They'd better," Soda said seriously, "or they're in for it."
"Don't worry, it won't be like last time," I assured him, putting a hand under my cheek, because I always slept like that. Soda yawned, and I shivered a little and pulled the sheets up to my chin. Even though it was only September, it was always cold in the house at night.
"You cold, Emmy?" Soda asked softly.
"A little," I mumble, my eyes closing.
Soda rolled over and scooted close to me, draping his strong arm over my waist. I snuggled into his chest, and he pulled the covers over us.
Under the door crack, I could see that the light was still on in Pony and Darry's room. I figured Darry was probably studying. Last fall, he started taking some classes at the community college, and he makes straight A's, just like he used to. At 23, he was usually the oldest in class, but he was just glad to be back in school.
Even at 19, Soda's still not interested in college, he always says he's happy working at the DX whenever I ask him. Darry's making Pony go to Oklahoma State next year, and he has the same plan for me. I haven't decided what I want yet, though. I guess I've got time.
I listened to Soda's steady breathing for a while, before I fell asleep too.
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A/N
Haha, get it? Emerald GrACE:P My sister didn't get it, so I just thought I'd clarify...
So, what do you think? I hope you like the idea so far:) Please review and give your opinion, it'll only take a second. You'll meet the gang and some more people in the next chapter.
I don't write in chronological order, but I've already written out a bunch of exciting parts for this story, so I hope you keep reading it for when I continue:) There'll be lots of the Curtises, and the Greasers will all be there too:)
BTW, this is obviously set after the Outsiders. All the events in the book took place, except Johnny was never hit with a buring wooden beam, so everyone's still there:)
Anyway, I hope you liked it, thanks for reading! Also, if you have any ideas you'd like to see in here, just leave it in a review or PM me. :)
Xoxoxo,
EmMarie