Attention Please?
A/N I do not own The Outsiders. I got bored so I started to write this…review? :D
A/N: It is now 2017. Yeesh, it's been quite a while since I've written this. I'm actually going to edit this story and hopefully finish it. I hate leaving my work unfinished. And even though I lost the rough draft to this, I'll try my best to think of the plot line.
When I was born, I was given the name Liana or Lia, for short. Standing at 4 feet and 10 inches, I was super short for my age. Being an odd height wasn't the only thing that made me stand out in a crowd. My hair was black, soft and extremely long. Most of the time I was always accidentally getting caught in my mess of the mane. I had a major baby face with the chubby cheeks and all, which I wasn't proud of. People usually mistook me for a six or seven year old despite the fact that I was actually twelve years old. With puberty having yet to bless and curse me, my face and skin was smooth and clear. I often enjoyed rubbing my skin when I was bored. My eyes were as green as emeralds, much not like my own family. I often got mistaken for being adopted, but I was more than sure that my family was my own blood. I was also very shy in front of any sort of stranger or crowd so I didn't really like attention or public places. Yet, despite that, but I'd do anything if it meant getting to see my big brother again.
Ever since I was little kid, I had been dying to get my big brother, Dallas', attention. He was the only sibling I ever had and I cared so deeply for him. Mom and Dad didn't seem to share the same kind of love for him as I did. They would always get angry with him for his terrible grades or for coming home with a black eye. But our parents always praised me and gave me their attention. I hated it. I wanted them to understand Dallas and be the loving parents he needed them to be, but even after I'd cry about it, nothing ever changed. Because of the obvious difference in treatments from our parents, Dallas never opened up to me. He never once hugged me when he'd see me or hold my hand to take me to school. And never once did I ever hear him tell me he loved me. I guess a part of me really didn't care if he did any of that stuff, I just wanted to show him that I loved him even if our parents didn't, but he was never worried about me and my existence.
I guess after he felt unwanted for so many years, Dallas took off and left in the middle of the night. No goodbyes, no acknowledgement that we were his family, nothing. My heart broke the morning I woke up and found Dally's window open. Tears streamed down my face the entire day. Our parents acted concerned at first, but eventually started becoming angry at the fact that it wasn't completely out of line for Dallas to do. It only made me frustrated to know that it was our parents who drove him to the decision.
As I grew older, I heard rumors about a boy that often caused trouble on the shady side of a certain town called "Tulsa." I had a hunch that it must've been my older brother. That's when I came up with a plan: I'd sneak away from my family and leave to go see Dally. My feelings towards my brother never faltered. My love for him was unconditional. Every year on my birthday, I would wish for him to come back home right before blowing out the candles on my cake. This year's birthday wish was hoping that I could find him in the town he was rumored to be in.
On the night before my birthday, I said goodbye to my parents and feigned walking to a friend's house, when in reality I was headed to the train station. Confidently buying my own ticket, I tried not to get questioned by the salesmen and boarded the next train to Tulsa, which I hoped wasn't too far.
Seeing all the people on the train made me extremely nervous. I shakily moved around in the train, gripping tightly to the little teddy bear that Dallas had left in his room when he abandoned us. I tried my best to pay attention the to conductor speaking out the train stops over the noise of the passengers. I was trying my best to find out if I was in Tulsa or not, not really wanting to ask anyone about where we were. At each stop, people pushed and shoved and continuously asked if I was lost. Blushing and becoming quickly anxious, I shook my head no and did my best to avoid having to make any conversations with the curious bystanders. But after I thought I missed the stop, I finally worked up the courage to ask an old woman sitting down. "E-Excuse me miss... But when is the stop for Tulsa?" I tried to deepen my sorry excuse for a voice, hoping it wasn't too soft to be heard. The old woman blinked at me for a couple of seconds, then smiled happily. "Tulsa? Oh, it's the next stop dearie." The old woman said. Swallowing hard, I tried my best to say my next words confidently. "Thank you."
I waited for those doors to open again, which felt like forever. Eventually, the opened up and I quickly took my leave. I had no idea where to find Dallas. The only clue I came with was the tale that he may be on the shady side of town. Stuck in a town that I had no information about, I cautiously walked through the streets hoping that I'd randomly bump along into him. I only had about 15 dollars left on me and I planned out guarding it with my life.
Getting lost in my thoughts, I looked up towards the night sky and wondered what Dallas was doing in that moment. I wondered if he ever thought about me or if he ever considered going back home. How was he making it on his own? I hoped he was at least taking care of himself. Staring at the moon above me, I was suddenly stopped by a man dressed in all black with a knife.
"Give me all your money." He said roughly, shaking the dagger around. I honestly was terrified, almost unable to move. Quickly trying to come up with a plan, I thought that maybe if I mentioned the fact that Dallas was my brother, he'd probably change his mind about causing me any harm. Attempting to gather my racing thoughts, I breathed in deeply to calm my fast beating heart. "Hey mister..." I started, controlling the shaking in my voice. "Can you help me find my big brother, Dallas Winston?" Continuing, I saw his eyes widen with what looked like fear. His body tensed up at the name of my brother. I decided I hit right on the money, then went on with my request. "It's my birthday tomorrow and my birthday wish is to visit him."
"Your big brother is Dallas Winston?" He asked, visibly frightened and shaking as if he was naked in Antartica. I gave him the biggest smile I could manage and nodded my head yes. The man began putting away his dagger frantically. "Don't tell him that I tried to take your money ok, just keep it! He's usually down at Buck's! Please just leave me alone!" And with those words, he ran in the opposite direction from me.
The adrenaline kicked in and it became hard to breathe. The realization of what just occurred had suddenly hit me, I leaned up against a brick wall and tried to calm myself. "You can do this. It's okay. It's worth it if it's for him." I tried to encourage myself, timing my breathing and pondering if I should have brought my inhaler with me or not. I hated feeling like I got any sort of special treatment, so I often left it at home only to have asthma attacks later in the day. In which one of my parents would have to head over to my school in a rush and bring me my life support. After eventually calming down, I headed out into the night looking for a building named "Buck's." I had searched for nearly half an hour when my eyes caught sight of the building I was searching for. Wasting no time, I quickly walked up to the door but froze before attempting to knock. I was too nervous at what I would find behind the door or who would answer. So instead of trying to overcome the last obstacle standing in my way, I decided to sit on the concrete sidewalk. Dallas had to show up sometime if he usually came to Buck's for fun. Trying my best to keep my eyes open, I accidentally fell asleep holding the teddy bear in my grip.
The sound of approaching footsteps woke me up. I jolted upright when I realized I had fallen asleep. Checking to see if my money was still in my pocket, I confirmed it was and rubbed my eyes, yawning soon after. I lazily got up off the curb, deciding it must've been early morning since it was still dark out. When I observed to see who the footsteps belonged to, I was in for a surprise. It was Dallas! My heart stopped and I felt the biggest grin form on my face. He was walking into Buck's. I ran up behind him and wrapped my arms around him. "What the-" He began, but I cut him off by squeezing him tighter. "Dallas! Its me! Liana!" I rejoiced happily. He pried me off with his hands. "...Go away." He muttered. My heart dropped to my stomach when I heard his words. It was nothing out of the ordinary for him to say, but some part of me wished he would be a little happier to see me. "Do you know what today is?" I questioned him happily. Dallas sighed, though he never turned around to look at me. "No. And I don't give a shit about what today is, either." With those cruel and cold words, he walked into Buck's and slammed the door in my face.
My head dropped and I felt my throat tighten as the tears threatened to fall. "Dallas?" The soft words caused the tears to escape my eyes. Almost instantly, they fell like a waterfall down my cheeks. I shouldn't have expected him to remember my birthday. He never did. But why did it hurt so bad?
I was about to knock on the door when it suddenly opened. A weird man was looking down at me. In a panic, I quickly reached into my pocket and pulled out the money. "C-Can you give this to Dallas? T-Tell him Liana gave it to him." I instructed shyly, stuttering my words like a scared child. Forcing the money into the man, I hastily ran off.
"At least I got to see Dallas." I thought happily, wiping the tears off my face and from my eyes. After a couple more moments of running, I switched to a slow walk and traveled on the sidewalk looking down. Trying to calm my staggered breathing, I ended up finding five dollars on the ground under some leaves. My luck seemed to have been well enough for me to find this, but I just wish my luck was great enough to make my brother acknowledge me.
Why? Why does he ignore me like I'm a piece of trash on the side of the road? No… He probably acknowledges the trash more than he pays attention to me...
