Chapter 1

{This my newest story and I am so excited for it. I already wrote a big chunk of it and I'm pretty proud. This might be a story with a few sequels to it, but it all depends on how much it is liked. I don't own the Outsiders, but I do own the character Jewel. She's a doll. Well, enough of me, hope you enjoy!}

I looked out the window and watched the other cars pass ours by as we zoomed down the freeway. It was a bright, sunny and warm June day. I looked in the back of our truck and saw all our luggage, secured to the bed of our truck.

My family was moving. My parents thankfully let me and my sister finish out the school year in our hometown, before backing our bags and leaving the only place I ever knew, Kansas.

We were heading to Oklahoma. Tulsa, Oklahoma to be exact and I was actually excited for the move. I have never been outside of my hometown and the few neighboring towns, so I was ready for a little change. My dad got a big job offering to manage a restaurant down in Oklahoma and he gladly took the job.

My sister was super popular at our old school and was not so happy with the move. She was definitely the life of the party back in our hometown and she didn't want to give that up. Mom talked her into the move, mostly because there was no getting out of it, but also because everyone in the family was excited except for her.

I wasn't so popular at our old school and only had a few friends, who frankly didn't really like me that much. Our moms were friends, so that kinda made us friends, but not true friends.

Mom and Dad did a ton of research on our new town and tried to find the best home for us. We were on a tight budget and couldn't afford the best house, but mom said it would be a good starter home.

We got off the freeway and I noticed the highway sign say exit to Tulsa. I looked over at my sister and smiled, but all she gave me was a disapproving look. She really didn't want to leave Kansas.

I then looked down at our big golden retriever that was in my lap and the middle seat of the truck. His name was Stan and he was a pretty laid back dog, but he did get excited at times.

I saw a sign say Welcome to Tulsa and a tingle of excitement went through my body. We went through a bunch of streets and roads and I looked at everything I could. There were parks, restaurants, gas stations and a lot of kids walking around.

"This is your new street." My mom exclaimed sounding just as excited as a felt.

I saw plenty of houses close together, which is different then our house in Kansas. In Kansas we didn't have many neighbors because our houses were so far apart.

The houses looked decent. It wasn't the best looking neighborhood, but again it was a start for our family.

We pulled into a driveway of a light yellow house with white trim and white door. It was a pretty house and looked well kept by the previous owners.

As my dad pulled the truck to a stop, I couldn't wait to get out of the small truck I've been cooped up in, so I opened the door and got out, Stan right behind me. The air felt so good in my lungs and the sun was beating down making the air pretty warm.

I turned to look at the neighborhood and saw a bunch of houses pretty similar to ours, just different colors and some had porches, ours didn't.

I could have sworn I saw someone looking out the window of the house across the street, but as soon as I saw it, it was gone.

The house was a small, decent house with a porch and a nice size yard. I looked back at my house and decided to forget about the face I thought I saw, maybe someone was just seeing who was moving into the new house across the street.

My sister was still in the car, fighting with my mom on getting out. I left them be and went to explore the house. Stan decided to stay back.

As I walked in, I noticed the house was actually big for the small exterior. There was a living room that could fit a couch and maybe a rocking chair and to the right there was a kitchen with a stove, oven, and refrigerator already in it. We could probably fit our round kitchen table for four in there. Next to the kitchen there was a dining room that we would probably fit our dining table and my mom would put her porcelain cup collection. Off the living room and dining room was a hallway that met into three rooms and a bathroom. The first was pretty big, so I assumed it was gonna be my parents. The next was a nice size room and I figured my sister would want it because it's closest to mom and dads. So I picked the last one for now. It was slightly smaller than the other room, but I didn't need much space. I could fit my bed, dresser, nightstand, and maybe a small desk, for when I start school next summer. I then looked up and saw a square window that looked out into the street. I could see my parents unloading the truck and my sister still in the truck. I could see our yard and the house across from us. I felt bad for making my parents do the unpacking, so I rushed outside to meet them.

"What can I do?" I asked my parents, walking down the concrete steps of our new house.

"Anything you can grab, cupcake." My dad tells me. He calls me cupcake, because he said when I was little the only dessert I ever wanted was cupcakes. I would refuse to eat any other desserts. I grew out of that.

I grabbed mine and my sisters bags and headed back into the house. I put my sisters bags in her new room and placed mine in my new room. Today we only brought our luggage, tomorrow my dad will get up early in the morning and head back to our town in Kansas and then come back with our furniture in a big moving truck.

I looked out the window and saw the truck was empty, so I decided to change from my lounge clothes I wore in the car to a knee long orange and yellow sundress. Throwing on my flip flops, I ran down the hall and asked my mom if there was any plans for today.

"No sweetie. Tomorrow is the big moving day, so if you want you can just explore. Here dad picked up a few maps. Stay close, don't go to far." My mom told me.

"Okay, thanks mom." I said running through the door and down the concrete front steps, into the warm summer air.

I decided to just walk down the road for now and not use the map. I soon got lost and had to consult the map. A street sign said, Red Street and finding it on the map I saw there was a gas station near by. I didn't have any money, but decided to walk in that direction anyways, because I wanted to see how to get there for the future.

I saw the gas station as I rounded a corner and I saw it was a DX. I just continued to walk down the road and look as I past. I noticed two young boys, around my age, maybe a little older, pumping gas for a car. The car was bright red and looked very expensive. I would die to have a car like that someday. I continued to walk and realized I must have walked all the way to town, which didn't seem far. There was a lot of teenagers walking around, talking and laughing, some even looked like they were fighting. I just walked past and kept my head down. That was my mistake, because I saw someone's feet rushing at me and couldn't react before we both collided. I fell down a little but caught myself.

"I'm sorry." I said looking up at the man. He was a lean guy with a cold stare and didn't look happy I just ran into him.

"Ya, just watch where you going next time." He said rudely and continued walking.

I decided I've seen enough for today and headed back home. I only needed the map once before I found my house.

As I walked up the street to my house I noticed two teenage boys on the porch swing at the house across the street from mine. I tried not to stare, but I could have sworn I saw the one before. It then clicked. He was one of the two boys at the DX station earlier. He must live across the street or he is a friend of them. I then noticed the other boy. He seemed pretty young, around my age and I then noticed he was smoking. My parents would kill me if I ever smoked at that age, or ever, but to each their own. Maybe I would meet those boys one day. They do live across the street.

I looked at the ground and walked up the front steps to my house. I opened the door and saw my mom and dad sitting on the floor in the living room, Stan was laying down next to them. It was quite funny and I tried to hide my grin, but failed before my dad saw it.

"What's so funny, cupcake?" He questioned even though he knew the answer.

I said nothing and just walked over and sat across from them on the floor and continued to smile.

We all broke out laughing and I then heard my stomach growl and I realized I hadn't eaten much today.

"Hey, what are we having for dinner?" I asked looking at my parents.

"We are going to scope out the restaurant I'm managing and see how the food and service is." My dad said.

"Okay. That sounds good to me." I said getting up, ready to leave.

"Go get your sister. I think she's in her room." My mom said, getting helped up by my dad.

I walked down the hall to the second door and knocked.

"Go away." My sister said, obviously still mad about the move.

I opened the door anyways, finding it was unlocked.

"I said go away not come in." She complained from her spot on the ground, because we didn't have furniture.

"Oh, sorry. They both sound the same." I said with a smile tugging at my lips.

She chuckled a little, but then regained her sour mood.

"Come on, Liz. This move ain't that bad. I bet you'll be popular at this school too." I said, trying to make her feel better.

"It wasn't just the popularity, Jules. We grew up in our old house. We buried two dogs at our old house. We made so many memories at our old house and then we just left it all for a little job offering." She told me very seriously.

I never realized how attached she was to our old house and old life. I never knew she was that kind of person. Me and my sister are pretty close, but she usually hides her emotions better than I do.

"I'm going to miss our old house too, but we really needed the money and we will make plenty of memories in this house." I tell her, walking over to her and sitting next to her.

"But what about when dad gets enough money and we buy a bigger home. Then all these memories are gone too. Or what about if he gets a new job again and we move all over again." She asked me.

"Liz, our memories aren't gone. We will still remember them. It's just we are in a new place while we remember them." I said to her.

"I guess. It's just we are away from family now. They are all back in Kansas and we are here in Oklahoma."

"We will still see them. Just not as often and plus you have me, mom and dad." I said.

"I guess. Maybe in time, I'll feel better." She finally agreed with me.

"I'm sure you will. Now come on, mom and dad says it time to go eat some dinner." I say standing up.

"Good, I'm starved." She says, standing up as well.

/\/\/

We arrived at my dads new restaurant and I saw the name was The Dingo. It seemed like a nice place. We walked in and it was seat yourself, so we took a back booth and waited for the waitress.

She came by in a short amount of time and asked for our drinks. We told her we were ready to order as well, so she took our order and left. I ordered a simple burger and fries and so did my sister.

The food didn't take long to be done and the food was pretty awesome. The waitress was nice the whole time and definitely deserved a good tip. We paid and left within an hour.

"That was good." I exclaimed, full.

"Ya, and the service was good too." My dad said, happy he wouldn't have to fix to much.

We arrived home and it was just getting dark. I went inside with my family and decided to change into my sleeping clothes. When I came back from the bathroom, because I didn't want to change in front of a window that didn't have blinds, I noticed that young boy, around my age was on his front steps, seeming to be watching something. I saw the sun beat down on his face as it set behind my house and wondered if that's what he was staring at. I didn't want to be creepy, whether he knew I was there or not and decided to sit down on the few blankets my mom laid out for me. It wasn't late, but I found myself getting tired and drifting off into a peaceful sleep.