Ponyboy, Johnny, Soda, Two-Bit, Dally, Darry, Steve, or any other things S.E. Hinton made up are hers. Tulsa belongs to itself, and Kira, Blue Grass, Susan, Thomas, and anyone/anything else I make up is mine.

Kira Manders was your average girl. She had wonderful, understanding parents, nice friends, a nice house, nice clothes, good grades and a good education. She lived in a nice neighborhood in San Francisco, California, and went to an all girls' school, Blue Grass, that went from Kindergarten through High School.

Though on her birth certificate it said, "Kiara Leigh Manders" she usually went by Kira. But her friend had once called Kiri, Kiri Cocoa Pop, and so she now was also called Kiri, Cocoa and Cocoa Pop.

Kira awoke to birds chirping happily outside her window and sunlight filtering into her room. She turned and looked at the clock. 6:30. In thirty minutes, her dad would be coming in, singing "Good morning to you, good morning to you" or her mom would open the door quietly, saying, "Breakfast is ready, come and get it" and she would follow downstairs to have waffles or pancakes her dad made or toast that her mom toasted for her.

That meant she had thirty minutes to shower and dress. She did not see the use of wearing make-up yet. She got up and headed for her bathroom, the one that she had in her own room. Quickly, she brushed her waist-length dark brown hair, slipped her pajamas off and stepped into her robe, the red one her Nana had had before she had passed away.

As she washed, she suddenly realized it was Saturday. She thought about what she'd do. Probably play volleyball or jog in the park. Once she was done, she dried off, brushed her hair again, and chose her outfit for the day. It was her dark blue flared jeans and a dark green half-sleeve shirt with a gray wolf on it that brought out the green in her blue-green-gray eyes. It was her favorite shirt. Leaving her navy Blue Grass sweatshirt (it had the Blue Grass logo on the back of it, a bunch of blades of grass the color bright blue, and a smaller version of it on the front upper left side) and her slip on suede shoes by the door, she pulled her wavy hair into a high ponytail.

Looking at the mirror, she sighed. She was lanky, with a fairly strong build, and tall. Her blue-green-gray eyes were dreamy, and one could get lost in them, so her friends said. She had a small nose and long eyelashes, and bangs that almost reached her eyes. Her hair was drying fast, as it always did.

She looked at the clock again. 6:45. She smiled. Not bad, she thought, not bad at all.

And then she remembered what was happening that day. It hit her hard, she had forgotten all about it. She remembered the conversation clearly. She had come downstairs for dinner, and had asked what was going on in her parents' lives. And that was when they had told her. They were moving.

Kira had sat there, frozen. Her mom had told her the details. Her father had gotten a very good job offer. In a small town called Tulsa. She'd have to leave her friends, her school, memories, everything behind. This was going to be a problem for her since she was shy and quiet and didn't make friends very fast.

They were moving today. How could I have forgotten since it's so empty and almost everything's packed? I guess I wasn't fully awake. She packed the remaining stuff into the last of the empty bags, and took a last look at her room. Then, she picked up the bag and hauled it downstairs to the front door. Going back up for her shoes and sweatshirt, she almost ran over Jasper, Cinnamon and Amber, her three cats. Jasper was all black with green eyes, Cinnamon was brown and rust colored with green-yellow eyes, and Amber was light brown with amber-colored eyes.

Jasper had been an alley cat until the Manders had taken him in. Amber was his and Cinnamon's daughter. Cinnamon was from Aunt Kristy's cat Tally's litter. All three of them were Kira's special cats. She had been afraid that they would have to sell her three furry friends, but her parents were too nice. They simply had told her to make sure they stayed in their boxes. But of course, they would get out and no one would mind. No one usually did.

Kira's father, Thomas, had left yesterday to make sure the house was all right, taking some of their stuff with him. He would go by airplane so Kira and her mom could take the car

"All set?" Susan Manders asked as Kira poked her head in the kitchen. She nodded. "Good. Come on, we have to be on the road by 7:15. You can eat something on the way." She sighed. "I'm going to miss S.F."

"Same here. Mom, how'll I make friends?"

"Like you did here. Come on, are the cats in their boxes?"

"Oh, Mom, can't I have them stay near?"

"Oh, all right. But they'd better not get lost."

"Don't they always end up at the place and time we need them to be?"

"Yes." She gently kissed Kira's cheek and then picked up the last bag and loaded it into their car.

"Mom?" Kira asked as she followed outside. The cats followed her, as usual.

"Yes?"

"What's our new house going to be like?"

Mrs. Manders laughed. "Who knows?"

The road didn't have much traffic.

The window was open, the wind blew Kira's hair back, but she didn't mind. She sat and stared out the window. She could sit and look at something pretty for hours, and the scenery was pretty. As the car went along, Kira soon found herself slipping into a deep sleep.