Charlotte Matthews was hanging around the Curtis' porch waiting for all the boys to get outta work or school and show up since she had spent the day alone and bored. She began fiddling with her long, strawberry blonde hair that went down her back and to her hips. It was a weird mix between naturally curly and naturally straight that left her with difficult waves that stuck up in odd angles, she had bright, spring green eyes that Soda Curtis had once told her reminded him of a cat's eyes and to this day she hasn't decided if it was a compliment or not. As the short, slim girl fiddled with her hair, Darry Curtis pulled up to his driveway to see the only girl in their gang sitting on his porch railing lost in thought. She wasn't like any other greaser girl he knew. She hardly wore makeup, she didn't giggle all the time only on occasion when she was flirting, the only thing he was able to spot in her was that she had a mouth that would make a grown man's toes curl.

Charlotte jumped from her thoughts of a tall dark and handsome man as a car door slammed and the real thing was right in front of her.

"Hiya Darry." Charlotte grinned as she shifted so she was more comfortable. Even sitting on the railing Charlotte only came up to Darry's chin before she had to look up. That's what she gets when Darry is six foot two and she's only five foot four.

"Been waiting long Charlotte?"

"All day. I had nothing to do." the petite girl pouted her pretty pink mouth, "Everyone was either working or in school."

It had been no shock when Charlotte finally dropped out of school at seventeen. She wasn't like her older brother in that case. They both had a quick mouth and a sense of humor but Two-Bit loved school while Charlotte loathed it. She never had the best grades and Darry could remember trying to tutor her growing up but she finally called it quits last year after a teacher called her dumb. She wasn't dumb at all. A little bit of a ditz, yes. But not dumb.

"Where's Pony and Johnny?"

"Johnnycake stayed after for a bit of extra help in math and Pony said he was going to the movies."

Darry opened his mouth to speak again but he frowned as Charlotte's eyes light up at the sight of Sodapop Curtis.

"Honey! I'm home!" he bellowed as he climbed out of Steve's car.

"Honey!" Charlotte laughed as he lifted her from the porch and swung her around. Darry knew they were only good friends since Soda was head over heels for his girlfriend Sandy but he couldn't stop the pang of jealousy that shot through him. He went to say something but Charlotte hushed him.

"What?" Soda asked. Charlotte hushed him again, "Did she just shh me?" he asked offended.

But Charlotte's green eyes were filled with terror, "Pony." she said simply before she took off running. She didn't see any of the old worn down houses from the east side as she sprinted down the worn out sidewalk. All she was focused on was a taunting voice and the direction she heard all their names being yelled. She came around the corner with all her boys behind her now and spotted Ponyboy on the ground with a handful of Socs pinning him or egging on their friends.

"Get outta here!" Charlotte yelled causing them all to look and see the group of boys and nonthreatening Charlotte running at them. They all began running off to their car. The nonthreatening Charlotte lifted a rock and lobbed it at their pretty red Corvair and mentally cringed when it smashed their tail light but it served them right for picking on the gang's kid brother. Charlotte yelled a few more profanities their way before turning to see Darry shaking Pony and the boy looked as green as a christmas tree so it seemed like a bad idea.

"Put him down Darry, 'fore he gets sick." she called over. Darry set him down and the poor kid sunk to the ground. Darry felt sick himself his kid brother had just been jumped. Everyone had gotten jumped at least once but the only ones that made Darry sick were when the two youngest and the only girl had gotten jumped. Johnny scared him because he looked dead, Pony because he loved his kid brother and Charlotte because when they had gotten around to helping her, her face was already bruised and swollen and half her clothes were ripped off. To this day Charlotte hadn't told anyone what had happened or what had been said when she was jumped but they all came to the right conclusion. For months after she was jumped when anyone but one of the guys in the gang went to touch her she'd flinch away and have the look of a scared woodland critter about to bolt.

"They didn't hurt ya too bad did they?" she asked softly as she crouched down beside him, getting dust all over her jeans in the process. Charlotte saw the tears that Pony so desperately tried to hide as he shook his head.

"Oh Pony. You're bleeding, anybody got a handkerchief?" she asked as Soda tugged one from his pocket and handed it to her.

"I am?" Pony asked in disbelief.

"See?" Charlotte asked as she lightly dabbed the wound and showed the red stain to him. Pony rubbed at his already swollen cheek as the tears rolled down his cheeks. Darry sat beside Charlotte as Pony brushed away the tears and the rest of the gang sat around in a circle. Someone passed out cigarettes and Charlotte who rarely smoked took one to calm her nerves.

"You okay kid?" Dally asked around a cloud of smoke.

"Yeah I'm just spooked is all." Pony muttered as he took a drag on his own cigarette.

Charlotte followed suit but the breath she let out was just as shaky as Pony's. Darry, who didn't smoke since he used to be a big athlete, placed a hand on her back and rubbed it lightly. Through her leather jacket warmth spread through her chilly body. She gave him a small smile of thanks. That's when a thought occured.

"Dally I thought you were still in the slammer." she frowned.

Dally gave a one armed shrug at Charlotte's comment, "Got out on good behavior."

It was quiet again until Steve spoke up like the big mouth he is, "So what were you doing walking here all by your lonesome anyway?" it wasn't that Charlotte didn't like Steve, it's just that he got under her skin and bothered her something awful. He always asked the questions that were best avoided in situations like these.

"I was walking home from the movies and I didn't think…" Pony mumbled and Charlotte sighed seeing where this was going awful quick.

"You don't ever think." Darry grouched, still rubbing Charlotte's back, "Not at home or anywhere where it counts. You must think at school, with all those good grades you bring home, and you always got your nose in a book, but do you ever use your head for common sense? No siree, bub. And if you did have to go by yourself, you should have carried a blade."

Charlotte rolled her eyes at the comment before taking a long drag on her cigarette while Soda spoke up, "You leave my kid brother alone, you hear? It ain't his fault he likes to go to the movies, and it ain't his fault Socs like to jump us, and if he had been carrying a blade it would have been a good excuse to cut him to ribbons."

"When I want my kid brother to tell me what to do with my other kid brother, I'll ask you - kid brother." Darry continued his grouching but he laid off Pony like he usually does when Soda says to.

"Next time just one of us to go with you Ponyboy." Charlotte piped up, "Any of us will."

"Speakin' of movies," Dally stopped to yawn, flicking his cigarette butt over Charlotte's head causing her to scowl and run a hand through her hair, "I'm walikn' over to the Nightly Double tomorrow night. Anybody wanna come and hunt some action?"

Steve shook his head and explained that he and Soda were bringing their girl's, Evie and Sandy to the game. He gave Charlotte a look right after Pony that made her roll her eyes. Once upon a time Steve had sworn his love to Charlotte and all she had done was sigh and stare at Darry across the room before shaking her head with a sad smile. Steve wasn't a bad guy, not even close but the way she'd seen him treat Evie was almost like she was his property so she must be okay with it but Charlotte wouldn't have been able to stand it.

Darry let out a long sigh and Charlotte knew what was coming. He never had any time to do anything fun anymore. Not when he was working so much to keep his brothers at home, "I can't I'm working." he frowned as he took the last bit of Charlotte's cigarette and stamped it out. He hated that Pony, Johnny and herself smoked since they were only kids in his mind even though Charlotte had turned eighteen about four months ago.

"You work too much." Charlotte muttered but gave him no time to respond since Dally was talking to her and the rest of them now.

"Me and Johnny'll come." Pony pipped up for the small boy. Ever since Johnny had gotten jumped and beat to the point of him near dying he hardly spoke and got spooked at his own shadow. Charlotte frowned as she remembered that day. It was the day right before she turned eighteen.

Darry had actually taken the day off since his back was bothering him some but he decided to humor Charlotte since the boys promised her a game of football and half of them were at his house anyways. She, Darry, Two-bit and Dally were heading to the empty field at the corner of their block where they usually played football.

Dally had just passed Charlotte the ball and she went to run off but Darry had grabbed her tightly by the waist and lifted her up against his solid chest. She had let out a squeal as her heart stuttered over the next beat and it was then she realized she was head over heels for this boy and there was no way he would ever reciprocate the feeling. But Charlotte had spotted three other members of their gang standing in the middle of the field looking at a dark motionless hump on the ground and Charlotte's stomach sank as she squirmed from Darry's grasp and began sprinting across the field dropping the ball as she went. Besides Pony, Charlotte was the quickest out of all of the gang. She skidded to a stop though and almost got sick at the sight.

Poor Johnny had been jumped and beaten within an inch of his life. His face was all bruised and swollen and he had a wild gash down the side of his face that would scar and remind him of this day for the rest of his life.

"Is he dead?" Soda questioned even though he was kneeling right beside the boy.

Charlotte dropped to her knees and softly placed a hand on his chest, "Johnny?" she asked shakily, "Hey Johnnycake?"

His eyes stayed closed but there were two soft responses a slow heartbeat and a question, "Char…?"

Tears welled up in her eyes, "Yeah, it's me honey. The whole gang is here too. Don't talk, we're gonna get you to Pony's house. Okay?" she said as she nodded at the two largest boys who slowly walked forward and gently lifted him as if he was going to break at any minute.

"There was a whole bunch of them." Johnny began ignoring the girl's command, " A blue Mustang full... I got so scared…" he tried to swear, but suddenly started crying, but couldn't control himself, then sobbing all the more cuz he couldn't. Charlotte's seen Johnny take a beating with a two by four from his old man and never even let out a whimper. That made it worse to see him break down now. The two boys just continued on carrying him back to the Curtis house and Charlotte pushed on his hair back out of his eyes as they did so.

"It's okay Johnnycake they're gone now. It's okay." Soda crooned.

Finally between sobs Johnny manage the get out the story. He had been hunting for the gang's football to practice a few kicks, when some blue Mustang have pulled up beside the lot. There were four Socs inside. They had caught him and one of them had rings all on his hand. That's what cut Johnny up so badly. It wasn't just that they had beaten him half to death that, he could take that. They had scared him. They had threatened him with everything under the sun. Johnny was high-strung anyway, a nervous wreck from getting belted every time all the gang turned around from hearing his parents fight all the time. Living in those conditions might have been someone else rebellious and bitter; it was killing Johnny. He had never been a coward. He was a good man at a rumble. He stood up for the gang and kept his mouth shut good around cops. But after the night of the beating Johnny was jumpier than ever. Charlotte didn't think he'd ever get over it. She thought he would always live with the scars that he carried with him, outside and in. Johnny never walked by himself after that and made sure that no one else walked by themselves either. And Johnny who's the most law-abiding of all of them now carried in his back pocket a six-inch switchblade. He'd use it too if he ever got jumped again he told Charlotte once. They had scared him that much he would kill the next person who jumped him. Nobody's ever going to beat him like that again not over his dead body.

That day once they got him into the Curtis house and on their table, Charlotte was in charge she was ordering the boys of what she needed as she wiped the blood from Johnny's face, neck and bare chest. She put antiseptic on the cuts so they wouldn't get infected, had Darry hold a pack of ice against one side of his face and when she said he'd need stitches, she even stitched his cheek up for him when he asked. When Steve returned with the bottle of pain reliever she forced Johnny to swallow two before allowing the boys to move him to the couch where for the next few days he stayed to heal some. Charlotte stayed as long as Johnny did but she spent the nights in Darry's room. He had slept on the floor while Charlotte got to cuddle into a bed that smelled so strongly of Darry she was out in seconds. When she finally went home it took her hours to fall asleep without the scent of Old Spice that Darry wore.

"How about you Charlotte?" Dally asked pulling Charlotte from her thoughts, "Pony and Johnny are in, your brother is getting boozed. What are you doing tomorrow night?"

"I guess I'll go to the movies with y'all. No one else to hang around." she shrugged as she fiddled with the laces on her black boots.

"Glad we get to be graced by your presence." Dally said dryly causing Charlotte to laugh.