okay everyone, quick authors note. This is in fact a rewritten version of the Garden of misery. It will have the same story ploy, just a differant way of getting to it. I hope you all like it very much. Please read and review. If you don't like it please stop reading and please don't leave a nasty flame, it's immature and I have no time for it, thank you.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE OUTSIDERS OR ANYTHING FROM THE OUTSIDERS. i DO HOWEVER OWN EDEN, THIS STORY, AND THE PLOT TO THIS STORY.
THE GARDEN OF MISERY
CHAPTER #1
THE GARDEN OF EDEN
It was a cool night in Tulsa. My brother Sodapop, and our friend Two-Bit, decided that I needed to go out and about again. After my friend died a few weeks ago and my other friend landed in the cooler again I hadn't gone anywhere but school and home. So tonight we were going to the drive in. I don't much like the drive in really. They always play some pointless beach movie playing the beatles. I don't hate the beatles, but Elvis is truely the king. Like usual Soda and Two-Bit were laughing it up about something, and I just quietly walked next to them. We were about to turn the corner on Pine Avenue when something caught my eye.
It looked like someone was slowly walking down the street, in the middle of the road. The closer they got the better I had to look at them. It was a girl with knee length black hair, and she looked kinda tattered. Wait, she wasn't tattered, she's beat up.
"Soda!" I called out to my older brother.
He was laughing at something, but he must have seen the girl too because he suddenly stopped.
"Are you okay?" Soda called out.
The girl stopped walking and looked over towards us, it was kinda creepy, the lights hit her eyes just right and she looked like the living dead.
"Hey! Do you need any help?" Soda tried again.
This time the girl raised her hand for a moment before her whole body fell forward and she collapsed in the middle of the road. Me, Soda, and Two-Bit waisted no time. We sprinted towards her.
"Is she alright?" I asked.
Soda put his ear to her chest for a moment.
"She's got a heartbeat. I think she's just knocked out." Soda panted out.
"Well what the hell do we do now?" Two-Bit shouted.
Soda looked at me for a second and then seemed to be thinking about something.
"We got no choice. Lets bring her to the house." Soda said.
Two-Bit walked off saying it was a bad idea, but we had no choice. We couldn't just leave a girl out in the middle of the raod, especially when she was so beat up. So Soda picked her up and carried her to the house. I on the other hand was working it all out in my head, Darry was gonna kill us.
"What the hell is this?" Darry yelled the minute we walked in the door.
I knew it.
"She passed out in the middle of the road." Soda said setting her on the couch.
"This ain;t a hospital Soda!" Darry yelled in panic.
"I know that! What were we supposed to do? Leave her out in the middle of the road to get hit by a car?" Soda yelled back.
"She looks like shes been hit by a car!" Darry said now calming down a little.
Soda just stood there looking at Darry with a look that clearly said, 'Well-if-you-want-her-gone-then-you-get-her-out-because-i wont-do-it'. Darry just sighed and shook his head.
"Pony, go get some water and a washcloth. We can at least clena her up a bit until she wakes up." Darry sighed.
I did what Darry asked. But then I discovered that they both wanted me to clean her up. So I did. I was going gently over the bloody mess that was her face, and slowly getting off all the dired blood I saw she was actually really pretty. I had to put a bandage over her let eye though. I had realized halfway through getting her face clean that the cut over her eye was pretty deep and still bleeding. But then she started to wake up.
"Hey guys, she's waking up!" I called darry and Soda out of the kitchen.
I felt everyone flinch including myself when she opened her eyes, well at least the one that wasn't covered. It looked so starnge, her eye. It was like...an eclipse of the moon. The outside ring of her eye was a bright dark blue, and the inside looked like a misty gray blue, like a cloud over the moon.
"Where the hell am I?" The girl asked sitting up a bit and looking from Me, to Darry to Soda. She had a slight brooklyn accent, but I think i'm the only one who noticed.
"Don't get up. Your at the Curtis house. My brthers brought you here. You passed out in the street." Darry said calmly.
"Where do you live? I'm sure your parents are worried somethin' aweful. We should get you home soon." Soda grinned.
The girl started to scratch her wrist a little bit, like a nervous twitch.
"I...Um...I don't...I don't really...live...anywhere." The girl stuttered.
We all looked at each other for a minute in disbelief.
"Well you have to live somewhere. Everyone comes from somehwere." Darry said.
"I used to live with my parents, but now I don't." The girl said.
"So you ran away form home?" Soda asked.
"I never ran away from anything." The girl said in a dark whisper.
We all sat there for a minute. This girl had to come from somewhere, people don't just fall out of the sky.
"Look if you don't want to tell me where you live it's fine. But I need a number to call your parents, they'll be worried sick." Darry said.
"I don't have parents." The girl answered.
"What do you me-" Darry tried but I cut him off getting the sens that this girl didn't want to talk about it.
"Whats your name?" I asked.
The girl looked at me as if in disbelief for a moment.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing. It's just...no ones asked me that in ages." The girl said.
I just stared at her, Was she lving under a rock or something for a while?
"My names Eden, Eden Larka." The girl answered.
"Thats a pretty name. I'm Ponyboy Curtis, and thease are my brothers, Sodapop Curtis, and Darry Curtis." I smiled.
"Your real names are Sodapop and Ponyboy?" edn asked cocking her head to the side with an eyebrow raised.
"Yup, says so on our birth certificates." I smiled.
"Is Eden your real name? Or do you just like to brag about being so pretty like the garden?" Soda grinned at her.
Eden smiled for a minute but nodded her head that yes, Eden was her real name. After the moment was gone Eden stood up.
"I should get going. It's late. I don't wanna trouble you anymore then needed. Thanks for everything though." Eden smiled and headed towards the door.
"Where you going? I'll give you a ride home." Darry said.
"I already told you, I don't have a home, and I don't need a ride so it's cool." Eden said.
"It's dangerous out there at night. If you've got nowhere else to go at least stay the night here." Soda said.
"I don't know. I don't wanna bother you all." Eden said.
"Don't worry. It's not a bother, we usually have three extra people over on a normal night." Darry said.
Eden still looked sceptical. Maybe it's because she realized shed be staying in a house with three boys.
"We don't bite. Alls you really have to worry about is three guys who like to eat chocolate cake fro breakfast and blast Elvis in the morning." I smiled.
"Alright, I'll take the couch then." Eden said.
Soda stood in front of her insisting she take his bed for the night. She said she didn't want to, but then Soda lied saying he had to get upearly tomorrow and the couch was the only place that he could do that. Me and Darry knew it was a lie, he hated that couch, it killed his back to sleep on it. But only when Soda plopped down refusing to get up, and fake smoring, did Eden finally agree to take his bed in our room.
"You can wear this. I know it's kinda big, but I don't exactly have any girls cloths." I smiled handing her a shirt three sizes to big for her.
"It's cool. Unless your mom's got a shirt I could borrow." Eden said.
"My mom died a few years ago." I said.
"Oh, sorry." Eden mummbled.
"It's okay. I'm alright with it now." I lied with a smile.
Darry convinced Eden to take a shower, and I ran to the all night store for a toothbrush for her. We told her it was just a spare one so she wouldn't keep saying that she was bothering all of us. Finally we all went to sleep, Soda was passed out on the couch, Darry had gone tobed, and I finally crawled into my own bed for sleep. Eden had layed down a few minutes before me.
"Hey Eden, do you live on the streets?" I asked.
"Yeah. It's not to bad though." Eden replied from next to me.
"Why do you live on the streets?" I asked.
"Well, it's not by a matter of choice. If I had somehwere to go I'd go there, it'd be much better then living outside. But i've done it before. It's no big deal." Eden said.
"Where are your parents?" I asked.
Eden didn't answer.
"Eden, where are your parents?" I asked again.
"Ask me no questions and i'll tell you no lies." Eden replied.
I decided to let it go for now and get some rest. In the morning I woke up to two things, One, Eden had rolled over in her sleep and was hugging my neck. Two, Steve and Two-Bit came bursting into the room.
"Whoa! You get lucky Ponyboy?" Steve asked.
"You guys kept her here?" Two-Bit asked.
I got up carefully and dragged the guys away from my room so as not to wake up Eden. In the kitchen Me, Soda, and Darry explained to the guys what happened. They were'nt worried, they knew we'd never do anything bad to a girl. But they were wondering the same thing. Where had she come from? I didn't tell the guys about Eden admitting to me that she lived on the streets, I figured that was a personal and private matter for her.
We all stopped talking however when we heard her walk into the kitchen. I turned around to see her dressed in a pair of my old jeans, that fit her nicely, a little baggy, but nicely, and one of my black undershirts as a tanktop. She had her hair down and brushed, man, it was longer then I thought. It really was knee length.
"What?" Eden asked.
Everyone was staring at her.
"Can't we look at you?" Two-Bit asked.
"I suppose, I don't know what for. I don't even know you." Eden replied sitting down next to me.
"I'm Two-Bit. I was with thease guys last night when they found you." Two-Bit introduced himself.
"I'm Steve, and honey you are something to look at." Steve winked.
"Why, never seen a girl before?" Eden asked.
"No, just never seen one in this house is all." Steve laughed.
There was a long pause.
"Well, I better get goin'. I hope you dont mind about the cloths, mine look like complete shit. Here's a buck fifty for em though. It's all I got for now. But I can pay you more later if you'd like." Eden said trying to hand me some money for the cloths.
"No it's alright, you can have those. I don't wear them anymore." I smiled pushing her hand away.
Eden looked around at everyone.
"I don't need your charity okay?" Eden snapped handing me the money again.
"It's not that. I really don't wear those anymore. I was gonna throw 'em out. No sense in payin' me for 'em." I said pushing her hand away again.
"Whatever. Thanks again for everything." Eden smiled and waved at us walking towards the door.
Soda quickly got up and ran to stand in front of the door.
"Where are you gonna go?" Soda asked.
"I dunno. Somewhere. Why?" Eden asked him.
"Look you cannot sleep on the streets. If you've got no home,and no parents, then it means you lseep on the streets. And I can't have that." Soda grinned.
"I can take care of myself thanks. Can I go now?" Eden asked.
"And go where?" Soda asked.
"That doesn't answer my question." Eden said.
"And your not answering mine. So let meask again. And go where?" Soda asked seriously.
Eden looked from him to the door for a few seconds.
"I don't know okay. What kinda house is this? A halfway house or somethin'?" Eden asked sitting on the couch.
"No, we just don't want people to get hurt. Why don't you stay here for a bit? Winter's coming up real quick. You could get seriously sick out there." Soda said sitting in front of her.
"I don't have a way to pay you." Eden sighed.
"Well thats fine, this ain't a hotel." Soda smiled.
"Thats it i'm outta here." Eden siad getting up and going to the door.
"Can you cook?" Darry suddenly called out standing up.
"What?" Eden asked looking at him.
"Can you cook?" Darry repeated.
"What moron can't?" Eden replied.
"Can you clean?" Darry asked.
"Yeah, it's not hard. Why?" Eden asked.
"You can stay here, and cook and clean for room and board." Darry said.
"I cook all meals?" Eden asked.
"Yes." Darry nodded his head.
"And when you say clean you mean clean right. Like bathroom, living room, laundry, that sort of thing?" Eden asked.
"Yeah." Darry said.
Eden loked at him for a minute.
"Alright then. I'll stay. Just...I dunno...make a list for me or somethin'." Eden said heading out the door.
"Where you going?" Soda asked.
"On the porch. It's a little rude to smoke inside when people are eating." Eden said.
Eden kept her promise. She stayed.
SO WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? SO FAR SO GOOD? I'M TRYING TO STAY AS CLOSE ASA POSSIBLE TO THE OLD VERSION WITHOUT MAKING IT THE SAME THING. DON'T WORRY THERE WILL BE CHANGES. NOT BAD ONES. I'M IMPROVING THE STORY IS ALL. PLEASE REVIEW . OH, AND IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE IT, I AM LOOKING FOR A BETA READER. THANKS.