Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders; all credit goes to S. E. Hinton

[Chapter One: A... Notebook?]

"Happy birthday, Melanie!"

At the sudden sound of such loud shouting, Melanie Carter leapt back in surprise, toppling over her kitchen stool and landing on the floor with a loud thump. The laughter of the small crowd opposite her echoed around the room as she groaned and stood up, rubbing her arm and glaring at them.

"It's not funny!" she snapped crabbily.

"Yes, Mel. It is."

Melanie opened her mouth to argue with the speaker, but stopped short when she actually looked at them: a tall girl with pale skin that held deep contrast to her dark brown, nearly black hair. She wore it short, hanging no further than her ears, but she obviously needed a haircut; she kept having to brush it out of her bright, intense green eyes. It was her friend Carly Moore.

There were so many things that Melanie could have said in response to her friend's comment; things that would have made her seem somewhat intelligent… However, all she came out with was, "It's not my birthday!" (Which, let the record show, was true… Still, it earned her no points in the Witty Comebacks & Sharp Retorts category…)

This ensued another round of laughter from her so-called "family," during which time Melanie's face heated up and her ears burned from embarrassment.

"Well, it's not!" she protested stubbornly, crossing her arms.

"And you think we don't know that?"

Melanie whirled towards the second voice, this time only a little shocked when she saw another of her best friends. Actually, two of them; they were twins. They both had the same stick-straight, chin-length, dark blonde hair and bright blue eyes, but one (the girl who'd spoken) was slightly taller than the other. It was the only sensible way to tell the two apart; they claimed that one of them had a freckle on their eyelid, and that it was supposed to be the perfect tool for differentiating between the two of them, but no one had ever bothered to check. Who would want to? And anyway, they'd never told anyone whether it was Ellie or Gabriella that had the freckle, so it was really a lost cause.

"Apparently not!" Melanie muttered crossly. She was trying to stay angry; she really was! But it was hard to do so when Ellie was flashing her that amazing, perfectly white smile that lit up her entire face. It could make a movie star jealous.

"See? I told you she'd be grumpy," Gabby grumbled, elbowing her sister playfully in the ribs. Then she turned to smirk at Melanie. "She never was a morning person."

Melanie clenched her jaw, her dark green eyes glittering dangerously as she prepared to fire back an angry response. However, Carly interrupted before she got the chance, stealing the words right out of her mouth.

"Oh, you're one to talk."

Gabby rolled her eyes and crossed her arms impatiently. "I could say the same to you, y'know," she pointed out haughtily.

"Yes, yes! We get it! We all try to strangle each other in the mornings!" Ellie broke in, attempting to lessen the rapidly mounting tension. "Maybe if you'd all drink more coffee, this wouldn't happen so much."

"I hate coffee!" Melanie jumped in immediately, sharing her oh-so-helpful comment.

"Well, you're the only one on the planet, so get over it!" Carly advised. Her tone clearly suggested that they all just drop the subject, and that's exactly what they did.

"If you're quite finished…"

The small huddle of girls all turned to peer incredulously at the tall, broad-shouldered figure of Mr. Carter, who was currently occupying most of the space offered by the hall doorway. His dark, slightly graying hair was shaggy and unruly (just as it always was), and, coupled with the fact that the entire lower half of his face and neck was covered with stubble, it gave him the effect of someone who'd just woken up from a very long nap. Despite this, his warm brown eyes sparkled merrily, and no one could mistake him for sleepy when he wore such a thoroughly amused expression.

"Oh, sorry to call off the show so suddenly…" Gabby muttered, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"We know how much fun it is to watch teenage girls bicker," Ellie added, a bit more politely. She was still annoyed, though; you could tell easily from her tense posture. She was being reserved merely because she was addressing an adult.

He wasn't fooled by Ellie's casual tone, but ne nodded anyway. "Glad you understand. So, anyways, sweetie," he began, turning to address his daughter. She glanced at him somewhat skeptically, pushing a curl of shoulder-length auburn hair out of her eyes. What kind of parent gives their kid a birthday party three months ahead of schedule? "We know your birthday's not for another few months…" He grinned at her as her eyebrows shot up in confusion.

"But we couldn't wait to give you your present!" Mrs. Carter spoke up for the first time, beaming at her daughter as she clapped her hands excitedly.

Melanie's suspicious expression instantaneously melted into an eager one. "What? Really?" she squealed, bouncing slightly in place.

Everyone chuckled at her childish display, but Melanie couldn't care less; she just tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for someone to tell her what her present was.

"Yes, really," Mr. Carter confirmed once the laughter had mostly subsided.

"Well then, where is it? What is it? Are you gonna show it to me?" Melanie shot off questions rapidly, leaving no space for answers.

"Patience is a virtue!" Gabby finally chimed in, cutting short her friend's chain of interrogation.

"Yeah, one that you don't have," Carly teased, smirking at her own comment.

Gabby rolled her eyes exaggeratedly, but her twin cut in before she could say anything offensive. "And by that, Gabby means that if you don't shut up, you're not getting your present."

Melanie instantly shut her mouth (literally, since she'd opened it a moment ago to respond to Gabby's crude remark) and clapped a hand over it, nodding vigorously to show that she'd gotten the message.

Her friends all grinned and turned expectantly back to Mr. Carter, who still had that extremely amused look spread across his features.

"Alright, alright. Melanie, why don't you and your friends go to the study while I run upstairs and get—"

He never got to finish his sentence. The small gang of teenage girls had already pushed passed him and gone tearing down the hall, chattering excitedly and bouncing all the while (yes, they were bouncing as they ran).

When they'd finally reached the end of the long, narrow hallway, they (quite literally) kicked the door open and burst into the room. All the furniture had been pushed to the sides of the room, creating a spacious, carpeted area in the center of it. The friends all shuffled forward, huddling together and whispering continuously.

"Do you guys have any idea what it is?" Melanie asked hopefully.

"No, he wouldn't tell us!" Gabby hissed in exasperation. "I still don't see why…"

"Because everyone knows you'd go telling her the second he wasn't in the room," Carly muttered in response, rolling her eyes as she flicked her hair away from her eyes yet again.

"No, I wouldn't!" Gabby argued, placing a hand on her hip. "Right, Ellie?"

Ellie smirked in response. "Yes, Gabby. You would."

Gabby clenched her jaw and crossed her arms, glowering at the lack of faith her friends had displayed in her secret-keeping skills.

"We all would," Melanie added hastily.

"Yeah, Mel. I'm sure you'd tell yourself what the gift was the minute you found out…" Carly pointed out smugly. She clearly enjoyed picking out the flaws in other people's wording.

"What? Er, no, that's not… I meant—"

Just then, Mr. Carter stepped into the doorway, saving his daughter from having to stutter through a flustered explanation. All the frivolous arguments were forgotten the second they laid eyes on the small pink gift bag swinging gently from his left hand. The group surged forward immediately, eyes shining in anticipation as they tried to peak inside the small paper container.

"What's in it?"

"Where'd you buy it?"

"What took you so long?"

"Can we open it now?"

Everyone was talking over one another, still straining forward in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the present.

"Calm down, girls!" he interrupted, his voice easily surpassing theirs in volume.

They all fell silent immediately, fidgeting and squirming impatiently as they waited.

"Alright." Mr. Carter turned towards Melanie, wearing a confident smile. His eyes were sparkling in that special way they only did when he talked about work… "Melanie, for your fifteenth birthday, I wanted to get you something more special than any old thing you can just buy from a store. So, I made this for you." He held the bag out in front of him, allowing it to dangle as it remained suspended in midair. His eyes were twinkling mischievously as he added, "I hope you like it. We all know you love to read."

Melanie's mind was racing a mile a minute. Her father was a world-class inventor; anything could be in that bag. He'd made it himself, after all.

She could've stood there for hours, just pondering all the possibilities, but she barely had time to give him a questioning look before he dropped the present into her outstretched hands. Her grip tightened on it and she immediately began ripping out the vibrantly colored tissue paper. When the last shred of it joined the careless clumps that littered the floor around her feet, she felt herself suck in a sharp intake of breath. Her fingers were trembling with excitement as she tipped the bag over, letting its contents slide out. She squeezed her eyes shut until the entire thing had been separated from its case. When she finally opened them, in her palms she saw…

A notebook.

Her friends and she exchanged bewildered glances. After a few moments of puzzled silence, she cleared her throat awkwardly. "Er… Dad?"

Her father, still grinning broadly, nodded expectantly.

Melanie gulped. She just didn't have the heart to tell him his gift was, well… boring. So, instead, she just stammered, "Isn't this, um… more for… uh… writing… than reading…?"

To her great surprise, her dad just chuckled and shook his head. "No, you'll see. Just open it to the first page and fill out the form. Trust me, I know you'll love it." With that, he winked and exited the room, closing the door behind him.

The small group stood there in a stunned silence, but it only lasted a moment. Melanie glanced down at the dark crimson notebook, then back up at her friends.

"Um, I guess we should—"

"No! Let us fill it out! You still need to be surprised!" Carly interrupted, snatching the gift right out of her friend's hands.

"Hey—" Melanie started to protest, taking a step towards Carly. However, she soon found that her path was blocked by Gabby and Ellie, who had practically materialized in front of her. All three of her friends were huddled over the notebook, forming an impenetrable wall around it. Melanie struggled forward, trying to peer around them, but they weren't making it easy; they were shouting with excitement and shoving each other around as they filled out whatever form was on that page…

Finally, Melanie just gave up and stood to the side of the group, tapping her foot crossly. Her friends' moods had clearly changed; they were all grinning from ear to ear, and literally couldn't go a few seconds without bursting into an uncontrollable fit of girlish giggles… A small shudder racked her body.

"What's taking so long?" she demanded after a few more minutes. The wait was agonizing.

"You can't rush perfection!" Gabby chided, still not taking her eyes of the notebook.

"Ooh, and don't forget, you need to make sure he's there, too!" Ellie suddenly squealed, gesturing wildly at the notebook. "She'll never get over it if he's not!" she added, prodding her sister in the side.

Gabby's face flushed a deep shade of red, about the same color as the notebook, and she opened her mouth to stutter out a retaliation. However, at that moment, Carly's head snapped up.

"Done!" she declared.

Melanie rushed forward to join her friends as the no-longer-required pencil clattered to the floor, forgotten in their haste, but still no one let her see what was on the page.

"Well, now what?" she prompted, glancing around at everyone in turn.

"We close the cover, of course!" Gabby stated matter-of-factly.

"Duh," Ellie added for emphasis.

Melanie rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just, what's gonna happen when you-?"

"No time for that!" Carly interrupted, yanking Melanie forward by the elbow so that she was closer to the notebook. "Explanations later!"

"What?" Melanie gasped. "But I still don't—"

She cut herself off as Carly flipped back the cover of the notebook. Instantly, the entire room was bathed in an intense, bright light that was clearly emanating from the notebook itself. Everyone averted their eyes, but Carly didn't drop it, or even flinch. Melanie let out a small squeak that probably would've been a scream if she'd been able to find her voice and stumbled backwards, but the others pulled her back.

"Is this supposed to happen?" she screamed over the loud humming that had accompanied the light source.

"YES!" everyone hollered back, their voices all giddy with excitement. Melanie just groaned and gritted her teeth, trying to resist the urge to bolt from the room.

As they waited, the light and heat grew more intense. The humming, too, crescendoed into a loud, nearly tangible vibration that rattled through their skulls and made it hard to maintain balance. At this point, the entire situation was so uncomfortable that everyone, not just Melanie, was on the verge of fleeing the room.

Then, unlike the gradual way in which it formed, the humming abruptly ceased completely and all at once. The intensity of the burning light subsided to a warm, inviting glow that erased all the unpleasant thoughts that had been born from the harshness of the original heat. Everyone sighed in pleasure, relaxing into the comfort it offered.

Then, all too quickly, it began to fade. The warmth quickly dissipated, just as suddenly as it had appeared. When it finally blacked out completely, it left the four girls feeling colder and more alone than ever before, just in contrast.

Gabby was the first to notice it. She slowly and cautiously cracked an eye open as she rubbed her arms, shivering slightly. However, when she caught sight of her surroundings, her eyes snapped open completely, fully alert.

They were somehow standing in a park, in the middle of autumn, as if the seasons had sped forward a few months. It was a picturesque scene: the park was deserted; the trees were all painted in swirling, vibrant hues that ranged from fiery reds to soft oranges to bold yellows. A few early leaves swirled to the ground in gentle arcs; the grass still had some life left in it, glowing a soft, barely visible green… The only thing that ruined it was the city street off to the side, quite near the group.

"GUYS!" Gabby shrieked immediately. "Guys, open your eyes! It worked! We're here!"

Everyone immediately opened the eyes, and all gasped in unison. Melanie was utterly dumbfounded, but Carly and the twins were squealing and jumping up and down, unable to contain their excitement. After a few minutes of waiting impatiently for her friends to cease their idle chattering, she finally interrupted them.

"So, what exactly just happened?"

All her friends turned to gape at her incredulously.

"You mean you haven't guessed yet?" Gabby finally broke the silence.

"No," Melanie snapped.

"Well, geez, Mel… The notebook. It transports you inside any book you want!" Ellie explained with somewhat more patience.

"It… what?" Melanie stuttered. She wasn't sure she heard that right…

"We're inside one of your favorite books!" Carly declared. Then, smirking, she added, "Any guesses?"

Melanie shook her head to clear it, slightly dazed, but still tried to respond. "Um… Is it—?"

However, she didn't get to finish her sentence, for at that moment, a Mustang went racing down the road in a flurry of flashing red paint and screeching tires. There were about four teenage boys inside, all dressed fairly well, with nearly identical haircuts.

At the same time, a rowdy-looking group of older boys, all wearing leather jackets and ripped jeans with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths, turned around the corner.

Melanie's eyes widened. "Is that-?"

"Ssshh!" Her friends all shushed her, turning back to watch the exchange with renewed interest and even bigger smiles (if that was even possible).

The Mustang lurched to a stop at the corner just as the other boys were passing it. Everyone in both groups suddenly stopped whatever they were doing to glare at each other. Then, one of the boys in the car yelled a single word that nearly caused Melanie to topple over in shock:

"Greasers!"

They started to speed off, but the leather jacket-clad boys still yelled after them, "Fuck you, Socs!"

Melanie gaped at the corner, even after everyone involved had already sauntered away, completely incapable of forming any coherent thoughts. Meanwhile, Gabby, Ellie, and Carly were screaming and bouncing with excitement, clearly happy to have witnessed it.

"Did they… He said…" Melanie finally uttered after she'd partially located her voice.

"It's okay, Mel," Gabby cooed.

"That was exactly what you think it was!" Ellie added, grinning like crazy.

"But they… Greasers… Curtis…!"

Carly stepped forward calmly and put a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder. "Mel. Take a deep breath and tell me: What book are we inside right now?"

Melanie took a shaky gulp of air and let it out slowly. Her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkled as she joined in on her friends' excitement, breaking into a grin of her own.

"…The Outsiders."

Notes: My first story ever! Just so you know, it's mostly for fun… It's not a joke, but don't expect it to be above clichés! It's a time travel story, after all, and it's just a way to get me used to the idea of publishing my work for others to critique.

Oh, and I'll clarify this now: the girls all live in the year 2050.

Well, that's all for now… More about the notebook will be explained in the next chapter!

So, what'd you think?

Stay gold,
~Rae