A/N: Well, here we go. I've finally decided to rewrite this story. Essentially, the story is very much the same, but I've tweaked it quite a bit. Basically, just treat it as an whole new story. I hope you guys enjoy. Reviews and constructive criticism are lovely, as always.

S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders.

"So this is it, huh?"

Lucy, standing in the doorway of her new bedroom, was unimpressed. She walked in and set the box she was holding on the floor. She took a closer look at the room.

The wallpaper, which appeared to have once been a nice shade of lavender, was peeling, and the plaster behind it was falling off in clumps. Eyeing it with distaste, Lucy bent down to pick up a piece of the rubble that had fallen to the floor. She turned it over in her hand a few times before slowly crumbling it to dust.

Crumbling to nothingness. Just like me. Lucy heaved a sigh before walking over to the bed and dropping onto it. The springs sagged and creaked under her weight, only adding to her growing dislike of the place.

"Lucy?" Her mother's head appeared in the doorway.

Lucy sighed again, not meeting her mother's gaze. "What do you want, Ma?"

"I'm going to the store. Do you want anything?"

"Something other than booze," she muttered, rising to her feet and making her way across the room.

Her mother turned to face her, her hand on her hip. "I'm not gonna take any sass from you, young lady. I don't care how much this move affected you, you oughta be damn grateful I took you out of that place."

Lucy waved her off. "Right, Ma. Whatever you say. Get whatever, I don't care."

"You better drop that attitude before I get back, or they'll be trouble," she warned.

Lucy shrugged. "Sure. Can't wait for it."

Her mother gave her a long look before finally leaving, shaking her head and muttering, "Ungrateful brat, she better learn some manners or I don't know what I'll do." She stopped before leaving the house, calling over her shoulder, "You oughta get out today, get used to the town. Ain't gonna have much time for that once school starts."

"Yeah, in a month." Lucy rolled her eyes, but bit back a retort. A fight with her mother wasn't what she needed right now. And she was right- it'd be good to take a look around. At the very least, it'd beat sitting here watching the walls fall apart.

xXxXxXx

It was cool for August, even more so considering this was Tulsa, Oklahoma. There was a light wind, just enough to keep the deadly heat waves at bay. At any rate, it was blowing her hair- she had to brush the blonde locks out of her face as she paused to consider just where she intended to go.

Seeing as she didn't have the slightest idea of where she was or where she might be headed, Lucy decided to simply wander around the streets and hope she might come across something‒or someone. She wasn't stupid, by any means. Living on the bad side of New York for the previous half of her life meant she had plenty of street smarts and knew how to handle herself. Of course, wandering around in a strange city with not a single person she knew was certainly not the smartest thing to do, but then again, Lucy had never been in the habit of stopping to consider the consequences of her actions.

And so it was because of this that she wound up at a gas station. She'd been outside for about 20 minutes‒ time enough for Lucy to realize just what Tulsa summers were like. The wind had dropped, and the sun was blazing at full force. At any rate, she had since discovered there was some change in her pocket, and this gas station was sure to be selling some sort of beverage. Without a second thought, she walked up to the store and pushed the door open with the tinkle of a bell.

She was pleasantly surprised to feel the cooling air of a fan somewhere in her vicinity. She found the soda case, grabbed herself a bottle of cola, and strode purposely over to the counter. The town had seemed rather dull so far‒ perhaps she could get some information out of the clerk.

"Hey there."

Lucy looked up into the last thing she expected to see out of a gas station clerk. He was a teenage boy, seemingly around her own age, with heavily greased dark blonde hair. His expression was quite cheerful‒his eyes incredibly bright and lively‒ as he looked at her, apparently expecting an answer.

"Hi." Lucy batted her eyelashes at him with a half smile. She slapped her bottle on the counter and slid her money across to him.

"You new around here?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow. He was apparently unimpressed by her short display. Not that she blamed him- judging by his looks alone, the guy had had more than his fair share of girls over the years.

She debated whether or not to answer him honestly‒ after all, not like she'd ever see him again. But then again, what reason did she have to lie about it? "Yeah. Got here this morning, actually. I was hoping to ask you about that."

The boy looked puzzled. "Ask me about what?"

Lucy glanced around the store, as if looking for a response, before settling on one. "You know," she gestured around the shelves, "the scoop on the town. Where to go, where to find people, where everyone hangs out. I don't intend to spend the entire month until school starts again alone."

He nodded in understanding. "The Dingo," he said. "It's just down the road. If not, you could always try the Ribbon, but you'd be more likely to run into some Socs there."

"Some what?" Lucy's brow furrowed.

"You know, the rich snobs. The Socials. Otherwise, not greasers." He gestured to his hair.

Lucy nodded, comprehension dawning. This boy‒like herself‒ was one of the poor class. She knew greasers. New York had been full of them. She figured by this point she'd wasted enough of his time, so she made her leave.

"Right, thank you. I guess I'll see you around..." She trailed off then, only now realized she hadn't learned his name yet.

"Soda." He grinned, and the effect made Lucy's heart skip a beat. He must have this effect on everyone, she thought. Lucky bastard.

"I'm Lucy," she stated, offering him a smile before flicking her hair and walking out the door.

xXxXxXx

Though she trusted that Soda had given her good advice, Lucy decided to head home after leaving the gas station. She still didn't know anyone (other than Soda) and figured staying in her ramshackle new house would be better than traipsing about town with nothing to do and nothing to see. Besides, her mother might be home by now, and she was starving.

As she neared the house, she saw their beaten up station wagon in the drive and thus knew that her mother had returned from her shopping trip. Praying that she had remembered to buy some sort of edible food, Lucy entered the house.

"Ma?" She called, hoping her mother had not yet gotten into whatever alcohol she had undoubtedly bought. "You home?"

"Luce? Come here, will you?"

Lucy followed her mother's voice into the living room and sat down on the old couch. "What do you want?"

"Your brother's here," she said without preamble.

Lucy's jaw dropped. "What?" She could barely squeak the word out. She hurriedly looked around, but didn't see any open or empty bottles around. "What are you talking about?"

Her mother closed her eyes for a brief moment, then opened them again and started to explain. "Richard brought him here. When he got out of the reformatory."

Richard. The name formed a question in Lucy's mind, but her mother answered it before she could ask.

"His father. You won't know him. I was forced to keep in touch, because of your brother. Richard insisted he be 'part of his life'. Load of bullshit. Never heard from the bastard again until he decided to move them both down here."

"Ma," Lucy began, then reconsidered what she was about to say. She had to phrase this carefully, for one of the only things she remembered about her brother was that he and their mother had never gotten along very well. "Ma..."

"Dallas is here, Lucy. Here in Tulsa."