"Ponyboy! Come on, we're meeting our new neighbors!" Ponyboy heard Soda yell. He sighed, closing his journal and joined his brothers downstairs.
Soda was wearing his DX shirt and Darry in his usual shirt and jeans attire.
"New neighbors? I didn't even know the others moved away." He said casually, waiting for Soda to finish up with his uniform.
"Yeah, well apparently this family has a kid around your age Pony, so play nice." Darry added.
Austin and Marcus unloaded boxes off the truck. They were tired, driving eight hours from Illinois to Oklahoma. Austin saw three boys approaching them. They looked like they were different ages. The tall, buff one seemed like the oldest while the stupid looking blonde one, he figured was the youngest.
"May I help you?" He asked, setting a box down.
"Good afternoon. My name is Darrel Curtis and these are my brothers Sodapop," he set a hand on the good-looking dark haired boy's shoulder, "and Ponyboy." He eyed the blond one. Darrel held out a hand. "We heard you were our new neighbors."
Austin and Marcus shook all their hands. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Austin Chase and this is my brother Marcus."
"Marc for short." The brown haired boy smiled. "And uhh… Katie!" He yelled towards the front of the truck.
Ponyboy peered over to get a better look on who was going to get out. A pair of teal converse stepped out and he never saw anything more stunning. This Katie girl was so pretty it was ridiculous. She had short, layered, brown hair and dark blue eyes that shown light blue under the sun. She wore jean shorts, white tank, and a leather jacket.
"This is our little sister Katie. Katie, these guys are our new neighbors." Marcus explained, presenting the brothers.
Katie smiled faintly. It was a fake smile. "Hi. I'm Kathleen Theresa, but you can call me Katie for short."
When she shook Pony's hand, he asked. "Kathleen Theresa? What kind of name is that?"
"It's my kind of name. And what's yours?" She retorted, her smile getting slightly bigger.
"Uhh Ponyboy Curtis."
Katie scoffed. "Yeah and I have the strange name."
"Hey be nice." Austin scolded.
"No, it's alright. Our kid brother here doesn't know how to play nice." Sodapop joked, gently hitting Ponyboy on top of his head. "Anyway, did you need help moving in?"
Marcus set down a box and pondered. "Yeah sure. If you guys don't have anything to do, we'd appreciate the help."
Darry, Soda, and Pony along with Austin and Marcus picked up a box and trudged inside, not being able to see where they were going. Pony glanced over his shoulder, seeing Katie standing where she last stood, staring bluntly at the ground.
"Hey if you're waiting for the devil, he's not coming." He called at her. She shifted her gaze to him and he shot her a grin.
For the first time in a long time, Katie grinned back.
Katie sat on the edge of her bed, holding a family picture. A couple tears spilled down on the glass frame.
"I miss you Mom, Dad." She brushed her thumb across two feminine faces. "Kat, Terry. I'm so sorry." More tears stained the glass.
Austin came in the room, crossing his arms. "Your attitude today wasn't necessary. It's a complete embarrassment to us, you know that?"
Katie nodded, placing the picture on the side table. "I'm sorry."
Her brother frowned, stepping in. "That's all you know how to say. You should know nobody accepts your apologies." He grabbed her by the shirt. "Get it through your head that you shouldn't be alive." He hit her across the face, throwing her on the ground, punching and kicking her repeatedly.
Katie covered her head and curled up in a ball, begging for her brother to stop.
Downstairs Marcus caught up on daily news, reading the paper. He sighed, hearing his kid sister's familiar scream.
