My name is Hollyberry Curtis and I have too many brothers. I've come to this conclusion from the fact that I have three real brothers and four other guys who have been around me so long they're practically brothers. This is obviously a problem. In addition to being the only girl between seven guys, I have the pleasure (burden) of being fifteen years old. Again the problem of my brothers arises, because of my twin brother Ponyboy. I love him more than anything, but having a twin brother at my age is more work than it should be. Besides him there's twenty-year-old Darry, eighteen-year-old Two-Bit, seventeen-year-olds Sodapop, Steve, and Dally, and sixteen-year-old Johnny. Darry and Soda are my biological brothers and the rest are add-ons. Think you can't keep up with our family? Don't worry. Ain't like I can either.

I woke up to the sound of all the boys fighting what seemed like right outside the door of my room. With a sigh, I heaved myself out of bed and lurched toward the door. My hair was a mess, I was only wearing Pony's boxers and a t-shirt, and goddammit if I didn't walk straight to the kitchen to get some chocolate cake for breakfast. As I looked around for where they'd put it, I realized they were staring at me silently. I turned to look at them only to discover that they were trying not to burst out laughing. "What are you lookin' at, hoods?" I asked irritably.

Two-Bit was the first to bust his gut. "Golly, what sewer did you crawl out of, girl?" he hollered between laughs. This goaded the rest of the fools to start laughing along with him. A stoic look took over my face as I calmly walked up to Two-Bit.

You could've cut the tension with a knife when I asked quietly, "Keith?" His face went pale and he didn't respond, just looked at me with wide eyes. The boys all looked at us with buggy eyes. Without warning, I threw my fist into his gut. Now, don't be mistaken- I'm pretty strong after growing up round this bunch. So it hurt. Quite a bit.

A loud yowl of pain followed by a string of curses leaked out of a doubled over Two-Bit. I smiled unforgivingly and plopped on the couch, grabbing a piece of the chocolate cake that had been left on the end table. The boys were all laughing loudly and yelling catcalls at poor Two-Bit, whose face was contorted by pain and anger. "Don't twist your face like that, honey, or it'll get stuck," I said sweetly. His steel gray eyes darted to me and yet more obscenities came out.

Suddenly a deep and authoritative voice boomed, "What in the hell did you just call my sister?"

Once again every voice was silent and every eye was fixed on Darry's hard set face. When no one answered he asked, "Well? What did you call her?" Two-Bit straightened with a grimace. "Holly done near knocked my innards out. It's all good." I stood up too and moved next to Two-Bit.

"C'mon, Dar, don't get mad. We was just messin' around. It wasn't nothing serious."

Darry looked as though he was debating whether or not to kick Two-Bit's head in, but his ambivalent expression soon became a smirk. He stepped forward and threw his arm around Two-Bit's thick neck. They tussled for a moment before pushing away with matching smiles.

Everyone relaxed and conversation started back up. The fools were all ignoring the perfectly good couch, so I took the opportunity to stretch across it. I watched as Ponyboy broke away from the talk and came to the couch, nudging my shoulder with his knee. Rolling my eyes, I sat up so he could sit down and laid my head in his lap.

"Hey, brother-o-mine," I said tiredly. He smiled slightly. "Morning, sister-o-mine. You goin' to school today?" I mulled that over in my head. Usually I didn't even bother with school. I was just like Soda in that I couldn't stomach that place. I wasn't as smart as Pony or as athletic as Darry; school was torture for me. Even Darry agreed I shouldn't care about school. I just had to show up enough so that the truancy officers stayed off my tail. Most days I palled around town with one of the boys or worked at the Dairy Queen.

"I dunno, Pony-baby." He frowned at the nickname. I'd called him it since we were little kids. We were Holly-baby and Pony-baby.

"Please, sis? I hate the thought of you out getting into trouble without me." I scoffed. My protective twin thought that anytime I wasn't in his sights I was out wreaking havoc on our fair city. He was right, but he was still overly protective of me. It came with the whole brother thing and the fact that I was ten minutes younger.

"Pony, I'm probably gonna go out with Dally and Johnny today," I said with a dismissive wave of my hand. "I'll be fine."

At the sound of his name, Dally looked over at me. "You comin' out with me today, little lady?"

I smiled and said, "If you and Johnnycake can handle me!"

He smirked easily and threw an arm over Johnny's thin shoulders. "I think me and Johnny can handle ya, spitfire, so long as you ain't tuggin' around them brothers of yours." I laughed. Even though we were joking, he was right about the fact that my brothers and I could sure find us some trouble. It came a-sniffin' at us. Tulsa wasn't big enough for the four of us, you know.

Pony frowned at me and looked at Dally. Say what you want about Dally scaring the tar out of anyone, but right then I was scared for him. Ponyboy's face was dark and foreshadowing as he commanded, "You take care a my sister, hear?"

I rolled my eyes and sat up, kissing Pony's cheek quickly. "Alright, down boy. I'm gonna go get ready and then let's you, me, and Johnny head off," I said calmly with the last part directed at Dally.

I rushed to my room and threw on jeans and a tank top. There wasn't a second wasted as I ran a brush through my hair, shoved my feet into my ratty sneakers, and tucked a blade into my pocket. Just in case. Two-Bit had given it to me and I never left without it. It was both good luck and protection.

Before, I ran back into the living room, I looked at myself in the mirror. Exact copies of Pony's eyes, thick auburn hair, skin like the sun couldn't decide if it wanted to tan me or not. Guys always said I was pretty. Guys always got their faces bashed in. I flashed a grin at my reflection.

Still with my goddamned smile, I rushed out to meet Dally and Johnny. Maybe something exciting'd happen. It felt like it.