"Two-Bit, what the hell is wrong with you?" I snapped at the dinner table, "Your grades ain't never been higher than a 'D', you're always gettin' into fights, and you never take nothin' seriously!"

Two-Bit burst out laughing even more, "So, your point?" He lifted his feet up on the table.

"My point is, why can't you be a normal teenager for once? Hell, you've been held back how many times now?" I pounded my fists against the table.

Our parents just sat there quietly and continued eating as if nothing was wrong. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm younger than you, and even I know that what you're doin' ain't right!"

My mom took a swift glance at me. I hoped she'd cut in at some point to side with me. Maybe Two-Bit would actually listen to her instead. Nothing. I was always furious with my parents. It's like my brother and I didn't even exist none. Two-Bit always got into serious trouble. What's worse is once the fuzz were involved, he'd take his crazy antics up to the next level. Strangely enough, he's never been jailed before. His friends ain't no better than he was, so I've heard.

Sure, I've had my share of fights. Greasers are known for their violent behavior. Not all of us are like that.

I actually don't blame Two-Bit for his sporadic behavior. No one taught him otherwise. We had no responsible parents, only the ones you see here before us. The ones who don't talk at nothin'.

"Charlie, lemme tell ya somethin'," Two-Bit leaned forward across the table, his face still red from laughing so hard, "I need ya to take that stick outta your ass now, ya hear?" He flew back in his chair bawling in a fit of laughter.

I couldn't take this no more. I pounded my fists as hard as I could, making everyone jump some.

"You're hopeless!" I shouted and kicked the chair out from under me and angrily left the table.

The entire table was silent when I left. Sure, I expected that from my parents but even Two-Bit fell silent and I could never get him to shut up. I hated seeing my brother like this, but I felt like there was nothin' I could do. He won't listen to a word I say so what's the use in tryin'?

I trudged over to my bed then collapsed onto it. I was still hungry, but not enough to be acknowledged by my family again. I laid there, starin' up at the ceiling. I heard Two-bit yuckin' it up at the table again. What the heck was so funny to that kid?

I heard the sound of the front door being slammed shut; I knew Two-Bit was goin' out again. I turned over onto my side and stared out the window and watched as he ran to catch up with his friends who were still in sight. I'd never really gotten a good look at who he hangs out with, I just knew there was a lot of 'em. Sometimes Two-Bit would talk about 'em. Hell, the one name I hear most often comin' from him was Dallas Winston. The name itself sounded threatening. I watched as the gang gave everyone a high-five. It must be nice havin' friends like that. No one's in a hurry to hang out with me none. At least I don't try to fit in, I like the way I am and I don't plan on changin' for no one. But maybe changin' was the only option I had to gain some friends. I shrugged the thought away and continued watchin' the group as they disappeared in the direction of the drive-in theatre, The Nightly Double.

I wasn't actually tired, so I decided to freshen up and go outside to catch some fresh air. Luckily it was a cool night. Not too hot, not too cold, it was perfect. I grabbed my jean jacket and headed out. I didn't have anywhere to go, so I just hung around the front of my house. Occasionally kicked a rock or whatever was lyin' on the ground. I dunno why, but every time I'm outside, I feel like I can do anything if I wanted to. I could become Superman, well, Superwoman if I really wanted to. But I knew that was all fiction, so the most I could probably do was climb a tree, which gave me an idea. There was this one tree down by the park I used to go when Two-Bit and I were kids. Well, he was ten and I was seven. Anyway, I had always wanted to climb this rather towering tree that grew by the slide, but I never had the chance to, considerin' how small I was back then. I decided I'd give it a try this time.

I dug my hands inside my jacket pockets and headed down to the park. It was a quiet night. The only sounds that were audible were dogs barkin' and trains blowin' their horns. The wind blew occasionally, and when it did, I would inhale deeply tryin' to get as much air into my lungs as I could, then exhale just as much. Considerin' we ain't rich or even middle-class, all I had on was a white tank top and a pair of old ripped jeans that I've worn for four years already. It's amazing I stayed the same size. I ain't the most gorgeous lookin' girl on the block; I'm rather average for my height and weight. A little on the short side, but not by much. I wore my hair down, only because I didn't have a lot. It was about shoulder-length, maybe even a little shorter. It was dirty blond in color, more brown than anything else. I had grey eyes like my brother's which I didn't mind none. It was one step away from blue which I hated because that's what most of the socs had. Grey was just enough for me.

As I rounded the corner to the park, I noticed a few children already playin' on it. I smiled as I approached the outer sides of the park. I couldn't help but think about the days of my youth when I was in their shoes playin' all crazy like that; runnin', jumpin', and grabbin' things. As I moved closer to the actual park, itself, I noticed the kids stop what they were doing, one by one. Each one glared in my direction. It was almost like one of them scenes from horror movies. I cocked an eyebrow, wonderin' what they were all starin' at. I glanced behind me, makin' sure no one was there. Thankfully no one was, but then what were they starin' at me for?

As it was silent, I tallied up all the kids. There wasn't more than seven. Each one was mutterin' somethin' to one another. All I happened to pick up was, "I think that's a greaser."

Again with the labeling! This made me just plain irritated. I saw four older women get up from the bench facin' the open park. They, too, stared blankly at me. What the heck was goin' on? I don't think I looked that scary.

Each of the four women grabbed each kid's hand and they all started walkin' away from the area. I exhaled sharply. I hated society and how everythin' was. Just because I was labeled as a 'Greaser' don't mean I'm aggressive none. I lowered my head in disgust. What were parents teachin' their kids these days? Honestly, it just don't make a lick'a sense!

As I watched them walk away and disappear from sight, I proceeded over to the park anyway. I walked over to the tree directly next to the slide, exactly how I imagined it before. I sighed some as I grabbed the first branch and made sure it was steady enough to hold my weight. I kicked off from the ground and grabbed onto the second branch and continued that until I was a good ten feet off the ground. It was surprisingly nice and comfortable up there. I sat down on one of the branches and dangled my feet off of it. I was proud of myself that I accomplished somethin' I always wanted to do. Well, one of the many things I wanted to do before I die.

I still felt a little hurt by what had just happened with the kids and all, but I figured that I could prove 'em wrong in the end. A good hour went by, and I still wasn't tired of bein' in the tree. Growin' up, my nickname used to be 'Monkey' because I always liked to climb on stuff no matter how tall or scary lookin' it was.

Two-Bit and his friends must be on their way back home by now, I could almost hear them hollerin' from a mile or so away.

"Hey greaser!" I heard a voice from down below me. I glanced down, noticing three socs on each side of the tree.

"Shoot!" I muttered under my breath.

"Why don'tchu come down 'ere so we could have a lil' fun." I couldn't help but giggle because he sounded like he had a heavy New York accent.

"You think somethin's funny?" the head soc raised his voice some.

That instantly shut me right back up.

"Maybe you didn't hear me, I said come down, or we're comin' up!" He declared.

All three of them wreaked of alcohol and liquor. I almost had to hold my nose. What, did they roll around in vodka all day or somethin'? I didn't want to get down, but I knew they'd mess me up good if I didn't. I grabbed one branch down from me and climbed, carefully, back down. Before I could land on my feet, I felt a tug on the collar of my jacket and almost instantly the soc was in my face. I felt nauseas. Not because of the danger I probably got myself into, but because of how much stronger the stench of alcohol was.

"Man, yer pretty!" one of the other socs said, sarcastically, as they ganged up on me. Even if I had escaped the main soc's grasp, I couldn't get far because the other socs had me cornered.

"Why don'tchu just shut up and lemme go." I almost spit directly into his face.

"I don't see that happenin'." he did this colorful dance with his voice and right then, I knew I was in trouble.

The only other fights I've been in was one-on-one fist-fights with someone my age. These socs musta been at least three years older than I was, and I was fifteen! They had to be around my brother's age if anythin'. Well, might as well go down swingin'.

I forcefully kicked the soc in the shin. As he let go of me, I dropped to the ground. The gang of socs parted, leaving a wide enough space for me to attempt to escape. Knowing the chances of that were slim to none, there was still no harm in tryin', or so I thought. I lunged at the tiny opening only to get caught by another soc. Without even uttering a word to me, he slugged me right in the nose. As I flew backward, my head hit the ground with a thud along with the rest of my body, but that don't hurt anywhere near as much as my nose did. Blood smeared all across and down my face, but I didn't care none. Those socs deserved what was comin' to them next.

"Hey!" I heard a yell a few feet away from me. I couldn't exactly make out who it was because it was hard enough just to maintain breathin'. I manage to prop myself up on my elbows, the pain slowly subsided the more I sat up. Blood still gushed out of my nose, and some even got into my mouth. I tried my best not to upchuck and somehow managed to keep my cookies down.

"That's my sister you-" and that's all I heard before I heard a loud cracking sound from a punch being thrown. Multiple footsteps galloped around the area. I was just thankful that someone came to my rescue. I took my hands and cupped them, wiping as much blood as I could away from my face. I pinched my nose to stop the vital fluids from getting all over me again.

"You okay?" another voice approached me. It was dark, I couldn't tell who it was. I steadily nodded.

"Yeah, I think so." whoever it was helped me up and let me lean on them. The loss of blood made me lightheaded and shaky. My body wanted to collapse again, but I wouldn't allow it. How was I so weak all of a sudden? I've taken blows to the face like that before!

The individual who helped me up brought me over to the bench on the out-skirts of the park. I sat down, physically drained. I felt my body tremble slightly. I wasn't sure if it was from the cold, fear, or the pain. A lamp located next to the bench provided enough light for me to make out who the figure was.

He was handsome and well-built. His muscles were even visible through the sleeves of the shirt he was wearin'. He dressed similar to my brother with a leather jacket added on. I was a little nervous to ask for his name. He had blond almost bleached hair - I had to admit, I was diggin' it. His looks almost made me forget all about the pain. When he turned to look at me, he had the most gorgeous blue eyes I had ever seen. Although I really thought I hated blue, I didn't so much dislike it on him. His eyes oddly enough did not look friendly, but more antagonizing than anything, but he helped me, and that's all that mattered to me.

"Thank you," I thought I said, but apparently I didn't make it clear enough.

The guy looked at me oddly, "What?"

"I said thank you!" I raised my voice a bit.

Either I was too quiet or he was a bit more preoccupied with the fight goin' on in front of him.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Just stay here, all right? You've already caused enough trouble." He got up and ran over to assist my brother and his fiends beat the holy hell outta them socs.

Did he really just say that? Does he really think I like causin' trouble? I rolled my eyes and the pain presented itself again. I focused my attention on my nose, but couldn't keep my eyes off the fight. Every instinct of mine told me to go in there and help, but I didn't wanna slow anyone down.

I directed my attention then to the other side of the park where a figure stood out the most. I almost had to squint my eyes to get a good look at him. I knew him to be one of my brother's friends because I've seen that figure a lot. He appeared a little too frail to be fightin', so I guess he was fine where he was.

I got up from the bench and swiftly ran over to the other side. This was probably gonna be my first and only interaction with Two-Bit's friends, so I might as well get to know as many as I could, find out a little bit about 'em.

"Hey." I said as I approached him.

He seemed a little shy because he managed a barely audible, "Hello" back to me.

"What's your name?" I flicked my head upward in the 'sup' motion.

I could tell the boy was a bit fearful to answer my question because he seemed a bit jumpy. He dug his hands into his pockets, just like I usually did sometimes.

"Johnny." He muttered softly, "You must be Two-Bit's sister."

I nodded, "Yup. Charlotte, but everyone tends to call me Charlie more often than not."

"Charlie, huh," Johnny smiled sheepishly.

I could also tell by the expression on his face that he don't get approached by no girls very much.

"So, Johnny. Ya gotta last name?" I asked, tryin' to sound cool and to strike up a fairly decent conversation with the time we had.

"Cade." He replied.

"Johnny Cade?" I asked as he nodded, "Pretty tough name." I smiled.

I coulda sworn I saw him blush, "Thanks."

He barely made eye contact with me, but I didn't mind none. I knew the word 'tough' was thrown around a lot in the group. I hear Two-Bit say it a lot. It only made sense if I tried it out.

I looked up at the fight, it was getting intense. The socs were only that much stronger than I thought they were. The smell of blood singed through the air along with dirt and sweat. It appeared as though my brother's gang was gainin' up on them pretty good. Fists were bein' thrown and ear-splittin' cries of pain erupted from either side of the gangs.

That was until Two-Bit flipped open his black-handled switchblade. The one he prized ever since he stole it. The fightin' came to a sudden halt and the socs arms flew up into the air in defeat.

"Whoa, buddy." The main soc said, unsteadily and out of breath.

"Let's get outta here, man!" Another one of them cried, "We ain't got no weapons."

"Yeah, you better get outta here," Two-Bit yelled, "And stay out! This is our parta town!"

The socs staggered to their feet and fled the scene without another word. Hoots and hollers were celebrated by Two-Bit and his friends. Winnin' a fight always called for some sort of celebration, but winnin' a fight unprepared was even more of a big deal. The group patted each other on the back and examined each other's wounds.

"Charlie, you okay?" Two-Bit ran over to me, still partyin' from his victory.

"Yeah," I replied, 'cuz I honestly had no idea what else to say other than that.

"What were ya thinkin'?" A voice behind Two-Bit rang out. A tall slim guy stood before me. He had rather dark hair that was greased back so I couldn't exactly tell how long it was.

"I... I," I started to say until I got scared.

"You weren't!" The guy spoke again, "You weren't thinkin' were ya?"

I started to get offended.

"Well, sorry if I wanted to go to the park to have a lil' fun!" I said apologetically sarcastic, "It won't happen again." I responded, softly under my breath.

"Hey, you shut yer trap!" The guy screamed back at me.

"Steve, cut it out." Two-Bit waved at him to stop.

I rolled my eyes. Gosh, was all of his friends this rude? 'Cept for Johnny though. He don't look the type to do that; don't look like he had it in him anyway.

Steve glared at me for a long while. I could tell he was tryin' to size me up, tryin' to get a good read on me.

By now it was late, but that didn't matter none 'cuz my parents don't care where Two-Bit and I are. They's in bed long before we get home anyway.

"I gotta split now." Johnny spoke up, "It's late, 'n who knows what my folks are up to."

I didn't quite understand what he meant by that.

"See ya!" I replied, kickin' a rock I found not too far out in front of me.

"Later, Johnny." Two-Bit patted him on the back.

"Yeah, me too." Another voice expressed.

Before I knew it everyone left, leavin' me and Two-Bit by our lonesome. I was a little too shaken up to say anything appropriate.

"C'mon, let's go home." Two-Bit placed his arm around me as we began to walk.

"Y-you mean you're not mad at me?" I asked, a bit taken aback. I looked up at him and all I could see was a substantial grin plastered on his face.

"Nah," he answered with a sigh, "Things like this happen all the time, it's the other guys ya gotta look out for."

"You mean your friends?" I asked.

"Them and the other greasers."

"Other greasers?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"You know, Tim Shepard and his gang." He said.

"Ah." I responded under my breath some. My nose had pretty much stopped bleedin' by now, if not slowed down.

I felt bad for slammin' him earlier with all my negative comments towards him. He's never like that to me.

"I'm sorry." I lowered my head.

"What for?" He asked.

"...Earlier." I said meekly.

"Don't worry about it." Two-Bit shrugged it off, "I actually appreciate it. You're the only one lookin' out for me and all when it should be the other way around."

I smiled. Were we havin' that special brother-sister moment just now? I didn't quite know, but whatever it was, I finally felt safe and it felt good.