A/N: Like I promised, here is the sequel to "Bruises and Scars Last Longer than You Think!"
I promise that I'll try my best to give you all much suspense, twists, turns, cliffhangers, etc! I've been plotting out this story for a few months now, and since I got a good chunk of it figured out, I decided that now would be a perfect time to start! Also, this is my first 'The Outsiders' fanfic where I'll probably start going into the characters POV's here and there! Enjoy chapter one! :) :D Reviews make my day... ;)
Chapter 1
Nobody's POV
Sondra Prescott stared out Charlie Meier's guest room window one dark and chilly October night. She didn't understand why, but she just loved to lean on the windowsill in a pair of pajamas and look out, taking in the fresh smell of the cool breeze and gaze off into the beautiful view of all of the stars. They looked like billions of sparkling gems, flashing themselves about and each one somehow being different from all of the rest. Sondra didn't see that though; not even Johnny Cade got her to believe that every star was different in a good way. To her, all of the stars looked exactly the same, waiting in line to twinkle and show itself off to the others.
"Why can't I be happy with what I have?" Sondra quietly asked herself, still having her eyes lost in the stars. "I got a bunch of new friends, my first true boyfriend that loves me for me, and my abusive parents are no longer a part of my life, but...is something else missing from my life? Do I need to do something else to feel thrilled? Do I need to snatch others attention somehow and get them to envy me?"
Sondra didn't get it...she figured that she'd be overjoyed since her and her little sister are finally getting the life that they deserved since they were born, but it turns out that it was like there was this huge gap that needed to be filled with something else in order to make her life complete. But what could it be?
Dominic Prescott was the first to die when Darry Curtis shot him for self-defense after what he did to Dally. Spring Prescott, on the other hand, was found lying on her side on the bathroom floor of a gas station. All kinds of different pills that she got from God knows where were scattered all around her numb looking and extremely pale and cold body. She was lifeless, and her eyes remained opened, completely glassy...she committed suicide after realizing that the fuzz was on a search for her so they could bring her into the station and arrest her. Spring figured that she was going to get the death penalty if the police caught her, so she took no hesitation to overdose and end her life herself.
Every pump that was made in Sondra's chest contained something or somebody else that meant a whole lot to her. Her heart wouldn't stop singing...
Pump...Johnny Cade...
Pump...Dallas Winston...
Pump...Iris...
Pump...Kitten Andrews...
Pump...Two-Bit Mathews...
Pump...Possibly a new home...
So on and so on. The Curtis' greasers gang and Sondra's mini 'gang' wouldn't stop ringing in her head or bursting through her heart.
Sondra curled up one of her fingers and pressed it against her pouting lips as she walked away from the window and gazed at herself in the new mirror that Charlie had recently put in there for a part of changing his guest rooms into new bedrooms for Sondra and Iris.
Sondra studied herself, seeing that nothing has really changed about her over the three long weeks that passed since the night when she and Johnny became a couple. Her golden blonde hair was still all shaggy, touching the tops of her shoulders, and her pale blue eyes weren't any different either. She was still a tomboy, which she liked, but she couldn't get rid of that empty feeling inside of her. What else could she possibly need to start a happy life in her eyes?
Suddenly, there were a couple of little knocks coming from the opposite side of the white wooden door. With wide eyes, Sondra quickly snatched her knee-length, yellow robe that Rebecca got her and tied it on since all she was wearing was a plaid pair of pajama shorts and a white T-shirt that revealed everything bellow her ribs. Her black bra could be seen through the white fabric too.
"Come in!"
The fourteen-year-old tomboy watched the door as it slowly creaked open, as if she was in a scene from a horror film, but Sondra was never scared when she was under Charlie's roof unless one of her mini 'gang' members had their temper snap.
"...Sondra?" It was little Iris, standing in the now wide open doorway with a stuffed giraffe being held in one of her hands, and in the other, she was clenching her pink and white cane.
"Iris, what are you doing up? It's 10:00; you were supposed to be in bed an hour ago. Didn't Charlie-arlie tuck you in before going to bed himself since he had a hard day at his new job earlier today?" questioned Sondra with a gentle, but concerned mixed voice.
"...I couldn't...sleep..." Iris stuttered, but she was smiling widely. Others would find that sort of adorable, while some would just find it pure creepy. Those weren't either of Sondra's words to describe how she felt when she saw Iris grin like that though. It was upsetting to a whole new level.
"Why couldn't you sleep this time?" Sondra asked, keeping the sorrow out of her voice the best that she could, but it was exposed all over her face.
The oldest female Prescott watched the younger one continue to flash her huge, slimly cute grin, but instead of getting any direct answer, Sondra was met with silence. She watched, not saying a word as Iris began to walk, taking her careful time as she tapped her cane gently back and forth on the wooden floor, until she felt the bottom of her cane meet one of the dark brown feet of Sondra's new bed that Charlie had built.
"Is there...something on my head, Sondra?" Iris giggled as she sat herself down on the plush covers and laid back, cuddling with her stuffed giraffe. "I swear...there is something on my...head, Sondra...I can feel it..."
Sondra crossed her arms over her chest and tried her best to hold the tears back, but they were begging to be released. Pain started to form in Sondra's throat, but she took in a soft, shaky breath to herself and released it just as quietly.
"There is nothing on your head, Iris. It's just your imagination." Sondra informed the soon-to-be-eight-year-old girl as she walked back over to the white door and peeked into the hallway, making sure that Charlie wasn't suddenly standing out there from being woken up. Seeing nobody there though, Sondra knew that everything was fine and she quietly shut the door again.
"But I...can feel it..." Iris defended herself, batting her grayish-whitish eyes with complete innocence, no longer grinning. Nonetheless, it took only a few silent seconds before that big smile popped back across Iris' face. "Sondra...guess what I...was told today..."
"What were you told today, Iris?" Sondra continued to keep her sorrow stored inside of her the best that she could.
"I was told...by a talking rabbit that...if I be a good girl...it'll get me a blue...schoolgirl tie. Funny, huh?"
"...Yeah, that's quite somethin', little sis." Sondra forced some phony chuckles out from her lips as she walked back across the room so she could close the window and lock it, but not without stealing one final peek at the stars.
In Iris' condition with her brain damage, she already had to take a specific pill everyday so she wouldn't forget anything or anybody. However, ever since the different deaths of their parents, Iris' brain seemed to go through another malfunction because she was so young and didn't really understand the abuse. All she did understand was the fact that her parents were gone forever, and that caused her to form a new disorder that caused her to see, hear, and sometimes even feel things that aren't really there. It's all her mind messing with her, and seeing that this was just her almost eight-year-old kid sister, Sondra was crushed about it.
"Iris, why don't you sleep with me again tonight?" Sondra offered, this being atleast the fifth time since Iris first got her new disorder.
"...Okay...thank you..."
Sondra dragged her feet against the floor, pouting away at her little sister just lying there, staring blankly up at the ceiling with no problem with the light shining in her eyes since she was already blind. Sighing quietly to herself, Sondra then placed Iris' cane beside the bed and helped her sit back up for atleast a minute so she could pull the covers back.
"Good night, Iris." Sondra said after she turned off the lights and wrapped her arms around her kid sister's waist, holding her close underneath the warm sheets of the bed.
"...Good night, Mom."
At Iris' bedtime farewell, Sondra's eyes shot huge and flooded with a mixture of plead and sorrow. She knew that Iris always wanted a mother that was loving and sweet, generous and helpful. Sondra always wanted that herself, but she never imagined Iris calling her something like that. Was it because of her new mind disorder or because she honestly felt that Sondra was more like a mother than a sister? Sondra never imagined herself as a mother, considering that she was just turning fifteen the next day. What could she do about it though? There was no way she was going to tell Iris to never call her that again.
Sondra finally closed her eyes again and gently touched Iris' head, stroking her long hair until they both fell fast asleep.
Sondra's POV
Fifteen...fifteen long, straight years...that's all that I could think about after my eyes slowly began to open up to be greeted with sunlight lighting up the room. It felt so different to wake up in a place that didn't smell like sweat, cigarettes, and alcohol on my birthday. Usually, my parents would be cursing and throwing things downstairs, spitting and bickering continuously at each other while I tried to ignore the hurtful words and scarring tones by burring my head underneath my pillow. However, it wouldn't be long before my old man would be stomping up the stairs, leaving my mother to cry as he kicked my door open, drunker than ever before, and he would beat the living heck out of me. There were tons of times where I pretended to still be asleep, but it wouldn't be long before my father would drag me out of my bed by yanking me by my ankles and kicking me hard over and over again after I landed on the floor.
My father used to tell me that birthdays meant nothing special since he thought that it meant that you were only another year closer to being berried at the cemetery. I never thought of birthdays like that though. I wish that I could've been excited like anybody would on their birthday, but I didn't have my mini 'gang' to celebrate it with this year, and I didn't know what the Curtis' greasers gang were up to today.
I began to move my arms so I could push the covers off of me, but I stopped all of the sudden when it clicked to me that Iris wasn't resting beside me anymore.
"Iris?" I looked all around the room from where I was resting in the bed, but all I got in response was silence. "Iris! Where are you?" I called out, quickly jumping up into a sitting position as I gazed down at the floor that was on Iris' side of the bed to make sure that she didn't roll off, but she wasn't there.
That's when I really began to get worried. It was my fifteenth birthday and to start it off, I had no idea where my blind kid sister with different brain disorders was. Just as I was about to leap right out of the bed and go running through the whole house to find Iris or Charlie, my eyes hooked onto something that was on the nightstand. There, being forced to lean against the pink lamp by a pen, was a note. In the timing that I was in, I took no hesitation to snatch over the piece of paper and lock my full attention on the words in black pen.
Sondra,
So I see that Iris couldn't sleep by herself again, huh?
You know what the doctor said; we can't keep allowing her to rest with us if we want her to break through this disorder at some point.
With the trial coming up in just a few more weeks, we need Iris to get healed as much as possible so she won't make any mistakes and risk my demand for custody go down.
You know that I love you both; I'm just thinking about what's best for us, the rest of the gang, and our new greaser pals.
I took Iris to Rebecca's for more reading and writing lessons, and I'll be heading out to work at the site with Darry, so I won't be back until later on tonight.
I'm sorry that I can't be with you today, but I want you to know that I wish you a happy fifteenth birthday!
Stay safe and have a great birthday, birthday girl!
Love you!
Sincerely your,
Your good pal Charlie :)
At the mention of Iris' disorder and the doctors orders, I couldn't help myself to sniffle a little. Apparently, the doctor said that this disorder heals itself, but it takes quite some time before it finally leaves somebody's system. In order to have the person with the disorder get rid of it, they usually have to be left alone to go through the images, language, and feelings that their mind is playing them all by themselves. I can't bare to allow my little sister go through that, no matter what some crumby doctor says.
Atleast the other half of the letter about my birthday and how he really cares about me got a small smile to tug its way onto my face. I gave Charlie's signature a quick little kiss before placing the note back down onto the nightstand and getting up from the bed.
A/N: So that's the first chapter! I apologize if it wasn't so thrilling, but every first chapter isn't full of THAT MUCH thrill, but don't worry...we'll totally get there. *wink, wink*. Like I said, reviews make me happy... ;) ;)
The more reviews I get, the faster I'll try updating... ;) ;) ;)
Trust me, the next chapter will be better! Stay tuned! :D :D :) :)
