Author's Note: As you've read in the summary, there WILL be familiar scenes in this fanfic that were in the original story, just tweaked a little. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy! " The Outsiders" is owned by S.E. Hinton. I own nothing accept for two characters.

The Outsiders: A New Take.

I was walking on the almost abandoned streets of greaser territory. It was a nice day, the sun out and all. I had a lot of things on my mind. I finished a book a while ago, talking about a girl doing something brave, or something. I, on the other hand, am not a girl in a hero story. I'm 14 years old, have green eyes, and slightly long, dark blonde hair. I don't really amount to anything. A blue Mustang drove by, and I stiffened up. It was full of Socs, but, thankfully they didn't notice me.

I was about to turn the corner to get back to my make-shift home, if that's what you want to call it, when I heard something. I turned to the direction of the sound to find a boy getting jumped. I looked and saw the same blue Mustang. " So that's where they were heading.." I thought to myself. " Help! Help!" he called. " Shut him up!" one of them shouted. I was about to go and help, when other people were shooting toward them. They took care of them, and was checking on the boy.

I decided things were taken care of, so I made my way home. The next day, however, was not going to be my day.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was another nice day, so I went out for a walk. The wind was blowing lightly, and it was warm. It seemed like it would be an actual good day, but boy, was I wrong! I heard a familiar sound. The sound of a car engine.

" No! Not them! Why today? Why any day?!" I thought to myself, breaking into a fast walk. " Hey! It's a greaser girl!" one of them shouted. I then broke into a run. I had no blade, no weapon, not even a busted bottle.

-" Get her!"

- " Is she even worth it, Bob?"

- " You think I care?"

That's all I could hear, besides my own thoughts: Get away, get away, get away!

Then, I felt the ground come up to meet me, with the extra weight of the Socs on me. " Get off!" I shouted, struggling. One of them slugged me, making my head hit the pavement. I guess they were tryin' to shut me up. I was dazed from impact, but still trying to get away. I got an arm free, and knocked the Soc on top of me off. I struggled to get up, and as soon as I was up, I broke into a run.

My head was bleeding from when I hit the pavement, and I was extremely dizzy. I ended up falling down, in spite of myself, and the Socs made sure I wouldn't try to run again. " Let's prove to her what she gets for not taking her jumping like a good girl!" one shouted. The others shouted their approval. " Help!" I called out desperately. One took out a switchblade, and was laughing, mercilessly. He was slashing my arms, and I was screaming in pain. I was losing a lot of blood, and I thought they were actually going to kill me.

Just then, my saviors came. I remember two of them jumping over me, takin' care of the Socs. Another came and turned me over, makin' sure I was alive, at least. " Get outta here!" one of them shouted to the Socs. I recognized the voice. It was the kid I saw gettin' jumped the other day.

They came over to look at me, but I was already about to faint, though. I remembered one of them saying: " Have those Socs sunk so low to jump a girl?!"

The last thing I heard before I fainted was a soft, soothing voice saying: " Don't worry. Everything will be fine. It's gonna be okay..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I regained consciousness on.... a couch. I woke up, and noticed my arms were bandaged and so was the spot on my head. From what I could see, I was at a house, and it wasn't mine. I looked around to see that I wasn't alone. There was a guy with complicated swirls in his hair, playing Poker with a kid who had a band-aid on his forehead. I guessed he's the boy who got jumped. I looked over to see who else was playing.

This guy, though, was very familiar. " Huh? Blonde hair, high cheekbones, elfish look....." Then it hit me. Dallas Winston! If this was a gang, how did they get him in?!

There was one more person playing. He was very handsome, but, wasn't my type. He looked related to the younger kid. " So, the Socs jumped her?" someone asked. I looked over in the direction of the voice. He looked about twenty, and had ice blue-green eyes. " Yeah. Ponyboy, Johnny and I came just in time. I swear, it was merciless. You saw her arms didn't ya?" a kid with dark brown hair and gray eyes explained. " Okay, okay Fang! Don't get yourself in a bunch!" a man with rusty-colored side-burns and the same gray eyes said.

" Fang?" I thought to myself. " Who names their kid Fang?"

" Um, guys? She's awake."

That voice! That same, soothing voice I heard. Everyone gathered around the couch. " Guys! Back up, give her some air!" the twenty year old said. I tried getting up, but it hurt too much. " D-Don't over-do it." a boy with black hair and tan skin said. " So he's the owner of the voice." I thought. " Wh-Where am I?" I stuttered. " You're at the Curtis's house, little lady." the guy with the sideburns answered in a matter-of-fact way.

I tried to get up again, but one of my arm wounds opened. " Ah!" I grunted. " Johnny, go get more bandage!" the younger kid ordered. The black-haired kid got up and went to get it. " That's his name? That's actually kinda nice.." I thought. He re-wrapped my arm in that area. I coulda swore I felt my cheeks get hot for a second. " There we go." he started. " Be careful, though. The others can s-still open." he finished, looking away sheepishly.

" Alright. Um....... why did you guys...save me?" I asked. Some of them looked like I was speaking nonsense. " What'cha mean? We aren't allowed to?" the boy who was known as Fang asked. " That's not what I meant, I just thought it was everyone for themselves, unless you're in a gang." I explained. " Well, Ponyboy over here saw them, and I was the first to start running at them. It was instinct." he stated. " So, the boy with the cut is known as Ponyboy?" I thought.

" Ponyboy?" I asked. " What? It's my name and I'm proud of it." Ponyboy said in his defense. " Oh, no, I wasn't gonna say it was weird! It's actually very unique." I assured. He gave me a slight surprised look. " What about you guys?" I asked. " I'm Darrel, but everyone calls me Darry." the twenty year old replied. " I'm Two-Bit!" the guy with the sideburns said cheerfully.

" Steve." the guy with the complicated swirls in his hair said. " I'm Sodapop. Nice to meet ya!" Ponyboy's brother said, extending his hand. I carefully shook it, not trying to re-open my wounds. " You don't need to know who I am." Dallas grumbled. " Actually, I know who you are." He turned and looked at me. " I mean, I've seen you in the paper. You're Dallas Winston." I said, trying to avoid his piercing stare.

" I'm Fang." the kid with dark brown hair and gray eyes replied. " Is that you're real name?" I asked. " No, but you better call me this." he said, giving me a warning glance. " Sir, yes, sir!" I said sarcastically. Everyone chuckled. " I-I'm.....Johnny." Johnny said shyly. " Hi.." I said back. " Where are my manners? What's you're name?" Sodapop asked nicely. " I'm Keisha." I replied. I looked around, and it was a pretty nice house. " Maybe I should go home.." I said quietly, but Darry heard me. " Oh no. You ain't leaving until you can't open those cuts!" he said firmly.

" Are you sure? I don't want to be a burden to you guys." I replied in my defense. " Ah.... you ain't gonna be a burden. Heck, it's not every day that you don't see one of the gang on the couch!" Two-Bit said, and laughed.

I smiled. I guess Two-Bit can make anyone grin. " Alright, well...... I'll stay 'till my arms are healed enough. Okay?" I said, trying to be polite. " Hmm...I'll think about it." Darry replied. Then, the phone rang. Darry went to answer it. " So..... what's your house like?" Two-Bit asked. I cocked an eyebrow, wondering why he would want to know. " Hey, Two-Bit! She can do that eyebrow trick like you!" Sodapop pointed out.

Darry walked back in the room. " Well, I gotta go to work.." he said sadly. " Why?! It's your day off!" Ponyboy complained. " Someone went ahead and injured themselves, and I was the only one they could call in. Don't worry, it's only for a few hours." Darry finished, tousling Ponyboy's hair as he went to get ready. " Man, that's crap!" Ponyboy stated as he sat down in a huff in the chair. " Don't worry, Pony." Sodapop said kindly.

" See ya later." Darry said on his way out. " Well, I'm heading over to Buck Merril's." Dallas said as he made his way to the door. " See ya, Dally!" Two-Bit said as he waved. " So.... uh.... what exactly happened?" I asked Ponyboy.

" You must've hit your head, cause it was bleedin' pretty bad. Anyway, when we came, the Soc on top of you was cuttin' up your arms, and laughing while he did it." Ponyboy replied. As he went on, the pictures of it flashed through my mind. I don't know what it was, but my breathing quickened, and I started to shake. " Knock it off, Pony!" Fang scolded. " What'd I do?" he asked. " You're scaring her." Johnny said calmly.

I calmed down. I guess they scared me more than I thought.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later that evening, my arms felt better. Darry was already home, so I got up and went to ask him about heading home. " Hey, Darrel?" I asked. " Hm?" he answered. " Um... my arms are better now. Also, I probably should be heading home..." I started, looking at the clock. " Are you sure? 'Cause you can stay overnight. We won't mind." he replied. " Well, I don't want to....cause any problems. I mean, you were saying that sometimes the others come and stay overnight, and I don't want to take up any space.." I tried to explain. He gave me a look of questioning, but said: " Alright. But have some of the gang go with you."

I nodded.

" Pony! Johnny! Fang! Go walk Keisha home!" Darry shouted from his seat. " Got it!" Ponyboy shouted back. " Got it, Superman!" Fang shouted from his seat.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On the walk home, we were all getting to know each other. " So.. how did you guys get in the gang?" I asked. " Well, Darry and Soda were really the ones who got me in." Ponyboy replied.

" I just kinda came in." Fang said, shrugging. " What'cha mean?" I asked. " I met Ponyboy and Johnny, and became part of the gang." he explained. " Um..... I guess it's the same a-as Fang....or it was Dally..." Johnny mumbled. " Mm." I said, nodding.

" So, you thinkin' 'bout wanting to join?" Johnny asked. " Oh! Uh.... well you guys have quite a lot, and I don't know how much of a fighter or 'whatever-there-needs-to-be' I am." I replied. " Everyone's got somethin'." Ponyboy mentioned. " Well.. I'll think about it." I finally said. " Just come over to my house in the morning if you want to be in, and we'll discuss it." Ponyboy said. " Oh yeah, Pony. I'm stayin' overnight again." Fang told him.

" Again? Geez, you stay over way too much." Ponyboy said, chuckling. " What can I say?" Fang started, shrugging. " My mom doesn't want me in the house, and I don't want to be in the house. I mean, if I went home, my ma would probably be drunk, she'd ask where I was, I'd say a smart-aleck remark, then she'll throw the bottle at my head, then she'll chase me out the house with the busted end. Plain and simple." he finished in his defense.

" Alright, alright. Whatever, Fang." Ponyboy said, throwing a fake punch at Fang. " Whoa!" he said, ducking. " Uh, Ponyboy?" I asked. " What?" he replied. " What if I get there and you four are still asleep?" I continued. " The door's always unlocked, so just come in." he answered, starting to get into a play-fight with Fang. While Ponyboy and Fang were play-fighting, I walked up to Johnny. " Whoa! Ponyboy, watch it! You're gonna make me corner myself again! Why do you do that every time we play-fight?!" Fang yelled as they were running around.

" So, Johnny? Tell me, why do you hang out with these two again?" I asked. " Well, Ponyboy was almost as quiet as me, then Fang joined and him and Ponyboy became buddies, so of course I became Fang's friend. He helped Ponyboy get his confidence up, and it's been like this ever since." he replied. " What about yours?" I asked. " My what..? Oh, my confidence. Well.....it's complicated." he answered.

Of course, I was concerned, but I didn't press. There was an uncomfortable silence, besides the shouting of Ponyboy and Fang. I could faintly hear Fang say " Whoa! Watch the dog tags!".

" So, where's this house of yours?" he asked, scanning the streets. " We're near. Oh! Here we are!" I replied. I noticed Johnny's eyes widened slightly. " This is where you live?" he asked, looking at me slightly confused. " Yeah, not much, is it?" I answered, trying to force a grin.

Johnny didn't seem to think too much about it. " Hey boys! We're here!" I shouted at them. They came up next to us, and were scanning the house. " This is where you live?" Ponyboy asked. " Sadly." I replied. " Man, if Darry found out that you lived in a place like this, he probably would tell you to stay at our place." he finished.

" What a piece of junk!" Fang said aloud, seeming to forget I was there. " Fang!" Johnny scolded. " What?! Seriously! This place looks like it'll cave in any minute!" he exclaimed, a defiant look on his face. I just cocked an eyebrow at him, then turned to the others. " Before you leave, could I ask how old you guys are?" " Fourteen." Ponyboy replied. " Sixteen." Johnny and Fang said together. " Hm. I'm fourteen as well." I answered.

" So...you gonna take up that offer?" Ponyboy asked. " I'll think about it." I answered, heading to the door. " See ya!" Fang shouted. " Bye, guys!" I shouted back. Then, we went our own separate ways.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That night, I actually thought about it. I decided that I'll go see them in the morning.

The next day, I woke up and looked at the clock. I jumped up when I saw that it said 1:30 p.m. " Aw, crap! They're probably thinkin' I'm sayin' no!" I said as I struggled to get ready. After a few minutes of getting ready, I ran toward the Curtis's house. Since it was another warm day, I just wore my dark gray T-shirt, ( with the sleeves cut out, of course.) my black jeans, and black tennis shoes.

I kept my hair back in a low ponytail, just to keep it out of my face. Doesn't help though that my bangs cover my eyes, unless I push them to the side. I kept running, looking for any sign of the boys or the house. I stopped to take a breath. Then, I felt something poke me in the back. " Stick 'em up!" a gruff voice said. " Don't shoot!" I said in a scared tone. " Oh, we'll be doing the talking here, missy!" another said.

I was really scared by then. " Alright.." one other gruff voice said, walking in front of me. My eyes were shut tight, so I didn't know who it was. " Where were you this morning?" the voice asked. I could slightly recognize it. I opened one eye, and I saw it was Johnny! Just smilin' like I made a joke! " What?!" I said, starting to smile. I turned to see that the two behind me were none other than Ponyboy and Fang. All three of them laughed.

" You guys had me scared to death!" I said, as I fake punched Fang on the arm. " We've been lookin' for you, though!" Ponyboy said, like I forgot something. " Why?" I asked, dumbfounded. " Well, we were wonderin'....if you thought about joining.." Johnny said shyly, glancing at Ponyboy and Fang. " Well......." I started, looking away. I could see out the corner of my eye that the boy's all thought I was gonna say no.

" What do you think?" I said, starting to smile. " Whoo! Alright!" Fang and Ponyboy said aloud. Johnny smiled. " Oh, wait! We gotta tell the guys! C'mon." Ponyboy said, remembering. " Race ya!" Fang said. " Only a short distance, okay?" Johnny asked. " Sure, whatever." Fang replied.

We all got lined up, then Ponyboy counted down. " Ready, set,.....go!" he yelled, and we all broke into a run. Ponyboy got a bit ahead, Fang right behind him, and me and Johnny were close. I glanced at Johnny and gave a slight grin. Then, I started gaining. When I passed, Fang yelled " What?!". I caught up to Ponyboy, and even he was surprised. I passed him up, just as we came to the finish line.

" Whoa! You're pretty fast!" Ponyboy exclaimed, trying to catch his breath.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

We entered the house, and we come to find that basically everyone but Darry, Sodapop, and Steve were at the house. " Hey guys! Got a new member!" Fang said aloud, throwing himself on the couch. " The broad?" Dallas asked, looking up from the Poker game. " Her name's Keisha, Dally." Johnny mumbled. " Like I give a crap." he retorted. Johnny looked away. " Yes, Dally. Keisha here's gonna be part of the gang." Ponyboy said, sitting down in the chair.

" Cool!" Two-Bit said happily. " I don't know, man." Dallas said, looking at me with a suspicious look in his eyes. " Aw, Dally. You know s-she won't cause trouble.." Johnny said, trying to help me. " Whatever." he said, looking back down at his cards. " Sorry 'bout Dally. He's not always like this, ya just need to get to know 'im better." Johnny whispered to me. " It's alright." I replied. " Well, Darry and Soda will be happy that you're joinin'." Fang said from his seat.

Later that day, Darry, Sodapop, and Steve came home. " Huh? Keisha? What're you doin' here?" Sodapop asked. " She's joinin' the gang, Soda." Ponyboy replied. " Oh, really?" Darry asked. I nodded sheepishly. " Well, it's probably better this way. You'll have people to help you if you get jumped." he continued.

" Well, I should get home." I said as I got up. " Got it. Johnny, Fang, let's go." Ponyboy said, getting up.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

" Thanks, guys." I said as we walked. " Don't mention it." Fang said, just walking like it's nothing. " Hey. What's that?" Ponyboy asked, pointing at the sky. It looked like a smoke cloud. " Oh no!" I yelled, shooting off in the direction of the smoke. " Keisha!" I heard Johnny shout. But I wasn't going to stop. I stopped in front of my house, just to freeze. It was my house that was on fire! The boys came up, and Johnny made a small gasp.

There was a piece of paper on the grass. I went and picked it up, and it read: " Hey grease girl, hope you like our present." The writing was very messy, so they were probably drunk. I was shaking with rage, and I threw the paper down. As I walked away, I remember hearing one of them pick it up, and Fang was saying every cuss word he could think of about them.

Johnny walked over to me, and put a hand on my shoulder. " Are you...alright?" he asked. " No! My house is burnin' down by the second, and now I have nowhere to live!" I yelled, tears stinging my eyes. I saw Johnny jump back a little, and I continued. " I'm sorry, I just don't get a Soc's motive...... I wasn't tryin' to take out my anger on you." I said, the tears starting to run down my face.

" Hey, it'll be alright." he tried to sound reassuring. I tried to wipe my tears away, but they just kept coming. " What'll I do now?" I asked. " Umm..." Johnny started, looking over at Fang and Ponyboy. They both shrugged. " Well...... uhh.... I don't think Ponyboy's place has room...." he looked over to Ponyboy, who gave him a look that said he was right. " .....and Fang's stayin' at Pony's..." he continued, looking at Fang. " Well.....maybe she can stay at your house, Johnnycake." Fang offered. " Oh no! She would not feel at home! Even if she did, we'd have to leave the house almost every night!" he said, thinking about his home, I bet.

Then, of course, it started to rain. " Crap!" Fang yelled. Johnny sighed, then said: " Alright. C'mon, Keisha. There's nothin' we can do now." " A-Alright.." I said as I followed him. " See ya tomorrow!" Johnny shouted to Ponyboy and Fang. " See ya!" they yelled back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Johnny and I was running to get out of the rain, he told me this: " Couple of things I gotta tell you." " What?" I asked. " Well, my folks fight a lot, so you'll have to ignore it. Also, they probably won't be so happy 'bout me havin' you stay at the place, so you might need to hide out, okay?" he continued. " It doesn't matter. I'll probably only stay tonight." I said. " You sure?" he asked. " Yeah." I answered.

We finally got to his house, and it seemed quiet. " Alright. We have to go through my window, got it?" he whispered. I nodded. He silently opened it, then helped me in. " Johnny?! Is that you?!" a woman called. " Crap! My mom's probably drunk again." he said, heading to the door. " Stay here." he whispered. He walked out, letting his mom know he's here. I leaned up against the door, and heard the whole thing.

" Where've you been?!" his mom yelled, starting to slur. " I was out. Why.... do you care?" he asked in a surprisingly hopeful tone. I heard the sound of a smack and Johnny grunting.

" Don't....make it seem like I care about you! Go up to your room and stay there!" she yelled. My eyes widened at her hateful words, and I felt bad. I heard the sound of footsteps, and quickly got away from the door. Johnny burst in, and quickly shut the door behind him. I heard the sound of a bottle breaking against the door.

I noticed Johnny, just standing there. " Johnny?" I asked. He leaned back on the door, a pained expression on his face. " I'm sorry you-" his voice broke, and he took a quavering breath. " I'm sorry you had to listen to that.." he said, not trying to make eye contact. He walked over to the other side of the bed and sat down. I noticed he started to shake. I went and sat down beside him, and tried to comfort him. " It's alright.." I said. I let him lean on me, let him calm down.

" Thanks.." he said. " Don't mention it." I replied.

" Hopefully, things'll get better." I thought to myself. But, it wouldn't.