You know, we aren't always trying to get into trouble. We just do. I know that sounds naff, but it's the truth. No matter what we do, we always wind up in bother. I mean, one of my best friends, Dallas Winston, had gotten himself landed in jail by the time he was ten. And, okay, so that was because he lived in New York until he was, like, eight, but that's beside the point. Apart from my brothers, Darrel and Ponyboy, and Johnny Cade, another of our best friends, we've all been arrested. Dally, like I already said, got arrested when he was ten for mugging somebody; Two-Bit Mathews (his real name's Keith) was arrested when he was twelve because he got caught stealing something; and my best buddy, Steve Randle, and me got arrested a couple of months back for stealing two cars and having a drag race. It wasn't our fault we ended up crashing both cars into this police car. The stupid car shouldn't even of been there.

But the trouble we'd gotten into before was nothing like the trouble we got into when my next-door neighbour's nieces came to stay. See, we – Darry, Ponyboy and me – live next-door to this eccentric fifty-year-old spinster. When she was ten, her Mom ran off with some bloke and married him. After getting divorced. Duh. Anyway, Josie – the eccentric spinster (her real name is Josephine Wilcox, but everyone calls her Josie) – didn't see her Mom again until, like, nine years later. Turns out Josie's Mom and that other bloke had had some kid together and her Mom wanted Josie to meet her "new" half-brother – Augustus David Wilson (different Dads, different surnames). Otherwise known as Gus Wilson. Twenty years ago, Josie's stepdad dropped dead and her Mom made Josie go to the funeral. She saw Gus again and they started talking. Turns out that Gus had started his own business and was now, in fact, a multimillionaire. Oh, yeah. And his "new" wife – who had, in fact, been his wife for the past seven years – was pregnant. They kept in touch for a few more years (like, three) and then lost contact when Josie moved up here to Tulsa.

Eleven years later, two little girls turn up on her front porch, dripping wet from the rain, with a note from Arthur saying that these are his daughters, Aaren and Blanca, and that they'd be staying with Josie for a couple of years. No phone call to ask. No arrangement. Nothing. And you can bet anything that Josie was fuming, because she was in a rage enough to kill.

"I cannot believe," she ranted to Mom, "that he expects me to put up his two girls for two years. Two years, Cecilia! I mean, I love the girls already – they're so polite -"

"Makes a change from my boys," Mom grinned.

"Hi, Mom," I said lazily from the armchair, "but all three of us are right here. If you're gonna diss us, diss us when we're not here."

"No," Josie said slowly. "Your boys are fine. It's just… I would've appreciated a little bit of warning, you know?"

Mom nodded. "Yeah, I know. Look, the girls can stay here with us for a bit until you've got things sorted out, OK?"

I nearly dropped my favourite (and pretty much only) book - my ghost book. "Mom, are you crazy? We can't have girls hanging out with us! You've already got Ariel and Christy coming over!"

Darry glared at me. "There ain't nothing wrong with girls."

"Yeah, sure, if you like making out with them all night like you do, Darry."

"What?"

"Oh, yes," I grinned as Ponyboy laughed. "We saw you last night. Watching the movie my arse. You and Lola were sucking each other's faces off!"

Darry flushed. "Shut the hell up, Soda, before I kick your bloody arse."

"Boys," Mom said in a warning voice. "The girls will come to stay with us for two weeks whilst Josie gets sorted. Josie, you might as well get them now. It can't hurt."

"Yes it can," I muttered as Josie left a leetle bit too quickly.

"You were spying on me?"

"God, Dar, get over yourself will you? We weren't spying on you. We were just… following and watching you."

"Gee, yeah," Darry said sarcastically. "They ain't the same at all."

"Hey, Aaren," a voice from the doorway said happily. "Look at all the cute guys."

We all looked around and I really did drop my ghost book that time. There were two girls stood in the doorway and they looked about my age. One of them had long, wavy, black hair, blue eyes and tanned skin with a few freckles. The other one had black hair in a plait with two strands hanging down that were dyed red and had brown eyes instead of blue. Josie stepped in after the girls. "Are you sure you want to look after them?" Josie asked Mom cautiously.

"No," I yelled happily. "We don't like girls. Well, Darry does, but he's weird, man."

The brown-eyed girl rolled her eyes. "Well, you know, I'm not exactly a Number One Fan of guys, either. Blanca is, though."

Josie pointed to the girl in the purple dress. "This is Blanca," she told Mom, before pointing at the girl in the oversized Football jersey and ripped jeans and adding, "And this is Aaren."

"Pronounced Erin," Aaren announced happily. "But spelt A-A-R-E-N."

I rolled my eyes. By the way those broads were acting, I figured that things had to get worse. No way in hell could they get better.