A/N: So I love the Outsiders A LOT and so does my best friend. So I decided one day to make a Fanfic, and here I am! If I get one or two reviews on this at least, I will post the next chapter which is already written. So, review review, review!

I pushed my short, brown, wavy hair out of my eyes, and slicked it back with some grease. I tied up my blach hi-tops and looked in the mirror. I smiled approvingly at my reflection.

My name is Charolette Andrews, but my friends don't know that. They think my name is Charlie...well that could be short for Charolette, right? I'm sixteen, turning seventeen in March.

What the guys didn't know was that I'm a girl. See, I live in the East side of town with my friends: Darrel Curtis, Sodapop Curtis, Ponyboy Curtis, Dallas Winston, Two-Bit Matthews, Steve Randal, and Johnny Cade. We're greasers. Lower than the middle class, we're completely on the outskirts of society. My friends can't know that I'm a girl, or else I'll be forced to be alone again. Either that, or I'll have to turn to the greasy girls that smoke and drink and swear too much. I hate them, and frankly want nothing to do with them.

I have deep brown eyes, which are way darker than my hair. Sometimes Ponyboy and Johnny look into them and say they see a whole other world behind them. I dunno if that's true or not. I also have a roundish face, and a small nose. My ears aren't too big, but they are a little bit pointed at the top. Boy am I skinny. Probably as skinny as Johnny. I didn't eat much, considering I used to live ont he streets before.

When I was about twelve or thirteen I moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma with my parents. About three months later, they moved and left me behind. I hadn't seen them since. For about a year or two after that, I wandered the streets alone, just barely surviving. That's when Ponyboy and Johnny found me. That's when the three of us became best friends. They were tossing a football around the lot, when they found me by one of the bushes, half-starved and covered in newspaper. I was then adopted into the gang. By then I already dressed like a boy and wrapped up my chest like I do now. I wasn't planning on telling them I was a girl.

I got up and slipped on my jeans jacket. I unlocked the door. Darry made a spare room for me at the Curtis house. He insisted I stay there. Their parents accepted me right away, but they died months later. None of the Curtis boys have been the same since. I don't remember their parents much, but I know they do,

I walked into the living room, and looked around. Soda was relaxing on the couch for his day off, Darry would be home soon, but someone was missing.

"Hey Soda," I said, walking over to the kitchen. "Where's Ponyboy?"

He rolled over. "He said he was gonna go out somewhere and pick up Johnny to do something."

I nodded and swallowed my orange juice in a few gulps. "I'll see if I can find him."

"Alright," Soda said as he took off his shirt. Boy did he look good without his shirt, like a movie star or somethin', but I had to calm down before he realized I was staring. I tunred and belted out the door, nearly knocking Darry over as I went past.

"Is Pony inside?" he asked me. I shook my head. Darry pounded up the stairs, and I disappeared before things could go the wrong way.

I ran myself down to Johnny's house, and peered just inside the fence. He was sitting on the steps.

"Hey Johnny!" I said as I walked over. I smiled at him. He was the only one who knew I was really a girl. He found out completely on accident though, cause one night I was talking to him and it slipped out. I thought about telling Ponyboy too, to be fair, but I couldn't quite get the words out. Anyways, Johnny kept his mouth shut about it real good.

"Hi Charlie." He returned the smile. I saw a familiar gleam flash in his dark eyes. The gleam that made me stop and wonder what the hell he was thinking.

I sat next to him, suddenly frowning. "How's...?" I nodded towards his front door.

He lifted up the sleeve of his faded blue jeans jacket. He had a welting bruise on his upper arm. "Not as bad as usual." He said.

I reached across and grabbed his arm carefully. I gently brushed my fingers over the bruise, but stopped when he sucked his teeth in a bit.

"Sorry..." I said. I let his arm go and pulled back. He looked at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing..." He replied after a brief pause.

I stood up. "We have to go find Ponyboy. Darry an' Soda are worried sick about him."

I started to jog out through his gate, and down the street to the corner. Johnny tried to keep pace with me. He wasn't the fastes runner, Ponyboy was, but he did pretty good at keeping up.

We stopped at another corner, and looked around. Ponyboy loves movies, so I knew he'd probably be at the movie house.

We suddenly heard a scream, and I knew it was Ponyboy when he started calling for Darry and Sodapop. We ran in the direction of his screaming, and stopped when we saw him at a patch of grass, and a bunch of Socs on top of him. Dally was by us in a second, and when they saw him, they ran towards their blue corvair. Dal leaped over the fence, and ran over to their car. Our gang started coming from every direction. Steve reached into the front passanger seat, and was belting on him. Sodapop attacked the driver, Two-Bit was at the back windows, and Dally disappeared then came back with a 2x4 in hand. Darry was in front of Ponyboy, checking if he was okay.

Johnny's nerves were suddenly back. For some reason when he was around me or Ponyboy or both, he'd become a bit more talkative and a little less nervous. I didn't blame him for it. If a couple of Socs with rings came up and belted me for no reason, I wouldn't be too happy about it neither.

I glanced at Johnny for a moment, and when I got his silent approval, I ran towards the corvair, pelting every huge rock I could find. One connected with the windshield and put a crack in it. I heard a Soc swear loudly as I turned back to where Ponyboy and Darry were,

Soda ran past me and kneeled next to Ponyboy. He placed his hands on his shoulders. "You okay, Ponyboy?"

Ponyboy turned away with tears in his eyes, and didn't say a word.

"It's okay," Sodapop said, "They ain't gonna hurt you no more."

Johnny was by my side so fast, I jumped a little when I turned and saw him. He smiled quickly when he saw it.

Ponyboy was on his feet, and we all started towards the Curtis house.

"What were you doing walking out here all by your lonesome?" Steve was getting started. I honestly didn't mind Steve Randal that much, except for when he would start in on Ponyboy.

"I didn't think-"

Darry cut him off. "'I didn't think..' That's all I ever hear from you. You must think in school with all those good grades. You must think any other time with your nose always in a book. At home and anywhere else, you don't even use your head."

Soda sighed. "Leave my kid brother alone. It ain't his fault he likes movies so much."

I bit my lip. When Sodapop stuck up for Ponyboy, Darry would usually lay off, but I wasn't gonna be around if he decided to start in on Soda too. Darry can be unpredictable.

Darry's face got hard. "When I want my kid brother to tell me what to do with my other kid brother, I'll ask you-kid brother." He layed off and walked away.

Johnny glanced at me, then at Dally, and I cocked an eyebrow and did the same. "When did you get out of jail, Dal?" I asked.

He smirked. "A few days ago. Got out on good behavior."

Johnny smiled. I knew he admired Dal, and I couldn't blame him. That's just the kind of person Dally is. Even if you hated him, you couldn't help but have respect for him. I snorted.

"I'm gonna go to the Nightly Double tomorrow," Dally continued, lighting a cigarette. "Anyone wanna join?"

"Yeah, I'll go," I said. He nodded in my direction to show he heard me.

"Johnny? Pony?"

Johnny nodded, and Ponyboy said "Yes" after he got permission from Darry.

"Pony, it's time to come inside and do your homework." Darry said.

Ponyboy left, and Johnny and I were alone. We sat on the front steps, smoking a few weeds before I told Johnny I was going in when it got dark.

"Are you stayin' here, or going' home?" He knew I'd rather he didn't go back to his house.

"I'll go home and if things get too rough, I'll come back."

I nodded and went inside. "See ya."

"See ya." Johnny repeated as he walked off the porch and into the night.

Instead of going to bed, I went into Ponyboy's room, and we talked while he did his homework. We talked for hours. Darry didn't usually let me bug him when he was doing schoolwork, but Darry knew that he and Johnny were the only ones I had to talk to.

Ponyboy and I talked until Sodapop came in the room, flopped on the bed, and told us to get to sleep.

"See ya, Pony," I said as I stood up. "Night Soda."

"Night," he mumbled sleepily. I turned and headed to my room. I kicked off my shoes and dropped on the bed, suddenly realizing how tired I was. I closed my eyes, and was soon fast asleep.