I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)
There was hardly anybody in the movie house today. Not that I cared; I don't like it much when there's a lot of people filling up the movie house. I can't concentrate properly; not when people are mumbling and constantly moving around. It's worse when there are babies; they just scream the place down and their parents can't be bothered taking them out to comfort them.
It's been a little over three months since my parents died, leaving my oldest brother, Darrel, to take care of me and my other brother, Sodapop.
Don't get me wrong, I love living with my big brothers and I'm glad that I have them, but it sometimes gets a little bit boring being the only little kid around. That's what Steve Randle calls me: a little kid, a tag-along, and all sorts of other names that I can't be bothered saying because I'll probably make myself fall asleep by the time I'm done with the long, long list.
Even before mom and dad died, I really just wanted a little brother. Sometimes in bed, I ask Soda what it's like having a little brother, and he tells me that it's great. I asked Darry once too, but he got annoyed because I was 'distracting' him from paying the bills.
I mean, I am thirteen years old, so I'm certainly not an adult, but I ain't no baby either. Soda's not even an adult, yet Darry treats him a lot older than how he treats me, and it's very annoying. I'm not saying Darry chooses favorites, 'cause as Soda says, I am the baby of the family, but he doesn't treat me an' Soda equally either.
I could ramble on all day about how my life's unfair, but I'll save it all for later.
As I walked on home from the movie house, I noticed a light skinned lady with long curly blond hair on her knees by some grocery store. As I edged a little closer to her, I noticed that she was talking to someone, a child.
After the lady was done with her conversation, she stood up, brushed the dirt of her knees, and then got into some car where a guy was waiting for her. The car drove off, leaving the mysterious kid just sitting there.
I dropped down beside the kid, and immediately noticed that the child was a boy. He only looked about eight or nine years old, judging by his face. His height however, would trick you into believing that he was under the age of six.
His hair was blond, but it wasn't the same color as the woman's who he had been talking to. The little boy's hair was honey blond, while the woman's was bright blond, almost the same color as Dallas's.
His eyes were wide, and for a second he reminded me of Johnny Cade; he had the kicked puppy expression. But I quickly forgot about Johnny and focused my attention on the little boy.
"Hey little guy, what's your name?" I asked gently, not wanting to scare him.
The boy fiddled with his shirt for a moment before opening his mouth.
"Ethan." was his response. I smiled; the kid sounded younger than a six year old aswell.
"Well hi, Ethan. I'm Ponyboy." I said, and stuck my hand out.
Ethan looked up at me, shocked.
"That can't be your real name." he stated, his eyes getting bigger.
"My dad named me. Did your daddy name you?" I questioned innocently.
Ethan shrugged, and pain was evident in his voice.
"I don't think so; daddy died before he even knew about me. That's what my mom told me." His voice turned from sad to angry when he mentioned his mom.
"Don't you like your mom?" I said, placing my hands on my knees.
"She left me when I was eight, so then I got put in a home for naughty boys." He said coldly, and I felt my blood turn cold.
He was put in a boys' home? Why's he here then?
"April fostered me, but I don't think she liked me very much. Then Mr and Mrs Farm fostered me, but I didn't like them and they didn't like me; they had a boy called Tony who used to fight with me all the time. Now I live with Ashleigh, but she always goes out with her boyfriend, so I'm always alone." He explained, though he didn't sound sad at all.
"That's a shame." I responded truthfully, because I honestly didn't know what else to say.
"I don't really like Ashleigh's boyfriend; he hits me when Ashleigh's gone outside to have a joint, whatever that means." Ethan told me, and even though it was horrible that his foster mom's boyfriend hit him, I couldn't help but smile at how innocent he was. He didn't know what a joint was, how cute.
"How old are you?" I asked, trying to change the subject.
"Nine." He answered, as if it was obvious.
"Tuff. I'm thirteen." I smiled.
"You look younger." He stated, and I chuckled.
"So do you." I replied, earning a blush from Ethan.
"A lot of people say that. A lot of the boys in the old home called me shorty, and a lot of the visitors treated me like Daniel." He rambled, and I gave him a confused look. "Oh yeah, you don't know who Daniel is. Daniel was only five, but his mom and dad were put in jail so he had to go to the bad home, even though he didn't do anything wrong. I wasn't bad either, but I guess that's just the way it is. That's what mom used to say anyway." He said.
Well, we both had some things in common; we were usually treated younger than our age, and we didn't live with our parents. Though the difference was – I was living with my brothers; my family whom I had known for years, while Ethan was living with complete strangers. And also, my parents had loved me before they left, whereas it sounded as if Ethan's mom didn't give a damn about him, and his dad had died before he even knew that he was going to be a father.
Or maybe, that was just a story that Ethan's mom had told him. Only Ethan's mom will know if that's true, and I didn't know who the hell she was.
"Do you have any friends?" I asked, wiping my forehead.
Ethan thought for a moment, and then spoke.
"No; everybody in my class picks on me because I'm small." He said.
"Oh." I replied, giving him a sympathetic look.
"Some of the second graders are taller than me, and some of them say mean things to me. One time, the boys in my grade got me in a circle and started pushing me around, and then I fell and scraped my knee and they all laughed at me." Ethan blubbered, rubbing his bloodshot eyes.
"Am sorry to hear that." I pitied, and I truly meant it.
"Thanks." He responded, giving me a weak smile.
"Well, I need to get goin'. I'll see you around." I said, standing up and brushing my jeans with my hands.
Ethan stayed sitting there, making no move to get up.
"Ashleigh told me I need to wait for her to get back. She'll be back soon." He babbled, and even though I could tell he was lying, I wasn't about to call him out on it.
"Okay then. Bye Ethan." I grinned, and began walking away before I felt a hand grab my foot.
I looked down at Ethan who was looking up at me with wide eyes.
"I like it better when people call me little man; it's what nice people call me." Ethan said.
"Okay then. I'll see ya around, little man." I said, because I guess I'm just a nice person in general.
AN: Hey guys, so this is another story that I'll be continuing. If you're enjoying One Marvellous Adventure, don't worry; I'm not giving up on it! I just came up with this idea and decided to use it. Honestly, I'm not usually a fan of OCs; I generally dislike sister fics, only because I wish there were more OC brother fics out there. If there are any good OC Curtis brother fics out there, please suggest them to me! Other than that, I hope you enjoy the story.
Also, this is my first time on this site writing from first person…was I okay?