I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)
I'm so happy a lot of people enjoyed that first chapter! To be honest when I was thinking about this story I only intended for it to be a one-shot but everybody's nice reviews has made me decide to turn it into quite a long story. I hope you all enjoy! :)

"As if they're goin' back to the classroom to pick up that bookcase! They'll be headin' down to the teachers' lounge and goin' to have a fun time," a greaser boy shouted. Everybody giggled except for myself and Joey.

"No," Joey frowned, lowering his eyebrows. "Teachers only go to the teachers' lounge during recess and lunch break."

I scowled and bit my tongue hard. Why'd Darry have to go get involved in all this?! Though it wasn't his fault; the guys were gonna make jokes anyway. However he could have just politely declined!

The door opened and everybody turned their heads towards their desks. Darry came in and sat down at his own desk, not even looking at any of us. I stared at him for a long minute, trying to see if there was any smeared lipstick on his face, or even a blush on his cheeks. But there was nothing.

"Ponyboy," my brother called. I blinked and everybody's heads shot up. "Why aren't you doing your work?"

I felt my cheeks turning red as some kids whispered to each other. Swallowing, I answered: "I've done it."

"Really?" my big brother asked in surprise. I nodded and he smiled. "Tell me the answer to number one then please. It's quite simple so there's no need to explain your method."

My brother looked proud of me then and I felt bad for getting his hopes up like that. I didn't want to let him down so I scanned over other people's papers quickly, but hardly anybody had done the equation. Darry was getting impatient.

"Ponyboy," he said lowly. "Please answer the question."

"I can't," I sighed. My brother frowned in confusion. "I-I haven't done it," I said softly.

Darry exhaled and leaned back for a moment. Some girls on the front desks were giggling as the shirt showed off some of his muscles as it was so tight. I felt my ears getting hot and put my head down in embarrassment.

"I'd appreciate an honest answer next time, young man. I don't tolerate lying at home and it'll be no different here," he told me calmly. My eyebrows shot up and my immediate response was to answer back; I always answered back at home – it was a bad habit I know – and I just couldn't stop myself at that moment.

"Sorry I wasn't concentrating! You don't havta be all disappointed in me; it was a one-time thing!" I exclaimed, and then quickly placed my hands over my mouth. Darry cocked an eyebrow at me while everybody else was silent.

"How 'bout I make you sit in here for an hour after school and then when we get home you can stay in your room for another hour?" my brother grinned at me. I blinked quickly to stop myself from bawling; everybody was staring at me now. No doubt the kids in my class would share this argument with kids outside of our class. "Alright, let's continue. Let me see…" he checked a piece of paper. "Abigail, what do you have for number one?"

A lot of the kids had gone back to paying attention to Darry, however the kids on either side of me were still staring at me. I gave them each a dirty look and then stared down at me work, wanting to get it done quickly so Darry wouldn't feel the need to embarrass me again.

My big brother was right: the equations were simple. I got them all done rather quickly, deciding to put my hand up to answer one of them so Darry wouldn't be all that disappointed in me. When I answered question four right he smiled at me. "That wasn't so hard was it?" he grinned and winked at me. I smiled nervously and put my head down again.

Darry stood up after all of the questions were answered and erased all of the words on the blackboard. Then he went back to his desk and picked up a blue book, quickly flipped through it and then picked up a pen.

"Answer 'yes sir' or 'present' when I call your names out please," Darry requested. "Daniel Auerbach."

"Present sir."

"Hey," a female voice hissed. My eyebrows were furrowed as I looked up. "You're really his brother?"

Glaring at her I turned around to face the wall. That was until I felt something hit my shoulder blade.

"Joseph Carmichael-Saunders."

"Yes sir, yes sir!"

Turning around sharply I narrowed my eyes at the culprit who had thrown the thing at me. "Read it," she ordered, pointing to a balled up piece of paper on my desk. I frowned but opened it anyway.

I would totally screw with your brother.

"Ugh," I said in disgust, glaring up at the girl with such hatred. She grinned wickedly at me.

"For the third time - Ponyboy Curtis!" Darry roared. I gulped. "What are you doing?"

My big brother stormed over to me and snatched the paper right out of my hands. I gasped and tried to get it off him, but he held it away from me and opened it. The girl who had thrown it at me was as white as a sheet.

Darry frowned. "Okay, if I find one more if these explicit notes, all of you will be put on detention." Everybody sighed. "Ponyboy Curtis, are you present?"

"Present," I said quickly. Darry nodded and went back to his desk. He called out everybody else's names and I just sat there biting my fingernails – today didn't seem like it would be a very good day.

"I hope I see both your books on my desk tomorrow, gentlemen," Darry said to Timmy and the other kid who forgot his book. The kid nodded but Timmy just scowled. "If I were you I'd change the attitude," Darry offered. Timmy's scowl just deepened.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "Come in," Darry called. In walked Curly Shepard with a playful smirk on his face. Darry sighed. "Yes?"

"Miss Saunders said I had to come in here. Said she couldn't deal with me anymore," Curly explained. He spotted me and waved at me and I just shook my head.

"What did you do, Curly?" Darry asked.

"I dunno, guess she couldn't take a joke."

"She loves jokes," Joey frowned. "Especially ones about the boogeyman." Everybody snickered at that.

"Alright everyone that's enough. Curly, go sit at the…actually there's a spare desk over there." Darry pointed to a lone desk in the corner. Curly frowned. "Now please."

Darry had never spoken to Curly like that. Sure, we didn't have a problem with the Shepard's, but if Curly got a little rowdy in our house, Darry would tell him in no uncertain terms to get out, and if Curly wouldn't do as he was told then Darry would have no problem in shoving him out. When Curly and me played chicken, Darry was ready to go down there and beat the living snot outta Curly. And he was never particularly guest-friendly when Curly visited.

I guess being a teacher changed more stuff than I thought.

Curly stared at Darry for a long moment, only doing as he was told when Darry tilted his head and raised his eyebrows at him. Darry sure was intimidating, even to the Shepard's, who were supposed to fear nobody. Nobody at all.

"Before we actually start any work, why don't we all introduce ourselves? You can know me better, and I can get to know ya'll better," Darry grinned, looking at me. I frowned; did my big brother really have it out for me?

XXX

"So you two are twins? Bonnie and Johnny?" I asked the boy and girl in-front of me. They both frowned.

"No, no," the girl, Bonnie, exclaimed. "Quadruplets," she corrected. "Our brothers, Lonnie and Donnie, are in the lower math classes for our grade."

"Right," I sighed. I already had a headache. It was close to lunch and I already had a headache. How would I be able to cope with the rest of the day?

"We've got two older sisters called Sandy and Candy – they're twins," Johnny said. I frowned. "And our little brother's called Austin – he's by himself. But our momma's expectin' twins: she said if it's a boy and a girl she'll call them Boris and Doris, and if it's a girl and a girl she'll call them…"

I had zoned out by then. To be honest I think I was doing well with two kid brothers – I certainly wouldn't be able to cope with seven, and soon to be nine kids! I wondered if Bonnie and Johnny's mom and dad loved all of their kids the same. I know my mom and dad loved all of us the same, even if we were a pain most of the time. Well, me and Soda specifically. Pony was the baby and he was always quiet – he was never a bother.

I didn't really mean to embarrass him today. But he embarrassed me when he started mouthin' off to me in-front of all those kids – like I said to him: I won't put up with it at home and it won't be no different in school.

Will things really be different as a teacher? Will my baby brother still look at me the same way that he always has done?

The bell rang and I was glad to finally get rid of the class. I was feeling fairly tired now, and I knew I'd probably be exhausted by the time work ended. Being a teacher was hard. I wasn't expecting it to be this hard to be honest.

"Mr Curtis," a familiar voice said. I looked up and saw Miss Saunders standing at the doorway. She offered a kind smile to me, and I smiled back at her. It would be impolite not to. Besides, she seemed like a nice person.

"Please call me Darrel," I grinned, standing up. She chuckled.

"Then please call me Annette. Would you like to join me for lunch? Nobody sat with me on the first day I joined the school," she admitted. I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"I find that hard to believe," I muttered. She heard it and I swear she blushed slightly.

We walked down the hallway together. It was quite loud but not as loud as it had been before, when the bell had rang. I guess kids were really desperate to eat. Or maybe they just wanted to get out of lessons. No, they probably needed to get out of lessons; I know how restless kids can get. Hell, Soda can't stay still even in work. But he is still a kid.

"How are you finding the school?" Annette asked me, picking up a piece of paper off the floor and chucking it in a nearby trashcan.

"It's alright, yeah. First day working at a school actually. It's not too bad. The school's nice and big," I commented. Annette nodded.

"Sure is. Though that's not always a good thing. Joey sometimes wanders off and it's hard to keep up with him."

"Joey. Oh, is Joey your son?" I asked her. She nodded, smiling proudly. "Of course, he was talking about you before about how you love jokes about the boogeyman," I laughed. She laughed and shook her head.

"My Joey. He was talking about you in English; he thinks your cool and you remind him of Superman," she chuckled. I laughed but felt my cheeks heat up a bit; kids were already talking about me? "It's good to know he's bein' taught by someone he likes. I'd love to teach him every subject just to keep 'im close to me, but I just can't do that," she sighed.

I felt a little uncomfortable then. I was quite protective of Pony sure, and you could go as far to say I'm 'overprotective' in some ways, but I didn't want to watch his every move. His literal every move. I couldn't blame him if he got creeped out to be honest.

"Oh, I hope you don't think I'm strange. I just don't want Joey being exposed to anything…anything that he wouldn't be able to handle, you know? I think that's sort of why I'm looking for a new partner: for the benefit of Joey as well as myself."

Partner…partner?! "You're looking for a partner?" I asked. I wondered what happened to her other one, that's all.

Annette sighed sadly. "Joey…he's illegitimate. Me and his father were never married. My mom wanted to stick me in one of those homes, ya know the asylums? And her and my dad wanted to take my Joey away. They still do. I begged ma husband to marry me, but he never wanted it. Last year we just parted our ways…but ma mom and dad are still after my little boy."

Just like the state were after Sodapop and Ponyboy – my boys. I'd never say that to them, in case they thought I was trying to replace dad – but they were mine now.

"However, I need to move on as well. Me and Joey do everything together, and my sister visits every week with her son and daughter, but I want somebody who'll…who'll love me like a wife. To treat me well. I'm not sayin' he has to be my main priority – that'd be pretty hypocritical since Joey's my main priority – but, he'll be there for me when I need him most," Annette smiled. She looked at me then, and I looked right back at her.

She had blonde hair with noticeable gray roots at the top of her head, though she couldn't have been much older than me. Her eyes reminded me of Pony's, though his were grayer than hers and hers were greener than his. She had a fair amount of freckles on her light skin as well.

To be honest if I was still in high school, I problem wouldn't go for a chick like her. She was thin but her breasts weren't anything to brag about – not that I think like that now! Trust me, I don't know what went through my head as a teenager. And I guess she wouldn't be classed as anything special to other guys' minds. But I don't know…she just seemed nicer than the other teachers in the school. Plus she had a kind personality.

Not that I'm looking to settle sown with anybody – never mind a person who I've just met and who I work with! The boys come first.

Two loud, familiar voices snapped me out of my thoughts.

"I saw her first!"

"No I saw her first!"

"Go back to Evie, Stevie."

"Go back to Mickey, weirdo."

"That doesn't even rhyme."

"Shut up!"

I turned my head to see Steve and Two-Bit having a rather childish argument. Except they looked as if they were about to fight. I know the rule about blowin' off steam, but they couldn't start in the middle of school.

"Boys," I called. Both looked in my direction. "Stop that."

"But he's bein' mean," Two-Bit complained childishly, accusing pointing at Steve. Steve grabbed his finger and bent it backwards.

"Steve, stop that now," I ordered with authority in my voice. I usually only used that voice with Ponyboy - and Sodapop when he needed it.

Steve let go of Two-Bit's finger and Two-Bit immediately put his finger in his mouth. I shook my head at him and then focused back on Steve who was giving me a funny look.

"Don't talk to me like that," he said gruffly. I raised my eyebrows at him, and Annette gave us both a confused look.

"What did you just say?" I asked him calmly. I didn't need to get angry just yet. Though I really wanted to lift him upside-down. Steve glared at me.

"I said: don't talk to me like that," he growled. I nodded.

"Right," I said. Two-Bit was staring at us with questioning eyes, and Annette looked like she wanted to say something to Steve but was a bit scared to. "Steve, you'd better change that attitude, mister." Wow, I'd never spoken to the gang like that. Ponyboy maybe, but none of the others. Not even Sodapop. They didn't need to be talked to like little kids…most of the time.

Steve stopped glaring at me then. Instead his eyes held confusion with a hint of sadness, and the way his cheeks were a bit pink showed me that I'd obviously humiliated him. Good, I thought to myself. He was humiliating Ponyboy all the time – maybe he needed some humiliating.

"Now, please go down to the cafeteria," I said to both boys in-front of me. Two-Bit cracked a grin at me but Steve swallowed. I wasn't usually that bossy with them, and if I wanted them to do something and they wouldn't I'd give them a smack on the back of the head. But I couldn't do that here. I could only use words.

And yelling hardly ever worked with Steve Randle. In-fact, it didn't really help with anything. I'm glad I've learnt to control my temper around Ponyboy now too.

"C'mon," Steve said to Two-Bit lowly, grabbing our friend by his shirt and making to drag him downstairs.

Honestly, I shouldn't have said it, and I know it. But I just couldn't stop myself from adding, "Good boy."

It was just a joke. I didn't mean anything affectionate or anything. Steve turned around and gave me the nastiest look I'd never seen on his face before storming away angrily. I chuckled inwardly however; I guess he'd learnt his lesson to not be so disrespectful.

If he needed reminding during school, I'd probably do it again. Like Ponyboy said: we're like brothers.

XXX

School wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The only class I didn't particularly enjoy was math class.

That was Darry's fault.

I love my big brother a lot. But my big brother as a teacher…that's a different story.

AN: I didn't want the chapter to go on so I'm sorry that ending's quite short! I hope it wasn't (too) unrealistic either :) I would have updated sooner but I was away for most of last week; I actually went away the day after the story was published! I've been working on it the last few nights but I've just been a little busy XD Hope ya'll enjoyed! Thanks for everybody who has favorited, followed and reviewed this story; I can't thank you all enough! :D