If y'all are wondering why I didn't post, the answer is laziness.

I do not own The Outsiders o any of the characters.

Stop. Stop. Stop, or I will kill you. Stop.

"Quit shakin' me! I'm up!" I finally spoke, swatting my brother's hand away. Darry smirked and left the room. I yawned and looked at the clock by my desk. 7:11. Why did he wake me up so early? I fell back down onto my pillow and closed my eyes. My face snuggled up against the pillow and took in the scent of hair grease and fabric softener. After about five minutes, I fell back asleep.

Darry's voice echoed through the house as he called out my name. My throat made an odd gurgling sound and I rolled off the bed, taking the sheets with me. I untangled myself from the mess of sheets and threw them onto the lump on the bed I call a brother. My feet carried me over to the kitchen where Darry was cooking breakfast. I tried looking over his shoulder, but I wasn't tall enough.

"Whatcha makin?" I asked taking a seat at the table.

"Pancakes," he explained, his focus still on the food. I nodded and looked at the clock above the stove. 7:15. I thought I was in bed longer. Speaking of time, why am I up this early? It's Saturday and Darry always lets me sleep in until ten.

"Why am I awake and not Soda?" I questioned. He took a deep breath but didn't answer. "Darry?" I pushed him to answer.

"The state is coming to check on us today, I need you to help me clean the house a little," he explained. I nodded. The guy who usually came tried to find things to separate us, since he hates greasers like us. We always make sure the house is almost spotless when he comes. I don't quite get why only I am up and not Soda.

"Why isn't Soda helping too?" I whined. He huffed out a large breath and turned toward me. He had an eyebrow raised and his arms crossed.

"Do you really want Soda to make a mess behind you as you clean?" he asked. I shook my head and grinned. He is right. Soda can't keep clean if his life depended on it. "I'm gonna send him out for a bit so we can finish faster," he told me turning back to the food. I nodded.

My fingers drummed against the wood table until Darry placed the food in front of me. Pancakes. My favorite, especially when Darry makes them. For one, they aren't purple, and he doesn't sneak extra ingredients into it. I shoveled the food into my mouth so fast, I didn't realize I was eating until I finished. I stood up and rinsed my plate off.

I bent down to grab the cleaning supplies, sending a pain though my leg. I winced and dropped to the floor. I looked over to Darry. He was halfway through a bite and his eyes were on me. I could tell he was expecting me to answer because his eyebrow was raised. I stood up and brushed my pants off, the pain remaining in my leg.

"My leg hurts," I sounded a bit unsure of what I was saying. It wasn't a complete lie. It did hurt, a lot. I just didn't want to worry him with my problems the day the state is coming. That would be way too much stress on him for just a day, if it is anything bad. His eyes softened and he finished his bite.

"Did you stretch enough yesterday before running?" he asked me. I shook my head no. He shook his head in disappointment and lectured me about the importance of stretching.

This chapter ended at a weird place, I think.

Story time: My friend forced me to watch Dirty Dancing with her a few days ago. Her only reason to have me watch it was "the main guy character is hot." Finally I gave in and watched the movie. Turns out the main character, Johnny, is played by Patrick Swayze (Darry). I started freaking out and laughing because Darry was Johnny. Anyways, now my friend thinks I'm ten times weirder than she thought, and I am pretty sure my weird outburst scared her. Yeah…

GreaserG1rl201: Thank you. You actually gave me an idea that I didn't originally have, so thanks for that.

Guest: Thanks for your help, and being the only one willing to tell me all my wrongs. I tried applying what you told me in this chapter so I hope it's a bit better.

PonyboyM. Curtis: Thanks.

Pony'sgirlfriend: Thanks. I don't think he/she was too hard, but maybe just a little. I can handle it though, I see things like that as a great help. Your hopes are coming true thanks to GreaserG1rl201 for giving me the idea.