Thank you all so much for your comments! I can't wait to carry this story to its fruition… In the meantime, enjoy the chapter!

I do not own these characters (apart from China) or any other element of S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders


"That looks real nutritious, Soda."

China's second eldest brother acknowledged her breakfast critique with a quick, purple-stained grin and resumed devouring a veritable mountain of scrambled eggs and jelly. China rolled her eyes and turned towards the fridge in search of sustenance, only to find that the fridge was both already open and empty (save a suspicious looking carton of milk and a plastic-wrapped slice of chocolate chocolate cake). China whirled back around and locked her now-stormy blue eyes with Sodapop's lively brown ones, mouth agape.

"Did you use the ENTIRE carton of eggs on that monstrosity?"

Soda shrugged.

"You're welcome to have some of mine if you want" came a sheepish mumble.

Somewhere deep inside of her, a volcano of hunger and frustration erupted. China rolled her eyes and stormed off towards her room to get ready for school, desperately hoping that there would be more tuna and less surprise on today's school lunch menu. As she began to shrug off her nightgown in favor of her collared blouse, the youngest Curtis imagined what her friend Evelyn was having for breakfast. Surely she never had to worry about an empty fridge. Surely her biggest problem in the morning would be deciding between pancakes or waffles, bacon or sausages, apple or orange juice...

China got so lost in her brunchtastic fantasy that she didn't hear the door swing open. As soon as she registered what was happening, she rushed to cover herself as best she could with the articles of clothing that she had in her hands.

"What the hell, Pony! A little privacy, please?"

She slammed the door shut, cheeks reddening by the minute.

"Sorry! It's just that Soda's in our room, and the lock on the bathroom door is broken again, and you're usually wasting breakfast at this time anyways..."

Having regained her modesty, China threw open the door and stared down Ponyboy.

"I would be eating breakfast at this time if there was any breakfast to be eating!"

Eyes wide at his sister's sudden outburst, Pony retreated into the kitchen and produced a plate with two of the most heavenly triangles of toast that China had ever seen.

"I was going to eat both, but we can share. Consider it a peace offering."

At this, the last of China's fury melted away like butter into gratitude. She motioned toward the spot beside her on the bed, and together they munched their way through the last slice of bread in the house in silence.

No sooner than she had taken the last bite of toast did China hear a loud crash from the living room. With a concerned sort of curiosity, she set her plate down and sauntered into the area of interest, Pony not far behind.

The Curtis's ancient black and white television, normally resting on the TV stand, had been tipped over on its side with its one remaining antenna bent roughly into the shape of a question mark. Not far away were Steve Randle and Keith "Two-Bit" Matthews, wrestling with a ferocity not seen since the time of ancient Sparta, with Soda desperately trying- and failing- to separate the two. As they were only moments away from smashing the coffee table in half, China knew that something had to be done.

"HEY!"

The boys on the floor froze at what could only be described as a perfect recreation of Mrs. Matthews' angry tone, one that was seldom inflicted upon her son and his friends. When they realized that it was China who had spoken, the fear in their eyes died down and they broke apart in a tangle of gawky teenage limbs.

"Don't you boys have anything better to do than tear our house apart? Perhaps... Oh, I don't know, driving me to school?

Two-Bit hung in head in shame while Steve cleared his throat, a guilty expression adoring his usually smirking face.

"Golly, China, we're sorry. Ol' Two-Bit and I were having a disagreement about where to go out tonight, and I guess it got a little bit out of hand."

China surveyed the damage that had been done.

"A little bit?"

Steve turned red.

"Okay, a lot out of hand. But you can just take care of it later, right?"

China had had it for the morning when it came to the ridiculous antics of teenage boys. As she was about to let the whole lot of them have it, Dally slunk through the door and rested on its frame, an unlit cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. Taking in the damage that lay in front of him, he let out a low whistle.

"You guys really did a number on this place, huh?"

The blonde boy's laissez faire attitude towards the situation only fueled China's fury.

"Why wouldn't they? They're not the ones who live here, so why wouldn't they trash it and leave it for someone else to clean up? It's not like any of us have to get to school early today or anything!"

Sensing the anger behind her words, Dally nodded his head and turned toward the culprits.

"She's right. You need to get it through your thick skulls that it's no one's responsibility to clean up the messes you've made besides your own. Just because Darry's picking up early shifts and can't be here in the mornings anymore doesn't mean that you have free reign to wreak havoc."

Two-Bit and Steve looked at each other sheepishly and began returning the living room to its original form. Dally turned to Sodapop and Ponyboy.

"You guys stay here and make sure that the two of them don't get into anymore trouble. I'll drive China to school."

The Curtis boys nodded and assumed their positions as wardens on duty. China forced down the butterflies in her stomach that had arisen when Dally came to her defense and grabbed her school bag, thanking her lucky stars for the people that cared about her in her life.


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-greysweatshirts