Chapter Three
Disclaimer: This story is based on events and characters from S.E. Hinton's story The Outsiders. This story is purely for entertainment; all credit goes to S.E. Hinton.
I woke up the next day to someone shaking my shoulders violently. Upon opening my eyes I saw two young boys standing in front of me with amused looks on their faces. One of them was the dark eyed quiet boy I'd slept beside last night and the other was a blue eyed kid with long hair that was greased back.
"Uh.." I moaned.
Intelligent. Really intelligent, Rose.
"Finally, you're awake!" said blue eyes, "you've been asleep all day." Huh? I looked up to the sky and saw that it was pretty dark out. Oh.
"Sorry, but who are you?" I asked, confused.
"I'm Ponyboy and that's Johnny," Said blue eyes, gesturing to himself and then to the quiet kid, "How 'bout yourself, miss?"
"Hmm, very original, Ponyboy," I laughed. "I'm Rosanna, Rose or Rosie will do just fine though, thank you." The boys nodded.
"So, any particular reason why you've been here two nights in a row?" asked Johnny, speaking up for the first time.
"Well," I started, "I kinda don't have a place to crash." I admitted, looking at the ground sheepishly. Ponyboy grinned.
"Well you seem pretty decent, even if you are dressed like a freak," he chuckled, "but I don't judge. You needa place to stay, huh?"
"Would be nice. Why, you got a place in mind?" I asked. He and Johnny seemed friendly enough, and I was desperate. Plus they were just kids, they'd probably take me back to their parents' place.
He nodded. "I got a place."
"Now hold on just one second. You aren't gonna take me back to your place and murder me, are ya?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Cause let me tell you right now, I have a black belt in karate and I'm not afraid to use it." I threatened jokingly. Ponyboy laughed and raised his hands, surrendering. "Ya caught me. We was gonna take ya home and cut ya up into tiny pieces, weren't we Johnnycakes."
We all laughed. They seemed like decent kids, and they were offering a place to stay. I couldn't say no to that.
"All right Rosie, we'll be on our way then if you'd like to join us?" asked Ponyboy. I nodded and started walking out of the vacant lot.
"So Rosie, you come around here often?" asked Johnny. I nodded.
"Actually, I live here. Born and raised." I stated proudly. "What area ya from?" asked Ponyboy.
"Middle of town. Around here, actually." I told him, "But it's odd. When I came home last night, my house was gone."
"What?" asked Johnny, surprised. "You think your parents just up and left on ya?"
"Well, it's complicated. My mom was actually leaving me and my dad for another guy. I don't know exactly where she would'a gone, but my Daddy wouldn't have left me here all on my lonesome." I told them.
"Awe, don't feel bad," said Ponyboy, "guess it just wasn't meant to be. My mama and dad died a couple months ago." I didn't feel so bad for myself anymore. At least if my parents separated, I'd still get to see them. Pony could never see his parents again.
"I'm so sorry for your loss," I told him. He nodded. "S'alright. Just wanted to make ya feel better about your situation."
"Thanks Pony. It's alright if I call you Pony, isn't it?" I asked. He nodded. "'course!"
These kids were so nice. I wondered why I'd never seen them around before.
"So uh, I'm just warnin' you. I have two brothers and they have a lot of friends that happen to be guys. So I'm sorry if they come onto ya." Said Pony sheepishly.
"Why would they come onto me?" I laughed.
"Well, just look at cha. Look what you're wearing. They aren't accustomed to seeing a girl in so little. Well, maybe Dally, but none of the other have seen a girl walkin around in little shorty shorts and a tiny tank top." Laughed Pony, gesturing to my outfit. I blushed.
"I woke up wearing this! It's what I sleep in, I don't usually walk around like this. Geesh." I giggled, trying to hide my blush. Hopefully they don't think of me as a hussy or something.
"Well, we're here. Home sweet home." Said Pony. I looked up at the house that he calls home. To me, it looked like a piece of crap. But, a home-y kinda piece of crap. This is what Pony lived in, and I respected that. As we were walking up the steps that lead to the front door, I heard loud laughter and yelling. I rolled my eyes. Boys.
We opened the door, and what I saw didn't surprise me at all.
There were two boys wrestling on the floor, while two others laughed and stood around watching. There was another man standing in the kitchen, watching with a look of disapproval. Pony, Johnny and I tried to sneak passed everyone without them noticing, but one boy looked up.
"Hey boys, who's the broad?" asked one of the boys who was wrestling. He was pretty tall with dark hair and shocking blue eyes. Actually, all of these boys had dark hair, except one that had dirty blond-ish hair, and he was starting to walk towards me.
Pony sighed. I knew he had wanted to sneak by unnoticed.
"Guys, this is Rosie. Rose, these are the guys." He gestured around the room at the boys. They had all stopped what they had been doing to look up.
"Hi." I said quietly, I didn't like being the center of attention.
"Well hello Rosie." Said the boy with dirty-blond hair. He had waltzed up to me and grabbed by hand, kissing the back of it. "Name's Keith, but you can call me Two-Bit." I laughed.
"Hi Two-Bit."
"Let me introduce you to the other boys, since Pony over here failed to do so." He said, walking me over to the man who was in the kitchen. "This is Darrel, we call him Darry. He likes to think he's the man of the house. See these muscles-" Darry interrupted Two-Bit. "That's enough Two." I giggled.
Next, he walked over to the two boys that had been wrestling.
"This rascal here is Steve. He likes girls and causing trouble." Two-Bit told me, "and this is Dallas. He enjoys both of those things as well. His record is about a mile long." I laughed. Dallas had to be one of the cutest boys in the room.
"Yeah, what's it to ya? Don't ya have some place else to be?" sneered Dallas. Oh damn. He could'a been so cute if his personality hadn't ruined it for him.
"Actually I don't. Which is the reason that Pony and Johnny were nice enough to bring me back here, but let's be honest. Being nice isn't something you're familiar with, is it?" I shot back.
He laughed. "Being nice to boys is something you're used to doing, I bet. I mean, look at what you're wearing. You ain't nothin' but a two-cent whore."
"Dally, that's enough." Said Darry, interrupting. "Awe, but it was just gettin' good!" said Two-Bit, laughing with Steve. One look from Dally silenced them. He walked out of the house, slamming the door behind him. How dare he?
Two-Bit sighed. "Continuing on with the introductions," he said. A tall-ish boy with dark hair and blue eyes proceeded to walk towards us. "This is-"
"Sodapop." He said, sticking out his hand, "Welcome to the Curtis residence."
S-Sodapop? That was not a name you cam across very often. Sodapop Curtis was a name you came across even less often. Sodapop Curtis happened to be my Daddy's name. And the fact that he happened to look identical to my Daddy, minus the age difference? I blinked.
Was this some kind of joke?
