Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- Our New Saturday Mornings

Disclaimer- I don't own The Outsiders

Summary- Ronnie Curtis is now 15. Some things changed from when she was 7, others didn't. How many stories has it been? I still can't write summaries. Well, I can name chapters. ;-)

Note- I'm BACK! Did you guys miss me? (You better have) A lot of you wanted Ronnie and Nate around 14/15... I had this written for a while now, I was just computerless... and I don't know if that is a word.

"Get up," mom called yanking the sheet off of me. I groaned and grabbed it back from her, throwing it over my head. I turned onto my stomach, shielding my eyes from the bright sun.

"Ronnie, your cousin is going to be here soon. Don't forget, you have to baby-sit her." She had to remind me. I wanted to forget.

I'm 15 now; I still live with my mom, dad, Nate, and dog. I still do weird things, like counting and washing. I spend more time in the shower than ever. When I don't spend a long time in the shower I feel gross. I feel sticky and dirty. When I don't count I think something bad is going to happen. When things are uneven I get scared. Nobody moved into our extra room. I wouldn't let them, I had a fit. Many things were broken the day they suggested that.

Steve did marry Megan and now they have a seven year old daughter. Her name is Winifred, but everybody calls her Winnie. Not because that's how she was raised, like me, but because Winifred is so ugly. I wouldn't mind if I was called Veronica once in a while, but I can't stand to hear Winifred. She was named after Megan's mother, that's why it sounds so old. I like the name Winnie. I don't like her; she's a brat, a spoiled brat.

Normally, Nate would have helped me baby-sit her, but Nate was out somewhere. I hated the fact that he was away. I always got scared. I think he was helping dad at work. Nate still didn't talk too much. He spoke a little more to mom and dad than he used to, but only said single words in front of our uncles and aunt. He talks to me the most, as always.

"Veronica," came the whiny voice belonging to Winnie. She was here already? I groaned and pulled the sheet further over my head, exposing my feet. I heard her walk closer to the foot of my bed. She grabbed the bottom of the sheet and pulled as hard as she could. While she was pulling, I let go of the sheet quickly. I sent her flying into the wall.

Immediately she burst into tears. I sighed and crawled to the end of my bed. I bent my head down looking at her. She stopped crying and grabbed a fistful of my hair. I wished she wasn't such a pain. She smiled and laughed. I yanked my hair loose from her hand. I walked into the living room and turned the television on. I put on some re-runs (of your favorite and mine- Mickey Mouse) but she switched the channel. She didn't like him like I did.

I said good-bye to Aunt Megan and mom. Aunt Megan worked with mom on weekends and mom worked at some restaurant on the West-Side. She only worked there because it paid better money, and if she was decent enough, she got better tips. After they shut the door I went into the kitchen and made myself a bowl Frosted Flakes in chocolate milk.

Saturdays weren't like they used to be. Everybody used to come over and we'd spend the day hanging out. Now everybody was somewhere else. Nate helped dad at work occasionally, Steve worked with them, mom and Aunt Megan worked, Ponyboy moved (I'm not sure where- dad knows, but I really don't care), Two-Bit stops in once in a while (but he stays away most Saturdays. Let's just say, not everybody likes Winnie as much as her parents do) and Darry does whatever. We see everybody on major holidays, like Christmas and Thanksgiving. Which brings me to another thing, my uncles told me I was allowed to play football with them when I turned 12. I just don't want to, you get too dirty.

Winnie hopped off the couch and joined me in the kitchen. She sat across the table from me, staring at me with her hazel eyes. She kept tapping her fingers on the table. Taptap, tap, taptap, tap, taptap, tap, taptap, it was so uneven. The beat was driving me insane. I stared at her, trying to get her to stop.

"Stop," I said. She looked at me. Slowly she put her left finger to the table, tap, she raised it and put it down again, tap. She put her right finger down, tap, and brought it up. She put the left one down, tapping it twice. I dropped my spoon and walked over to her side of the table. I grabbed the sleeve of her dress (careful not to touch her) and dragged her into the living room.

"Watch some TV," I told her. She looked at me and stuck out her tongue.

"No," she said sternly. I wanted to hit her, but she would tell her parents and they would believe her and they would tell my parents. To make it simple, I'd be in trouble. She tugged at one of her brown curls. She may look innocent, but I knew she wasn't. The only people who seemed to believe me were Nate and Two-Bit. The only people she's ever acted like this to.

I was staring at her, and then she got off the couch and ran into my room. I chased her into my room where she found my Mickey collection. All of my Mickey and Minnie stuffed animals that Two-Bit got me.

"Not Mickey!"

The next chapter isn't coming until you guys review... and as of August 29th, I have 10 of them written