Title- Trying to Adjust

Chapter Title- Another Call

Chapter Number- 18

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders.

Reviewers-

Eternal Dragon101- Thanks for the review and I might e-mail you some time to talk. Things have been a little better over here.

XAmberX- (Puts on a really big, fake smile), are you happy now?

Hahukum Konn- You'll find out if she gets busted if you read.

Sodaschick- I updated fairly quickly, I think.

QTpie4- She's a bad girl.

Note- I know I said twenty, it will be twenty. I had the weirdest stroke of creativity.

Terry walked me to the park and I sat on the swings. I noticed they were a lot nicer than the ones from the park near my house. They were all the same length. Sometimes, the older kids would flip them around until they were all different lengths. They didn't have bad words on them and the grass was cut nice and even. I could tell I wasn't in my side of the town anymore.

I rocked myself back and forth seeing how high I could go. I wanted my friend over here with me so we could see who could jump the farthest. I missed my home.

"Terry, you want be to be happy, right?" I asked. I was trying to buy Caroline more time. If I got a dime every time I did her a favor, I'd be pretty rich.

"Well, yeah, why?" She asked. She was staring at me.

"Well, then, at the end of the month or whenever, would you send me back to my brother?" I questioned, hopefully.

"Oh, Elizabeth, I'd love for you to be happy, but I care about your health and safety. I'm sorry, but you really should stay here. It's getting quite late, Jim is probably wondering where we are," she stated. I sighed and got off the swing. I followed her to her house.

The car was safely in the drive way when we got to the house. I was relieved. I could collect my dime in peace now.

"Liz, go on ahead, I need to get the mail," she told me. I nodded and went straight to Caroline's room. I knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" She asked.

"It's Liz," I said, acting tuff. Tuff was the word we used back at home for cool. I don't know what they use here.

"Oh, gosh, you're back, is that lady inside?" she asked me.

"No, she went to go get the mail," I told Caroline. I opened the door. Caroline was sitting on the floor with a bunch of her friends. They were all smoking and drinking. I hated the smell and shut the door.

"Could you distract her for five more minutes? I'll give you another dime," she bargained. I said okay and went outside with Terry.

"Terry, I think I dropped something at the park. Could you take me back to look for it?" I asked, not going into details.

"Only for ten minutes; we really should start making dinner then." I nodded and she took me to the park. I dropped my quarter into the grass and picked it up, triumphantly after searching around for a bit. I showed it to Terry and she smiled. We went back to the house. Caroline was in the living room watching the television. She had gotten everybody cleared out.

When I came in, she reached into her pocket and pulled out twenty cents. Terry didn't see her give it to me; it would save Caroline a lot of trouble.

The next few days went like that. I'd help Caroline and depending on what I did I earned ten or twenty cents. I was very pleased with myself.

Then, the worst happened.

I walked into Caroline's room to see if she needed anything. I loved the idea of having money and I was up to a dollar and a half now. Caroline was on her bed. She looked funny. She was very pale and thinner than ever. I had noticed she wasn't very hungry at dinner lately. She smelt of alcohol. I started to panic and I ran to get Terry. Terry wasn't home and neither was Jim. Caroline was supposed to be babysitting me.

I did the next most logical thing. I called Mr. Harrington. I had looked in Terry's address book for his phone number.

"Mr. Harrington, its Elizabeth Mathews. I know you're probably busy, but that girl that's living with me, Terry and Jim supposed to be baby sitting me. The only problem is she's passed out. Could you come check on her?" I asked. He grumbled something and finally said 'sure'. I thanked him and started to pace the floors.

Mr. Harrington finally came and I showed him to Caroline's room. He frowned when he saw her and called somebody. A few minutes later an ambulance came and Caroline was being loaded onto a stretcher. Mr. Harrington stayed with me until Terry and Jim came home.

"Why, hello Mr. Harrington, what a pleasant surprise," Terry exclaimed.

"Yes, yes, it'd be pleasant if the circumstances were different. Little Elizabeth here called me. The girl, Caroline was watching her when she passed out. Caroline had been taken to the hospital. However, I'm not sure this will help you win custody of Elizabeth. Caroline was drunk and on drugs. She was also pretty skinny, malnourished I'd say. On the other hand, Elizabeth looks fine. The hearing will be scheduled sooner than we expected though."

"Oh," was all Terry managed to get out. I felt a little bad; I had been helping Caroline get drunk. The good part was I could be going back to Two-Bit. I tried not to smile, but I couldn't help it. "I swear, I have never given her drugs or alcohol and she always eats. It's your fault, Jim, you insist on having alcohol here!" She turned to face him and frowned. I could tell she was angry. I quietly crept into my room to celebrate my victory.

Decisions, decisions, I know where I'm going with this... you just need to review to find out. So, um, review... please? Because… I'm at ninety-eight reviews and I want a hundred (now I'm whining).