Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Outsiders.

A/N: Here we are with the third chapter…please review!

Chapter Three

When we were all sitting at the dinner table, serving ourselves baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and biscuits, conversation grew more relaxed. I felt myself already warming to these three. Maybe they'll feel like family someday after all. Just maybe.

"So where in New York do you live, anyway?" asked Soda as he heaped more potatoes on my plate.

"In Manhatten. I grew up on Forty-Second Street, near Times Square, but I live on Madison Avenue now," I replied as I tasted the chicken. When I did, I couldn't believe my taste buds. "This is incredible!"

Pony grinned. "Darry made it."

I stared at my oldest brother. "Did you seriously?" He nodded. I took another bite, very impressed. My cook back home wasn't this good. It struck me suddenly that this was probably an old family recipe. I wondered if I could get a copy.

"And who do you live with now?" Darry asked, passing around the platter of biscuits. "The social worker said you live alone, but that can't be right."

"Of course not," I said, surprised. "I have a maid and butler who live-in and a housekeeper and cook there during the day."

Darry and Soda exchanged a look that I couldn't quite read.

"Right," said Darry slowly, "but who, you know, takes care of you?"

Uh-oh. I'd hoped I wouldn't have to handle these questions for awhile. "Well, I do. I'm fifteen, after all." Darry frowned and looked like he was about to say something else, but before he had the chance, Ponyboy leapt in with a question of his own.

"So do you go to a lot of Broadway shows and museums and everything?"

I nodded, taking another sip of chocolate milk. Odd to serve with dinner, but perhaps it was an Oklahoma thing.

"Risa loved the theatre. We always went to lots of shows. I've always preferred the ballet, though, so we attended that a lot as well." I tilted my head, surveying Ponyboy's amazed expression. I grinned at him. "You want to travel, don't you?"

"More than anything," replied Ponyboy fervently.

"Then when you visit me in New York, I'll make sure you see absolutely everything," I said, surprising myself slightly. None of us had mentioned another visit yet, but I found that I really wanted one. Ponyboy smiled at me and nodded. I knew he wanted another visit too.

Conversation flowed very well through the rest of dinner, right through to dessert. We went back to the living room, and Soda brought out a chocolate cake and began handing out pieces. I absolutely love chocolate cake, and was surprised to see that, apparently, it ran in the family. Darry also made some coffee, which only he and I drank.

We were chatting about Ponyboy's track team when the front door banged open, admitting one of the toughest-looking men I've ever seen in my life. Wearing jeans and a leather jacket, he had white-blond hair and the coldest blue eyes imaginable. He shut the door behind him and lit up a cigarette.

I glanced uneasily at the boys, not sure what to do or say. If anyone looking like that had come into my apartment, I would have summoned security immediately, but going by the lack of alarm on the Curtises' faces, I guessed that they probably knew this hoodlum.

This guess was validated nearly at once by Sodapop.

"Hey, Dal," he said cheerfully. "What's going on, buddy?"

"Had to leave a party at Buck's. Sylvia wouldn't leave me alone, couldn't take it anymore." He paused and, seeing me for the first time, stared. "Who's the fancy broad?"

I was slightly irritated at being spoken of like that- certainly it had never happened before- but merely raised my eyebrows at Darry, waiting for him to make the introductions, which he did when Soda stopped laughing. Even Ponyboy was grinning.

Gesturing to me, Darry said, "Dally, this is our sister, Mia de Barbarac. Mia, this is Dallas Winston, a real good friend of ours."

"Pleased to meet you, Dallas," I replied, in a way I hoped was gracious.

Dallas said nothing to me, but looked me over and then turned to Soda. "You never told me your sister was a Soc, man."

"I'm not," I said, confused. "I'm a de Barbarac." This caused Soda and Ponyboy to start laughing again, for some reason. I continued, "The de Barbaracs are related to the Boston branch of the Soche family, though, so I suppose that's what-"

"Is she being a smart-ass on purpose?" Dallas interrupted, speaking once more to my brothers instead of to me. I just sat there, half furious and half startled. People don't swear in front of me usually. It actually made kind of a nice change, having people behave naturally, rather than the stilted manners of New York's upper class.

Soda explained to me, "He means Soc as in Social, Mia. The rich kids from the West Side here. We call them Socs. The kids around here, and us too, we're greasers. The Socs and the greasers…um, they don't get along very well."

Dallas snorted and took a long drag on his cigarette. "Well, there's the understatement of the century."

"It's all the Socs' fault," Ponyboy told me. "They're just cold-blooded mean."

"Okay," I said slowly. This was all new to me. Then something hit me for the first time:

"And you thought I was one of them?" I said indignantly to Dallas. "Thanks a lot!"

"Can't help it, doll," Dallas shrugged. "Girls don't dress that way over here. And I'm bettin' the fancy car and driver out front are yours too?"

"Just because she has money," Soda interrupted suddenly, "doesn't make her a Soc, Dally. She's a Curtis, ain't she?"

I'm a Curtis too, I realized suddenly. Of course I knew by now that Curtis was these boys' last name, but Soda's comment brought home to me for the first time that at birth it had been my name as well.

"Whatever you say," Dallas replied lazily. He turned to Darry. "It okay if I crash here tonight? I really don't feel like going all the way back to Buck's."

"Sure," Darry said absently. He seemed to be thinking of something else. To me he said, "I'd really like to introduce you to the rest of our gang, Mia. Can you come over again tomorrow, maybe around five? We should all be here, and you could stay for dinner again if you want."

"Okay," I replied shyly. I'd actually been hoping for something like this. I got up and put on my pink coat, buttoning it tightly, as it was cold out there.

I shook hands with my brothers, and was surprised when Soda gave me a light kiss on the cheek. We made our goodbyes and then Darry walked me out to my waiting car. As my driver pulled away, I turned for another look at the house, and smiled softly to myself. I had my brothers now- and I was going to see them again tomorrow.

A/N: Just so you all know, this story is going to be extremely long- I have a very complicated plot in mind, so I hope you'll all keep reading. Thanks to all who have reviewed- please keep it up! Notes to reviewers with questions or special observations:

Araz: Hope you liked the rest of the dinner scene! The actress you mentioned is named Emmy Rossum, and yes, if you're picturing her when you think of Mia, you've just about got her. And thank you for your lovely reviews.

Random stuff about stuff: Yes, she is going to meet the rest of the gang, in the next chapter.

Lucky: Yes, Mia can be rather that way. She's not always likeable- not even to me! But rest assured she is the way she is for a reason, and not just because she's a spoiled rich girl. All that will be explained.

And to the rest of you…many, many thanks.