Disclaimer: S.E. Hinton owns the Outsiders and all characters and situations therein. I, however, do own Mia and the rest of my OCs.
The next morning I was awoken at nine o'clock by the kind people from Room Service, wheeling in my breakfast tray. Generally I am not a morning person, so it took me a few minutes to remember where I was and why, but when I did I sat straight up, stretching and eager to begin my day.
"Good morning, Miss Mia," Kelsey greeted me, handing me a cup of tea with cream and one sugar, just how I like it.
"Morning," I replied, grinning, still glowing from last night. Kelsey smiled and ran her hand through my messy hair before she went into the bathroom to draw me a hot bath, like she does every morning at home.
I sank back into my pillows and contemplated the ceiling. For once I felt rested; I had actually slept well, without the nightmares that had plagued me since Risa died. Maybe that would stop now. I certainly hoped so.
When Kelsey informed me that my bath was ready, I entered the spacious marbled room, took off my white cotton nightgown, and slipped into the hot perfumed water. Sighing with pleasure, I slid down till the steaming water reached my chin. I am a girl who likes her creature comforts, and hot baths are necessities to me.
After my bath, I stood in front of my closet wrapped in my dressing gown, frowning. I was still conscious about what Dallas had said the night before about my clothes being different from Tulsa girls'. Was I really not dressed appropriately? But I had met several young ladies my own age at the hotel, and they wore styles very similar to my own.
With a surge of defiance I pulled a gray silky wrap sweater and a midcalf-length cream brocade skirt from the closet, adding a fitted black jacket and black ballet flats. Taking in my reflection, I added a string of black pearls and my pink sapphire right-hand ring, a present from Greg, a good friend of mine and my sometime-boyfriend. I looked like any other New York girl-heiress. And if Dallas didn't like it, that was fine with me.
The day flew by in a whirl of shops and sightseeing with Kelsey. Before I knew it, five o'clock had arrived, and I was once more ringing the doorbell at the Curtis house.
A yelled "It's open!" greeted me in response. I rolled my eyes- this house really needed a butler- and gingerly pushed open the door.
"Mia!" Soda exclaimed, leaping up and running over to me in his stocking feet. He kissed my cheek and pulled me into the living room, where there were three more new faces for me to be introduced to, as well as Ponyboy, who waved at me and said to the three boys, "This is our gang. Guys, this is our sister, Mia de Barbarac."
A sudden burst of shyness quenched the introductory remarks I would have made then, and I could only nod. Normally I have never been a shy person- being the daughter of one of New York's most prominent hostesses, I had done quite a lot of entertaining and party going, especially since technically I am not out in Society yet. But this was a completely different story.
A tall young man with long sideburns hopped up off the floor to shake hands with me.
"I'm Two-Bit Matthews," he said cheerfully. "What's up? You like Tulsa so far?" Without waiting for a response he turned to Soda and said, "Boy howdy, how'd you three end up related to a classy Soc like this?"
There was that "Soc" reference again, and it was beginning to get on my nerves, but I couldn't help liking him anyway, even if I seriously doubted "Two-Bit" was his actual first name.
"Nice to meet you," I managed to say. A boy of about Soda's height, dressed in a work shirt, his hair oiled in complex-looking swirls, shook my hand as well.
"I'm Steve, Soda's best friend," he said. "We work together at the DX."
"What's the DX?" I said curiously.
"Gas station," Soda said, looking amused. "Do you not have them in Manhattan?"
"I don't drive, so I wouldn't know." I paused, and looked at the other gentleman in the room, who was sitting on the sofa, watching. With black hair, tan skin, and a long scar down the side of his face, he looked shy and suspicious at the same time. There was something very sad in his eyes, but beautiful too.
Two-Bit followed my gaze and said, "And that's Johnny Cade."
Johnny nodded to me and said, "Hey, Mia," very quietly.
"Hi, Johnny, nice to meet you," I replied, starting to feel a bit like a robot. Why couldn't I think of anything more charming to say to these people? I had never run short of the small-talk niceties before.
At that moment Darry walked in from work and called hellos out to everybody, smiling at me and squeezing my shoulder as he walked past on the way to the kitchen. After sitting rather uncomfortably next to Two-Bit on the sofa, I got up and followed Darry to the kitchen, where he was taking out to ingredients for dinner.
"How was work today?" I asked, feeling rather awkward.
"Not bad," Darry said absently as he scanned a recipe for chili.
"Do you need any help with dinner?"
He looked up at me, amused. "Have you ever cooked before?"
I flushed. "Well, no. But I've watched people cook. And I've made toast before!" I was secretly rather proud of that fact.
Darry considered that. "How would you like to learn how to make cornbread?"
"I'd love that," I said eagerly. This was completely out of my arena, but it looked like fun, and it was such a family thing to do.
I washed up, and Darry handed me an apron. After tying my dark hair back and rolling up my sleeves, I was ready, and soon Darry was showing me how to crack eggs, measure flour, and all manner of useful things. To my surprise I liked it.
Half an hour later, after I triumphantly placed the cornbread in the oven, I sat back at the kitchen table while Darry prepared the chili. Everything felt very relaxed and casual, something I was not used to.
"So why aren't you in school now? You're not missing classes, are you?" Darry asked as he chopped up a green pepper.
"Selwyn runs on a different schedule than most schools. We have classes in June and July, then we have November and December off, because socially those months are very busy," I explained. "So I've actually just started my vacation this week."
Darry nodded thoughtfully and seemed to consider something before saying, "Do you have any plans?"
I shook my head. "I'm not out yet." He stared at me, looking confused, until I giggled and went on, "In Society, I mean. With Risa gone I can't go to the holiday balls and dinners and so on, because I don't have an adult escort, and to go alone would be inappropriate at my age." Inwardly I was amazed he hadn't known this. These sorts of rules made up the framework of my childhood, of my world.
An hour later we were all gathered around the table- me, my brothers, and their friends. There was a very loose, family atmosphere that I really liked, and I couldn't help wonder what growing up here would have been like.
Everyone was full of questions for me about my life, and I was feeling a little overwhelmed. I wasn't used to being the center of attention like this.
"Do you have a boyfriend up there?" Steve asked after dinner, and I nearly choked on my coffee. I couldn't believe a virtual stranger was asking me such a personal question.
However, since everyone, especially Darry, looked interested in this topic, I sighed and said, "Sort of. A gentleman named Gregory Thurston escorts me various places, and I see him socially quite a bit."
"How old is he?" Sodapop asked.
"Eighteen." I paused and took a sip of coffee.
"Are you crazy?" Darry demanded. "That's way too old for you!"
"It's fine, Darry. Seriously." I changed the subject by asking Ponyboy about his day at school, ignoring Darry's frown. I wasn't sure how I felt about these people taking an actual interest in my life. Not yet.
I got back to my hotel around midnight, with plans to meet the boys the next day, Saturday, for a tour of Tulsa. Kelsey was waiting up for me, with a cup of tea and my nightgown, ready to get me ready for bed.
"You've had a pleasant evening, then, Miss Mia?" Kelsey asked, smoothing the sheets down around me.
"Very pleasant. I still can't believe it." I snuggled down into my blankets, something tugging at my heart. "Hey, Kelsey?"
Kelsey paused in the doorway, about to turn off the lights. "Yes, Miss Mia?"
"Do you think maybe you could just call me Mia?" I saw her smile, and added softly, "And I'm sorry I've been such a brat since Risa died."
Kelsey walked over to me, kissed both my cheeks, and tucked the blankets tightly around me. "Oh, my darling girl. It's quite alright, Mia, I promise. Now get some sleep"
I smiled and drifted off as Kelsey turned off the lights.
A/N: Please review, so I know people are reading this and want to see more. Thanks so much!