Mediator In Tulsa

Chapter One: No Place Like Home

Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders or the idea of Mediator. They belong to the brilliant authors, S.E. Hinton and Meg Cabot.

Susannah Carducci stepped off the train with her mother, brother and new stepfather. She could feel her mother's disapproving eyes on her. "Oh, Susannah, did you have to wear that ridiculous jacket?" her mother sighed.

Susannah Carducci, her mother, her little brother and her new stepfather were all moving to her stepfather's hometown: Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Oh, joy. Susannah, or Suze, as she preferred, had grown up in the small town Homer Glen, Illinois, perfectly normally with her parents and brother.

Then the…accident had happened, just over two years ago. Somehow her mother had managed to bounce back wonderfully and get remarried just a couple of months ago. And now, here they all were, moving into a new town and a new life.

The jacket to which her mother referred was her old, comfortable blue denim jacket. It had once belonged to her father, and if she buried her nose in it and really inhaled, she could almost smell his old familiar scent of spice and mint.

Suze rolled her dark brown eyes theatrically and wrapped the jacket more tightly around her, just to be a pain. She felt as if that jacket was the last tie she had to her father. She remembered very clearly the last time she had fought with her mother over that jacket.

She had caught her mother trying to throw out her jacket with the stuff for charity before they left for Tulsa. She hadn't spoken to her mother for three days after that. Her mother had just sighed and said, "You're more like your father than just in looks."

Suze did look an awful lot like her father had. She had the same tan skin, the same skinny frame, pointed chin, large, dark brown eyes, and brown hair so dark many people mistook it for black, except in bright sunlight, when it looked almost red.

On the other hand, Charlie looked a lot like her mother, with his curly, sandy colored hair and innocent blue eyes, and round form. With her father gone and Ryan in the picture, a lot of people asked Suze, "Are you adopted?" Suze sometimes wished that she was, like now.

She heard her mother sigh again from behind her, and would've bet all the money in her back pocket that her mother was throwing up her hands in despair. She did that a lot concerning Suze these days, especially concerning what she wore.

And true, she only had three cents and a Lifesaver, but it was the principle that mattered.

Following her mother Jan, her brother Charlie and her mother's new husband, Ryan, she picked up her luggage and hailed a cab while her mother struggled with her suitcase.

Jeez, what does she carry in there, bricks? Suze thought witheringly as she and the cab driver loaded the bags into the trunk.

It was lucky that Ryan's old house still had all the furniture and everything, so that they had only needed to bring their clothes and personal junk. Jan had told Suze and Charlie that they could only bring one suitcase of what they really needed.

Hypocrite, Suze thought, as she watched her mother heave her three bags into the trunk.

Suze stared out the window the entire time driving to the house. They were in a dirty looking neighborhood.

The sidewalks were all cracked, there was trash all over the streets and there wasn't a single building that wasn't dilapidated with the paint peeling. Her eyes widened as they passed a group of boys in a fistfight.

Suze's heart yearned for the clean green prairies and cornfields of Homer Glen. For such a small town, it had an awful lot of farms and forest preserves.

Jan nudged her husband slightly and muttered, "Honey? Are you sure we're in the right neighborhood?" Ryan looked guilty. "Well, I'm sorry, dear; I forgot to mention that I grew up…well, more or less on the wrong side of the tracks."

Jan sat back and huffed. Suze couldn't help but smile slightly to herself. Hah! All-perfect Ryan finally screwed up big time!

They finally arrived. Ryan pointed out the house and the taxi screeched to a stop. After paying the driver and retrieving all their stuff, Jan, Ryan and Charlie all ran excitedly inside to unpack and begin their perfect lives, but Suze hesitated outside for a moment.

She could go back any moment. She could live with friends, or her aunt in Chicago. Chicago was only an hour or so away from Homer Glen. The taxi hadn't even rounded the corner yet. She could go back. She didn't have to do this.

Taking a deep breath, Suze made her decision. She walked up the front steps and stood in the doorway. "So," she said aloud. "This is home now."

It wasn't the same, but it would have to do. Dorothy was right, Suze thought. There really is no place like home.

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Ponyboy Curtis was staring out his window. He was thinking, about Johnny and Dally and how they didn't deserve to die.

The world outside was stationary. Pony was shaken out of his thoughts when a taxi rumbled up to the house across the street.

Four people got out: a little boy and a woman who was obviously his mother. They looked alike, with their curly hair and round figures. There was a man with red hair, and a skinny, dark skinned, dark haired girl.

Pony started at the sight of her. Glory, she looks like Johnny if he were a girl! She's even wearing a jean jacket, just like he used to!

The front door slammed and Two-Bit came waltzing in. He ruffled Ponyboy's hair playfully. Ponyboy glared at him. "Two-Bit! Quit messing up my hair!"

Two-Bit shrugged and flopped down on the couch, flipping on the T.V. "New people moving in, I see," Two-Bit said, flipping through the channels until he came upon Mickey Mouse.

"Oh, Mickey's on!" he said, bouncing in his seat like a kid. Ponyboy stared at him. "I didn't know you liked Mickey Mouse!" he exclaimed. Two-Bit nodded excitedly.

Ponyboy shrugged and continued to stare out the window. The girl was the last to go inside the house. She looks so different from the others, Ponyboy thought curiously. I wonder if she's adopted.

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Short, I know, but I want to know what you think before I go much further. I didn't reveal much or really start anything here, but it'll get better. I hope.

Review and tell me if I should keep going or not.