"I swear," My eyes fluttered open at the sound of an unfamiliar voice, "She could trip over a speck of dust." I pushed myself up with my hands, too late realizing that one was injured.
"Easy." A softer voice told me. I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Darry said you could have a concussion." Darry...
I looked around the room, finding only one familiar face among the five other people in the room looking at me.
"Addie?" My sister didn't look at me from where she was sitting in a dirty looking armchair. She stared at the ground, her hands wound tightly together.
A couple feet away from her sprawled out on the floor was a boy, watching me curiously over a book. Sitting next to him in front of the television was an older looking guy, and I figured by the amused look in his eyes that he was the one who'd woken me up. On the other side of the couch watching me silently was a darker skinned boy, and crouched down next to the couch I was on was another guy, watching me worriedly.
I felt my face heat up. People didn't usually look at me so closely. I pushed myself up with my good hand, shrugging his hand off.
"Don't worry about her. She's just mad that Darry's pissed at her." The boy with the book spoke up. I looked at Addie, whose eyes flickered to him and back down to her hands.
"You shoulda' heard the cussing she got-"
"He didn't cuss at her." The younger boy seemed appalled at what the guy next to him was saying.
"He might as well have!"
"How's your hand feel?" I jumped at the sound of anew voice. I turned my focus away to see another guy, bigger and tanner than the other guys. He was big and muscular- the kind of muscles even the big T-Shirt he was wearing couldn't hide. His feet stood shoulder-length apart, reminding me of some kind of Clark Kent character.
"It's okay." I said slowly, turning my attention to my hand, which had been carefully wrapped. I looked around and wondered who did it. These guys reminded me of something...
I wished Addie would talk to me. My mind didn't seem to be working fast enough. She could help my dizzy brain figure out exactly what was going on.
"It looked pretty bad." As soon as he mentioned it,I began to feel a sharp ache, beginning in my wrist and moving along through my hand and each of my fingers. I held it in my other hand.
"She seems sorta confused." The guy next to me spoke up.
"You remember what happened?" The boy on the floor asked.
I could still feel the hands on my back, pushing me down. And that awful crack...
"I fell." I said, reaching up to feel my chin for any damage. It didn't even hurt as I pressed down on it.
"You're name? The date?" The older guy spoke up again, roughly.
"She ain't confused." The other guy stood up from the floor moving onto the couch to sit next to me. "Come on, 's my granny's middle name?" I felt my lips quirk upwards anxiously.
"I don't know." I murmured, glancing at Addie with the hope that she could give me some kind of comfort. She wasn't even paying attention. Her eyes flitted between the guys.
"Aw, come on. You know this," He pushed on, resting his arm around my side of the couch. I stiffened.
"No." I shook my head, glancing towards the guy on the other side of the couch. His dark eyes watched me, almost sadly. No one payed him any attention; only I seemed to notice him. I wondered if maybe he was some kind of apparition.
"Cut it out, Two-Bit." My head shot up. "You know how she is."
Snapped out of my drowsiness, I looked around the couch, the chair, the old TV...
Of all of the times when I was younger and had wished I could wake up here on a whim. All of the years I spent crying, wishing I could be anywhere but where I was...
Why now?
Maybe it was a dream. I really wanted to believe it. Never had I dreamed so vividly...
Maybe I died. Maybe my attacker killed me, and I woke up in some alternate dimension. I'd read fanfiction about that.
"Hey. He didn't mean anything by it." The anxiety must have been evident on my face. The guy, Sodapop, I deduced- looked like he wanted to reach out to me. I realized I must have been more that a little familiar with these guys if they knew about my aversion to physical contact, but maybe it was just him.
"I-" I coughed, "I know." I looked around at each of the guys. Darry, Two-bit, Sodapop, Johnny...Ponyboy.
"It's September." I looked back at Darry. "I'm fine." Something flickered behind his eyes.
"Sodapop's got some clothing. It's Ponyboys, but..."He trailed off.
"Yeah. You're too small to fit into anyone elses." Soda said, a kind smile on his face. I felt my face heat up.
"I ain't that small!" Ponyboy piped up. Despite my confusion, I smiled. Soda handed me the clothes.
"Thank you."
"No problem." I stood up, realizing warily that I didn't know where to go.
"Hey, Pony. You might show her how to undo the lock when she gets outta the bathroom. It's been sticking again." Darry said, stepping into the kitchen. I could hear his footsteps get more distant and looked at Ponyboy. He was watching him with an annoyed expression on his face. He looked at me just as I was about to thoughtlessly tell him he didn't have to.
"It's fine." He sighed, pushing himself up off the ground. "Let's go."
The bathroom was a small, windowless room that sat in the through a doorway in between the kitchen and the living room.
Ponyboy closed the door and locked it. I payed halfhearted attention as he pulled out a butter knife and demonstrated how to loosen the lock before twisting it.
Afterwards, he turned to me.
"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked quietly. I nodded.
"I'm fine."