Chapter Eleven

"Were you drinking last night then?" I demanded crossing my arms over my chest, my green eyes narrowed in irritation on Steve Randle as he sauntered in at about a quarter past four. "Well? Were you?"

Steve shrugged nonchalantly and flopped onto the couch next to Two-Bit. "Maybe,"

"You could at least be honest." I said irritably flipping back my hair. "I saw you on the couch this morning,"

"Cool."

"So? What'd she do?"

Two-Bit sighed loudly and stood up and left the room. I ignored him and gazed over to Steve. His eyes had dark bags underneath them and they were quite bloodshot and I frowned ever so slightly more as he ran his hand through his hair and scowled that famous Steve Randle scowl.

"Saw her talkin' to another guy," yawned Steve.

I nodded. "Hmm, and then?"

"Told her she was a little slut,"

My mouth gaped open in disgust. "Steve!"

"What? She is!" he cried out indignantly.

"I don't care! You have no right to call her those names!" I sniffed staring at him with disgust. "That's just not right to call a girl that, whether or not there is truth behind it. Evie is a person who deserves the respect from her boyfriend of over a year to not be called a slut!"

"Well it was hardly the first time I've seen her with another guy," pointed out Steve obviously.

I refolded my arms crossly. "So, whenever I'm seen with a guy other than Two-Bit I'm cheating? 'Cause that means I am, with you, right now."

"Pixie, ya know that's not the same," he said rolling his eyes.

I rolled my own. "Now do you think that way of thinking is stupid, Steve?"

"But my case is different."

"You've told me Evie has two little brothers, couldn't it be one of them?"

"She was yelling at him."

"You've seen me yell at Sodapop before," I said bluntly with a little snort. "Who says she wasn't yelling at one of hers too?"

"It didn't look like him," Steve groaned in despair. "Just leave me alone, woman! We're through! That's it!"

I glared at him in annoyance and he flipped me off so I threw a pillow at him and he responded to that by throwing a newspaper at my head. I grunted in annoyance and ditched it back to him, scattering the entire contents across the floor. He then threw his shoe at my head but I ducked just in time. Swearing loudly at him in pure annoyance the front door slammed and Darry immediately grabbed my arm just as I had planned to bodily throw myself at him.

"What on earth are you two doing?" A girl's voice rang out, it was full of laughter and I could almost picture a smile on her face.

The instant the voice came through our lounge room it was sort of like the whole house had froze, well Steve and I did, and gathering from the lack of noise in the kitchen as had Two-Bit too. Darry still had a firm grip on my arm and was staring at me curiously. But I had just been swearing and Darry rarely sees that of all the guys, before he then looked at the ruins of his paper and the tennis shoe, which was now lodged between the armchair, a picture frame, and the wall. As well as at that cushion which conveniently had somehow landed on top of the TV…but as I glanced to Steve he was looking at me too weirdly and I turned around and knew instantly this girl was very, very different than the others.

"Hello." I smiled warmly giving Darry a shove away from me and stood up straighter. "Are you Katherine?"

The blonde haired girl blushed slightly and gave Darry a curious look before glancing back to me with hazel eyes and nodding. "Yes," she said in that same soft voice. I don't know why but I was reminded of an angel.

"This is my sister, Katherine," Darry told her with a smile. "Her names Pixie,"

Katherine raised her brows slightly at me. "Really?"

"And you haven't even met my twin," I said with a wry smile, although she looked puzzled she nodded politely and gave me a serene smile.

"Katherine, this is Steve Randle, he's one of my kid brothers best friends, he's my buddy too." Darry said as Steve put out his hand to shake Katherine's, who giggled slightly when she did so and looked even more flushed at this sort of attention. "The rest are, somewhere," said Darry turning to look at me, and so did Katherine and Steve.

"Two-Bit's in the kitchen listening to every word of this," I beamed happily. "You got him to stop eating! Well done!" I laughed as she threw me a strange look.

"Who's Two-Bit?" said Katherine as Darry laughed.

"And she still hasn't met your twin." Steve muttered with a smirk.

"Me," Two-Bit said announcing his presence as he slung his arm around my shoulder and I rolled my eyes slightly. "So your Alice's sister, that demon is related to you?"

Katherine laughed loudly now. "Emily's brother I take it?" she asked with a grin, her eyes twinkling.

"That's me."

"I've heard a lot about you," Katherine said as she sat down on the couch next to me. "Mostly Emily complaining and Alice telling her to shut up and claiming our brother Alex is worse. I'm more inclined to say they are both demon children who giggle and eat too much and never shut up." Katherine grinned wickedly to Two-Bit. "Or are all little sisters like that?"

"Yes!" Darry and Two-Bit said loudly and I snorted.

"I'm told I don't eat enough and I don't talk as much as Sodapop," I said indignantly folding my arms. "So I take it Emily is friends with your sister, then?"

"Yeah, since junior high I think." Katherine said turning to look at me. "And your little brother too, Ponyboy. Then again maybe it was elementary school I can't remember, it was the year we came up from Oklahoma City though."

My eyes widened curiously as the bored Steve sauntered out of here claiming that he had to go to work and Two-Bit trailed after him. Crossing my legs I turned to look at her with more interest now and examined her long, what looked to be natural blonde hair and gave Darry a sly wink before he left for the kitchen. Since out of all of us Curtis kids I'm the one that has the most problems with the others girlfriends.

"You lived in Oklahoma City? When?" I asked her eagerly. "I bet it was a damn sight more exciting than Tulsa!"

Katherine wrinkled her nose. "No, not really actually, I think we left when I was fifteen. I prefer Tulsa actually, I think the people are nicer," but she paused as I frowned. "Not the socs, well actually they can be. What they do is wrong but you can get nice ones, like you can get nice greasers and hoods."

"I've never yet met a nice hood, Katherine. Have you?" I asked with a little smile. "Dally I suppose was one I guess, but he's still a greaser."

"Call me Katie or Kate please, Pixie, Katherine is too…proper." She said with a disgruntled moan. "And you haven't met my brother's friends, hoods if they're anything. Nice enough but I'd prefer my sister not hang around them all the same."

I paused slightly. "Does Emily?" I asked her hesitantly. "Because I'd prefer she doesn't."

"You really are like her older sister." Kate smiled to me. "Emily told me you acted like one and when I met Darry he told me you did too but I thought it was a figment of their imagination. You know, just thinking you act like that. But you really do."

I felt my face blush. "What have they said?"

"Good stuff I swear," grinned Kate. "That you were fun, and Darry," sh said in a low voice looking at me seriously. "He worries about you a bit. He cares about you and your brothers so much, I'm so glad I've met him. I think he worries too much,"

My heart warmed for her immediately. "I think he does too."

I didn't really say much after that. I couldn't think of what to say with her. Normally when a room falls silence it feels awkward, except in tests or exams when you're too busy writing to notice, but right now it wasn't a awkward silence. It was a peaceful one. I felt Katherine, well Kate, was really taking in her surroundings at the moment and weirdly enough I could feel her smiling. I think perhaps she'd been pressuring Darry to meet us almost as much as I'd been nagging him for months to get a girlfriend. I smiled to myself and stared down at my hands, playing with a bracelet on my right wrist as I began to think about this girl next to me.

I normally wasn't that fond of the others girlfriends, it was the whole Tinkerbell thing put into perspective really. Steve always went for the rather slutty girls who would use him, Evie, I won't deny the fact she fits into that category, but unlike the others she genuinely appears to like him. Sodapop just falls for anyone, and when he does he falls fast and gets hurt. Its funny how he goes for the angelic ones who hurt the most, in truth I think he needs someone with the same whacked out personality as him. Darry never actually had a girl that I didn't like…mainly due to that fact I can't remember any of them and I was too young to actually care at the point when he did date.

Smiling happily to myself that now I had a girlfriend of his to remember I was hit with the feeling that there had to be a reason he was dating again, and this girl next to me seemed to be that excellent reason he'd decided. She had to be special. I just knew it.