Here's the official first chapter to this story. I'd like to thank MiniArtist, nicollerz97, JinLing, and IcyKaky55 for reviewing. From now on I'll try to keep the chapters longer, but it's all subjective. Enjoy!

It was about five months ago.

I walked home from school and sat down on the couch, my books dropping next to me. I wanted to go find one of the guys, but I had some homework and I knew Darry would never let me leave until it was done. And even then, I couldn't be sure because it was a school night.

I picked up my books and walked back to the room I shared with Soda. Both Soda and Darry were at work so I was by myself. I sat down at my desk and opened my math book. I had to answer a few problems that were easy, and I hoped Darry wouldn't find anything incorrect.

Fifteen minutes later I closed my book, finished, and walked back out to the living room. I checked the clock and saw that Darry and Soda would be home soon, so it would not be a good idea to try to sneak out. So I sat down on the couch and started reading my book to pass the time.

Suddenly I heard a loud scream and pounding footsteps. I figured it was another fight at the lot, but my curiosity still got the best of me. I stood up and glanced towards the lot, surprised to find it empty. Then I looked at the sidewalk in front of our house and saw someone pacing.

I could tell it was a girl, but she did not look like any girl I had seen before. Most of the girls around here wore skirts and makeup, and their hair was styled a certain way. This girl was dressed in jeans that looked way too big for her, tennis shoes that looked worn out but not as much as mine, a white tank top, and leather jacket that had seen better days. Her hair was a real dark brown that reached down to her waist, but it was pulled back into a thick braid that bounced off her back. She was average height, maybe a couple inches shorter than me.

I watched her as she kept pacing, her braid swinging out every time she turned, until finally she sat down on the concrete and hugged her knees to her chest. It didn't look like she was crying, but the way her shoulders were moving I could tell she was really ticked off about something.

I set my book down on the table and walked to the door. I didn't know why, but I wanted to go talk to her and make sure she was alright.

I made it down the front steps before the screen door banged shut. She jumped up and turned around at the sound. I couldn't stop myself from flinching at the hard look in her eyes. It was almost as bad as Dally's.

Still, I walked towards her until we were about five feet apart. At that distance, I could see that she was pretty good looking, but she still had an average look to her. Her eyes were dark blue, and for a moment I thought they were violet. She stood there staring at me, and I noticed her fists clench at her sides.

"You okay?" I couldn't think of anything else to say. She kept staring at me, like she couldn't believe I just asked her that.

Then she scoffed and rolled her eyes. "What do you care if I'm okay?" Her voice had an edge to it, but was surprisingly soft.

I shrugged my shoulders and jammed my hands in my pockets. "Heard you scream earlier and I didn't know if you were hurt or something."

Her expression softened a bit in surprise, but she hardened it again. "Yeah that was me. If you really want to know, I screamed because I hate the hell that is my life," she snapped. "Don't go expecting me to spill my life story to you now. You ain't a therapist."

I smiled a little bit when she said that. I liked her. Sure she was mean, but she was different. I could tell that she was the sort of person that if someone told her what to do, she'd tell them to go to hell.

I pulled my cigarettes out of my pocket and pulled one out. I looked at her. "Want one?" I asked, holding the pack out to her.

She hesitated before taking one and pulling a lighter from her jacket pocket. "Don't usually smoke but right now I need it. Thanks." She took a long drag and blew the smoke into the sky.

"My name's Ponyboy, by the way," I said, sticking my hand out.

She looked from me to my hand a couple of times before shaking it. "I'm Alex. Ponyboy a nickname or something?"

I shook my head. "No, it's my real name." I tried to read her expression, but she stayed blank as she put her cigarette to her lips. "I've never met a girl named Alex. Is it short for something?"

"Yeah, Alexandria but if you dare call me Allie you won't be able to see for a week," she threatened, holding her fist up to my eye.

We stood there for a moment, smoking quietly. I noticed that she made a point to blow most of her smoke in my direction, but I didn't say anything. I kept trying to read something in her face, but she kept that hard look up the whole time.

I heard a low rumbling and turned to see our Ford driving up. I turned back to Alex. "Those are my brothers. Want to meet them?"

She dropped her cigarette butt on the sidewalk. "No," she said bluntly, grinding the butt with her heel when she turned and walked away. I watched her disappear around the corner before I felt Soda's hand on my shoulder.

"Hey Pony, who was that?" He nodded in Alex's direction.

I glanced back at him. "Someone who knows how to be different," I said with a smile.

Hope you guys liked this chapter. Just to make one little point clear, Alex really isn't like me at all. I took a Mary Sue test for her and the results said that she was a healthy character that was different enough from me. Not yelling at anybody, just wanted to say that.

Another thing, please don't try to find ways to say that Alex is a Mary Sue. I'm just telling a story here and I'd like to know what you think of it. Thanks for reading.

Ciao,

Kris