Times Change [UNDERGOING EDITS]

Chapter One

I had two things on my mind as I stepped out onto the front porch, Elvis Presley and Ponyboy Curtis. the two of them had nothing in common, of course. I was just wondering where my little brother had run off to, and I just really liked Elvis.

"SODA! DARRY! WIN-" the shout was cut off but it sounded just like the little brother in question. I looked around wildly and saw him surrounded by a bunch of Socs.

"Darry! Soda!" I called over my shoulder before I took off running.

I smashed my Pepsi bottle over the head of the nearest Soc and kicked another off of Pony. Another came at me so I punched him in the stomach and kneed him in the face when he doubled over. I pulled my switchblade out of the back pocket of my jeans and flipped it open. But before I could do much with it, I heard footsteps behind me which meant the gang was on their way.

The Socs took off running, now outnumbered. I dropped to my knees next to Ponyboy, pocketing the blade.

"Winnie?" he asked shakily as I helped him sit up.

"It's okay, Ponyboy, they're gone now. We ain't gonna let nothing happen to you," I said soothingly. I pulled a handkerchief out of my pocket and dabbed the cut on his temple, "They got you pretty good didn't they, kid?"

There was something very different about my youngest brother, but, like, different in a good way. He was probably the deepest thinker I had ever met. He enjoyed sunsets and movies and all those things the rest of us never made time for. He had long sandy colored hair, and only being fourteen, he was the youngest of the gang. 

"Are you alright, Ponyboy?" our oldest brother, Darry, asked, kneeling next to us.

"I'm okay" Pony mumbled. The poor kid was shaking like a leaf.

Darry was twenty, and had been left in charge of all us hoodlum kids after our parents died in a car wreck about a year previous. He was tall and had dark brown hair that cowlicked out in the back. I always thought that he looked just like Daddy, but his personality was the exact opposite. Darry's icy eyes always looked determined, and he was guided solely by fact and logic.

Ponyboy was rubbing his cheek. "They didn't hurt you too bad did they?" Darry asked, jamming his fists into his pockets. Ponyboy shook his head slowly.

Sodapop came bounding over, "You got a little cut up huh, Ponyboy?"

"I did?"

I took my handkerchief off his forehead and showed it to him, "Well what do ya think i'm holding this to your head for? Kicks?" He looked like he was about to start bawling so I helped him to his feet and we wandered back towards the house.

"And nice job fighting those Socs, Sissy," Soda grinned, nudging my arm. I laughed as did a few dramatic fight moves for the effect. I sat Ponyboy on the porch steps and plopped down next to him.

Sodapop, both the bane of my existence and one of my best friends, was my twin brother. In my opinion, Sodapop looked like a movie star. He was slimmer and shorter than Darry and had dark gold hair that he kept combed back. His dark brown eyes seemed understanding and reckless at the same time. In sixteen years I had never quite figured out how that worked, but that was Soda for you, always full of surprises. 

The rest of the guys always said that the devil hung up his hat the day the Curtis twins were born. As wild and crazy as the two of us were when we were apart, we were ten times as bad together. But unlike the rest of them, neither of us ever went near alcohol or cigarettes. Soda was hyper enough without that stuff, and I just felt like I was better off without it. 

"Don't encourage her," Darry grumbled. "She shouldn't be looking for fights, she could get hurt." 

"Any of you would have done the same thing!" I argued, "But you ain't worried about them getting hurt! I'm the only one who every gets into trouble for fighting because i'm the only girl."