Edith George- An Outsiders Fanfic

Twenty-Four

Halfway into the night, Edith woke up with a gasp, breathing heavily, and looked around the room. She noticed it wasn't her room and took her a little while to comprehend where she was again. She remembered her parents being away and remembered Darrel was watching over her until Monday. The room was clean and looked the same as it was a year ago. Edith remembered the layout of the room like it was yesterday. However, it didn't occur to her that she was saddened to be in the room because the people who's room it was, had passed, and she was more concerned about the way she felt.

Getting up, she groaned and sat on the edge of the bed before going anywhere else. She didn't feel sick, but she felt like someone had thrown ten baseballs at her and she didn't catch any of them. Closing her eyes and taking in a deep breathe, she stood up and walked over to the door. Opening it, she did a double take and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She brought her hands quickly to the dresser, looking herself over. 

"Oh..." She mumbled. "No." She shook her head. "No. No. No." She shook her head again, not wanting what had happened to her to be real. Her face did not look the same. From being punched in the face twice. Her lip was slip and had a small scab and she noticed the puffiness on her bottom lip, right in the middle. Her eyes were dark and had puffy circles, almost making her seem like she had black eyes or very dark eyes from lack of sleep. She a cut on her nose between her eyes and it was a thin line that was scabbed over.

Her side was slightly bruising from the kicks she had taken, but other than that, she was going to be all right. Tears threatened to fall and she decided to get away from the mirror before she cried more or broke the mirror. Finding a blanket from the chest at the end of the bed, Edith laid if over top of the mirror before leaving downstairs to cool off.

Downstairs, she entered the kitchen and filled a cup with water. Pacing around the main floor, she came across someone asleep in the living room. It was about two thirty at night, no one had went to bed until midnight when Edith was settled in the room upstairs. Edith furrowed her brows, wiping her face with her hand and noticed who it was. She wondered why they weren't upstairs asleep in their bed.

Not wanting to bother them, Edith went back to the kitchen and kept the lights off so she didn't wake Sodapop. He looked tired and the blanket was falling off his lower half of his body from his movement on the couch. Finishing her water, she went to place the glass on the counter, but missed and it fell onto the floor. Shattering into a million pieces, she cursed under her breath.

Soda jumped awake, hearing something and looked around at the windows. He wondered if someone had broken in or not, rushing off the couch, he about fell into the coffee table from head rush. Stopping at the kitchen, he wondered why Edith was awake and why she was even out of bed. He rushed into the kitchen. "Back away." He told her. She got spooked and looked over to see him in the kitchen instead of the couch.

"Soda." She gasped.

"Come on, Ede, I'll help you back upstairs and then I'll clean this up."

She shook her head. "No, I can do this." She said, lowering and picking up the glass shards with her bare hands. Soda sighed, walking around her and grabbed a broom from the corner, he started cleaning up the glass and she stood up, throwing the glass away into the trash. She remained by the corner, keeping a hand on her chin in attempt to hid herself. She did not like the way she looked. It was okay for the boys to look bad every once in a while, but not her, she could not accept that.

Once Soda finished the glass, he walked over to her and she turned away. "Hey, you all right?" He asked, setting a hand on her shoulder.

She nods. "I'm fine."

"Let me hel-"

"I'm fine, Soda." She stood her ground. Because she was hurt, she did not want sympathy from anyone. She could not show her weakness, no matter how much she wanted to cry. "Just-Just head back to bed."

He sighed, inhaling deeply, knowing something bothered her. "You can tell me whatever's on your mind, Smarty. Don't beat yourself up about what happened."

She turned around. "Soda, I'm not beating myself up. I already got that and I ain't even a Greaser, let alone a guy who fights for fun." She shrugged. "If Darry hadn't shown up or if I hadn't of ran in this direction, things would be a lot worst than what they are."

"I-I know." He nods, unable to see her good because of the dark kitchen they stood in. She was glad he could not see her. "Things could have gone worst, but they didn't. You got jumped, so what? We all do. I know how you feel-"

"No." She shook her head. "You don't...Because girls do not get jumped. Okay," She tells him. "I went home and read a book, fell asleep, forgot what time it was. I come here and because I walked alone, someone took advantage of that."

"It won't happen again." He said. "We've got your back. Now, let me help you to your room."

"I can do that myself. Thank you, though."

He nods. "Night, Edith."

"Good night, Sodapop."