tires

four

tulsa was so dull to eden shepard. her parents went missing in a car wreck, and now she lives with her cousin tim. her life was never the easiest but she had an escape.

she loved nature and what mysteries it held in it. she could lie in the grass all day, hang out by the lake or watch the clouds, watching day fade into night.

but eden was also fun. she loved causing trouble and the feeling she got from it. she lived in a different town, right outside of tulsa. she missed her small friend group and ached to go back and visit, but she couldn't face going back to a place that held too many emotions.

—————-TW————- (flashback)
two months earlier

eden walked into her house after a long day of tests and hanging smoking pot behind an old theater. it was awfully quiet and instantly the girl got confused. her parents rarely work late, but they must've had a busy day at their restaurant.

"mom, dad?" she called out.

silence.

she sighed, walking to her room to put her backpack down and grab some fresh clothes.

she then walked into her bathroom, stripping of her clothes that reeked of weed and tossed them to the floor. eden stepped into the hot shower letting the hot steam fill her lungs as she inhaled and exhaled.

after washing her hair, she got dressed and warmed up some leftovers to eat for herself. she put down the food to go turn on the TV in her living room to the few channels that were on. nothing seemed to interest her, so she just turned on the news to see what was going on in her local area and the world in general.

that's when she regretted not turning on a kids show.

"a couple were found dead in a car wreck today in glenpool oklahoma. the suspects seem to have swerved into a lake..."

dropped her food, eden started to shake. she ran as quickly as her legs took her to the phone and called the person closest to her.

after a few rings someone answered.

"hello? who am i speaking to?"

"hey curly, it's eden. i- i- need to talk to your mom immediately."

eden heard her cousin curly hand over the phone.

"sweetie i heard what happened. i'm going to be getting you soon. i'll help you pack and we can talk then, i love you."

tears rolled down her face as the two people she had wished she could save were now gone. she couldn't process it all at the moment but she felt in shock, and deeply upset.

she was about to live a completely different life

—flashback over—

eden is still adjusting to going to school as a junior, making friends and finding out what to do. there wasn't much when you lived somewhere that wasn't rich and if you even walked next to a soc they wanted you dead.

the one day where she wanted to walk around tulsa and leave her depressing guest room in her aunts house, two boys she recognized from school were in her front yard.

she noticed them talking to one another in front of tim's car. then, she looked down at the troublemaker who's name has been heard around school a few times and put two abs two together.

he was slashing his tires.

his lookouts really sucked though.

as she caught him, she looked at his pale face and met his dark and empty eyes. she was quickly blown away until he spoke back to her rudely.

someone has anger issues huh? she thought to herself before rolling her eyes and walking away.

he was a "bad guy" anyways. that's what she knew about him at least but she was never one to give in to bullshit rumors till she knew the person herself.

she continued to walk the opposite way of the three boys ready to explore tulsa on her own.

back at the curtis home though, it was loud and the boys were rowdy.

two-bit was wrestling steve on the floor as mickey mouse played in the background, soda pop was showering since he just finished work, ponyboy was doing his homework with johnny and darry was out at work.

dallas opened up and greeted everyone, sitting down on the couch. after a while, they were all lounging out eating lunch when dally brought up his fight with tim the other night.

"and man," dally continued "i think his cousin or whatever said some shit and snitched, the broad pissed me off!"

this is when ponyboy spoke up. "she just moved here a couple months ago, she's actually really nice. maybe tim knew it was you because people found out you just got released from jail. we all know you still continue to cause trouble after not doing it for a while."

though this was all true, dallas was too stubborn to believe it.

"man pony, quit seeing so much in everyone i don't give a shit. she snitched that's all i fucking know." dallas didn't mean to snap on the boy, but he just couldn't hold it in. he was still recovering from the bruises on his face and body.

"hey dally chill out now." johnny spoke up.

"you've been real bold lately huh john?" dallas replied.

johnny didn't reply, looking down. everyone changed the topic and started talking about work, and school.

ponyboy was still mad at dallas' outburst though, and knew just how to get him back.

——a few days later——

ponyboy was at lunch with johnny when he spotted eden shepard. boy was she a looker. he cleared his throat before getting up, grabby johnny with him and walking to where she was sitting alone.

the two then sat down.

"hey, i'm ponyboy and that's johnny."

"i know, i'm in english with you but you look a bit young compared to the juniors." she smiled

"well i'm a freshman but i'm really good at that class so they put me in a higher one. the only problem is though, i don't really understand the topic we're learning at the moment and i was wondering if you could tutor me? and you could meet our gang, ya know you're sitting alone so i thought you'd need some friends too."

"aw, thanks ponyboy you're real thoughtful but sure i don't mind. i'm not really doing much of anything after school anyways."

"cool, i'll meet you with johnny at the front doors later then?"

the three all started a conversation and got to know each other well. ponyboy and johnny found her to be real nice, making pony feel a bit bad that he wanted a reaction out of dallas at first. but now, he's excited to have a new friend.

let's see what happens when they get home.