Sodapop Curtis: Enemies or Lovers?

Chapter one

"Valencia, are you coming?" My best friend Tina yelled from downstairs.
"Give me a sec!" I replied, packing a few more things into my suitcase.
"We're gonna be late, hurry up!" She shouted. I sighed as I rushed to zip up the suitcase and made my way downstairs.
"You know, it only takes 5 minutes to get to the airport, it's not that far." I explained.
"I know, but I'm just so excited. Come on, let's go."

Me and Tina have been living together for a while now. She has a rich family, whereas I was from the streets. The only good I got out of it was that I was pretty tough for a girl. But her family took me in when my parents died. They're not the typical rich and snobby upper classes that look down on you. They bought us a house, and it's been amazing.

Tina and I arrived on the plane, and found our seats. "Im just worried that the Americans are gonna make fun of our European accents, they act so surprised when we're not one of them." Tina said, sliding her bags under her seat.
"Well if they have a problem with us, they'll have to go through me first." I said proudly, sticking my nose up.
"You're so dramatic Val," she chuckled. "Let's not forget you're only 5'2." My proud face fell. I hated my height. I act a lot tougher than I look, which is embarrassing. Not many people are intimidated by me, until I throw in a good punch.
"Whatever Tina. I can still put up a fight though." I chuckled, whilst putting her in a headlock and messing up her hair. She laughed, and pushed me away.

"I still don't understand why we're going to Tulsa. It's full of gangs, isn't it?" I asked. Her parents were rich, so you would think they would take us to a nicer place.
"Truth? I asked to go there. I know it's not your ideal place, but I admire you. You're not scared of anything and you know how to handle everything. And that's because of where you grew up. So I thought if I lived somewhere like that for a while I might be more like you." She explained, looking down at her bright red nails.
I felt a wave of happiness, not many people compliment me based on who I am. I only get compliments for my looks, really. I have tan skin with freckles over my nose and cheeks, hazel eyes and pouty lips. My brunette hair was long and wavy and it pretty much always seemed healthy. I guess you could say I was pretty, but I wish people saw more to me than just my appearance.

"Thanks, Tina. But trust me, places like that aren't nice at all. You have to eat to survive, and to steal to eat. Nothing comes easy there. There's always a chance you could get badly hurt, and the police don't care. Not about us." I said, remembering how hard it was for me back then.

"Wow. Im sorry, Val. I didn't think it would be that hard to just survive." She apologised.
"It's okay, you wouldn't understand. It's not your fault." I said, flashing her a reassuring smile. She smiled back, and bent over into her bag. She took out a crossword puzzle book, and put her earphones in. "You don't mind, do you? I get anxious on planes so I have to distract myself like this." She asked apologetically.
"No, no, it's fine. Carry on." I smiled.

I looked out of the airplane window, deep in thought. I was excited to move away from all the memories that I had to live with. Especially my parents. I was a single child so I had no other siblings to go to. I had no choice but to go to a foster home. But that's when Tinas parents came in. They saved me.

I woke up to Tina poking my arm.
"We've landed." She said, grinning ear to ear. I matched her face as we heard the pilot through the speakers. We took our belts off and picked up our bags and suitcases. As we exited the plane, a gust of warm air coated our faces. It smelt polluted and ashy. Like the whole country was smoking a cigarette. We hollered a taxi - cab, as they call it in America - and told them our destination. The driver sighed and muttered "good luck" under his breath. Tina and I exchanged confused glances, but shrugged it off. Little did we know that we would need it.

Eventually, we arrived. We saw our street, and there were kids running around, chasing each other with sticks. There were men in groups smoking and leaning against walls. There was a sofa-bed looking thing in the middle of the street with old blankets and dirty newspapers. I figured it could be a homeless persons set up.
"Well?" Tina looked at me as if she was waiting for my approval. I smiled her. "It sure seems cosy." I joked.
"Well, I think we'll get used to it. And who knows. Some people might kill to live here." She said optimistically. That's one thing I liked about her. She was always positive about things.