Brother's Best Friend | The Outsiders

Chapter 01.

Bradley had a set routine in place ever since her parents died and Sodapop dropped out of the 10th grade. Her alarm would ring at 5:30 every day, signaling for her to get out of her bed and start to get ready. She loved getting up early, unlike her two younger brothers and the rest of the gang. She got to get into the shower first and get ready without a boy banging on the door yelling for her to hurry.

Showers were one of the escapes Bradley had from the big group of boys she lived her life alongside. The steam engulfing her body as the sun started to rise in the window beside her. Her brown hair sectioning between her fingers as she lathered shampoo throughout. The way you could hear the faint sound of people snoring just outside the door, adding a feel of quiet and peace to the morning.

Bradley rarely put on a lot of makeup, but she put on some to enhance her natural features. For instance, she would apply mascara to her eyelashes, illuminating the color of her eyes. Her eyes. Oh, how much she loved her eyes. Her father loved them, passing the confidence to her over the years. The eyes she had since she was a baby were ocean-strong, swimming with warm, sunlit currents. No matter the instance or struggle Bradley was going through, those blue eyes had a smile of their own.

"Perfect." She would say, smacking lip gloss on her lips.

She would then get changed into one of her few outfit choices. It was normally just a pair of black jeans, a cropped tank top, and a flannel but some days she would switch it up, it really all depended on the day. It was never a dress since the boutiques that sold them had prices in the double digits, something she couldn't afford.

Every morning started like this the events after constantly changed though, so I'll let Bradley take it from here.

- Bradley's POV -

"Morning, Bray." Darry smiled, ruffling his sister's hair.

"Morning, Darry." She said, swatting his hands away from her freshly dried hair.

"Go get your brothers up, please." He said, taking a pan out from under the stove.

"Okay." I shrugged, walking down the hall to Soda and Pony's room.

I walked inside the room where my two younger brothers slept. They never originally shared a bedroom. It all started when our parents died about four months ago and Ponyboy started to get nightmares almost every time he closed his eyes. He never told us what they were about, but we all knew they were about mom and dad by the way he cringed everytime he walked by the frame of our parents.

"Guys, wake up." I said, shaking Sodapop's still body.

"Go away, Bradley." He mumbled, shrugging me off.

"You're going to be late for work and Pony'll be late for school, so get up." I said, ripping their blanket off as I walked out.

"Morning, Doll." Dallas smirked, his morning voice prominent.

"Morning, Dal. Did you stay the night?" I asked, grabbing a piece of toast from the table.

"Yeah. No point in going to Buck's that late." He shrugged.

"Cool. Dar, I'm going to head over to Delilah's place after school." I said, stuffing the books sprawled on the coffee table in my bag.

"Alright. Do you have a test tomorrow, I'm guessing?" He asked, flipping a few eggs on the pan.

"It's on Thursday. Just wanted to work on it a bit earlier." I answered, walking back into the kitchen.

"Alright. Just be home by 10 o'clock." He said, pointing the spatula at me.

"Sounds good." I smiled, leaning against the counter, Dallas smirking at me.

"What, Winston?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"I always knew you were a suck up. You even have a little study group." He said, chuckling softly. I just rolled my eyes at his comment, not in the mood to bicker.

Dally and I have always been somewhat enemies. He thinks I'm stuckup I think he's a hood and we just bounce insults off of one another most of the time we're together. His brown eyes and large ego never had the affect on me that girls would giggle about anytime he strutted by.

"Ready, Bray?" Ponyboy asked, jumping around as he tried to get his foot in his other Converse.

"Waiting on you, Horseboy." I said, kicking myself off the counter and throwing my backpack on my shoulder.

"Have a good day, guys." Darry said as Pony and I walked out.

"Bye!" we both called, shutting the door behind us.

"When you had Mrs. Wilder did you guys ever read Romeo and Juliet?" Pony asked as we progressed towards Johnny's house.

"Yeah, we did. Why?" I asked, looking over at him.

"I just don't really understand it and I have a quiz tomorrow." He shrugged, scratching at his scalp.

"I can help you with it tonight. My quiz isn't till Thursday, so I'll ask Delilah to study tomorrow instead." I smiled lightly at him.

"Really? You don't have to do that, Bray." He said, shaking his head.

"No, it's okay. Darry'll kill you if you bomb that test. I'll help you, don't worry." I insisted.

"Okay. Thank you, Bradley." He smiled as we stopped outside of Johnny's.

"Of course, Kid." I chuckled, giving him a side hug.

"Morning, guys." Johnny smiled, exiting his house and walking towards us.

"Morning, Johnny. Anything happen last night?" I asked him.

"No. They were knocked out when I got home, but they'll be hungover today." He cringed, looking down as we continued to school.

"You can stay with us. You know Darry doesn't care and you told me how they get when they're hungover." I said.

I've always had a soft spot for Johnny. Ever since Ponyboy brought him over one day and he became a part of our group. The way he was in a complete state of panic almost every time you looked at him, pulled at my heart strings and brought sympathy to my eyes.

"Thank you, Bray. Really." He answered, smiling up at me.

"Of course, Johnny." I said, hugging him into my side.

We arrived at school, each of us groaning in disgust. It was almost as though the atmosphere turned dark and gloomy. The color of everyone's eyes drained as they set foot in the corridors, backpack feeling like 1,000 pounds and eyelids barely open. It was treacherous but somehow I loved every second.

a/n: Hey guys! Quick question, would you want shorter chapters around every other day or longer chapters once or twice a week? Lmk and thank you for reading as always!!