The Outsiders: Dally's little sister

From New York to Oklahoma?

SOPHIE'S P.O.V.

The day my parents died down right sucked. And it didn't even suck because they died. In New York, I went to the crappiest school in the crappiest part of the city. Ya had to be tough to get by up there. When I woke up in the morning to the sound of the passing cars and the newsboys yelling about some newspaper article, I knew it was gonna be a crappy day.

It was really cold that morning. I always kept my window open at night because I liked to go to sleep with the sound of the cars and horns and talking, but it was cold as hell in the morning. I rolled out of my bed and ran over to my window. I looked around and peeped my head out for a moment to breath in the city air. We lived on the fourth floor of our apartment, and right next to the harbor. The air already smelled like fish from the morning haul. I looked down to find George already standing with his red bicycle. George and I had been friends since the first grade. He was one of the only friends I had here. I used to have a brother named Dallas who I was really close to, but about four years ago, he moved back to where we used to live before I was born. He and I were best friends, and then he left me here. Alone. So now I have George. George is a year older than me. He is fifteen and I'm fourteen. 

He looked up at me in surprise. "Ya comin' Sophie? School starts in ten minutes and I can't be late this time, not for you girly." He said.

Great. I was already late to school. "Just a sec Georgey, get the cycle ready to go!" I yelled from my window. 

He put two thumbs up and smiled his goofy smile. I quickly shut the window and ran over to my dresser. I didn't have a lot of clothes cause' we weren't exactly the richest. Most girls wore dresses to school, but all the dresses I wore would get ripped in a fight or would prevent me from running fast, so I usually just wore blue jeans. Once I was dressed, I grabbed my bag and sprinted for the door.

My dad was passed out on the floor and my mom on the couch. Couldn't even make it to bed. My parents have always been heavy drinkers, but they only recently started all the fighting. They fought a lot before Dallas left, but then after they stopped. Until about a month ago. Whenever they fight, there is yelling. Whenever they drink, there is fighting. And whenever there are fighting and drinking. They hit me. It's a pretty raw deal. I never got a choice in who to live with, and whenever I go to child services with cuts and bruises from the beatings, they just assume I was in a street fight. I'm labeled as a hoodlum just because of where I live. It has to be different somewhere. Somewhere like where Dally lives. 

I try to avoid my parents altogether. They stopped loving me a long time ago. They stopped loving both me and Dally, and that's when he left. He tried to convince them to let me go with him, but they said no. I don't know why they don't love me. 

I ran down the spiral staircase and on the last flight, tripped and fell. I ripped a hole in my knee and scraped it. I ran out to meet George. "You look like crap." He said as I hopped in his bicycle basket.

"I always look like crap, what's new," I replied. 

George shrugged and began to pedal. I gave myself too hard of a time. I was actually kind of pretty if I tried to be. I had long brown hair, much lighter than my brother's. I had bright green eyes and my face was sprinkled with freckles. My cheekbones were high and sharp which constructed my face kinda good looking I guess. I always wore my hair in a ponytail that went down to the middle of my back. My hair was naturally straight, but if I braided it after I took a shower, it was curly. I was kinda tall for my age I guess. I was about 5'8. George said I wasn't gonna grow anymore, though. I wasn't super skinny but based on the amount of food my parents feed me, (Which is none) I was pretty thick. 

The rest of the day was horrible also. I was flunking all my classes and got called into the principal's office for getting into a fight at lunch. "So tell me what happened Ms. Winston." He said calmly.