The Delinquent's Daughter {An Outsiders Fanfiction - Sequel to Hope}

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A/N: I thought you guys could use a nice update to wake up to today :) 5 votes and 4 comments for the next chapter?

When I woke up the next morning, my favorite pair of Jeans was sitting on the floor next to me, along with a white shirt and cardigan. It was my favorite outfit, one I wore often, and had left out to wear the night before I left my own home. I didn't have a clue as to how it got here. I picked the clothes up and looked at the clock. It was a half earlier than I usually awoke, but I figured I should at least try to get out of Faith's hair early.

I got ready quickly, grabbing a piece of bread on the way out for breakfast. I arrived at school around an hour after I woke up, still earlier than most people would be there. I was surprised to see Eli standing by his locker.

"Hey," he said. He didn't hug me, or kiss me, or even say good morning like usual.

"Hi," I said. I gave him a small smile. "What's up?" I felt nervous for some reason.

"I waited for you after school yesterday. You weren't here. I asked Faith where you were and she wouldn't even look at me. Any idea what's going on?" He asked. My heart started to race. I didn't want to talk about all of this right now, I didn't want him to know Faith and I were fighting, I didn't even want him to know I was with Alex. But I didn't want to lie to him either.

"I was hanging out with a friend... I'm sorry I wasn't there," I apologized. He shrugged.

"Is Faith okay?" He asked. I shrugged. Really, I didn't even know. She seemed better last night, but I wondered if maybe she was just worrying about me.

"I think so. She's just upset," I explained.

"About what?" He asked.

"It's complicated," I told him. I still wasn't sure if it would bug him if I told him why she was mad. It was more at me than at him but still. I didn't want to make anything worse than they were.

Faith came over a second later, and stopped next to me.

"Hey," Eli and I simultaneously greeted her.

"Hey," she said in a monotone voice. We both looked at her, waiting for something else, but she didn't say anything.

"Faith," I said after a moment, but she shook her head.

"I gotta get to class, Hope." I just sighed, walking her walk off. I watched Eli's eyes follow her, and I suddenly felt like I had been stabbed in the back.

"What's going on with her?" Eli asked me. I stared at him for a second.

"What's going on with you?" I responded. He gave me a weird look.

"Something... Something's going on?" He said, confused. I didn't even know, but I had a feeling.

"Do you like Faith or something?" I accused. He stared at me.

"What?" He asked. I repeated myself, although I knew he had heard me. The room turned an icy cold, but I was sweating as I pulled my cardigan closer around myself.

"Why would you think that?" He asked me. I didn't know exactly, I couldn't answer the question, so I fired something back that came to my mind when I saw him watching her.

"Why do you care more about her than me?" He froze.

"What?" He asked after a moment. It was quiet, and I took a deep breath so I wouldn't panic. I knew I had screwed up. He looked more upset than I had ever seen him.

"Do you really think that?" He asked. I nodded, but every second was making my mind scream more about how wrong I was. There was no turning back now though.

"That's not true," he said. "It's not," he repeated. I just stared down at my feet. He was hurt. I had hurt him, and just a few minutes ago I had been trying to protect him and his feelings. I sighed.

"She's my friend, Hope. You introduced me to her. I've been spending all of my time with you and her, so of course I care," he told me. "Just not as much as I do about you." I believed him.

"I'm sorry," I told him. I was scared that he would break up with me right now, and I didn't know what I would do without him. I didn't know how I would have survived the past few weeks without him by my side.

"Whatever, Hope," he said. I had to blink back tears.

"I was wrong," I told him desperately. "I'm sorry." Eli just shrugged, giving me a weak smile.

"It's okay, Hope. I'll see you, okay? I gotta get to class." He kissed my cheek and walked off, while I stood there, stunned. The bell rang about a minute later and I was still standing there. Alex came up to me a few seconds before that and just stood there. She smiled at me, patted my shoulder.

"I see what you're talking about," she told me. "He doesn't treat you well." My heart sank down even further, because that wasn't what I had meant.

"He does," I argued. "I just... I just thought that he might have liked Faith a little bit. I shouldn't have even mentioned it, though." I shook my head, laughing even though there were tears running down my cheeks.

"He doesn't deserve you," Alex told me. I blushed, but I knew it wasn't even nearly true.

"I don't deserve him," I corrected. I really didn't. She smiled.

"You deserve someone better," she said. I just shrugged.

"I really don't want to talk about this," I told her. She nodded understandingly.

"What do you want to talk about?" She asked me. I didn't know.

"Should we be getting to class?" I asked, but I was still distracted. I would have stayed out, we were both going to be marked late anyways, but I couldn't afford to completely skip another class. My mother would kill me, and I'd probably get suspended too.

"Let's just wait a few minutes, you look upset still." I nodded, and sat down in front of the lockers, sliding my backpack down on the floor next to me. I thought of all the fights I had gotten into in this hallway, all the times I had sank down in this exact spot on the floor, crying in front of everyone for various reasons, and I realized how much I hated this place. This school. This town. Nothing was going good right now. My plan would start tonight, I was going to get out of here.

A/N: What do you think of the plan?