The Outsiders: Book Two

Red in the River

Red had come with me without hesitation, and she seemed ready to kill. She stood perfectly straight, her tread tense and her chin high. She pulled the little daisy gently out of her braid, then commenced to ripping out the rubber band that held it there, mussing up her hair so it would fall loose.  

Red would have looked proud, and regal almost, but her fist shook, and I noticed the daisy was about to become a daisy-colored blob if I didn't rescue it. I plucked it out of her hand quickly, and tucked it behind her ear, flashing a smile. Red's ice-colored eyes flicked to me curiously, and her face softened a little as a small smile moved her lips. We turned the corner, where the green Ford Galaxy sat, gleaming in the sunlight. I opened the door for her on the passenger side, and she hesitated. 

"Go on, I'm not gonna kill you, not after all the much better opportunities I've had," I said patiently, smiling in sarcasm. 

"Where are we even going?" she asked. 

I had planned this previously, so I knew exactly where we were going, but I shrugged and gave her a mischievous smile. "If I told you that, you would know." 

"That's the point of my asking." 

"Well that's just no fun." 

She sighed, but said, "Fine, as long as I'm away from your dumb idiot of a brother." 

I felt a twinge of guilt as a wave of relief washed over me, but sped down the streets of the East Side, until we ended up not too far from my house, in fact, it was only two streets away. I stopped the car by a bridge that had a now frozen stream running under it. I got out, and went to Red's side to open her door, but she popped up from it before I got a chance. 

"Drives nice," she said, grinning coolly. 

I smiled back and stepped closer, scooping her up into my arms as she protested. 

"Nup. C'mere, I got somethin' to show ya," I said simply, beaming at her.  

Red stopped wiggling and laughed lightly. "Alright, Pony. Hurry up, you're making me feel like a little girl." 

"You are a little girl," I retorted jokingly, tossing her up into the air and catching her again. 

She laughed and her eyes twinkled. "I am not! I'm fourteen, same as you!" 

I rolled my eyes. "Which is why you weigh negative forty pounds, sister." 

It was Red's turn to roll her eyes as I set her back on her feet. We were right at the side of the bridge, a steep hill leading down to the riverbank. I extended a hand to her, and she flinched. I felt a pang of sadness. Really, if you move too fast around that girl she nearly jumps out of her skin. I'd hate to think about what happened to her to make her like this.  

I slowly wrapped my hand around her wrist, being careful to not make her jump, and stepped carefully down the gravelly hill, making sure she followed suit and didn't fall and kill herself. We were doing a pretty good job too, until she stumbled, and almost went into the half-frozen stream. 

"Sorry," she gasped, steadying herself on me.  

I waved her off, chuckling lightly. "For what?" 

She mumbled something, and blushed. Gosh, I loved it when she blushed. I led her under the bridge. It may have seemed kind of stupid, but I had started coming to this bridge a lot in the past two months. The underside of it was perfect. In warm weather, you never got too hot, and you could see the sunrise and set perfectly from here. 

Red strayed to the waterside and stared into the ice. I remembered her doing that before, when I had found her at the fountain. Why, though? I wondered, moving next to her. Her eyes flick to my reflection in the thin ice, then back to her previous focus. I didn't see what she could possibly have been staring at, though-it wasn't her reflection though.