The Straw That Broke the Camel's Back

Hello, guys! I'm back with an Outsiders fic! I uploaded this like 3 or 4 years ago and took it down because it needed serious editing. It wasn't up for long. But I freaking love this story and thought that it NEEDED to be on here.

Summary: After their parents' death, the Curtis boys have enough to worry about: school, bills, social workers and more. The last thing they need is more stress in their lives. But when their annoying, stubborn, high-maintenance cousin May moves in, things get rough. This 16 year-old is a well-intentioned, kind-hearted brat. (P.S. May's full first name is Mavis)

I love this fic because May is the absolute opposite of a Mary-Sue character. None of the greasers have any romantic interest in her. She doesn't have a typical "tragic past". And she certainly isn't sexy or mysterious. I love May to death and I love writing her because she's such a little awesome annoying nuisance but doesn't even mean to be.

The story is in first person, from May's point of view, and it takes place at the time of the book. Except Johnny and Dally are still with us. Bless their hearts.

Okay guys, read and review! Let me know what you think! It'll be updated soon if there's a good response ;)
-Vanessa!

It was the summer before my sophomore year of high school when the tiny excuse for a school that I was attending got closed down. It wasn't a very great place anyway. But the problem was that it was the only school in the area. I lived in a tiny hick-town just outside of Blair, Oklahoma and was perfectly satisfied with going to a high school of only 100 students, but the fact of the matter was that there just weren't enough kids.

My parents didn't know what to do with me. My dad Patrick had a solid job at a toothpaste factory, which I thought was kind of funny, and apparently the pay was all right. My mom Anne worked at the bakery. Neither of them wanted to give up their jobs. I didn't expect any better from them anyway; after all, they named me Mavis. I call myself May, to save myself from embarrassment. How nice could they possibly be, giving me a God-awful name like that?

Their solution to the obvious problem at hand? Send me to live with my cousins in Tulsa, Oklahoma until I finish high school. They would be covering all my expenses while I stayed with the Curtis', so I wouldn't be too much of a burden. Financially, at least.

I hadn't seen them in about four years, since the last time they came to stay with us. I remember my mom saying it was a nightmare; she was so glad she'd had just one daughter instead of three sons. Of course, Ponyboy had been ten years old at the time, so that explained his excessive amount of energy. Maybe it wouldn't be such a circus staying with them, now that we'd all grown up a bit.

Blair and Tulsa are only about four hours away from each other, so the drive there wasn't too bad. My parents were being insanely annoying, though.

"Be good!" my mom urged. "God knows I love you, May, but you can be quite the handful."

"Do you think Sodapop is still handsome?" I had completely tuned my mom out, thinking about how gorgeous I thought Sodapop was even when he was 12.

"They're all gonna get ugly, sweetheart, if you give them trouble. Kathy and Darrel are gone. Don't stress the boys out." My mom turned around in the car and gave me a weak smile. I rolled my eyes. It's not that I didn't care about my uncle and aunt. Uncle Darrel was my dad's brother and I know how much he meant to my dad. But my parents had given me that same lecture about twenty times since we'd started driving the previous day.

"Are you saying I'm a brat, Momma?" I half-joked, but added quickly, "Don't answer that."

"Oh, Patrick!" My mom exclaimed, grabbing my father's arm and pointing out the window. My eyes followed her quivering finger: the Curtis' house! "I'd almost forgotten what it looked like." My mom was absolutely beaming. Before my father had even stopped fully, she ripped open the passenger-side door, barking orders at him. "Pat! Open the trunk! Well, gussy up a bit! Do you want to look like a slob or something?"

When we'd finally grabbed all of my bags, we hurried up to the front door and my mom knocked about 537 times. Darry opened the door.

"Darrel!" she squealed, and I saw his eyes double in size as my mom threw herself at him. She grabbed the sides of his face. "You look so grown up! I can hardly even recognize you!" Darry chuckled awkwardly, struggling to regain his footing. I took a step forward, realizing that I came only to about Darry's chest. I wasn't intimidated by him, though; everybody has a breaking point.

My mom pushed past Darry and into the house. "Oh, I haven't visited in ages!"

I took a deep breath. This was going to be a long day.

I honestly felt bad for Darry. He'd stayed home that day so he could welcome us in and help me get situated. My parents had absolutely exhausted him by the time they left (three excruciatingly long hours later), and he still had to help me set up my room.

I'd be staying in Sodapop's old bedroom; he'd moved in with Pony for the most part. I couldn't stop gawking at Darry while he lugged the mattress around on the floor to my satisfaction. Those muscles... He could probably send somebody to the hospital without even breaking a sweat!

"How does this look to you, kid?" Darry asked me breathlessly. I surveyed the room. I didn't like where the mattress was, directly under the window.

"I might feel a draft," I answered. Darry nodded obediently, pushing the mattress further to the right. I made a face.

"No, see," I walked over and flopped down on the mattress. "Now it's too close to the wall."

Darry looked a little impatient. "How about you tell me where you would like it," he wiped his brow, "and then we won't have to keep luggin' the thing around." I got up, standing a couple of feet away from the bed and studying it. Tilting my head to the side, I decided to stop forcing Darry to keep remodeling the room for me.

"You know what? It's fine where it is."

"Oh, good," Darry sighed, relaxing against the wall. He glanced at the clock. "Hey, look at the time! Soda and Pony should be getting home soon."

I smiled. "Is... is Soda still..." I felt a blush creeping across my cheeks. Darry looked confused for a second, then chuckled.

"A looker? Oh, yeah. He's got girls crawlin' all over him," he told me, walking into the hallway. I followed him and we wandered into the living room, flopping down on the couch. Not feeling the least bit awkward about it, I brought my legs onto the cushion and rested my feet just next to Darry.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" I asked, suddenly wanting to know. I guess it was so I could judge how often he'd be out and about. Looking around the living room, I was already making judgments; the Curtis' didn't have much money to go around.

"A girlfriend?" Darry looked kind of taken aback. "No," he shook his head.

"Well, why not?" I asked, not realizing how awful it sounded until it was too late. "I mean, I'm sure there's lots of girls that would love to go out with you," I added quickly. "You're real handsome." And he was. Not really in the stereotypical kind of way, but I'd probably have a crush on Darry if he wasn't my cousin.

My remark seemed to make him feel awkward, though. Darry cleared his throat. "Well, thanks," he said tightly. To my immense relief, Sodapop and Ponyboy burst through the front door just then. A tan boy that looked to be about Pony's age followed them in slowly. I studied him; not bad. He was actually kind of cute.

Darry stood up. "Soda, Pony... say hello to May," he lightly put his hand on my back, pushing me toward them. When I looked at Soda I got butterflies. He was gorgeous! And Pony, well... he still had time to mature, I guess.

"Hey, sweetheart!" Sodapop grinned. "How old are you now, fifteen?"

"Sixteen," I said quietly, still smitten by his good looks.

"Oh yeah," he nodded, "you're only a year younger than me!" I nodded awkwardly, smiling at Ponyboy and the cute tan boy when they greeted me.

"Isn't your real name Mavis?" Ponyboy asked with the most annoying smirk on his face. I glared.

"It's May."

"Isn't it actually Mavis, though?"

"Yes," I said through gritted teeth. Darry shook his head at Ponyboy.

"This is Johnny Cade," Pony finally said, and I realized that the boy hadn't introduced himself. He must have felt just as awkward as I did.

"Nice to meet you, Johnny Cade," I smiled. "I'm... their cousin."

"I heard," he said quietly. Just then the front door opened up again and a tall redheaded boy with a crooked smile came in.

"Woah!" he exclaimed, flopping down on the couch and putting his feet up on the coffee table. "There's a kid in here!"

"Getcher muddy shoes off the furniture, ya hood!" Darry scolded. The redhead didn't seem to notice at all. His eyes were fixed on me.

"Who's this, Pone?" he snickered. "Yer girlfriend?" Ponyboy groaned.

"Ew! Her?" he looked disgusted. I tried not to be offended. "She's my cousin, Two-Bit. 'Member I told you she was coming to stay with us for a while?"

"No," the boy called Two-Bit said confidently.

"Well she is," Sodapop answered. Two-Bit whistled.

"Well gosh, it's going to be hard for Darry havin' another mouth to feed, with y'all bein' so tight on money lately!" Everyone seemed to shush Two-Bit. I immediately felt guilty. How was I supposed to know that I was causing Darry trouble?

"D-Darry, I..." I glanced at him awkwardly.

"Nonsense!" he said loudly, rushing over to me and gently putting his hands on my shoulders. "Two-Bit, you've sure got a big mouth." I stood there silently, very confused by all of this. I was also starting to feel really homesick and queasy. I tried telling myself to calm down. I was going to be staying with my nice cousins for a while, that's all. My parents left me with people I haven't talked to in years, no big deal.

"I'm gonna go to my room now," I squeaked.

I scurried down the hallway and into my bedroom, toppling onto the old mattress that was still too close to the wall for my liking. I sighed. Hard for Darry having another mouth to feed? What was that all about? I don't eat that much... do I? I squeezed my eyes shut, willing away thoughts about my weight. Well... if I was causing Darry stress, the best thing to do would be to think of a way to help him.

I walked over to my suitcase, opening it and taking out some clothes. I absentmindedly put on my dad's old flannel pajama top and a pair of shorts.

Just then, I thought of something. Maybe if I could get a part-time job, I could help Darry with the money. It could cover all the extra costs like 'having another mouth to feed.' I rolled my eyes. Who did this Two-Bit guy think he was, anyway?

The next morning I was awoken by the smell of bacon wafting into the bedroom and the sound of plates clattering in the kitchen. The sun was pouring into the room from a window just above the bed. It was a beautiful, humid morning in August. I looked at the clock; 9:14. I was shocked. Usually sleeping in for me is waking up at seven. I have too much energy to lie in bed all morning.

Throwing the covers off of me, I realized just how humid it was. My skin was sticky. I slowly made my way across the bedroom floor and then down the hall, lazily running a hand through my hair, which was sticking up in all directions. I was almost embarrassed to be seen looking like that. Almost.

I walked into the kitchen awkwardly, spotting an undershirt-clad Darry sitting at the table, Sodapop directly next to him. Darry tore his eyes away from the newspaper to peer at me. He was exhausted, I could tell by the greyness to his skin and the glazed look in his eyes.

"Hey, guys," I said quietly, sitting in the chair next to Sodapop and pulling my legs tight against my chest. I rested my chin on my knees.

"Hi," Soda smiled at me from the corner of his eye.

Everything went silent for a little while, and I let my eyes wander around the kitchen. The quiet was eerie... and I hated it.

"What do you guys do for fun here?" I asked, not really expecting a response from the two zombies sitting around me at the table. "Because I love shopping but there was nowhere to shop back where I lived. So my friends and I would just walk around everywhere because we all knew everybody in the town. It was really cool but at the same time weird because everybody knew everything about each other. You know?"

I don't think I realized how fast I had been talking until I ran out of breath. Darry chuckled, a deep rumbling sound that reminded me of his brawn. I snuck a glance at his arms, fully exposed in the undershirt he was wearing.

"Well this knucklehead here drinks during weekends, much more than he should," Darry gestured to Sodapop, who laughed and rolled his eyes.

There was another long silence and I wondered if the guys were always this boring. I was going to ask where Ponyboy was, but then I remembered what an ass he was being the day before and decided against it. The house was way too quiet today. I let out an exaggerated sigh.

"You can help yourself to some breakfast if you like..." Darry mumbled. Sure enough, there was a picked-over plate of scrambled eggs and a stack of toast on the countertop. I awkwardly stood, opening cabinets until I found a plate. Awkward, awkward, awkward. I think that's the best word to describe my first morning with the Curtis'.