A/N: I am sooo sorry for this late update! I really am! I'll tell you why it's a bit late at the end of this chapter. This chapter is more of a filler but i promise things will start to pick up in the next one. I am soo sorry and please excuse this short and crappy chapter! oh, i just had to say, i picked this quote because I am IN LOVE WITH THE PERCY JACKSON SERIES! If you guys want to read some awesome Percy Jackson Fanfics, check out Kazoquel4's stories!
I do not own The Outsiders.
My dear young cousin, if there's one thing I've learned over the eons, it's that you can't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it."/em/p
Rick Riordan, The Sea of Monsters
"Come on, Sleepyhead! It's time for school!" James shook his sister awake./p
"Rebecca groaned and lazily swatted at James as she turned around so her back faced her brother. "Five more minutes," she said sleepily.
James snatched the blanket and Rebecca shivered at the sudden rush of cold air. "Five minutes my butt," James said stubbornly. "You're gonna be late, Becky."
Rebecca sighed and sat up to show James that she was awake. "Happy? I'm up," she said tiredly.
James grinned. "Good. Get ready and come downstairs for breakfast," he said and with that he left.
Rebecca counted to five before she lay back down. Five minutes never hurted anybody, Rebecca thought vaguely as she drifted back to , she immediately regretted it when James came bounding up the stairs.
"REBECCA BAILEY MEYERS! I can't believe you're still sleeping," James said with a disapproving tone.
Rebecca shot up from her bed the minute James started yelling. "Okay, Jamie. I'm up. Are you happy?" James looked thoughtful for a second and Rebecca felt dread spread over her as she watched a mischievous smile spreading across her brother's face.
"This requires some punishment," James said while cracking his knuckles. Rebecca gave James a confused glance. "What are you talking about, Jamie?"
"The tickle monster has now been unleashed!" James shouted as he jumped onto Rebecca's bed and started tickling her.
"What?! Jamie, no!" Rebecca tried to say in between her fits of laughter.
"Ha! I've got you now Re." James chuckled as he continues to tickle his little sister.
"What in the world is going on here?" A voice near the doorway asked.
Both siblings looked up to see their father in the doorway with his eyebrows raised.
"Oh, just punishing your daughter. She's a rather naughty child," James said in a disapproving tone as he digged his fingers into Rebecca's sides. Rebecca bursted out into laughter as she threw pleading glances at her father.
Unfortunately, her father only chuckled as his kid's antics. "Don't be too late now," he said before he left the room.
"Wait, Daddy! You can't just leave me like this!" Rebecca shrieked as she tried to run away from her brother. She heard her father's booming laughter from the other side of the house and she knew she was screwed. She turned towards her brother and brought her hands out in a show of surrender.
"Truce, James! How about if I don't come down in five minutes, you can tickle me all you want?" Rebecca reasoned.
James playfully narrowed his eyes at her and quickly nodded his head. "I'm watching the time, Re." He warned her before going back down the stairs.
Rebecca rolled her eyes and quickly grabbed a pair of old jeans and a sweater and ran to the bathroom. She hastily pulled on her clothes, brushed her teeth and pulled her dark hair into messy ponytail. She bounded down the stairs as fast as she could but when she took a turn into the hallway, she crashed into Linda and made her drop everything she was holding. I really need to look where I'm going, Rebecca thought grumpily as she rubbed her head.
"Rebecca," Linda said in an annoyed tone. "Please watch where you're going. I could of have broken these books."
"But you didn't." And I don't think you can break books, Rebecca thought silently as she joked around with Linda to lighten the mood but all Linda did was pursed her lips into a thin line. Rebecca started to help Linda pick up the books but Linda waved her away.
"Go eat your breakfast," Linda said a little too harshly but Rebecca quickly got up and went to the kitchen.
"Hey James," Rebecca said as she took a seat in the kitchen.
"Here's your breakfast, Becky," he replied as he placed a bagel in front of her.
"Thanks," she said as she absentmindingly chewed on her bagel. "James," she called out. "Why does Linda hate me?"
James gave his sister a quizzical glance. "She doesn't hate you," he said as he took the seat in front of her.
"Well, then why does she treat me like I'm a bug or something?" Rebecca rephrased.
"I think she's trying to adjust to the fact that she has to try to be mother to two kids now," James said softly.
"Maybe," Rebecca replied although she wasn't entirely convinced.
James smiled and reached out to ruffle her hair. "Come on, kiddo. You're gonna be late for school," he said as he walked out of the kitchen.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Rebecca grumbled as she took one last bite out of her bagel and followed her brother out the door.
"Okay, you can't get too comfortable with me driving you to school," James said as they finally arrived at the high school.
Rebecca narrowed her eyes at him. "Why not?" She demanded, hoping she didn't sound too bratty.
James winced. "Because school starts for me and I'll only be home for the weekends," he said apologetically.
"Oh," Rebecca said, not knowing how to respond to that.
"I promise I'll be home for the weekends. Those can be our days," James said sincerely.
"Pinky promise?" Rebecca asked while holding out her pinky.
"James rolled his eyes and wrapped his pinky around his little sister's. "I pinky promise," he said sincerely.
Rebecca grinned and kissed his cheek. "You know, in the ancient times, a pinky promise signified that whoever broke the promise, would get his pinky cut off?" Rebecca said.
"James blinked. "I'll keep that in mind," he smiled at her.
"Good, 'cause I'd really hate to chop off your little pinky," Rebecca winked and climbed out of the car. If Rebecca would've known what happened in the near future, she would've ran back to the car and demand James to stay home and attend college instead of leaving altogether. If Rebecca had known, she could've stopped her brother from walking out for her life. But of course, she didn't know what he would figure out and leave her…