Summary: She thought she was in it to fix his story. He showed her she was there to find her own.

Guiding Destiny

Chapter 1

I squinted against the bright sunlight as I walked out of the movie theatre. My brother, Ponyboy, and I had gone to see a Paul Newman movie. Ponyboy likes Paul Newman. In fact, he wishes he looked like him, because Paul Newman is tough and doesn't have green eyes.

I myself kind of look like a combination of all three of my older brothers, who take care of me since our parents got killed in a car accident eight months ago. My build is like Ponyboy's, except that I'm a girl; my hair is the same color as Sodapop's – and yes, that's his real name, it says so on his birth certificate; and my eyes are the same color as Darry's. Except that my eyes have feeling, whereas Darry's are cold and hard, like ice.

I thought about my life as we walked. I'm a girl greaser, the only one in our gang. Everybody accepts me, though, and lets me hang out with them, because I'm a Curtis. They kind of protect me, too, especially my brothers, even though they did teach me how to fight. I don't fight too often, but the rich kids, or Socs, gang up on us sometimes, and you have to be prepared. You have to be tough, like me.

I glanced over at Ponyboy and smiled when I saw him looking at me. I am a year younger than him, and we get along great since we're so close in age and so much alike. We're both quiet, and we like reading and sunsets. I'm the only person Ponyboy can watch a movie with, too. With anyone else, he feels like somebody is reading a book over his shoulder.

Ponyboy slowed down a bit, so I did, too. I wondered if something was wrong, but then he kept going at a normal pace.

So anyway, back to the gang – there's Two-Bit, the wisecracker of the bunch who drinks beer all the time and is good at stealing things and likes Mickey Mouse. He watches it at our house all the time, it's so funny. Then there's Steve, who doesn't like me and Pony. He is Soda's best buddy, but he thinks me and Ponyboy are kids and tagalongs.

Ponyboy sped up a little, so I quickened my pace. Maybe he had noticed a car full of Socs trailing us. I glanced behind us, but didn't see anything. We slowed down again for several steps, then went back to a normal pace.

Dally is one of the other members of our gang. He is hard and mean with a police record that's a mile long. Pony and I both think he's kind of scary. In an elf-like way. And finally, there's Johnny, who is kind of like the gang's pet. He makes us think of a scared puppy that's been –

"Okay, what is going on?" Ponyboy had stopped walking and was glaring at me.

I shifted back and forth. "Uh . . ."

He waited a few seconds, I guess for something more useful, but I was kind of at a loss for words. He finally raised his eyebrows. "Look, I'm not sure what's going on with you, and I was fine with you sitting next to me at the movie. I even would have walked you home if you had asked."

I gave my brother a confused shrug. "What's wrong, Ponyboy?"

He wrinkled his brow at me. "Do I . . . know you?"