Disclaimer: I own Penny Curtis and Denise Black, maybe a few others through out the course of this story. That's all!

Author's Note: Ahh, well I'm back again! Love me, like me, whatever. Anyway, I know that the Curtis sis fic's are like, supremely hated around here, which is exactly why I decided to write one. I figured it could be fun. I've been reading other sister fic's on this sight and I haven't come across any quite like my little sister, Penny. What's that saying? She's a doozy!

Miss self sufficient

Miss keep your distance

Miss unafraid

Miss out my way

Miss don't let anyone interfere

Miss on her own

Miss almost grown

Miss never let you help her off her throne

-Kelly Clarkson

I'm the baby of my family and I hate it. It's not like there's even that long of time between me and Ponyboy, barely eleven months. But everyone still acts like I'm such an innocent andI haveto be protected. Well, Dallas doesn't treat me like that, which was precisely why I like him.

Steve doesn't either, but that was only because Steve can't be bothered with me. He hardly ever speaks to me anymore, but that's all right. Steve isn't that interesting anyway. Not like Dally...

I've had never been in love, so I ain't real certain, but I think that I might just be in love with Dallas Winston. I think about him a lot and sometimes (okay, a lot of the time) I wonder what it would be like to kiss him. But I'm only thirteen and Dally would never look my way twice. At least, not like that.

Nope, I'm just trying to be a normal girl, leading a normal life, and having a crush on your big brother's friend is part of that. It's kinda hard, though, being a normal girl with no parents and being raised by your three older brothers. It's really hard, actually.

Like, when Darry took me and Ponyboy shopping for new school clothes, for example. I needed new under things and even though Darry's twenty years old and has seen plenty of women's under things in his time, he was acting all embarrassed while I picked out bras and packages of underwear. It wasn't an experience that me, or Darry, ever wish to repeat.

"Next year," Darry had told me as we left Sears. "Soda can bring you guys."

Sodapop isn't embarrassed by my under things at all. He actually has this really a bad habit of putting them on his head. Well, the bra's anyway. And since, at thirteen, I'm already a 34 C, this isn't hard for him. Embarrassing for me, but not at all hard for him.

Mom told me that I'm was just an early bloomer, that it ran in the family. "The rest of your body will catch up soon enough." She said. Darry never talks about that kinda stuff. He nearly had a fit the other day when I announced to the whole gang that I was gonna shave my legs.

Sodapop is much more open minded about it all. He even brings home sanitary napkins for me, but that was only because he gets them at a discount.

But on the particular day that my story starts, I wasn't thinking about bra's, or my period, or my brother's, or even Dally Winston. Okay, well, maybe Dally a little, but that's only because I was reading Lady Chatterley's Lover and I couldn't help thinking about him during some of the racier scenes. Besides, it's all about a forbidden love affair and my alleged love for Dally was, if anything, forbidden.

I jumped and started to hide the book when I heard footsteps on the porch, but I realized it was only Darry and Soda and their friends. They didn't have the slightest clue what Lady Chatterley's Lover was about. It was Ponyboy I was worried about, because he did know, and he was sure to tell Darry. Then the book would get taken away and I'd never know how it ended.

"Whatcha readin', Penny?" Two Bit Matthews asked, trying to get a look at her book.

That's me, by the way. Penelope Curtis, more commonly known as simply 'Penny'. I've just realized that I haven't introduced myself, but I've already told you that I wear a 34 C in bras. I'm weird, what can I say?

I shrugged, hiding the title, just in case. "Nothin'." I got that funning feeling just then, you know when someone's staring at you, and I looked up into the dark eyes of Steve Randle. He was looking right at me! Then his face reddened and he looked away. What was that all about? I wondered to myself. I'd caught him staring at me more and more over the past few weeks. It was weird.Oh well. I mentally shrugged it off and went to put my book away before Ponyboy did come home.

As I dumped the book on my bed, I caught sight of myself in my mirror. I'm a short girl, always have been, with long, boring reddish-blonde hair, ugly green eyes and these stupid freckles across my nose and cheeks. People used to tell me that I looked like that little girl who played Buffy on that old show, Family Affair. Thankfully, I've grown out of that.

I walked back out into the living and smiled at the sight of Dally, who'd just gotten out of jail again. I had noticed, with a sense of happiness, that he was wearing his ring. He'd once fought a drunken Soc for it, and he only gave it to his girlfriends, Sylvia O'Ryan being to latest on this list. But if Dally was wearing it again, that must mean him and Sylvia had broken up.

Hope!

"Where's Ponyboy?" Darry asked me as I flopped back down on the couch.

"Ouch!" Soda yelped. "That was my foot Penny!"

"Well, don't be putting your foot in my seat!" I told him, then I looked at Darry. "I don't know. The movies or something; I wasn't listening."

Darry rolled his eyes. "Penelope, you're such a great help to me." He said sarcastically.

"Yeah. I know." I smiled sweetly at him and scratched my black and white cocker spaniel, Scooter, between the ears.

"Did anyone go to the movies with him?"

"I don't know! I'm not his freakin' keeper! Why does it matter?" I shrugged and picked at the blue polish on my toenails.

Once again, Darry rolled his eyes. "I swear, don't either you or Pony use your heads! I don't want him walkin' around alone, Miss. Penelope Louisa, because he might very well get jumped, just like Johnny got jumped."

I immediately felt bad. Darry was right; I hadn't used my head, and me of all people... "Oh." I said lamely. "I didn't think of that."

"Obviously."

"Wait," Dally said. "You middle name's Louisa?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Yes. You have a problem with that?"

He shrugged and smiled his hard smile. "No."

"Ahem." Darry cleared his throat. "How long has he been gone, Penny?"

I shrugged again. I had been reading the whole time. "A couple hours, maybe?"

"Did he say where he was going, exactly?"

"Just to the movie house." I chewed my lip, one of my worst habits. "I'm real sorry Darry. I shoulda gone with him…"

"Well, I don't think that you can hold off the Soc's any better than he can." Soda told me, rubbing my back.

"Yeah, I'm not mad at ya, Penny." Darry said. "I just wish that you'd use your head once in awhile, you know? God gave it to ya for a reason."

I opened my mouth to apologize again, but Steve cut me off! Jerk.

"Do y'all hear that?" He said, waving his hand at me, when I started to protest his interrupting me. "That yellin'?"

Everyone was silent for a few seconds.

It was faint. "Darry! Sodapop!"

"That's Ponyboy!" Darry jumped up from his chair and was out the door in a flash, the rest of us following close behind.

It wasn't till I was at the end of the block that I realized that I was barefoot and it was the middle of October. I couldn't do anything about it now, but just keep running, trying to keep up with the long strides of older brothers and the rest of the gang.

I, unsurprisingly, was the last one to reach Ponyboy. He was lying on the grass, his auburn hair rumbled and his face cut.

"Stop shaking me, Darry." He was saying. "I'm okay."

"Ponyboy, I'm awful sorry." I said, feeling like I was gonna cry. "I shoulda came with you to the movies."

He looked at me over Darry shoulder. "It's all right, Penny. Don't cry."

"I ain't cryin'!" I protested. "I'm just worried, is all." I lit a cigarette and then handed one to him. I felt like crying.

"We chased 'em out of here." Two-Bit announced, as the others joined back up with us.

"Stupid…" Dally went on to call them every name under the sun. "Kid all right?"

"Yeah." Pony shrugged. "I'm all right."

Dally glanced at me, then took a closer look. "How bout you, Short Cake, you okay?"

A funny feeling settled in my stomach. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just…" I trailed off, not wanting to look weak.

"It's okay." Johnny patted my arm in a brotherly manner. "Don't worry about it."

I smiled at him. "Thanks." I knew that he knew I was about to lose it, and that he was trying to comfort me. That was unusual in our gang and I appreciated it.

I tried to tune the boys out as they spoke. I still felt shaky and I jumped when I felt someone nudge me in the side.

"You even listenin' to me, kid?" Dally was asking.

"What?"

I said, I'm going over to the Nightly Double tomorrow night. You wanna come? Johnnycakes and Pony're comin'."

I shrugged, trying to act nonchalont."Sure, I guess."

"Good deal." Dally paused, he seemed to be mulling over something. "Tell your little curly haired friend she can come too, if she wants. The one with the braces."

"You mean Denise?"

"Yeah."

I shook my head. "Can't. She's gotta baby-sit her sisters tomorrow night." My very best friend in the whole world, Denise Black, hangs out with me all the time, but she has five younger sisters, and she has to watch them when her mom works late.

Dally shook his head. "I like them brats, but there's no way I could deal with all five of 'em at a movie. 'Specially that littlest one. She always wants to sit in my lap."

We had started for home by then and Dally and me were trailing a little behind the others as we walked. "Aw," I told him. "You like it. Rose is a cute little bugger, admit it."

Dally shrugged. He wouldn't admit it. He always claimed that he didn't like kids, but he sure played with Denise's youngest sister. "I guess." He shook his head. "Hey, Steve! Wait up a sec!" He hurried to catch up with Steve and Sodapop.

I shook my own head again. I really liked Dally a lot, but it was true that he only thought of me as the little sister of the gang. It sucked.

"Penelope," Darry asked as soon as I walked into the house. "Where are your shoes?"

"If you'll remember, I didn't have time to put them on." I snapped. I was already in a bad mood over my Dally epiphany. I didn't need this on top of it.

"Well, you're going to catch your death of a cold."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah." I grumbled. He's always on my case!

"I'm goin' to my room." I announced a few minutes later. "If Denise calls, come and get me."

I sighed and flopped back on my bed. I closed my eyes and imagined a place where mom and daddy were still alive, where Darry wasn't yelling at me or Pony all the time, and where fourteen-year-old boys didn't get jumped simply because they wore their hair greased back.

"Hey, Penny" Pony was knocking on my door. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

Pony eased the door open. "You okay?"

I felt that urge to cry again, it was stronger this time and I could feel the tears burning behind my eyes. "It's just…I shoulda went with you, Pone."

He smiled, then winced and touched the cut on his face. "Now what good would that have done? I just got cut a little. They could do a lot worse to you, Penny."

I shuddered, thinking of a certain time, a time that neither my brothers or no one else in the gang knew about, except for Steve. It was right after my parents had died and I was spending most of my time walking around in a fog. I was walking home from school; the nurse had sent me home early. I wasn't far from the DX station and a carload of Soc's was trailing me, they had been for three blocks. As I cut across the lot, they jumped me. One had ripped my underwear and was fumbling with his own pants when Steve came along. He fought them off with a broken Pepsi bottle, gave me his jacket to cover myself with, and took me home. I made him swear not to tell anyone, especially not my brothers.

"Why not?" Steve had demanded.

"Darry has enough on him right now, Steve, trying to take care of us. He doesn't need the extra worry on top of it. Just let it go."

"Penelope, they were gonna…hurt you!" He said. He couldn't even bring himself to say what coulda happened if he hadn't come along.

"But they didn't." Was all I would answer. It was right about then that Steve had really stopped talking to me. We'd never been close or anything, but now he mostly ignored me. Except for the staring. What was up with that?

"Penny?" Ponyboy was saying. "You okay?"

"I'm fine…just thinking."

"Stop before you hurt yourself." He kidded. Pony touched her hair when I didn't laugh at the old joke. "Are you sure you're okay?"

I smiled at him lightly. Something bad was about to happen, I could feel it. "I hope so."