Golden

One; Jumped

One; Jumped

{Linden's POV}

I honestly don't know why they decided to jump me.

Maybe it's because I'm a girl. Maybe it's because I was walking alone. Or maybe it's because I'm so much shorter than them all. I'm five feet even, in case you were wondering.

I live a block or so away from the Curtis place, so I always walk there myself, alone. I've never been jumped before, but I've seen Johnny after he'd been jumped, a couple months ago. It was horrible.

I was about a house away from turning onto the Curtis's street, when a car load of about four or five Socs pulled up next to me.

They had taunted me, calling me inappropriate names, whistling at me. I ignored them, but they didn't like that very much.

They hopped out of the car, and surrounded me.

The last thing I remember was screaming for the gang, before a black curtain fell on my vision.

•••

I woke up to someone laying me down on something soft, that smelt like cigarettes and chocolate cake. I've smelt that before....

I cracked my eyes open to see Soda and Darry leaning over me, sick expressions on their faces, anger in their eyes.

"Hey, Linden," Soda said softly, gently brushing hair back from my face. "How are you feeling?"

"Awful," I croaked. "How long was I out?"

"About thirty minutes. What do you remember?" Darry asked, crouching down next to my head.

"There was about four of them. They pulled up next to me and started taunting me. I ignored them, and they surrounded me. That's the last thing I remember."

Soda cursed softly, going into the kitchen.

The door slammed about then, and the familiar cheery voice of Two-Bit reached my ears.

Two-Bit Mathews is eighteen years old, and has rust colored hair he keeps greased back - like most of the gang - with grey eyes that always seem to be dancing with laughter. He's the wisecrack of the group, and aways seems to be drunk. He also has an uncanny obsession with Mickey Mouse.

"Hey-O!" He called, and I heard home walk into the room. "What the hell happened to you?!" He exclaimed, and I saw him crouch down in my line of vision.

"She was jumped," Darry said, standing and walking into the kitchen.

Darry and Soda are brothers, Darry being the oldest. Darry's twenty and very tall, the tallest in the gang. He's also the most muscular. He's got dark hair that he doesn't grease back, and cold blue eyes.

Soda is, by far, the most handsome guy you could ever meet. He's sixteen, almost seventeen, and he's got hair the color of a wheat field, and has the warmest grey eyes I've ever seen.

Darry and Sodapop also have a little brother, Ponyboy. He's got hair a little redder than Soda's, and grey-green eyes that he claims are just grey. He's fourteen, and slipped a grade in school 'cause he's very smart, and loves to read. I think he's at the movies right now, actually.

"Jumped?" Two-Bit repeated. "By Socs? Aren't they a little too far into our territory?"

"That's what I thought," Soda said, coming back into the room with a first aid kit in his hand.

He pulled out some antiseptic, and dabbed it on a cotton ball. "Alright, Linden. This is going to sting."

He dabbed it on a cut on my forehead, and I yelped, trying to push his hand away from me.

He held fast, continuing to clean my wounds as I struggled against him, tears running down my face from the pain.

"I'm sorry, Linden! But we don't want these to get infected," Soda said, applying bandages to a few of my cuts.

Again, I heard the screen door slam, and in walked Steve and Johnny.

"What happened to you?" Steve asked, as Johnny stared at me with wide eyes, his face slightly paling.

Steve Randle is seventeen, with black hair he greases back, and green eyes. He works down at the DX with Sodapop, and tends to eat most of the chocolate cake.

Johnny Cade is sixteen, with black hair he attempts to grease back, but it's too long. He's got big, sad, brown eyes that remind of a puppy that's been kicked too many times. He's got a scar down his left cheek from being jumped by those Socs. The one who hit him at a bunch of rings on his fingers, which is what cut him up so badly.

"She was jumped while walking over here," Two-Bit told him, taking a swig from a beer bottle Darry had handed to him.

"Are you okay?" Johnny asked, in his quiet voice.

I smiled softly at him. "I'll live, Johnnycakes."

"That's the spirit, kid," Two-Bit said, sitting on the floor by my feet, and turning the tv on to watch Mickey Mouse.

This time, I was slightly annoyed when the screen door slammed shut. "Hey, Curtis," I heard a New York accent say.

The new addition to the party is seventeen-year-old Dally Winston. Dally has blonde hair, and blew eyes that are hard as steel. But, whenever he looks at me, they seem to soften a fraction. He's second-tallest in the gang, two inches shorter than Darry's 6'3 height.

"Hey, Dallas," Darry answered, walking into the room with a glass of water.

Dally followed him, and his eyes widened at the sight of me. "What the hell happened?" He growled, walking over to me, and smoothing my own blonde hair back from my forehead.

"Socs," I told him.

Darry handed me the glass of water, and Dally gently helped me to sit up.

I moved my feet so Dally could sit down next to me, and he did, gently rubbing my shoulder.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, until the sound of someone yelling reached my ears.

I sat up, only to have Dally gently pull me back down, saying something about me needing rest. "Do you hear that?" I asked, brow furrowed.

Darry nodded. "Sounds like... Ponyboy!" He took off out the door, followed by Soda, Two Bit, and Steve. I went to follow, but Dally stopped me.

"You're gonna stay here, Linden. We don't need you more hurt than you already are." With that, he took off.

I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest, and falling back into the couch cushions.

Dal has a point, but I just don't like sitting here, and feeling... useless.

A few minutes later, I could hear voices outside, and I weakly climbed to my feet, limping to the porch.

"Linden! I told you to stay inside!" Dal said, rushing up to me, and helping me down the steps. I sat down, and looked at Pony, who was bleeding from a small gash on his neck.

"Are you alright, Ponyboy?" I asked him, wincing as I bumped a bruise.

"I'm o-okay. But you don't look so good. What happened?"

"A bunch of Socs jumped her little more than forty-five minutes ago," Dallas said, crushing a cigarette beneath his foot. "If I had been there, Lin..." He growled.

"Dallas, there's nothing you could have done," I told him, eyes narrowed, "what's done is done, and you can't undo it!"

After that I zoned out for a bit, only snapping back in when Dal asked if I want to go to the drive-in with him, Ponyboy, and Johnny.

"Yeah, sure."

•••
A/N:

Finally, I'm writing an Outsiders fic. I can't believe I haven't yet.

I really do hope you guys like it. You'll learn more about Linden next chapter, btw.

PLEASE VOTE, COMMENT, AND FOLLOW ME! I always follow back!