Not What It Seems ||An Outsiders Fanfiction||

Chapter 1

Ana's POV:

"Boys, I'm home," I call, opening the front door and throwing my suitcase on the ground. I look around the house, my parents house, my old house, now my brothers house. It's changed so much since the last time I was here. And so have I...

"Annalise?!" A voice calls, running out of the kitchen.

"Darry!" I yell, running into my brothers arms.

"I've missed you, kid," He says with a laugh, stroking my hair.

"Yeah, you too, little brother," I say, beaming. I never miss an opportunity to remind him that I'm one full year older, especially when he calls me kid.

"How was the trip up here?" He asks, letting go of me. I shrug.

"It was fine. Better, now that I have a car, and can drive myself." I almost smile, but then I remember where I got the car. It was my parents second car, the one that they weren't using when they got into the accident. Since I'm the oldest, I was the one that got it. The two of us are silent for a minute, but then Soda comes out of his room.

"Ana!" He exclaims, rushing over to me.

"Hey, Soda," I say, squeezing my baby brother.

"I missed you," He mumbles quietly. I barely hear it, but it still breaks my heart a little bit more.

"I missed you too, Sodapop," I say, not letting go of him.

"Hey, do you want me to take your stuff into your room?" He asks me. I nod, letting go of him so he could pick up my heavy suitcase.

Together, we walk through the small hallway over to my old room. Opening the door, it looks exactly as it did the last time I was here. And the time before that, and honestly, the same way it's looked since I was 6, without even a thing out of place.

"It looks like nobody's been in here for years," I say, walking over to my bed, which looked freshly made.

"That's because we haven't," Soda says, dropping my suitcase in front of me.

"Really?" I ask him. He shakes his head.

"Nobody's been in here since the last time you were," He says. The last time I was here... When was that?

Oh, yeah. The funeral.... It was the first time I'd been out here in ages, almost a year, which was something I regretted greatly, and still do.

I have a great family, don't get me wrong. My parents both loved me dearly, and I loved them too. Heck, they paid to put me through college.

Darry and I grew up together, I can't remember a time without him, even though I'm a year older. My parents used to call us "The Twins", as we were inseparable as children.

I graduated from high school a year before him, and ended up going to college first. Darry decided to take a year off for money, and got a full time job. Then the one year became two, and then our parents died. Now, he works two jobs, and has custody of two teenage boys.

Soda and I have always gotten along well. I was 5 when he was born, and Darry was four. Obviously, Soda's always been partial to his older brother, but he and I have always been pretty close too. I was just like one of the boys when I was younger, always playing soccer and baseball and football with the guys. Maybe that's why Pony and I never got along. He likes to stay inside and read or watch a
movie, something I was never really interested in.

Ponyboy, my youngest brother is about seven years younger than me. That's a big age difference, and I had already been pretty close with my other brothers by the time he was born. I love the little guy, but he doesn't seem to care too much for me. Maybe I didn't show enough love to him when he was young, or maybe he was jealous of the relationship I had with the two of them, but he's always been much closer to Soda than me. Or Darry, for that matter.