A/N: I bet you've all read some sort of 'Pony gets taken away' story. I've certainly read enough of those, so I decided to shake it up a bit. S.E Hinton owns The Outsiders. The only things I own are my idea for this story, Ms. Jensen, Rebecca, Chris, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Richards. And I am keeping Dally and Johnny alive in this one. Enjoy! ^.^

I was sitting in the armchair trying to relax when I remembered that it was time for the state to come and check on us. We haven't cleaned up yet, and this house is a mess! I stood up and called my brothers into the room.

"What is it now, Darry?" Ponyboy asked, obviously still annoyed that I had grounded him since he came home too late last night. I could hardly believe that he did that after what happened last time. Does he ever learn? And he wonders why I was always so worried about him, and not Sodapop. Soda actually uses his head. That's weird, I realized. Pony's smart but doesn't use his head. Soda was… well, I don't want to say dumb. Let's just say his grades weren't that good. I turned my attention back to my youngest brother.

"Watch it, Ponyboy. It ain't my fault that you came home late. You know you're supposed to be in by midnight. Anyway, that guy from the state is gonna be here in a few hours, so we need to clean up this mess." Mr. Richards was a real jerk. He was always looking for something that I had done wrong so he could split us up. Why? I have no idea. Maybe it's because we're greasers. I'm surprised that he hasn't given us a break because Pony was sort of a hero for saving those kids. I figure it was either because he hates kids, or he doesn't care. Probably both. That really made me mad.

"But, Dar… Two-Bit and Dally made most of the mess. Then Steve and Soda were playing cards, and Soda got mad because Steve was cheating, so they started throwing cards at each other," Pony said.

"Tattle-tale," Soda mumbled. I raised an eyebrow. I suddenly felt like they were younger and I was Dad.

"I don't care who made the mess. It just needs to be cleaned up. And put on some nicer clothes." They groaned. We almost had to wear suits to make that guy happy. I didn't like it either, but we had to. I walked into my room to put on nicer clothes. I didn't really need to clean my room since I always kept it neat, and I didn't let anyone else in there. I heard the phone ring about fifteen minutes later. Sodapop got to it before I did.

"Hello? … Yeah, he's here. Darry! It's the social services." I cocked an eyebrow and took the phone from him.

"Hello?"

"Yes, Darrel Curtis. I'm just calling to inform you that Mr. Richards quit last night, and Ms. Jensen will be taking his place." I almost said, 'That's great!' but I decided it was better not to.

"All right. Thanks for letting me know." I hung up and turned to my brothers who had been trying to figure out what I was talking about. I told them what the social worker had said, and they just nodded. I could tell that they were glad about this, but who knows if this person would be any better than Mr. Richards? I shook my head and went back to cleaning with my brothers.

There was a knock at the door about an hour later. It was our new social worker. I could tell right away that she was nothing like Mr. Richards. She smiled at me. I guess that's a good sign, anyway.

"Darrel Curtis, right?" I nodded.

"Come in."

POV Change

I walked into the house and saw two boys sitting on the couch. One looked like a movie star, and the other one didn't look half bad either. Wow, all three of them are good-looking.

"What are their names?" I asked Darrel.

"I'm Sodapop!" Movie-star boy said.

"Ponyboy," the other kid said. For a second, I wondered if those were their real names, but they seemed pretty serious about it. They must have had original parents.

"I like your names. So, how old are you, Darrel?" He looked at me with ice-blue eyes.

"Twenty," he answered. So, we're the same age. I looked around. The house was pretty well clean. Their clothes were nicer then I've seen on most greasers. I looked at Darrel. He was only a little taller then me. He looked really strong. Just then I remembered that I should've already known these boys' names; after all, I had read about them in the paper a while back. I wonder how I could've forgotten their names.

They are working so hard to stay together. Darrel had an outstanding record in school. He worked two jobs; I can hardly stand having just one. But maybe this job won't be so bad since I get to do this. He noticed that I was staring at him and I turned my head, embarrassed.

"So, I was wondering. Why did you run away a couple months ago?" I asked Ponyboy. All of them seemed to tense up. Pony looked nervous, Soda was biting down on his lip, and Darrel's icy look transformed into one of regret. Now I was really curious. "What happened?" Ponyboy looked at me.

"I came home too late one night; me and Darry fought." He looked like he was going to say more, but he stopped himself. Darry? Oh, that must be Darrel's nickname. I could tell there was more to the story than that. I pressed my lips together.

"Hold on, boys. I need to talk to your brother for a minute," I said, pulling Darry into the kitchen.

"What happened?" I asked him. He sighed. I thought I saw tears in his eyes, but I was probably just imagining that.

"I…" he paused for a moment. "He came home two hours late. I had been so worried about him, and I yelled at him. We fought, and I… I hit him. I didn't mean to." His eyes begged me to understand. He looked really worried. Did he think I would take his brothers away just for that? Maybe Mr. Richards would; of course, he was a big jerk that pretty much hated the world. I wasn't like that; not by a long shot. I wouldn't break apart a family just because of one accidental slap to the face. It's not like its abuse or anything. Besides, who would give up their dreams to take care of their brothers, just to slap them around? That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

"It's all right. I believe you." He looked relieved. I smiled at him and we walked back into the other room. His brothers stopped looking nervous when they saw that we were smiling. Everything seemed like it was all going fine and dandy, so I figured it was time to go. I said goodbye to them and took one last look at Darry before I left.

POV Change

As soon as Ms. Jensen closed the door, my brothers looked over at me and cracked a grin.

"What?" I asked.

"I think she likes you, Dar," Sodapop told me, nudging my arm. I shook my head. A social worker couldn't love me… could she?

A/N: …So? Did you like that? Review please!