reckless 【 the outsiders 】

one.

The only time Leigh smiled was with her friends, at least in public. She was quite the introvert and didn't mind it much at all. Leigh grew up around four boys, each just as mean and playful as the next. She could've been considered a guy at times with some of her behavior and her best friend was a black girl from right between the East and Southside which didn't make her a very popular person.

Right now, she was out with a group her twin hangs around with: the kids from Smithie, a very poor suburb of the east side. They ain't the sharpest of the bunch and you probably wouldn't even call them a real group as it's just a bunch of neighborhood kids who happen to hang out when there's not much else to do but the ones she was with were the few that would die for their friends.

The Sawyer family had ties with every greasy gang of the Eastside, though they themselves were always floaters, never strictly belonging to any of them. Leigh's oldest brother, Lenny, was good friends with the oldest Curtis brother before he left to join the Navy. He was the best influence he'd had because the rest of his friends were going nowhere and they all felt that he was going with them. Much to the dismay of the family, the Navy was voluntary and he'd make a career out of it. Lenny always said it was the only good thing he could do with his life and Leigh and the rest of them knew he was probably right.

Lucas, the second oldest, was known to hang out with Sheppard's gang a lot but was also familiar with Two-Bit Matthews. When Lucas was a few years younger, he'd go out on benders all the time with Two-Bit Mathews. He couldn't remember half of it but his family sure did. He stopped hanging around him when he decided he wasn't gonna do that anymore. He stopped hanging out with a lot of his old friends when he got a steady girl and a job. Leigh couldn't wait for him to move out and move on now that he's really moving in a better direction.

Levi was everywhere but he liked the Brumly kids because they were wild and very dangerous and the Smithies because they were fun. He just wants to have a good time. Leigh was nowhere. She liked the girls from Brumly as well as the boys and she knew Curly Sheppard from childhood. The only ones she knew from the other 'gang' were Sodapop and Steve because she used to go to the DX to appreciate their good looks. They lived around Smithie and Brumly, so it was hard to get away from either of the two sides. She wasn't wild or reckless like her twin, and didn't have anything motivating her like her older brothers. She always felt like she was just there.

"So how did that little rumble go? Y'know with the Sheppards?" Leigh asks Bugsy, one of the boys from the gang, the riskier of them all. He sold drugs but with good reason and self-control. He always carried around his gun in case of emergency or just to scare some people. He rarely had to use it because he preferred fighting with his hands and boy was he good at it. He was quite attractive and had plenty of muscle, so when Leigh felt uncomfortable, she'd say that they were steady and people would leave her alone.

He shrugged and chuckled. "Got a busted lip. One of Shep's guys took out his heater, so I shot at 'im and they left. Always wanna act a little tougher than they are."

"Should've known. They never fight fair too long, least not with us," Gigi, the only other girl with the group, replies picking at her nails. Gigi was quite the looker with her deep red hair and piercing green eyes, Leigh remembers being jealous of her for the longest time. Gigi was fiercely loyal, even if sometimes to the wrong people, and she may not be the most book smart but she sure knows how to hold her own on the streets and she was extremely good at reading people. She was Leigh's closest friend after Dorothy.

"So is we just about to waste time walkin' 'round? I don't know about y'all but I'm gettin' bored of all this walkin'." V, another of the boys, ask. He was the voice of reason with the Smithie kids and wasn't a fan of fighting. He was also the youngest, at fifteen years old but looked almost like a grown man. While he didn't like fighting, he wouldn't have been able to survive if he couldn't, seeing as he has a step-dad that beat him up every now and again and he had to deal with socs doing the same things.

"Let's go eat. Or we can go to the Nightly Double," Leigh suggested. She hoped they'd choose the former because she felt like she was starving.

"What about both?" Bugsy says, putting his arms around the two girls, "My treat. For the ladies."

"You got better things to do with your money, ain't ya'?" Gigi asks, chuckling.

"Nah, I got some extra." They all agreed to go to the Dingo to eat and then the Nightly Double to see whatever was playing. Levi suggested they save some money and just go under the gate, to which everyone but the girls agreed to.

"This is a democracy," V says as they make it into the diner and take their seats in a corner booth, "Y'all's outnumbered."

"This is my good dress, V." Gigi whined on and on but V wouldn't budge and she agreed eventually. As did Leigh, much more laid back, she gave in a lot easier than Gigi.

They ordered their food almost immediately, they always get the same things except Bugsy who always wants to get something different or trip up the waiter with some complex order and Leigh will always say "I'll have what he's having." After a few more moments of joking, talking, loudly playing around despite the looks from others, their food arrived. While they ate, they watched as a fight broke out outside the Dingo which ended in one of the two being knocked unconscious. Bugsy always likes to give commentary on things they see around town and loves to critique what someone could've done better or how they could've won or could've avoided that. It's surprisingly informative.

"What's on at the Nightly Double anyway?" Leigh asks as they finish up their meals, unable to recall what showed on the sign from the nights before.

"I think it was Bikini Beach and Little Shop of Horrors," Gigi responds. The five stood up from their table and left their little mess, making their way out the diner and over to the outdoor movie theatre.

"Gosh, why do they keep makin' those teen beach movies? They suck."

Gigi was taken aback by Leigh's comment, seeing as she loved the ridiculous movies and had loved them since they first came out. It was mostly a nostalgia thing. "Annette and Frankie are amazing together, I don't know what you're talkin' about."

"Yeah, they're amazing if you're five. After the Mickey Mouse Club, they're basically makin' trash," Leigh argues back. "They should've quit while they were ahead."

"I ain't talkin' to you no more."

Leigh rolls her eyes and shrugged, knowing that was a damn near impossible claim for her to go through with. They made it to the theatre and slipped through the hole in the fence one by one with Gigi going through last.

"Y'all grab a seat, I'mma get some food," V says, rummaging through his pockets for some change.

"I'm goin' too, y'all want anything?" Levi asks.

"I want a Sprite," Leigh requests.

"Got cash?"

"No, you ditz, you got all the cash."

He shrugged, "If you ain't puttin' in, you don't get nothin'."

"If you don't bring me a Sprite, Sawyer, I'm hurtin' you." With that, Leigh, Gigi, and Bugsy went to find seats.

edited 12-27-21