A/N Thanks to aerodynamics for all the help with this one. I do not own these characters, except for the ones you don't recognize from the book. Reviews and criticism are welcome.

My Sharona
Chapter 1

Sharona was one of those girls who had a way with pretty much everyone. You either loved her or you couldn't stand her - for no obvious reason. God knows I've tried to figure out how someone could have hated Sharona. It might've been the way she spread that blue eye shadow halfway up to her eyebrow, or the way she talked with the echo of a lisp. Or maybe it was jealousy for her joyful, carefree attitude - even in the worst of times. Whatever reason the hater's had for hating, I didn't see it. None of the gang did.

I didn't bother going to the last day of school. I would have cut half the day to go get a soda and smoke cigarettes anyways.

I stayed home and stayed in bed until noon. I liked the feeling of the sun shining through the grimy windows, and lighting up the curtains. It was warm, and it made me feel flushed and cozy. The night before, Sodapop had gotten me to drink a hell of a lot of alcohol that a buddy had gotten for him. Darry doesn't like it when I drink, so we had to keep it from him as best we could. I don't know if he noticed that I was drunk, but I don't see how he couldn't have, and if he did, he played along. Sodapop was drinking too, and he invited a whole bunch of people over to drink all we could, and maybe start some fights. There were hardly any rumbles anymore, but sometimes some of the guys would get restless, or a little too drunk, and fight within gangs, or in singles. It wasn't a rumble but it let off steam, and it worked, because nobody wanted to build up the conflicts within social classes again.

There were lots of chicks at our house. There were girls with lots of make up and short skirts, and girls who might as well have been guys in our eyes - and then there were girls who looked they wound up at our house by accident - and like their Fathers would kill them all the boys at the party if they saw where their daughters were. Most of those girls didn't stay very long.

One girl was there all night, never seeming to be drunk enough, but definitely not sober. She had big brown eyes that made her face perfect without at a glance at the rest of her face. Her hair was long, curly, and dark red. It reminded me of a horse at the stable where Sodapop used to ride Mickey Mouse. That horse had the longest mane and tail you ever saw, and it was the reddest, most fiery color I ever remember seeing on a horse. This girls skin was creamy, with freckles speckled across her nose and cheekbones, and a few here and there on her arms and chest. You wouldn't know it until she stood next to somebody, but she was short as can be. She looked like the fairies Mom used to tell us about before we were too tough. The way she walked with her head held high, and her shoulders back made her look like the tallest chick in the room. She's the only girl of our kind I'd ever seen, who looked like there was something more to her than makeup and sleaziness. Our girls were fine and dandy, sometimes, but I wasn't interested in a girl who would go around with every guy, behind my back. If that was all I wanted from a chick, I wouldn't bother with going out with her and buying her things, if she was going to put out anyways. Most of the other guys didn't agree with me completely. Johnny, but the other guys said we didn't know nothing, as we'd never been with girls, and that we'd best be leaving' stuff that we don't know about well enough alone. Ever since Johnny died, nobody felt the need to argue about it anymore, and since Dally was dead, there was nobody to even start the argument.

This girl walked like you wouldn't believe. Her hips had a natural sway - but not in a way that deemed her a sleaze. It was just enough to make every guy turn and take a look. That was what probably made her look so tall - all the guys begging at her feet.

She was walking around the room, drink in hand, talking to different people, hugging this girl, laughing at that guy. I was surprised she seemed to know so many people, but we had never met. Especially considering the fact that she was obviously one of our kind. A greaser girl.

Sodapop had seen me looking at her, and he came up and nudged me with his elbow.

"Stop drawin' design's Pony, she's bound to feel you watchin' her," he said. I could feel my face getting warm, and I turned away from him. "Screw off, Sodapop," I mumbled. He laughed and put his arm around me. I tried to squirm away, but his grip was too strong.

"You ever kissed a girl, Pony?" he said quietly big grin on his face, and a twinkle in his eye. I thought about the two girls I had actually taken out. There had been Lacy; one of the few girls in my classes who didn't steer clear due to my rep. She was nice, but I never even wanted to hold her hand. Then there was Roberta. She practically begged me to go with her to the school's Girl's Choice dance, so I couldn't say no. That wouldn't have been so bad, except that she was a foot taller than me, 200 pounds, and she was glued to me the entire time. I didn't count her pushy, slobbery attempts at kisses as what Soda was asking for. Other than that, I hadn't kissed a girl since I was 5 years old and Sodapop dared me. I sensed a pattern recurring.

"I've kissed a few." He laughed at me again. He knew I was lying ; I would have told him. He had already drank a lot, I knew because otherwise, he wouldn't have been teasing me so bad.

"Since you haven't… Why don't you go up and kiss that one? What a laugh the guys will get over that : Little Ponyboy's first kiss to the great Sharona!" So that was her name, Sharona.

I thought about how great it would be to kiss her. To feel my lips on hers, my hands on her back, her hands against my chest. It was about time I kissed someone, I mean, I was a whole whopping fifteen years old. Sodapop and Darry had kissed lots of girls by my age, but I was the shy one. Always in the background, trying to blend into the wallpaper. Maybe, just this time, I didn't have to.

"Sodapop, how old is she even?" She looked quite a bit older than me, and I didn't want to be kissing some broad whose boyfriend would come kill me for kissing his girl.

"She's 16. Staying with relatives for the summer. No boyfriend. Just go for it, man, before you get chicken shit!" he said, pushing me and winking. I was already chicken shit.

Again I thought of the experience it would be. This was something I'd have to get over with eventually in my life, why not now? And if I kissed Sharona, instead of waiting for my own girl, I wouldn't have to cry when she dumped me later. I turned to look Soda in the eye.

"I need a shot." He roared with laughter as he walked me to the kitchen. I took two shots, for good measure. Sodapop shoved me through the door and said, "Go little brother! I'll be watching!" I walked into the small living room, dodging between people and watching Sharona. She had settled in with a group of girls on the couch. I was debating whether or not I should still do it. I didn't really want to have a bunch of other chicks right there when I kissed her, so I was about to tell Soda to never mind.

"Sharona! I have to tell you something, it's hilarious!" a girl to my left shouted to Sharona. Sharona looked up at her with the smile of a heart breaker, and started to walk in the girls direction. My direction. Her hips swayed in my direction. This was it. I made to walk past her, and I tried not to stare directly at her, so my eyes wouldn't reveal my plan. Just as she was going o walk past me, I grabbed her arm. It was smooth, and warm. As quickly as I could, I pulled her toward me, and then her soft mouth was against mine. She pushed against me for a moment, but I held her in place, and soon her arms were pulling my hands from my sides to the small of her back, and she snaked her arms around my neck. I pulled her as close to me as possible. She smelled faintly of cigarettes - so did I - and I could smell raspberries like I'd never smelled before. Her lips contoured to mine, and then opened a little bit, and her hands rubbed my shoulders, and then down my chest. I almost trembled, partly from lack of breathing, and partly the pleasure of something new. I could hear Soda and Darry in the background, but I ignored them, refusing to let embarrassment take over. I tried to hold her against me, but much too soon, she pushed away. Luckily, she was smiling.

We both opened our mouths to speak, when Sodapop came bounding to my side.

"How do they do on the other side?" he said. He had a mischievous grin on his face, and I wasn't sure why.

"The other side of what?" I responded, slightly irritated.

"The river, Ponyboy." I stared at him.

"What the hell do you mean?" I said. "Stop playin' games with me, Sodapop!"

"She's a River King." I stared at him blankly. He was still grinning. I could have smacked him. The River King's were the only gang that was still big with the rumbles in Tulsa. On the opposite side of the river, we didn't see much of them, but they were pretty infamous. And bigger than all our little gangs put together.

"You kiddin' me?" I asked. I looked at both of them. Sodapop just laughed. Sharona giggled a little bit. He wasn't joking me.

"I'm Sharona Shepard."

"Ponyboy Curtis…" I couldn't believe I had just kissed a Shepard, who also happened to be a River King girl. I dropped my arms from around her waist and she did the same with hers. "I'll see'ya later."

Sodapop had walked away, and I went to run after him, when I felt someone grab my arm and yank me to the side.

"That's my cousin you just had your hands all over, Curtis." Curly Shepard was glaring at me. "What do you think you were doing?"

I really wasn't in the mood for this. My mind was telling me to follow Sodapop and pummel him. I wrenched my arm away from Curly.

"I can honestly say, I'm just as surprised as you are, Curly. Don't make a big deal of it." And then I walked away, looking for Sodapop. Darry stopped me on my way to the kitchen.

"Hey kid! Good job!" He patted me on the back, and gave me a big crooked grin. I couldn't help but swell with pride. "First one, eh?" I was blushing again, so I didn't answer.

"Was freakin' everyone watching?" I growled.

"Hell yes, Soda told everyone there would be a show," he said, chuckling.

"Did you know she was a King?" His smile faded a little bit.

"I was trying to forget. I was just glad you were finally getting your first kiss." He winked at me. "Don't be too mad at Soda, he's having a good time, and you should too. You got your first kiss, to a babe, and now you can move on with life. It was just a dumb kiss. Don't worry about so much, otherwise something bad will happen. Savvy?"

"She's also a Shepard."