Chapter one

There were all sorts of different gangs on the north side. There were the Sheppard's gang, the Curtis's gang, and a few others. They were all boys of course, the sisters and girlfriends tended to lay low, not getting involved in anything big other than little petty fights with a few Soc girls every now and then. But then there was us. The Ringer gang. We were the sister group of the Curtis's bunch, practically inseparable.

We were just as close as any other of the factions. It was Casey and her sister Kayla, Trip, and Massey. Kayla and Casey were twins, both very built and intimidating. They both had shoulder length brown hair and dark brown eyes. Trip was a lanky blonde girl, her real name was Britney but we all called her Trip because she always seemed like she was high when she wasn't. And Massey was the funny girl. She always had something to say and never really shut up. She had blonde hair which she always had pulled back into a French braid. Everyone was eighteen years old except Trip who was sixteen.

Then there was me. I was silently voted the leader of the group. I was the most mature of us all, getting everyone out of trouble when they seemed to crawl into it. Everyone normally came to either me or Darry with problems like that. Although I am calm yet daringly threatening around people outside of the gang, when we were alone I was just as hyper and joking as the rest of them. I had layered medium length dirty blonde hair and icy blue eyes.

"Emily Ringer!" sang Massy, my undeclared second in command called from downstairs of my house that we all lived in.

"What's up?" I called back, changing out of my dirt ridden clothes into a pair of skinny jeans and a black t-shirt which I put a nice fitting leather jacket over.

"You gots visitors sugar!" a male voice called from downstairs and I laughed to myself before rushing down.

The Curtis's gang was all in my living room. Massy and her boyfriend Two-Bit were sharing the ottoman together and everyone else was just sprawled out across the room.

"Let's go catch a movie," suggested Soda from the couch.

Trip shot her head up, "Yeah man!"

My girls looked at me for approval, and I smiled and shrugged a why not.

Everyone leapt up from the couch and ran outside, jumping around and laughing. Steve had Kayla under an arm and Casey was under Sodapop's. Johnny and Ponyboy were walking next to Trip, they were laughing and blushing while she seemed to be telling him a story about something. Two-Bit and Massy were walking and holding hands while talking about something. I walked by myself behind the group, not really minding.

Suddenly I was grabbed by around my waist and lifted into the air.

"Hey there Ringlet!" a husky smokers voice laughed.

"Dally you hood," I joked. "Put me the hell down!"

Dallas Winston. What was there really to say? He was my best friend and the man who I knew I would trust with my life if the situation ever came around.

He did as he was told but held me under his left arm, "Where we goin?"

"Movies," I told him, taking the cancer stick out of his mouth and taking a long drag.

"Hey!" he huffed. "Did I say you could do that?"

I gave him a look before sticking out my tongue at him which he disgustingly licked.

"That was rank," I grimaced as he laughed and took his cigarette back from me.

"Dally!" exclaimed Two-Bit from ahead of us. "Nice of yah to join us! Em was gettin lonely back there."

"She likes to lone it like me TB," Dally held me tighter and I did the same with my arm around his waist.

He took his arm away for a second to take out another cigarette and put it in my mouth for me before lighting it.

"Thanks baby," I teased.

"No problem kitten," he looked down at me and gave me his infamous grin.

"Ay Two-Bit!" Steve called.

"Yeah?"

"Why don't we all go to the Dingo after this and all get ripped?" Steve chanted back.

Dally shook his head, "They..They're idiots. Jesus Christ man."

"They just like trying to get into some kind of trouble," I shrugged. "I don't see the problem there."

"At the Dingo though?"

"True."

Sodapop chimed into the conversation with Two-Bit and Steve, "I think Casey and I are just gonna go home after."

"Same with us three," Ponyboy said, knowing Darry wouldn't be happy if he stayed out.

Kayla looked at her sister, "I don't wanna leave Em alone."

Casey shrugged, "I got my big bad protector here."

Soda blushed, "You're my girl, you know i'm gonna protect you."

"You're too cute," she smiled.

"No, you are!"

I sighed loudly and Dally laughed obnoxiously.

"You two are such airheads, I swear!" Casey snapped.

"They're just two little jailbirds in love," Massy chimed in.

"We're not together for Christ's sake!" Dally exclaimed. "And she's the pary animal, I'm the jailbird."

"The warden threw a party in the county jail," I began to sing Jailhouse Rock by Elvis and Dally snickered.

"The prison band was there and they began to wail," Massy continued.

"The band was jumpin' and the joint began to swing," Steve went on.

"You should've heard those knocked out jailbirds sing," Casey and Kayla finished.

"You're all children," Dally sighed. We all looked up to see that we had arrived at the movie theater and crawled under a hole in the back fence.

Dally picked me up and threw me over his shoulder and everyone else waked with their partner, except for Pony, Johnny who were resisting Trip as she tried to get them to skip with her. We all sat down in the red chairs as the movie began. Dally began kicking the chair in front of us where some girl sat, she turned around to glare at him for a brief moment.

She was one of them.

By them I mean the rival gang of my own. The Kanin gang . Her and her other soc friends had declared war on mine a few years back and we had done nothing but torture each other ever since. There was really no reason why we did it, but I think it had to do with how one of the girls, Dianna Kanin, had a crush on Dally and saw how we were best friends, got jealous, then tried to jump me.

This girl who sat in front of us had her fake blonde hair all hair sprayed to the point where I could fire a heater at it and it wouldn't budge. I knew that her name was Sally and she was with Dianna that night when she and her one other friend jumped me.

Dally looked at me and put his hand to my cheek forcing me to look at him, "What's wrong kitten?"

"That's one of them," I pulled him closer to whisper.

"The Kanin girls?" he asked, his lips brushing against my ear. I shuddered slightly and pulled away, nodding.

He held my hand tightly, "She can't do anything to you now. You remember they got taken care of last time they hurt you."

"I'm just gonna go," I got up, not being nervous about getting jumped but nervous that I would kick the crap out of Sally any moment.

"She won't hurt you."

"I may hurt her."

Dally laughed and stood up, and everyone glanced over.

"What's goin on boss?" Massy asked.

"Kanin's are here," I said. "We have a rumble soon. No jazz. And if we stay I'm gonna start something."

Trip stood up daringly, "We should start somethin man!"

I shook my head, "I'm leaving. I'll be at our house."

"I'm goin with you," Dally messed up my hair and I slapped him lightly in the chest.

"Why don't we all go back? It's getting cold," Ponyboy complained.

"Why don't you wear a damned jacket kid?" Dally shot him a glare before we all climbed back over the fence and back to our home.

"Let's play spin the bottle!" exclaimed Steve.

Casey laughed, "How about seven minutes in heaven?"

"You dig good baby," Steve purred before grabbing an empty beer bottle from beside him.

It was really late, around 1 am already and I assumed everyone was just going to stay the night. Pony and Johnny already went back home to tell Darry they would be over so we wouldn't get our door busted down by Super Dope anytime soon. All my girls had changed their clothes into something more comfortable already. I had on a pair of short black shorts with hot pink X's and O's all over them, mid-calf high black socks, and a pink t-shirt that said 'Do I look like I give a fuck?' in black bold lettering (the one which Dally gave to me a few years back for my birthday saying it was made for me).

We were all laying around in a circle in the cozy living room, some of us leaning on each other. I was leaning back into Dally's chest as he laid against the front of the couch, Kayla had Casey's head in her lap and Two-Bit and Massy were cuddled together under a fuzzy blanket while Trip, Pony, and Johnny (the younger ones) all sat next to each other sharing a massive blue puffy blanket and Steve was next to them laying on his stomach. There were tons of pillows sprawled across the room and everyone was under a blanket of some sort.

"Who's goin first?" Two-Bit asked.

"I will!" exclaimed Massy.

"No you won't," Two-Bit pulled her back onto his lap and laughed.

"Fine," she huffed. "Em you go."

I sighed dramatically and got up off Dally's chest to spin the bottle in the middle of the floor.

Round. And Round.

Untill it finally stopped on Dally. I snickered and all the boys began hooting obnoxiously.

"Come on kitten," Dally joked, making kissy faces.

"Ewww!" I fake grimaced and he picked me up by my waist and brought me upstairs into the first bedroom.

After he threw me down onto the bed from across the room I squealed and he leapt over right next to me.

"That could have gone horribly wrong and I could have missed the bed!" I wrestled with him and he overpowered me.

"Kitten you know you're weaker than me, why challenge the master?"

I groaned, "No i'm not!"

He had me pinned down and he straddled my waist with his nose pressed to mine, "Yes you are kitty cat."

Before I knew what was happening his lips and mine were attached. He let go of my arms and I wrapped them around his neck, pulling him closer.

He pulled back breathing heavily, his lips touching mine still, "Be my girl?"

My breath was as deep as his, "Yes."