Disclaimer: All rights go to S E Hinton. I don't own The Outsiders, however much I want to :(

Ponyboy's POV

"It was crazy, man," Two-Bit told me as we walked in our usual hangout. "Stan told Ethan who told Nate who told me that Isaac said to James that..."

Yes, you guessed it. I had no idea who those people were. I still don't. I was never really one to listen to anyone's stories, let alone Two-Bit's.

"Hey!" He snapped his fingers in front of my face. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Oh, sorry..." I wasn't really. I had no intention of listening to his rambling. I only listened to him the second time to make him feel better.

"I said, Shepard was killed last night, man. Crazy stuff." He shook his head.

I instantly froze. "What?"

Two-Bit and I sat down in our usual booth as he continued. "Tim was stabbed last night," he whispered, as if he was afraid someone might hear him.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "How?"

"Well, you get out your switchblade and pull it up like this." He moved his elbow back and forward as if he was stabbing air.

"I know how it happens!" I hissed at him as he cackled at his own joke. "But I want to know why it happened? What did he do?"

Two-Bit shrugged as he lit up a cigarette. "Not everythin' gotta have a reason, Pone."

I thought about that. I didn't think that was right. How could something that crazy happen for no reason whatsoever?

"That doesn't seem right, Two-Bit."

"Well, it might have a reason. It might not. Is grass green for a reason? Do we have two nostrils for a reason? Do socs jump greasers for a reason? Besides for the fact that we're tuffer than them, of course."

"You mean tough or tuff?"

"Tuff. We're pretty tuff."

"You mean like the cool tuff, or the tough tough?"

He paused for a moment, then reached over the table and put me in a headlock. "You're messin' with my mind, kid!"

"Shoot, Two-Bit! You're gonna ruin my hair!"

"You're such a girl, Pone." He laughed, but then stopped as he looked towards the door. Three girls walked in.

"No, Two-Bit. No. We're not gonna hit on them," I told him.

He shook his head, looking deadly serious for a moment. "Naw, man. That's Shepard's sister."

I did a double take as the three girls sat in a booth. The one on the left looked pretty familiar. "That's Angela? She's changed a lot since I last saw her. She don't look too good, man," I said quietly, wide-eyed.

"Yeah, she's pretty shaken up 'bout the whole thing." Two-Bit shook his head sadly, looking at the table. He lifted his head up to look at her again. "She didn't get along with Tim that much, but he was kind of like a role model to her. Now that he's dead... shoot, I think Curly's in the cooler, too. I wonder how she's doin'."

Next thing I knew, Two-Bit had a hold of my wrist and was dragging me towards Angela's table. "Hey, Ange!"

"What are you doing?" I asked.

She looked up from her friends. "Who the hell are you?" She asked, looking like she didn't really care at all. Yep, she was the same old Angela that I knew back in elementary.

"You don't remember us?" Two-Bit actually looked hurt, but his grin instantly erased that face. "I'm Two-Bit Mathews, and this is Ponyboy Curtis."

"Curtis... I remember you." She looked straight at me, making me flinch. Her cold, blue eyes scared me. It sounds cliche, but I felt like she was staring into my soul. It was uncomfortable.

"Uhh, yeah." I agreed, though I wasn't quite sure what I was agreeing with.

"Sit down," she told us, not cracking a smile. She looked pretty emotionless. She was scary, to say the least. Nonetheless, we sat down.

"This is Cyndi," she told us as a small blonde girl waved ecstatically, a wide grin spread across her face. She was very perky. It creeped me out. "And that's Colleen."

Colleen was different. Unlike Cyndi and Angela, she had dark brown and tan skin. It kind of reminded me of Johnny, but I knew that Johnny would never go for a girl like this. She wore too much black and her skirt was way to short. To say the least, she looked cheap.

I wondered about the girls from the other side of town, the ones who prefer hot tea over coke, cats over dogs and relationships over one-night-stands. They were scared of us greasers. Remembering people like Angela and Dally, I didn't blame them.

"Nice to meet you, Cyndi." Two-Bit kissed her hand as she giggled.

Angela glared daggers at Cyndi. "Don't you have a boyfriend, Cynthia?"

"Oh, have a little fun, Angie!" Cyndi giggled again. Oh, how she annoyed me!

"How can I have fun with everything that's happened?" Angela snapped at Cyndi. Two-Bit looked pretty uncomfortable, as did I. Colleen just sat there, taking everything in.

"Just let it go! It's over now!" Cyndi groaned. "God, Angela."

"Maybe we should, uhm, leave," I suggested.

Angela's head snapped back at me. "Yes. That's a good idea."

Two-Bit and I backed away, walking out of the Dingo.

"Well, then." He sighed. "That was interesting."

I breathed out loudly. I could've said 'I sighed', but it was much louder than a sigh. Now that I think about it, it was probably more like a groan.

I kind of felt sorry for Angela, going through everything. She seems pretty tough, but you can tell she keeps things bottled up inside. It's unhealthy.

Two-Bit walked in front of me and held my shoulders in place as he observed my face.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I know what's going on here..." He told me suspiciously. "You've got a crush on baby Shepard!"

I shook my head. "You're wrong, Two-Bit. She scares me half to death." That was actually true. I wasn't lying about that one.

"That don't mean you ain't attracted to her!"

"It does, actually," I told him as we continued walking down the sidewalk.

"What are you thinking, right now?" He asked me. "Tell me the truth."

"Honestly..." I sighed. "I kind of want to help Angela. I want to help her become a better person. She's been through so much."

"And how do you suppose you'll be able to help her, young grasshopper?" He put me in a headlock once again.

"Jeez, Two-Bit, give it a rest with that, will ya?" I pushed him away as he grinned madly.

"Well, good luck changing Angela Shepard." Two-Bit huffed. "She's about as easy to tame as a rabid bull."

I know, I should be working on Can Of Worms. But this idea has been stuck in my head for a while and I just had to get it out. The next one-shot in Can Of Worms will be out tomorrow, I promise :) And the next chapter for this story might be out tomorrow, idk. I'll see how much time I have ;)

Please review :D Each review makes my day :D

- Lollie