I don't own The Outsiders. :-)

"I don't believe this."

I turned to my best friend, sneering at my schedule. "I was out for one quarter. One lousy quarter, and look what happens!" I shook the piece of paper in Randy's face, still disgusted. Algebra - Barnes. "I have to re-take algebra." I paused, and Randy was careful not to say anything. "I have to re-take fucking algebra, and double it with trig. Remind me again?"

"Remind you of what, buddy?"

"Remind me how I managed to mono during the last quarter of last year - right before finals."

"I don't know," Randy said carefully. Stupid bastard; he knew not to egg me on when I was this mad. "Why don't you tell me, man?" he said a little playfully.

I punched him in the shoulder, laughing. I slammed my locker shut, bumping past some kid in the hall. "At least I realized I was sick before I gave it to Cherry - and watch it, punk." I glared at the kid who gave me a nasty look. "But still. Two math classes?"

"In the same year," Randy supplied cheerfully, "And you got Barnes. She's terrible."

"Shut up, Adderson," I groaned into my hands. I ran my fingers through my hair. "This really bites."

"Hey, at least we have trig together?" Randy tried to lighten my mood. He was a good buddy, Randy. My best one, in fact. Sure the other guys were cool 'n all, but they didn't dig me like Randy did. If I was pissed and in a bad mood, he didn't try to bullshit with me like the others. He'd tell me I was being an ass, and to cool my jets. It wasn't that he was being a jerk or nothing, he was just looking out for me. It wasn't real safe to show your emotions around here. All these greasers, they were just itching to get a rise out of you - and if you let them, you were dead.

Yeah, we had each other's backs, me and Randy. I rolled my eyes at him as the first bell rang. "See you in math."

~/~

"Mr. Sheldon, how lovely to see you again," Mrs. Barnes - some old hag with buggy glasses too big for her head - greeted me warmly. I had no idea who this lady was, but I figured she knew me somehow. I smiled politely at her.

"Mornin', ma'am. It's good to be back." I looked around the classroom, and felt a pit in my stomach for half a second. There were lots of greasers in this class - loads of 'em, in fact. I knew what these teachers did. They tried to put together all the dumbshits, and then the A classes would've been for the smarter people. I should be in the A class. I knew why I wasn't though - I had missed the entire last quarter, and had no real clue what was going on in algebra at the time. My parents wanted me to get a tutor for math, and I told them I wasn't feeling up for math. They dropped it pretty quickly.

'Didn't they know I'd be in this class, though?' I thought bitterly to myself. 'They shouldn't have let me bully them into letting me skip math. I'm dead.'

I scanned the room, and saw a familiar face. Some girl I knew as a friend of Cherry's. Cherry. I had to see her before lunch - I missed her so much; I hardly left my house for a month no matter how much I wanted to see her. As usual though, my girlfriend was cool as hell about it all. She kept saying she'd see me when I got back. I have a feeling she thought I was blowing her off on purpose, but I didn't want her to miss school too. I didn't want her to be miserable with me, just because I missed her.

I quickly ran over to the desk next to her - Marcia, I think her name was. "Hey."

She brightened up when I sat down next to her. "Bob, hi! I didn't know you were back in school yet," she whispered to me. Cherry hadn't told her? I felt my stomach clench. Damn.

"Uh, yeah ... Just in time for junior year, I guess." I flashed her a grin. "So why're you here? Did you fail algebra last year too?" Marcia looked at me, looking insulted. "Uh, you okay?" She glared at me, and got out of her seat, next to some other girl near the window.

Was it something I said?

I sighed, sitting back into my seat. Just then another greaser walked through the door. He looked real pleased to be in math class. Not. Some of the girls giggled as he walked in, and I knew that I wasn't gonna have a real easy time in this class. "Hey, Soc ... " I heard a voice behind me, and felt something pelt the back of my neck.

I pursed my lips, slouching in my seat. "Hey, kid - " He tapped me on the shoulder.

"Fuck off, greaseball," I sneered at him, before turning back to the front.

"Excuse me? Is there a problem here?" Mrs. Barnes asked sharply. I shook my head. No way I was tattling on the grease monkey - not in a million years would I be that much of a candyass. She turned to the boy who was still standing there. What the fuck was wrong with this kid? Were all good-looking people just dumber than wood? "Sit down, son ... " she said slowly, as if talking to an animal. He frowned at her, and looked straight at me. I glared.

Then I realized something; there was only one seat left. I craned my neck to look at the empty desk next to me. Dammit. He strode over quickly and sat in the seat next to me. School had begun.

~/~

By the time lunch had come around, I was already feeling sick again. I needed to find Randy. And Cherry. That was important too.

Everyone seemed to think I had caught mono from some girl at a party - as if the only way you could get mono was from kissing someone else. I knew it looked bad, especially when Cherry didn't wind up sick, but I was almost positive it wasn't anything more than that I caught it from sharing food or something.

That was what I aimed on telling her, anyway.

I looked down at my lunch, repulsed. I felt so queasy it wasn't even humorous - I trashed my lunch, and tried to go around the cafeteria. When I saw Cherry sitting there with the cheerleaders, I felt weaker than before. I had met her last year - she had been a freshman, and I was a sophmore. She sure hadn't liked me at first, but I managed to persuade giving me a try. To this day, I wasn't sure whether she really liked me or if she was just waiting for something better - I always felt like I was competing for her; I could tell she kind of enjoyed it too.

One of her friends jabbed Cherry in the ribs, looking at me. Way to be obvious. Stupid girl. Cherry looked up at me, blinking rapidly. I waved a few fingers, a weak grin on my face. Dork.

She stood up quickly from her seat, walking over to me quickly. "Bob."

I cleared my throat. "Cherry."

She took my hand without a word, and lead me to the hall. I saw Randy leaning against a window and he winked. Where the hell did he come from?

"Cherry, look - " I started when we were alone. I stopped when she kissed my cheek, enveloping me in a hug. "I missed you," she whispered.

I ran my hand down her back, kissing her hair.

"I missed you too." It was the first sincere thing I had said all day.

~/~

I finally got back into the groove of things, and I even started getting a math tutor for algebra. It was my mistake, but I had whined once to my parents about all of the hoods in my class, and they made calls right away to getting me out of that class as soon as possible.

Mrs. Barnes "sympathized" with my parents (of course), and said if I took the final from last year in replacing of my mid-term and got an A, I would get the credit for algebra.

"He'd need to still see a tutor until the second semester, of course ... " My parents looked at me nervously, as if I was going to explode into a tornado of fury at this injust proposition, but I merely shrugged.

"Sounds good to me."

My math class hadn't been that bad lately. I kept to myself mostly, and the greasers just let me be. It was better that way. I really hated them sometimes, but it was hard to do that without sounding ungrateful. I knew it looked bad from their perspective, I guess. What did we have to complain about, being rich kids? But those punks always started it - we didn't ask for them to rob our parents' stores, or to cheat in drag races. They just felt they had to beat us in something, and it was pathetic.

Marcia had forgiven me for assuming she was just a dumb junior, and was actually quite chatty - and smart. I liked her for being friendly - us Socs, sometimes it's so hard trying to make friendly with each other, because we're always on our guard, even with each other. Cherry was like that; I'm like that. Marcia was sincerely nice, though. She wasn't someone I'd mind letting Randy go out with. He's gotten some pretty dumb girls in the past. I'd never tell him or the girls, but he had some pretty bad taste in women.

I also found out later that I wasn't the only junior in my algebra class either. The dumb greaser from the first day was a junior too - I guess he had failed algebra last year or something. Not a surprise either. He really just didn't get it. I could tell he tried, but what greaser ever really tried in school? Some days he'd try to listen carefully to Mrs. Barnes, and other times it was like he was giving up, and just stared out the window or doodled on his papers. Curtis, his name was. I had heard about his older brother from Randy - he was some big-shot football player; a darn good one too, apparently.

"Mr. Curtis, what would be the vertex of this inequality?" Mrs. Barnes shot at him suddenly, pointing to the board. Poor kid had no idea what was coming. He froze, his face turning all red.

"Uh ... " He bit his lip, nearly chewing it off his face.

"Yes? What do you do with the number inside the absolute value?"

"I don't know," he whispered miserably.

I raised my hand lazily, and Mrs. Barnes smiled again. "Mr. Sheldon?"

"It's 5,3, right?" Mrs. Barnes beamed.

"Very good."

I smiled to myself, feeling good. Curtis looked up from his paper, glaring at me with those dark eyes. I felt myself get mad too - dumb greaser was mad because I knew the answer?

I smirked at him, twirling my pencil between my fingers.

~/~

"How's math class?" Randy asked me one day after school. We were hanging out near the river like we used to. He snatched a chip from my lunch. I cocked my eyebrow at him annoyed, but then threw the bag in his lap. I didn't have much of an appetite anymore.

"Hey man, I only wanted one - you need to eat." He looked worried, and held out the bag to me.

"I don't need to do anything, Randy," I snapped. "Quit babying me. My mom does enough of that."

"Oh, poor you," he chimed in, sniggering. "Your parents are cool, man. I wish my dad let me get away with half the stuff your dad does."

"Yeah, alright, whatever," I said venomously. "We're dropping it. Math class, right? It's a bore - and there are so many greasers, I think I leave that classroom high off of their pomade fumes." He roared with laughter at that, forgetting all about my parents and my eating.

Sometimes I wish someone would ask me why I'm like this. People wonder why I don't like my parents nearly as much as everyone else does. They're right, they are cool. And they're not embarrassing like some parents. Randy's old man has a belly the size of Texas, and his mom's got a laugh like a hyena. My dad's real good-looking; he's got salt and pepper hair, and always wears suits. Ma's always been short, petite, with nice clothes - I'm never embarrassed by them.

But sometimes I hate them. One of these days, they're gonna let me get away with murder. They'd rather see me be happy than do the right thing and take the chance of me hating them. They're cowards, they are. But I love them, because it doesn't look right - two perfect parents and a messed up son? I'd rather die than be the screwup of the damn family.

"Bob, you alright?" Randy looked at me, worried. Worried, not because he thinks I'm upset, but because he doesn't know how to deal with me if I'm not okay. None of us do.

"I'm fine, man." I grinned at him, and he smiled. All was as it was supposed to be.

~/~

We had our midterm in the second week of January.

"Man, if I don't pass this test," I was telling the guys on the way to math, "my parents'll kill me." Lie. "They said I wouldn't be allowed to go to the party at Craig's on Friday." Lie. "Man'll they be disappointed." Lie?

When I got my test, I was already feeling nervous.

What is the minimum value of y = -6x - 1?

I sucked in a breath, feeling anxious, playing with the slideruler on my desk. 'Calm down, calm down ... you know this. You know it. Minimum value, you know this. You do.'

I finished quickly, feeling I might've actually gotten an A on the blasted thing - it got easier once everything came to me. I went up to hand Mrs. Barnes my test. She smiled at me. "I knew you'd be the first to finish, Mr. Sheldon." I smiled at her, hoping it didn't look too fake, or like I wanted to throw up. I felt naseous again. God, what was wrong with me lately?

I heard a loud tapping of a pencil against the desk, and turned to see Curtis looking at his test with a helpless expression on his face. He was biting his lip again, and I had to feel bad for the greaser. Wasn't his fault he was dumb. He took in a shaky breath, and ran his fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes, and erased again. The paper was full of gray marks now - I was surprised he hadn't ...

Rip.

... ripped the paper yet. He cursed softly to himself, and I looked up to make sure Mrs. Barnes hadn't heard it. I folded my arms across my chest, feeling uncomfortable. "Mrs. Barnes?" I whispered to her. She looked up. "Can I go to the bathroom?"

She nodded. I stood up, swinging my backpack over my shoulder, stalking out of the classroom. I half expected her to realize I had my bag, but she didn't. I stayed in the hall until the class was over. I don't know why seeing that kid get so upset got to me. It wasn't supposed to. Oh, God - what the fuck was wrong with me anyway? I was cracking up. I was feeling bad for greasers now. Maybe if I ... Maybe if I ...

What? What? I thought of my friends. I thought of Cherry. My parents, my car, my grades - nothing calmed me down. I tried Cherry again, but nothing. I sighed into my hands. I thought of all those beer blasts down by the river, how Cherry disapproved of the drinking. But I thought - I thought of how happy they seemed when they drank. I wanted to be happy. I only wanted to be happy, dammit.

I stood up too, feeling tired. Maybe I'd call my parents and say I felt sick - no, bad idea. They'd get worried, they'd baby me, they'd ... Suddenly the door burst open, and out came the Curtis kid who looked more than pissed off now. He didn't seem to notice I was there - like I cared - and he slammed his foot into a locker, cursing. I picked up my bag, and couldn't help but smile - this kid was insane.

He looked at me and snarled. "What're you laughing at, Soc?"

I raised my eyebrows. "C'mon, grease - it's just a test. It's not a big deal."

He calmed down a bit, and looked a little mad that he had gotten so out of control in front of me. "It's just algebra," I continued. "It's not important, or anything. Just cool your jets, kid." I swung my bag over my shoulder, wondering when I was going to start taking my own advice. I walked away then, just as the bell rang.

Curtis looked at me again - this time he just looked sad and miserable. "As if you know what it's like, Sheldon," he whispered before turning away.

Walking away from that greaser, I realized that I would be a much better person ... if there just weren't so many reasons for everyone to hate me.

Okaay, because someone will ask me, I'll tell you now - it's Sodapop, obviously. I talked to my Dad about this (he also went on a tangent about the good ol' days - I love him, he's such a dork), and he said he took: Geometry, Algebra, Trig, then Maths 7. So that's the order I went in. Bob's a year older than Cherry - and uh ... yeah.

Just thought I'd take a whack at humanizing Bob. I think he's such a great character to look into. So obviously this sets off the cycle of his alcoholism ... foreshadowing, anyone? Looking at it again, Pony's right - these two do remind me of Steve and Soda a bit! It's a little sad, actually ... do review, I'd love to hear some feedback. And pardon the spelling typos - I'm afraid I don't use beta readers for oneshots - I feel I'd tire my beta reader out, especially since I'm a handful and everyone wants her ... xD

Happy November 28th, my readers! Review, flame, critique - do what you must, and do it well!

(Also, check out Chapter 20 of "The Social Disease" - it's posted now.)