Disclaimer: I do not own the Outsiders.

"Hi Ponyboy." Claire pulled a chair out and sat next to him.

Ponyboy looked up. "Hey Claire."

"Did you finish your math homework?" She asked, rummaging in her bag. She brought out a huge green binder, the case an oval shape from the amount of paper stuffed into it. Paper stuck out haphazardly.

Then as an after thought, she brought out her pencil case.

"Yeah, but it ain't easy."

"I know, I couldn't get question 30. Exponents always make me mess up."

"You ain't a woofin."

Claire grinned. Talking to Ponyboy was always interesting, even when they exchanged conversations about school work. He used greaser slang and it made her feel cooler talking to him.

The teacher rapped her ruler against the table. "It's time to start. Open your textbooks to page 237 and solve questions 1-29. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to come ask me."

Silence greeted her. The teacher huffed in annoyance and walked back to her desk, pulling out a book to read.

Ponyboy and Claire snorted, as did half of the class. The teacher, Ms. Halpany, was a liar. One of the few sycophantic teachers in the school, she liked to suck up to the Socs to gain special privileges, such as tutoring Socs for a large sum of money. If that wasn't bad enough, she would ignore middle class and greasers on a good day and hand out detentions like candy on a bad day.

The point was, asking Ms. Halpany a question was equal to stabbing yourself in the foot. It was better to try and figure it out yourself or ask one of the upper class men.

Claire, who was middle class, knew this well. Ponyboy, who was a greaser, knew this even better.

A hush fell over the classroom as students bent down and went to work. Claire took out her textbook and flipped to the appropriate page. Then, taking out a pencil from her pencil case, she gently pried a blank sheet of paper from her binder. She read:

1) What is x if 2x^2 + x + 1 = 0 ?

She grimaced. Over the insistence, more like force, of her father, she had solved the questions a week before and was annoyed by the repetitiveness .

"You need to work harder!" Her father's voice echoed in her head.

Rolling her eyes, she went to work.

An hour later, she had finished all her questions and was reading a book on dissection. Animal and human anatomy fascinated her. She loved how the muscles intertwined, worked, and supported each other. A small accident could damage the whole system, like an all or nothing gang. Reverently she turned the pages.

Ten minutes later, she heard rustling of paper next to her. Her eyes quickly flicked from her book to Ponyboy's desk. Ponyboy had finished and was taking out a book of poems by Robert Frost.

Claire remembered Ponyboy's ecstatic explanation about Robert Frost. He had said something about how he didn't understand one of his poems and that he memorized it because he didn't understand it (who does that?). He also went into a ten minute long rant about how great poems were and that he loved exploring the feelings and emotions packed into their complicated literary devices. By the time he was done, she was falling asleep. Ponyboy hadn't been too happy about that.

Time passed as the two sat in a comfortable silence. People around them talked, exchanging ideas about how to solve a problem, or more often, about their lives. The volume in class became louder and louder as more people finished their work.

At eleven forty, the bell rang.

Slowly, Claire put down her book, her eyes fixated on a diagram of the human lung. So the pulmonary artery carries the deoxygenated blood and dumps it into the capillaries where gas exchange occurs. She thought hard. So then what happens when chlorine gas fills the lungs?

In a daze, her hands closed her book, packed up her pencil case and her large binder. When she was done, she realized that Ponyboy was doing the same.

We're such nerds. She snickered. Ponyboy looked at her curiously. She waved him away.

Students rushed out the door. She and Ponyboy took their time. They walked each other to the classroom door, the last ones to leave.

"Bye Ponyboy. I'll see you at history class, last period." Claire said, waving her hand.

Ponyboy nodded at her. "See you."

Claire left for the lunch room. Students rushed by her, traveling in packs, usually separated by their social class and personality. One of the greaser girls in her math class said, "That broad was such a bitch. She can't even teach!" The girl next to her nodded frantically. "Yeah, I think she was a Soc but was so dumb in spending her money that she became middle class." The girl at the end giggled. "Wonder when she's gonna become a greaser? We'll teach her then!" They laughed.

Not for the first time, Claire wished Ponyboy was her friend. If he were, she could complain and listen about the latest teachers and rumors with him. She would also stop standing out as the hobo who didn't have any friends.

There were two reasons why she didn't have any:

1) She didn't dress like a girl.

She didn't care enough to spend time and money on priming her hair, putting on makeup, and selecting the 'perfect clothes' to wear each day. She had more important things to work on, like reading or playing sports. And the fact that the only parent she had didn't care either didn't help much.

2) Her father was a police officer

This was the prime reason she couldn't afford to make friends. Most of the people in school were in gangs. If they knew about her relation with a police officer… She would be alienated even more than now, not to mention the assault that would follow. She was a girl, but some of these guys didn't care.

So she loned it.

She bought her lunch and sat at the far corner, watching and listening as she ate her lunch.

"Did you see that broad, Nicole? She was hanging off my ex-boyfriend." Alice, one of the more popular and rich Socy girls, tossed her blonde curled hair. She was sitting at a table across from Claire and sitting on her newest boyfriend Scott.

Claire mused, Wonder how long he'll last. A week?

"Really? Gosh, she's such a slut!" The girl with brown, silky hair said in a high pitched voice and giggled.

As if you're not.

Sometimes, Claire didn't understand why Socy girls liked to shame other Socy girls. They all acted the same. Insulting them was like insulting yourself. Her number one theory was that they felt superior by doing so and this was how they gained power in their small groups.

Alice smiled at the brunette, pleased at the reaction that she invoked. "Lisa, do you want to come with me and go shopping today? The dress I bought last week isn't in style anymore and I want a new one."

The brunette became ecstatic. "Sure!"

The girls in Alice's group subtly glared at Lisa. They knew that Lisa had been singled out, and if they weren't careful, Lisa would become Alice's newest 'best friend.'

Claire rolled her eyes at their antics. Compared to greaser girls who smoked and put on too much make up, their troubles were so trivial. But this was one of the reasons why she liked to sit near Socy girls, she could laugh at their empty words.

Claire finished up her lunch and subtly moved out of her seat. Eyes downcast, trying not to catch anyone's attention or trip over the occasional foot, she speed walked to the cafeteria door.

No such luck.

Alice, at that moment, chose to turn around. "Claire, the middle class greaser." Alice mocked and stood up, blocking Claire's way.

Inwardly, Claire smirked. It was funny that Alice thought being a greaser was an insult when in reality, being a Soc was. She said nothing.

Alice ran her eyes critically over Claire's appearance. "You look like you didn't shower for a month. Look at that grease in her hair girls! Isn't it disgusting? Not to mention what she wears. Did you pick your clothes off the ground in East side?"

The girls in Alice's group laughed mockingly.

Claire felt a little offended. Although she looked like crap, (yes she knew that she was a slob) she had good hygiene. Besides, she'd checked in the mirror, her hair didn't have any grease on it. It was clean!

Lisa, who was still on cloud nine said, "We should clean her hair!"

Alice glanced at Lisa and smirked.

Not again! She still had class and if they did what she thought they would do, she couldn't enter class like that. She wished her father would let her soc Alice a good one. She knew she packed a good punch and could probably take on Alice's boyfriend and possibly his friend. But if she did so and her father heard about it… he would rip her a new one, mentally and physically.

"Scott," Alice said sweetly, "could you hold her steady while I wash her hair?"

Scott obliged. He stood up and walked over behind Claire, grasping her shoulders but avoiding contact with her body and his.

Come on, I'm not that bad.

Alice grasped a milk carton from her tray. A vicious smile pasted on her face, Alice slowly poured the contents over Claire's head. The slow stream flowed down into Claire's shirt, pants, and socks. It felt as if she was bathing in acid water, burning her skin.

The cafeteria fell silent. Then Socs near Alice laughed, jeering at Claire.

"I think you're clean now!" Lisa said giggling.

Claire's stomach felt like magma, boiling and bubbling, ready to erupt.

Scott let go of Claire and walked over to Alice's side, smirking as well. "You can leave, but remember to wash your hair next time so that we don't have to!" Alice said, waving Claire goodbye.

A red haze filled Claire's vision as she walked out of the cafeteria. Those hags from hell! One day, I'll finish them. And when I do, I will show no mercy. So angry, Claire didn't think about where she was heading, instead she let her feet carry her, far and far away from the cafeteria.

Smack!

She face planted into something hard.

What the? Is this a greaser car? Claire swore. If this was a greaser car, it meant she was in a greaser hangout, and this meant…

"Claire?" Ponyboy's bewildered voice greeted her ears.

Claire swore profusely, even outdoing herself - in her head. She flipped her wet hair so that it didn't cover her eyes anymore and gave a cursory glance at the hangout. Ponyboy was sitting on the car she'd bumped into, along with the famous Two-bit Matthews. There was also Evie, who had her hand around a boy with hair in complicated curls. The couple looked annoyed.

I probably interrupted their make out session.

"Claire?" Ponyboy questioned again, worry tinging his tone this time.

Why oh why is Ponyboy here? "Hi Ponyboy!" Claire said brightly. "Sorry if I barged into you guys. I wasn't looking at where I was going. So… I'll be going now."

Two-bit cocked an eyebrow.

"What happened?" Ponyboy asked.

"Er… I took a shower with my clothes on?" Mentally, Claire banged her head against the wall.

Ponyboy, Two-bit, Evie and her boyfriend exchanged disbelieving looks.

Claire backtracked quickly, moving away from the greaser hangout, and moving away from school. She needed to leave. Now. She turned to run but her wet hair flapped in front of her face, obscuring her vision. She didn't care.

"Bye!" She shouted, her legs tensing. Her feet pushed off the ground and before she could take two steps…

She slammed into a body.

Is it bad luck day today? Tired, wet, angry, embarrassed, and annoyed, Claire's emotion bled out faster than blood from a cut jugular vein. "Watch where you're going!" She snapped, flipping her hair back to glare at the stranger.

Her vision filled with cold blue eyes. Although the man's face was covered with wispy whitish blonde hair, his laser eyes bore into hers. Claire's glare withered. Despondently, she thought, He's going to kill me!

"Shit." a voice behind Claire muttered.

"Watch where you're going, punk!" The man growled. His jaws clenched. Claire was reminded of a lynx, ready to tear its prey apart. She knew what was going to happen next.

"Dally no, don't!" Ponyboy shouted.

The man swung his fist.

Claire didn't think, she reacted. Dodging the fist so that momentum pulled the man forwards, she grabbed his wrist and twisted her body, simultaneously putting her right foot in front of his. She gave a little grunt in effort and heaved. The man flew over her shoulder.

Thump!

The man landed on his back. Then started to cough and heave desperate gasps.

A stunned silence filled the hangout. Claire couldn't believe that the control she built over the years broke. She'd tried so hard not to beat up anyone. Behind her, the Curtis gang couldn't believe what had happened either. Dallas Winston, the tuffest greaser in their gang, lost to a girl half his size. Evie was already thinking of the gossip to tell her girls, especially Sylvia, what had happened.

"I'm really, really sorry." Claire blabbered, breaking the strange trance everyone had entered. "I didn't mean to flip you over and everything, but you tried to punch me and you know, human preservation, I had to defend myself. I don't think I cracked any of your bones, you're just winded, so you'll be fine in a second." She turned to the boys who looked at her, their mouths hanging open. "I really need to go. I need to change and… I'm really sorry for this." She waved her hands to indicate the man she'd thrown.

Claire flipped her wet hair back. She was damned if she were going to bump into anyone else today. "Bye, I guess I'll see you later Ponyboy." She sprinted towards her home, her face burning.

As she ran, she heard the man swearing behind her.

I hope I never see him again.

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