Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own The Outsiders by S.E Hinton, nor do I own the song "Dreamer" by Jenn Grant.

Monday, April 2nd, 1967

Anna took a long drag of her cigarette, and lifted the two front legs of her chair up. She let it fall down to the ground, then lifted it's legs up again. She tapped her some-what long nails on the kitchen table and sighed in frustration.

Ponyboy looked over at her suddenly and broke out in a grin. "You wanna quit fidgetin'?"

"I can't help it," she exhaled, "I really need an essay topic before school."

Anna snuck a look at Ponyboy's paper. He was writing about Gone With The Wind. "Hey," he put his elbows on the paper, "Nice try. Pick yer own topic."

"I can't," she complained, then laughed.

Ponyboy wrote his name at the top right hand corner of his paper, and looked at her again. "Ya don't normally throw yourself in homework unless somethin's wrong..." he paused and gave her a long look. "You okay?"

Anna fidgeted with her pencil, and doodled her name at the top of the page. "I heard Two-Bit got sent to jail for slashin' some Socs tires," she said quietly. Ponyboy barely heard her, but when he heard the words Two-Bit and jail he knew what she had said.

He nodded, "I heard the same."

Anna suddenly looked at Pony, "Why would he do that?"

Anna thought about Two-Bit. He never used to be like that. But then, the whole gang and her noticed that he had changed dramatically ever since the passing of Johnny and Dally. It was like he had no influence on how to act. Nobody to protect, or to cheer up.

Anna watched Ponyboy as he hesitated with his answer, "He's probably still rattled up about last September."

Anna remembered how touchy Two-Bit had been when they spoke on the bus about Dal and Johnny.

"We were supposed to prank Steve the other day," she admitted.

Pony gave her an accessible look, "Really?" he said in a high voice.

She chuckled and smiled shyly, "You knew?"

"Of course. It's you and Two-Bit," he said in a regular voice. "S'that why you were waitin' at DX for two hours?" he asked.

She nodded.

"The prank woulda been good. Bad for Steve, for funny for everyone else," he commented.

"Yeah," she agreed, then pouted. "I think I'm gonna skip out on school today."

Pony gave her an incredulous look, "`Cause of Two-Bit?"

She gave him a puzzled look, "No. Course not."

Pony knew right away it was, because the tone in her voice gave it all away. "At least stay until lunch," he reasoned with her. Before she could answer, he looked abruptly at the clock and got up. "We should get goin'."

At that moment, Steve walked in the door. "Hey, kids," he greeted, "Soda! C'mon! Yer gonna be late!" he shouted up the stairs.

Soda came down clad in only a pair of blue jeans and wet dark gold hair. Anna turned red, and attempted to turn away.

"Didn't know Anna was still here or I woulda wore a shirt," he joked.

The boys began nudging her and made kissing noises, while Soda threw his arm around her neck and kissed her cheek. She shrugged out of his old, and got up.

She cleared her throat awkwardly, "Um, Pony we should get going."

"Y'all need a ride to school?" Steve asked, shoving chocolate cake in his mouth.

Anna and Pony exchanged a look, and Anna cocked her eyebrow. "What's the catch?"

Soda ran upstairs to get a shirt.

"I just fixed my car and I wanna try it out," he said with a matter-of-fact expression.

I should've guessed, she thought. She gathered her books in her bag, and slung it over her shoulder. Suddenly something slipped out of the pocket of her bag. Steve picked up the switchblade that made a light thud. He cocked an eyebrow. "Why do ya carry one-a these?"

Anna blushed and tried to reach for it, but he held it above his head. He was practically egging her on to jump like a fool - but she crossed her arms. "Two-Bit gave it to me," she snapped.

He had given it to her last September before the rumble, because greasers were forbidden to walk alone then. But things changed now. It wasn't like she used it anyways.

''Carry this,'' Two-Bit handed her a closed knife.

''Why?'' she asked, fiddling with it. She pressed one button and it flashed out, nearly giving her a heart attack.

''Greasers can't walk alone,'' he said in a serious tone.

"Aw, how sweet," he kidded, "He gets outta jail today at third period."

Snatching her knife back, she shoved it back in her bag. "Do you know anythin' about when he gets out?"

Steve thought for a moment, "Nope. Only that his mom's gotta pick 'em up and sign some paperwork. That's `bout it."

Soda came running down the stairs, and hopped off the last step. "Who?" he asked, adjusting his blue DX cap.

"Two-Bit," they all said.

"Real smooth, Two-Bit," he murmured. They all headed out to Steve's newly fixed car, and filed in. She held her bag on her lap, and laced her fingers together tightly.

Steve turned the key in the ignition, and put the car in reverse so he could pull out of the driveway. He drove to DX, and stopped as Sodapop unbuckled his seatbelt and got out.

"I'll be there right after school," Steve said.

Soda said bye, and was greeted by a swarm of girls. He did his best to ignore them all, and walked right to the car he and Steve had been working on. Anna thought of Sandy. She had cheated on Soda intentionally, got pregnant, then left to Florida. Would Sandy ever come back and beg for Soda's forgiveness? Would Soda would even forgive her and take her back? Marry her, have a life? Anna doubted it. Sandy and Anna were never real close friends, but being Soda's girlfriend, Anna decided it was only fair to be polite. She regretted it now.

Steve pulled into the school parking lot of Will Rogers. There were hundreds of greasers and Socs that were pushing and shoving to get into the building. Steve put the car in park and they all got out.

Evie and Katie came over to them.

"Did you hear about Two-Bit gettin' thrown in the cooler?" Katie asked.

"I heard from everybody," she muttered.

Katie mumbled something about not wanting to get involved with another hood. Anna tried to ignore her. Katie departed from them, and walked off to her senior friends. She was held back an extra year for failing. She had told Anna there was no rush in trying to go off to college - it wasn't like she had the brains to go anyways.

"So," Evie said once Pony and Steve had left to go say hi to the boys from Brumly, "What are ya really thinkin' about Two-Bit gettin' jailed?"

Anna wondered why it was suddenly such a big topic. She desperately wished that people would get over it. It's not like it was a big deal - people in Tulsa got thrown in the cooler every other day. For worse things than slashing tires too.

"I don't know," she said honestly. They walk into their first class, Science, together. The majority of the class was talking silently. It sounded like the buzzing of bees.

"You gotta date to the dance on Friday yet?" Evie asked, suddenly changing the subject.

Anna leaned forward and rested her elbows on the cold wooden desk and stared forward. "No.''

Evie was talking about Steve, one of many popular topics between the two, but Anna tried her best to block it out. It was bad enough that her best friend had been jailed, but it was worse that she had somehow been very angry with him. She had a right too, didn't she? He had said he would be at DX...but instead he had carelessly gotten jailed. Yesterday, Anna had thought he forgot about there plans.

Class had begun. Anna tried extremely hard to focus on what Mr Greene had been talking about. She was lousy with Science, as she was with every topic. She could pass Math though. She thought that subject was easier than ever; even though she had barely passed with a 52% in February when exams were going on.

Mr Greene passed out a worksheet for the students to work on. Anna glanced at Evie. She was speeding threw it, while Anna doodled a cat at the top of her paper. As she drew the whiskers of the pencil-colored kitty, Evie sets down her pencil.

"Report cards are coming up," she said, excitedly.

Anna sighed.

"Excellent," she scratched the side of her head, "I'm going to fail."

As she said that, first period was over. Anna was blown away, surprised that it went by so fast. She then groaned loudly because English was next; and she hadn't thought of an essay topic. The class had two weeks to think of a topic, but she had only thought about the essay this morning.

She lazily got up out of the chair, and Evie must've noticed, because she let her arm drape around her shoulders. She gave her a reassuring shake. "Don't worry `bout it. Miss Hill ain't that bad."

"Thanks," Anna gave her a forced grin. Evie nodded, and walked out of the class to go to her class with Steve.

Anna started walking to her grade ten English class. Ponyboy had that class with her...and Johnny used, too. Before he had died.

Pony grinned at her, as Anna walked to the back of the class. There were an awful lot of Socs in that class.

"Hey," she sat beside him and let her books fall on the desk.

"Hi," he replied, "Did ya pick a topic yet?"

"No," she griped.

Class started faster then most classes did, and Anna hated that. Miss Hill came up and down the rows to collect the papers. "Thank you, Ponyboy." she smiled when Ponyboy gave her the sheet of paper. Miss Hill held out her hand, waiting for her paper to be put into it. Anna just pursed her lips.

"Miss Mercer, where is your paper?" she asked, sounding a bit snobbish.

"I couldn't think of a topic," she murmured.

The class fell silent and turned to look at Anna. She bit her tongue. "You had two weeks to think of a topic," she snapped.

"I'm sorry," Anna said.

"Anna, you have repetitively not been completing your assigned work. I'm not going to lie to you, your grades are dropping. Now, you have two options. You can either take the suspension and complete the essay; or you can simply repeat your grade ten English course."

Anna drew in a quick breath. "I'll take the suspension," she said, embarrassed that Miss Hill had not taken her outside to discuss this. The whole class was holding in laughs, and Ponyboy was giving her a look that read sorry.

"Very well," she walked to the front of the class, "You can go to the office to discuss the rules of suspension. I'm sure your sister can enlighten you on that."

Miss Hill gave her a sheet of paper to give to the secretary, and shooed her out of the class.

Anna got up, and gave Ponyboy one last look. She exited the class room and started for the office. Her mom and Dan would be horrified at Anna. She had never been suspended before ... maybe it was because she hardly even went to school. But she still found it unfair to be suspended for not completing a stupid essay.

She opened the door to the office, and handed the secretary the paper. The secretary read over the note a few times, before sighing. She had probably dealt with plenty of greasers in the past few years. "Miss Hill has sent you here for your suspension?" she said.

Anna nodded and slumped down on one of the office chairs. "Mhm," she murmured.

"Okay...you will not be allowed on school grounds until Friday," she said.

"But that's the dance!" she whined, really wanting to go.

She nodded in agreement, "That it is. Alright, you can go to that...I'm sure you're suspension shouldn't effect that in any way. But until then, Miss Hill has requested that you complete your essay. If you do not return it - finished and completed - you will have to repeat your grade nine English course ... again."

Anna took those words in and sighed heavily. "Okay," she said shortly.

"...and we are going to have to let your Mother and Dan know." she added.

Anna didn't answer. She just got up, and exited the office. Her feet felt as heavy as cement. What was she going to do? She couldn't tell the gang that she had gotten suspended, though they would probably find out anyways. She could picture it now. They would all tease her about being a 'bad ass' like them. She knew for a fact that Pony and Darry would join in on it. As much as people thought, those boys were no innocent. That whole Curtis family was conceited. She knew she had to leave the school, but she didn't want to walk alone. She decided to wait at her locker for Steve. He usually always skipped third period with Evie, so she would catch him.

There wasn't much Anna could do about her being suspended. Dan would never hit Anna - she knew that. But his words felt like swords cutting threw her. It hurt her that he always yelled at her, but it hurt her deeply that her own mother didn't even take up for her. She always took Dan's side, like he was always right. Anna desperately wanted them to divorce ... but she knew that if she did try and break them up, then it wouldn't end well. Her mother would be forever depressed, and her step-father would beat Anna for sure.

She figured getting yelled at wouldn't be bad; but what she didn't want was to be kicked out. She saw how hard it made a person's personality. Whenever she saw Steve at Pony's house, she automatically knew that he had been hacked off at his place. Anna wondered how Steve could keep his cool and not be a hood like Dally used to be.

The bell for third period rang, and Anna waited patiently waited for Steve to come. Steve would be her ride home, considering Ponyboy couldn't drive yet. Anna could have gotten her license long ago, but she didn't have enough money to buy a car.

She caught Steve by the arm. He turned around.

"We were just goin' to meet Two-Bit and his Ma at the jail," he said, "Did ya wanna come?"

Anna nodded, and looked at Evie. "I was plannin' on goin' anyways, but I needed a ride there." she said. They walked through the crowded hallways, and suddenly someone had Anna's wrists pinned to her sides. She looked at the boy that was standing infront of her. It was Ricky Forsyth. What did he want?

Ricky looked at Anna and smiled bitterly. He had dark brown hair, that was much darker than Soda's, and mud brown eyes. "So did ya hear `bout the dance Friday night?"

"Yeah," she said slowly.

"Do you have-a date?" he questioned, letting go of his rough grip on her.

She had a strong temptation to rub her some-what red wrists, but thought it wasn't very tough to show that she was in pain. Especially infront of the leader of a gang. Anna wondered if foolishly, she should lie about her answer. Two-Bit had warned her about Ricky a few times, but she didn't remember exactly what he had said. She didn't think Ricky would ever talk to her in the first place.

"No," she said at last. She kicked herself mentally for telling the truth.

"Good," he said, "Did ya wanna go with me?"

Anna looked over his shoulder at Steve and Evie. Evie was nodding brightly, but Steve shook his head. Anna looked around the halls, but they were now empty.

"Sure," she said, just for the hell of it. At least now she had a date.

"Alright," he said, backing up and briefly shaking hands with Steve. "I'll pick ya up at 6:30 on Friday, then."

Anna nodded, but realised his back was already turned on her and he was heading down the halls for the doors. Greasers hardly ever stayed the entire day of school. Some arrived in the afternoon, and some left in the afternoon.

"Anna you have no idea what you just did," was all Steve said, before turning around to leave. Anna and Evie were right on his heels. Evie smiled nicely at Anna, but she was looking at the pavement as they reached outside.

"Whaddya talkin' `bout?" she said softly, "I didn't have a date...so I —" she began, but was fleetly cut off by Steve.

"You said yes to fucking Ricky Forsyth, of all people!" Anna flinched at the tone in his voice, "Besides, I thought you'd be goin' with Two-Bit. Or at least Ponyboy."

Anna cocked her eyebrow and put her hands on her waist, "And what's that supposed to mean? I can't go with other people?"

Steve opened the door for Evie, who was silent, and Anna slipped in the back seat. He put the car into drive and pulled out of his parking space.

"I ain't sayin' that," he reasoned, "I'm just sayin' that you shoulda told him you'd at least think about it. Ever think maybe Two-Bit or Pony were plannin' on askin' ya?"

Anna shook her head. "No," she admitted, "I didn't really think of that."

Steve shook his head slowly, and Anna definitely didn't miss the roll of his eyes. "Well you should use yer head more."

Anna chuckled, much to Steve and Evie's confusion. "You sound a helluva lot like Darry when you say that."

Steve laughed to himself, and Evie cracked up. "Isn't Two-Bit takin' Katie, or Kathy...or one of his blondes?" Evie asked, suddenly jumping in the conversation.

Steve looked as if he had totally forgotten about them. "Anna's sister?" he asked Evie.

"Yes...her name is Katie," Evie said sarcastically, and kissed his cheek. Anna was afraid Steve would let his hormones get the best of him and start necking Evie while he was driving. Luckily, he kept his eyes focused on the road. But she didn't miss the grin he had on his face when she kissed his cheek.

"Whatever," he shrugged, and pulled into the jail parking lot. "I still think you shoulda went with him."

"Two-Bit?" she asked, feeling her cheeks turn red. She got slightly aggravated when Steve didn't answer. He was obviously to caught up in seeing his buddy than answering her question. They all saw Two-Bit laughing with his mother.

"Hey!" Anna said, pretty excited that her best friend was out of jail. She jumped into his arms and he grinned at her.

"Hey, Mercer," he said with an ear-to-ear smile, "S`good to see ya."

XXXXX

Two-Bit looked into her ocean blue eyes, and he knew that she was hurt by what had happened. Even though she looked happy as ever, he could still see it in the way she looked at him. He was trying to make out the expression that was on her face. He didn't understand why she looked so ... guilty?

"Hey, man. How was it?" Steve asked, slapping him reassuringly on the back.

"Not bad. Hey, did y'all know Tim got picked up, too?" he asked, laughing at how miserable his buddy had been. "He's pissed that he's gotta miss that prom shit on Friday. Claim's he was really lookin' forward to causin' a brawl."

Steve laughed. Two-Bit noticed how Anna was oddly quiet. He ruffled her hair. "`Sup with you, kid? Ain't you excited `bout goin'?"

Two-Bit suddenly noticed how Steve and Evie gave her a look with raised eyebrows, as if they knew something. Something that he didn't know.

Anna turned red and shrugged slightly, "I guess so."

"Do ya gotta date?" he asked, just to be asking. He knew that he would probably be going with Katie or Kathy, but he wanted to know if his best frend needed an escort. He sure as hell wasn't going stag like most greasers did. The only party were everyone had a date was at Buck's. He knew greasers only went to the prom just to cause trouble - like Tim had wanted too.

"Man, I really was lookin' forward to causin' a brawl," Tim drawled, leaning back on the wall that was near his bed.

"You won't be missin' much," Two-Bit said, grinning whole heartedly.

Now Two-Bit was definitely confused. Anna's entire face switched from beat red, to snow pale. "Yeah," she said, barely above a whisper.

"That's good," Two-Bit grinned and patted her on the back, "Who?"

She didn't answer.

"Ricky Forsyth," Steve said threw gritted teeth, still staring down at Anna.

Two-Bit froze inside. Ricky Forsyth? Why did she say yes to Ricky? He knew that she was going to get a date - a catch like her obviously would - but of all people, Ricky? It sure as hell wasn't any of his business who she went with, and who she rejected, but he really couldn't help but feel a pain of jealousy. ''I see,'' he said, blocking out his anger.
Two-Bit remembered how ever since Tim had mentioned the dance to him, he knew that Ricky would ask Anna. Since when did Anna take an interest in Ricky? The last thing he wanted was for his best friend to get involved with a greasy pansy like Forsyth.

Two-Bit's mom left them, claiming she had to go to work. Two-Bit and Anna slid in the back seat, while quiet Evie took shot gun, and Steve took drivers seat.

''Don't look so beat up `bout goin' with Ricky. He's a good guy,'' Two-Bit easily lied.

Lying was like a second language to him. He shrugged as if he didn't care. Truth be told, he did care. He seriously didn't want his best friend to go with Ricky. He knew that he couldn't talk stubborn-Anna into going with someone else. She wasn't interested in anyone else ... but maybe there was another way. He could lie, and say Soda was planning on asking her to go with him. Anna would do her friends a favor; that's one thing Two-Bit knew for sure about Anna.

Two-Bit, and everyone else, knew for shit that Ricky wasn't taking her to 'be nice'. He knew that when Anna refused to do anything Ricky wanted her to do, he would get violent. He was the only guy in Tulsa, Oklahoma that wasn't afraid to hit a girl. When Steve dropped Anna off at her house, Two-Bit furrowed his brow.

''Whaddya doin' home? Ain't you goin' back to school?'' he asked her.

''Suspended,'' she muttered. Steve, Evie, and Two-Bit all looked at her, surprised. ''Evie, are ya still comin' over after school?'' she asked, obviously trying to change the subject.

Evie unbuckled her seatbelt, kissed Steve for a long moment on the lips and got out. ''I can come over now. I'm acin' all my classes anyways.''

Once the door shut and the girls were out of earshot, Steve slammed on the gas.

''So, yer jealous, huh?'' Steve said.

''Jealous?'' Two-Bit repeated. Jealous wasn't the fitting word that Two-Bit would use. Irritated. Aggravated. Pissed. Astonished. Those words perfectly fitted how he felt about the whole Anna-Ricky situation. ''I ain't jealous."

''Don't shit around,'' Steve said, ''You're jealous that you can't protect Anna from Forsyth."

Two-Bit wondered if he really was jealous, but then immediately brushed the 'jealousy' off. ''Na, I'm pro'lly gonna have to take Katie or Kathy.''

Steve simply rolled his eyes, ''Sure. You know, if ya wanna go with Anna then I can help you take 'er."

"I ain't in'erested in `er," Two-Bit said, "I just wish she would go with someone else other than fucking Ricky."

Steve nodded, "Yeah, sure whatever. Well, I know one guy that doesn't have a date. Not yet, anyways."

Two-Bit looked at Steve and raised both of his eyebrows, "Really, now? And who would that be?" Soda, Soda, Soda...Two-Bit chanted in his head.

Steve smirked, "Sodapop."

The two boys looked at eachother, and nodded slowly. Two-Bit grinned at him. "Two great minds think alike." he said, high-fiving Steve.

Two-Bit then, suddenly yet again, thought about Dally and Johnny. He knew that it wouldn't be the same without teasing Johnny to dance with a girl, which was pretty hilarious, or watching Dally's girl drama. Two-Bit found it pretty fucking funny when Dally was with one girl, than a whole swarm of 'em would come up and start clawing his eyes out because he was 'cheating'. He was having doubts about going, though. He didn't understand how manipulating Anna into going with some other guy was mean. But then again, he hardly thought it was fair to ruin her plans because he didn't like her date.

But how the hell was he supposed to have a good time knowing Anna was probably being pushed to her breaking point by Ricky?

Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swaps of the no-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have not been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. it exists...it is real...it is possible...it is yours.