I don't own the Outsiders nor the Shepards. Everything you don't recognize, I own.

The next morning I woke up to a creaking sound, as my bedroom door opened. I turned on to my side and saw Kevin leaning against the door frame.

I got up from the bed and walked to my closet, "You don't know how to knock anymore?" I asked.

I turned to look at him and he ran his hand through his hair "Look Cas, I'm sorry 'bout yesterday."

I looked down at my bare feet, pink nailpolish covering my nails. "I know" I turned around to look at him and couldn't help but smile. He was grinning, knowing very well I'd forgive him for being an asshole. I always did.

"Kevin!" We heard dad yelling from downstairs. Kevin turned his head towards the sound and then he turned back to me "Do you wanna go get breakfast?"

"Yeah, sure," I answered and turned to get my clothes. Soon I heard Kevin's footsteps as he stomped downstairs.

I changed my clothes and followed him downstairs. I walked into the kitchen and saw dad and Kevin sitting around the table. I went up to my dad and gave a kiss on top of his head. I saw the corner of his mouth curl up "Good morning sweetie". I just smiled and leaned against the counter, looking at both of them.

I had always been dad's girl. I was his only girl and he had always felt the need to protect me from everything. My brothers took it up from him and sometimes I just wished they would let me do my mistakes and learn from them.

Kevin fingered his car keys and gave dad a knowing look. My dad looked up from his paper and nodded. Kevin stood up and walked to the door and I followed him, without saying a word. Kevin walked up to the car and slid into the driver's seat. I sat next to him and he sped off towards the Ribbon.

We parked in Bowen's parking lot and made our way into the diner. Kevin insisted on us sitting in a booth and I didn't protest. A girl from my school, Lauren, was our waitress.

"Hey Cassie," she said smiling and looked at me and Kevin. The smile from her face faded, "What can I get you?" Kevin ordered and Lauren walked away, looking back at us from behind the counter. This was the reason I didn't like going to places with my brothers, they were intimidating without even realizing it.

Kevin put his hand on mine, "So, what are your plans for today?" I looked up and into his brown eyes. "I don't know, probably going to the race with Evie," I could see he didn't like what I had just said and quickly added "Steve's fixing a car for someone, so we aren't staying long." Kevin muttered something to himself and shook his head lightly "You better not and if the fuzz show, you have to go. Drinking in public, underaged, will land you in jail for the night."

He took a sip of his coffee and added, "And you know, you should steer clear of him" I knew he was talking about someone else. I pulled my hand from under his and fiddled the hem of my shirt. I hated having to talk to him about my personal life.

I was saved by the bell, when Lauren brought our pancakes to the table. I poured syrup on them and started eating without looking at Kevin. We ate in silence for a while, when Kevin lifted his gaze and looked towards the door. I followed his eyes and saw Mike, Tim Shepards' second in command, walk in. He waved at us and sat in the booth.

He turned his attention to Kevin, when he felt his eyes on him. "How long is your brother in?" Kevin shrugged, "Don't know, haven't heard from him" Mike frowned and gave me a pitying smile. I understood the cue behind it and got up from the booth. I looked at Kevin "I'll be outside" He just nodded back and I turned and walked out the door.

I felt alive, when I walked out the door and a warm breeze hit my face. I looked around to see if there were any familiar people hanging around Ribbon. There were a couple of girls sitting around a table right outside Bowen's. The other one I recognized as Angela Shepard and assumed the other one was Sylvia. Sylvia was one of the people I couldn't stand.

I walk to them and sat down next to Angela. "Hey Ang" She shifted her gaze to look at me "Oh, hey Cassie" Sylvia glanced at me contemptuously and continued to fix her makeup. "What are you doing here?" Angela asked "I was having breakfast with Kevin, until Mike showed up" Angelas eyes sparkled "Mike's here?" She started to adjust her clothing and hair, I rolled my eyes at her "Yeah, he's inside"

Angela had a crush on Mike, but she was wise enough to know that she couldn't be too obvious. Mike had a girlfriend for crying out loud. Tim would be furious if he knew. So Angela had decided to take it easy for a while, though I doubted it'd last long.

Sylvia put down her mirror and turned to look at me "So, how's your love life?" I snorted at her question "Couldn't be better" I said, giving her a smile. Before I started seeing Tim, he had fooled around with Sylvia, whenever Sylvia's ex-boyfriend was in the cooler. Tim and Dallas had been friends of some sort, but Dallas had been shot by cops the previous year. I assume they had fooled around after that too, but I wasn't sure so I kept my mouth shut.

Angela stood up and strolled over to Mike, who came outside. She started to flirt with him, twirling a lock of her hair and batting her eyelashes. I just smiled and walked over to Kevin, who was walking right behind Mike. I nudged his side and he grinned "Let's go, I'll take you home"

"Uh, could you drop me off at DX? I'm meeting Evie there and I don't feel like walking to her house."

"Sure thing" he opened the passenger door for me and I slid inside. As we sped off towards DX, the car radio was blaring, filling the car with Hank Williams.

When we arrived at DX, I could see Sodapop, Steve's bestfriend, filling a car outside. I stepped out of the car and said my goodbyes before closing the car door. I waved at Soda before going inside. I decided on a Pepsi and a fashion magazine and put the money on the counter, since I didn't see Steve anywhere, though I had a pretty good idea where he was. I sat next to the window, where I could see the front, and started riffling through the magazine.

After a while, I checked the clock on the wall, and saw that Evie was late, as usual. I stuffed the magazine in my purse and adjusted my skirt. I threw the empty can in the trash and walked up to the counter to ring the bell. Soon, Steve appeared from the garage, and his face said it all. Evie was walking right behind him, straightening out her clothes.

I grinned at my best friend "Took you long enough" She pushed me lightly and smiled. She gave a quick kiss on Steve's cheek and we walked to the door

"I'll see you ladies later " Steve yelled after us.

We walked to Evie's house. When we got there, there were cars parked outside. I heard Evie sigh.

"What's up?"

She looked at me "Ryan's got friend's over"

"Oh," was all I could say. I knew Evie's brother ran with the Brumly boys and that she didn't really like it. I really didn't know what to say, my own brothers were in trouble all the time, but I had stopped caring a long time ago. He kept getting into trouble all the time, and that caused him to fight more with their parents.

I dug a pack of cigarettes from my pocket and offered Evie one. She gratefully took it and I lit my own, offering my light to her too. We sat down on the porch and smoked in silence.

We had been bestfriends ever since we started middle school, and even though we were both 'going steady', if you could apply the term to me and Tim, we always had time for each other.

I grounded my cigarette butt on the ground and got up. Evie reluctantly walked inside, I was trailing right behind her. As soon as she opened the door, I could hear loud noises in the kitchen. We walked into Evie's room, the boys were too concentrated on their poker game to notice us.

I sat on the floor and pulled out the magazine. Evie dug her closet and took a brown bag out. She opened it and pulled out a whiskey bottle. We both grinned and she took a shot of it, grimacing. I took a shot too, and the liquid burned all the way down. Evie walked up to her radio and turned it on, filling the room with Elvis' soft voice. She sat next to me and we both leaned against the bed. We kept drinking the whiskey, even though the taste was awful.

Evie had been really quiet all day, and it seemed like something was bothering her.

Finally she laid her head on my shoulder "Cas, I invited Sylvia over tonight" I pushed her head off my shoulder and turned to face her

"What? You know I don't get along with her"

I could see Evie felt uncomfortable "I know, but I didn't want to be rude, she's my friend too" All I could think about was putting up with Sylvia's shit all night.

"She's a bitch" I snapped at her. Evie rolled her eyes

"She ain't that bad"

I lifted my eyebrows, "Do you even know her?"

After a few minutes, Sylvia opened the door slowly and stepped inside. I could see that she felt the same way about me. I stood up and walked to the window, cracking it open. I lit my cigarette and leaned out the window. Evie was glaring at me, since she didn't like to smoke inside, not to mention other people smoking inside. I just looked out. The evening was beautiful; sun was setting, casting the last rays of light behind the houses.

After tossing the cigarette butt out, I closed the window and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. Sylvia went on about some guy she had met earlier and Evie listened to her. I was waiting for Steve to pick us up so wouldn't have to listen.

The time dragged on slowly, but when it finally hit seven, we heard Steve honking his car horn outside. We went outside, Evie sliding in the front seat with Steve. I just rolled my eyes and sat behind Evie in the backseat. Sylvia sat next to me, reluctantly closing the door and a cold atmosphere filled the back of the car. We hadn't said a word to each other the whole time, and I was glad.

The ride seemed to take forever and as soon as we stopped by the other cars, I jumped out of the car and headed in search for beer.

"Where are you going?" Evie yelled after me.

I waved at her "to get something to drink".

When I finally found a car with beer in the trunk, I snatched two, putting the other one in my purse. There was always beer available in races, you just needed to know where to look.

I strolled back over to Steve's car and leaned against the hood. I opened a beer and took a sip.

Soon, Evie came to sit next to me "Where did you leave Sylvia?" She took the other

beer from my purse, which was sitting between us

"She found better company" she said nodding her head behind me. I turned and saw Sylvia flirting with some guys from Brumly, with Angela Shepard next to her. I grinned and turned back around.

We sat there for a while, looking at Buck, who was taking bets from people. People were lining in front of him, to place their bets before the race started. Suddenly he waved at us and motioned for me to go there. I walked over to him and he handed me a flag. "You're gonna flag tonight" I grabbed the flag and made my way over to the street, where the race was gonna start any minute. I had done this a few times before, but usually Buck had his own girls to do the flagging, though I didn't mind; I loved doing it.

The crowd started gathering around the cars. Two souped up cars were standing next to each other, facing up the street, where they would be racing. The drivers were in their places, anxious for the race to start. I could feel eyes on my back, when I walked between tha cars. I walked about 6 feet in front of the cars and looked at the drivers. I smiled, when I saw Tim sitting in the other car. I winked at him, and he shook his head and chuckled to himself.

In the other car, a boy from River Kings was glaring at Tim and revving up his engine. Tim looked at the boy and revved his engine in response. I lifted my hands up, to give the drivers a signal to get ready. I could see their palms sweating against the steering wheel.

This was the most amazing part of the race, all the tension building up. I let my hands fall down to my sides and closed my eyes. I felt a burst of air on my face as the cars leapt forward. All the tension was released and people were cheering. I turned around to watch their tail lights as they raced up the street.

I walked back to Buck and handed him the flag. He grabbed it and kept on squinting at the finish line, to see who won. I smiled at him and turned to look at the crowd cheering at the other end of the raceway.

Both of the cars came back and when Tim stepped out, the crowd was cheering. People slapped his back when he walked by. I saw Curly walking behind him with a proud look on his face.

Steve was amazing with cars and Tim was a great driver, probably one of the best in Tulsa. He wasn't afraid to take the car to its limits, and Steve made that possible. I guess that's why they were such a good team.

Tim saw me and made his way towards me, as I listened to Buck counting all the money he had made from the race. I leaned against Buck's car, arms folded on my chest.

He stood in front of me, his hands on my hips "If I'd known you'd be here, I would've dressed up"

I lifted my eyebrow at him "Flattering now are we? Did you do something stupid?"

He grinned and kissed my forehead "Are you going to Buck's?" he whispered into my ear

"If you are," I answered as Mike walked over to us and Tim's posture changed.

He turned to Mike and lit up a cigarette. Mike looked at me, "Hey Cas," and turned to Tim "They are on our turf again, we gotta do something" Tim frowned, deep in thought. Then he lifted his hand and motioned for some of his boys to come.

"Let's do it" he said and Mike and the boys went to Tim's car.

He turned to me "I'll see you later" and walked to his car. He sped off and I was lef there, standing alone. The crowd was starting to stuff into cars and continue the party at Buck's. I walked back to Evie and Steve, and we left for Buck's.

Buck's was always packed after races, probably more then than usually. I could hear the music blaring inside when I stepped out of the car. I lit up a cigarette and watched Evie and Steve go inside, holding hands. I leaned my head against the car and watched the stars, enjoying the cool air outside.

Sun had set a few hours ago and it was dark, and all I wanted was to curl up next to Tim and smell the mixture of cigarettes and cologne. But that didn't happen. I waited for him at Buck's until 2 in the morning. People were still drinking, dancing and playing pool. There had been a fight earlier, but Buck had broken it off and the fuzz didn't show.

I walked to my brother, who had arrived moments before. "Can we go home?"

He looked down at me "If you want to"

"Yeah, I just want to get some sleep" I sighed and walked to the door, Kevin following right behind me, holding his hand on my shoulder.