A/N: Hello my lovely readers, thank you for the reviews and I'm sorry I'm late with this. I went to a party and now I'm really sick so I've had a little time to work on it. I really hope you guys enjoy and thank you so much for taking the time to read this-it means a lot.

Also, you may find sometimes I will quote the book directly, I won't point it out because I find it distracts from the story so if you find some phrases from the books-gold star for you! :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my character Chelsea. All right belong to their owners and especially the talented S.E Hinton.

Chelsea spent the next few months hanging out with Ponyboy and his friends. She even spent some one on one time with most of the guys. She went to an auto show with Dally, out drinking with Two-Bit, the Dingo with Steve and Evie, and even a concert with Darry. She favored Ponyboy's company above all though, around him she could be herself and they could simply lay down on the grass in a meadow and tell each other stories. A memorable story idea was when Chelsea told him about a book series she read called the Chronicles of Narnia.

"Each story is about this magical world called Narnia and they find a way to go into it. In the first book, a boy and girl find these magic rings and a magician has them go into Narnia and they meet and evil witch, a lion and there's a lamppost that grows from the ground!"

Chelsea and Ponyboy lay in a field by the park staring up at the cloud-filled sky. Pony had confessed to her that he sometimes didn't like living in Tulsa and that he wanted to move somewhere else to which Chelsea suggested they move to Narnia. Little did he know, she sincerely meant it.

"I'd like to go there." Ponyboy sighed.

"Me too, but we can always pretend we're there."

Ponyboy propped himself up on one arm. "What do you mean?"

"We can just forget everything and pretend we're in Narnia. Look in that corner? Do you see it? It's a satyr and he has a bunch of wrapped boxes-they look like Christmas presents." Chelsea exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

"Chelsea-what are you…"

"C'mon Ponyboy! I think he saw us…" She slowly walked away from Ponyboy as if she was in a trance.

Ponyboy shrugged and got up to go after her. Together they made up a story where the satyr led them to a magical palace overlooking the sea to meet the Kings and Queens of Narnia.

And for the first time in a long time Ponyboy actually felt happy and excited. Sure, it was silly to play with imaginary friends but at the same time-it was liberating. He really could see everything Chelsea described and they were in their own little safe world where there were no greasers or Socs, just talking animals, dwarves and Kings and Queens. He felt as if he was living in one of those adventure stories he'd read about as a little kid. He was a knight and Chelsea was a powerful witch who helped him save the kingdom from a terrifying beast.

At the end of the game Chelsea and Pony fell down on the grass laughing-back to where they'd been and they watched the sunset.

Ponyboy rolled onto his left side to look at the girl beside him. "Chelsea?"

"Mhmm, " she replied keeping her eyes shut.

He stammered, "This might sound crazy but… even though we're way too old for this type of thing. I had a lot of fun doing it, it was like we were writing our own movie and it was great."

She smiled, her eyes still closed, "me too Pony, it's nice to get away from it all huh?"

He nodded; "It's funny, I could talk to Johnny or Soda about stuff like this but even they'd think I was nuts. You're the only person I could ever do this with, you're my best friend Chelsea."

Chelsea's eyes fluttered open at this and she turned her head to face the boy's grinning expression. She felt her throat tighten.

"You're my best friend too, Pony. " she choked.

He looked at her concerned. "Why are you crying? Are you upset?"

Chelsea wiped the tear cascading down her left cheek with her backhand and laughed, "I'm not upset, these are tears of joy because... I've never really had a best friend before, or even a friend to be quite honest. I'm a loner and I never thought I'd ever find a friend in this world."

She thought about the Socs. None of them were really her friends. A friend is someone you can talk to about almost anything, someone who actually talks back as opposed to acting like a frightened animal and distancing themselves from her. Sometimes Chelsea thought she was like a wild animal, the way she repelled people. A simple question like; "Do you have a pencil I can borrow?" would result in a Soc chucking a pencil at her then shrinking in fear that they might have offended her by acknowledging her presence. She was an isolate. She had no real friends from the past, no birthday parties, no sleepovers, nothing.

She sat up onto her knees and brushed the grass off of her short coral sundress. While Ponyboy sat up as well and smiled. "We'll you've got me now, and the rest of the gang adores you-except Sodapop cuz he hasn't exactly met you but I'm telling you if he did he'd love you! You're like family to us all and-"

Ponyboy couldn't finish his sentence because at that moment Chelsea had thrown her arms around him-cutting him off.

He didn't know what to do but he figured patting her hair would help so that's what he did; one hand hugged her back while the other pet her hair. When she hugged him he had an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach; it was like when he was nervous for a test or a project but it felt good, somehow. His heartbeat quickened and he smiled.

From that day on, Chelsea and Ponyboy would meet at the meadow near the park and escape to Narnia when the other was having a bad day. If Ponyboy got into a fight with Darry, he'd call Chelsea from the nearby payphone and she'd meet him there so they could escape together-it never made sense to go without the other. As for the rest of the group-they had no idea what was going on. Once Johnny walked by them playing and he sighed sadly, he would never admit it out loud but he felt like Chelsea was stealing Ponyboy and the rest of the gang away from him. It made him upset to think that now she was the pet, she was the one getting most of the gang's attention because she was a Soc. Johnny disliked her, he thought she didn't like him either because they were competing for Dally's respect and Ponyboy's friendship. Sure she was sweet, understanding and pretty but he didn't get why the gang liked her so much. He ignored her at group gatherings and she seemed to have this burning desire for everyone's attention, or at least that's what it looked like to Johnny. Sure, he didn't hate the girl, but he didn't care for her either.

The weeks passed faster and faster, Chelsea was spending so much of her time with Ponyboy that she was barely ever home. Her father was oblivious to this because he was either; too drunk to remember she existed, or at work when she was gone. But she had to be home every weekend otherwise her father would beat her excessively for leaving him.

On a cold Saturday morning, Chelsea hummed to herself as she walked into the lower east side of town. The sidewalks were not as perfectly kept as the ones on the upper west side which was why Chelsea was having a good time hopping on the dead, crunchy leaves which littered the sidewalk. In her hands she balanced a giant chocolate cake which she promised she would bring Ponyboy to cheer him up about a bad fight he had gotten into with Darry the previous day. She hated seeing Ponyboy upset and planned to surprise him that Saturday with chocolate cake while they watched Mickey Mouse. She was lucky her father had been called into the office for an emergency for the weekend otherwise she'd have to wait until school on Monday.

Ugh, school… she thought grimacing at the thought. Unlike the other Socs who alienated the greasers, Chelsea sat with Ponyboy, and Johnny at lunch, she'd walk with them to their classes, wave at them when she saw them in the halls and once even playfully pushed Ponyboy into his locker when his back was turned to her. The Socs found this behavior highly irregular. They began talking about her behind her back, excluding her from their parties and calling her a 'dirty greaser.' Sure she acted like she didn't give a fuck, but the truth was, it hurt. The names they would call her made Chelsea almost wish they would pretend she didn't exist again. She desperately wanted their approval, she didn't care about being popular but she only wished for people to care about her. The only Soc that actually made semi-conversations with her was Cherry Valence. Chelsea wouldn't say Cherry was her 'school buddy'- a friend at school but nowhere else but she was pretty damn close. The girls only, if ever, talked about school and parties-which Chelsea did not enjoy but Chelsea saw something in the redhead, something like inner turmoil in her green eyes. Chelsea had never explored it but she was pretty sure Cherry didn't like being a Soc as much as she led on that she did.

Chelsea sighed and when she reached the Curtis residence, hopped up the steps to open the door. But before she could, he overhead people talking on the roof.

"I don't know what do to do Darry, I don't know what she wants from me anymore."

Chelsea looked up and saw the back of Soda who was pacing along the rooftop while Darry was re-tiling it.

"Little buddy, you're making me nervous walking all over the place up here. I'm sure whatever Sandy's doing she has her reasons, now pass me that nail." Darry replied as he wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.

Sodapop sighed in defeat and bent down to grab the hammer just as Darry turned his head and did a double take when he saw Chelsea standing at porch holding a chocolate cake.

"Hey Chelsea, brought us something to eat?" he asked with a smile.

The girl's face flushed when Darry saw her. 'Oh, God, I hope he doesn't think I was spying.'-she thought.

"Is that Chelsea?" came the voice of Sodapop beside Darry. He turned around and Chelsea's heart skipped a beat.

'Holy shit… It should be illegal for someone to be that good-looking dammit.' She thought. She had never gotten used to his amazing good looks.

He stared at her for a moment, his eyes widening at her and his handsome lips curling into an adorable smile. She felt herself smiling back unconsciously and her heartbeat accelerated rapidly. She felt electricity in the air and for a moment there was only her and this gorgeous boy in the world.

"Earth to Chelsea? Gosh, you're as empty-headed as Ponyboy nowadays…" Darry said rolling his eyes at the girl's absent-mindedness.

She came out of her stupor and looked back to Darry. "Sorry, yes. I heard Ponyboy was feeling out of sorts today so I figured some cake might cheer him up."

"That's mighty sweet of you, only Pony went off to see some Paul Newman movie, so you're stuck with me!" Sodapop said as he leapt down from the roof to land beside her.

"Sodapop Curtis, are you insane!?" she laughed as he tackled her into a hug.

"I'm so glad you're here! I need to talk to you." He exclaimed grabbing her hand and pulling her off of the porch.

"Wait! The cake dammit!" she exclaimed forcing him back onto the porch.

He quickly grabbed the cake, opened the front door and chucked it inside. Luckily, Dally happened to be standing in the doorway and caught the cake dumbfounded just as Soda slammed the screen door shut and dragged the shocked Chelsea away from the house hearing Dallas' cursing fade away.

She smiled to herself at Soda's actions. He'd always been crazy and exciting to be around ever since the day she met him.

She remembered coming to the Curtis house a few weeks ago to meet Sodapop for the first time.

Walking in the door she figured Ponyboy was gone because he wasn't sitting at the table doodling, or reading like he normally was when she came over.

She had come inside to see a boy watching television, she didn't know who he was until he turned and looked her in the eyes. He had Darry's brown eyes but they were softer almost, and bigger.

"Hi there, you must be Chelsea. My kid brother never shuts up about you." He said bluntly, with a smile.

She couldn't help but smile back, it was all she could do to prevent herself from drooling at his amazing good looks. The boy was so gorgeous he should come with a warning label. Especially with that adorable grin on his face.

"He's not here now but you're welcome to stay here until he shows up."

Chelsea shook her head, "That's okay, I guess I'll head home, I have to-are you watching Mickey Mouse?"

He turned to her with an incredulous look on his face, "Of course! I love Mickey Mouse it's my favorite show in the world!"

Chelsea laughed, "Me too! You know what, I might as well stick around then."

She sat down in the armchair beside the couch where he was sitting and together they watched Mickey Mouse, laughing and joking around. They talked about Disney movies and Chelsea admitted that Snow White was her favorite Disney movie. Soda laughed because it was one of his favorites also.

"Hey Chelsea, we're like the seven dwarfs and you're Snow White." He replied from his position hanging off of the couch-that boy could just not sit still.

"What do you mean?" she asked cocking her head at him.

"Think about it, Pony is Sleepy because he's always in dreamland, Dally is Grumpy-but don't tell him that, Johnny is Bashful cuz he really is, I'm Happy, Two-Bit is Dopey, Darry is Doc because he's the unofficial leader, and I guess Steve could be Sneezy." He chuckled.

Chelsea just laughed along with him-the idea was ridiculously funny and she couldn't help but picturing them with their little pointy hats and beards.

Darry came through the door, tired from work to find them laughing and shook his head.

"How did I know that when the two of you met you'd never stop laughing?"

"Darry!" exclaimed Chelsea between bouts of laughter, "Soda said we're all Snow White and the Seven Dwarves."

He frowned and after Sodapop explained, he rolled his eyes at them. "You two are incredible…" he replied sarcastically as he went into the bathroom to take a shower.

"Ah well, I guess some people can't take a joke Chels, this'll be our little secret joke." Sodapop said with a wild grin.

She smirked and nodded. For the rest of the night they joked around and laughed about Disney, Mickey Mouse and by the time Ponyboy came home, they were rolling on the floor laughing.

All Ponyboy said was, "I see you've met my brother."

"Chels! You there?" Soda asked, waving his hand over her face.

She blinked, "Yes, sorry what were you saying?" she looked around and realized they had walked pretty far from the house.

"Boy, Darry is right, you're just as dreamy as Ponyboy."

She shrugged and smiled, "Maybe that's why we're such good friends."

Soda looked to her with a cheeky grin.

"So, you know you've got my kid brother smitten."

"What do you mean, smitten?"

He scoffed, "As if you didn't already know. Ponyboy has fallen for you, hard. All he ever does is talk about you. I once caught him doodling your name on his homework page."

Chelsea turned bright red and looked abashed. She didn't want it to come to this, she loved Ponyboy but not in a way more than a friend really. Maybe she did have some unexplored feelings for him but she didn't want to ruin their friendship to ask him out and have it explode in her face.

"And you don't feel the same way, do you?" he said seriously, examining her worried expression.

She looked up at him, "I-I don't know what I feel for him. I do know he's my best friend and right now that's all I want from him."

Sodapop nodded, "I get it. You're just not ready to move up to the next step. That's okay; you'll come around eventually. Just like Sandy did."

Chelsea wanted to throw up right then and there. Her hatred for Sandy was hidden deep beneath the surface. Sure she'd smile politely when he talked about her but on the inside she was screaming. 'How the hell can he be so naïve? Sandy was the biggest slut in high school. She was one of those girls who flirted with everyone in sight. The Socs referred to her as the 'snake' from the way she coiled herself around people. She was also the biggest bitch at that school; topping even Marcia who Chelsea disliked immensely for her dishonorable acts, mainly stealing other people's boyfriends because she couldn't get one of her own.

Sandy was one of the girls who called her an emotional retard when she found her in the school bathroom bawling her eyes out the day after her mother died. Sandy told her no one liked her at the school and no one even gave a damn about her mother because she wasn't important like her father. Chelsea remembered hiding in the bathroom stall for the rest of the day because she didn't want to face Sandy and her little wannabe friends. Those girls all wore way too much make-up, swore in every sentence, showed up to school everyday either drunk or hung over. They acted like they owned the school even though they were greasers and the Soc cheerleaders could squash them like a bug. Sandy was the biggest bitch ever; she was the kind that would actually jump Soc girls with a switchblade for really doing nothing more than smiling at her.

Soda continued, "I liked her for a long time. Then after I dropped out of school to work full-time at the DX, she started hanging out there more often and she agreed to go out with me."

Chelsea grimaced, "Well I'm glad you two got together."

He shrugged miserably, "Thanks I guess, but I'm not really sure what's going on. That's what I wanted to talk to you about. She doesn't want to really see me or anything now and I don't know what to do."

She reached over and put an arm on his shoulder, "Just be there for her, let her know that you care about her. That's all a girl could ever ask for."

Soda grimaced at her, "I hope so, I'm just worried that one day she's gonna wake up and see how much better she can do than me. I'm just a high school drop-out, there's no future with me."

"Don't think like that, you're a great guy Soda, and she should be the one worried about losing you."

Her hazel green eyes met his brown and he saw the earnest there. She smiled, blushed and looked away at his grin.

"HELP SODA, DARRY, ANYONE!" Screamed Ponyboy's voice from across the street.

Soda's eyes widened in fear and anger when he turned to see a pack of Socs beating on his kid brother.

"Ponyboy!" he cried.

Chelsea's looked over to the pack in panic, "not again," she hissed as she began to run over to where the Socs were.

"Wait Chelsea!" Soda yelled pulling her back, " I ain't lettin' you get hurt. I'll help him, you run home and get the guys!"

Chelsea was about to open her mouth to protest that she could take care of the Socs herself but after seeing the fear in his eyes she bolted in the direction of the house as fast as her legs could carry her.

She bolted into the house to the surprise of the rest of the gang.

"Ponyboy is in trouble!" she shouted and in that instant everyone got up and followed her to where Soda was fighting the Socs.

She watched the boys attack the Socs and once they ran to their mustang she grabbed a huge rock and chucked it at the windshield as she shouted curses at the top of her lungs.

The gang followed her actions, except for Darry who was tending to the fallen Ponyboy.

Two-Bit attempted to slash their tires while Soda, Steve, Dally and Johnny threw punches through the cracked windows of the mustang as it drove away.

"You okay Ponyboy?" asked Chelsea turning to her friend.

"Yeah, I'm okay." He said calmly as he held his hand against his red raw cheek.

"You got cut up a little, huh, Ponyboy?" said Soda returning from the ongoing attack of the gang on the Soc mustang.

Ponyboy looked at him befuddled, "I did?"

"You're bleedin' like a stuck pig."

"I am?" he asked, his expression was completely dazed.

Chelsea pulled out a handkerchief from her red cardigan pocket and pressed the tip of it against his wound.

"Look," she told him, after she had pulled away the handkerchief. It had turned scarlet from the violent flow of blood.

"Did they pull a blade on you?" she asked.

He looked away from the blood and paled. "Yeah,"

Chelsea gave him a comforting hug and Soda put a hand on his shoulder, reassuring him that he was okay and that the Socs wouldn't hurt him anymore.

"I'm fine, " Ponyboy reassured them, "honest."

Soda smiled and rubbed his hair until it stuck out in wild directions.

He and Ponyboy joked around for a bit until the rest of the gang returned.

"Did you catch them?" Chelsea asked Dally who shook his head.

Two-Bit began cursing them out but stopped when he saw Ponyboy.

"You okay kid?"

"Yes, I'm fine." He replied irritably.

Chelsea knew he hated when people fussed over him because it made him feel like a baby.

"You look tough with those cuts Ponyboy." Two-Bit continued just before Darry began hounding Pony for being an idiot by not carrying a blade.

Soda defended him while Chelsea looked at her sad friend and mouthed, "I brought you some chocolate cake."

He grinned at her and began chatting with Dallas about going to the movies tomorrow night.

Steve told him that he was going out on a double date with Evie and turned to Chelsea.

"Evie wanted me to ask if you wanted to come but given the circumstances…" Steve whispered apologetically.

She nodded; Steve had discovered her dislike towards Sandy long ago.

"Would you like to come to the movies with us too Chelsea?" chirped Ponyboy from beside Johnny.

She looked from him to Johnny, to Dallas and from the slightly irritated expression on Johnny's face she could tell she wasn't wanted.

"Thanks but I've made plans to watch Mary Poppins tomorrow night on TV."

Johnny looked at her satisfied and turned to make conversation with a disappointed looking Ponyboy.

"Why can't you skip Mary Poppins and hang with us?" asked Dally between drags of his cigarette.

"Because, I've been waiting all week for it to be on TV and it's my favorite movie. Besides, West Side story is on after that."

Dally put his hands up in surrender, "I'm sorry I asked, have fun watching your fucking stupid movies."

She rolled her eyes at him and followed everyone else home. They all hung out laughing until dawn, when Chelsea collapsed on the couch instead of going home that night.

"Maybe if I'd gone with them I could have prevented what happened."

"Prevented what?" asked her therapist shifting his weight in the chair.

She looked him dead in the eyes.

"The death of Bob Sheldon."

A/N: Sorry to end it there but I have a plan for the next chapter and it's taking a bit longer than expected to plot out. Please, please review! and thank you for reading! Your kind criticisms are taken seriously and compliments and opinions are much appreciated! Please take the time and review! thank you!