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

The alarm went off in the morning, and I just didn't feel like getting up. I turned it off and turned on my stomach, hiding my face in the pillows. Suddenly I felt strong arms grab my sides and Tim pulled me on top of him. I laid there, resting my head on his chest, "Good morning beautiful," he pulled the cover on both of us and I just laid there, listening to his heart beat.

"Mike found Kevin, he was at Buck's drinking"

I kissed his chest and whispered, "Thank you".

"I don't want to get up" I said after a moment of silence.

Tim laughed, "I know baby, but I promised your old man you'd go to school"

I snorted, "Fine". I got up and put on my clothes, while Tim was laying on the bed. "You know, you're gonna have to take me"

He got up and grinned, starting to look for clothes. I skipped down the steps, to make some coffee. Angela was already awake, sitting in the kitchen, and I could smell the coffee "Thanks Angela," I took a cup of coffee and sat down to read the paper.

When I was done, I walked to the door, waiting for Tim, "Come on, I'm gonna be late"

Tim lazily walked down the steps, digging his pockets for his car keys. As he reached the door, he swirled the keys in his hand, "Let's go Angel" She didn't say a word, just walked to the car. She was pissed at Tim, again.

When we arrived at Will Rogers, Tim stopped the car and put his hand on my shoulder, watching Angela walk inside the school, "I'm picking you up"

Then I rememberd I had promised, or was forced, to meet Damian at the Dingo, "I,

uh, got a meeting with my counselor after school" I lied, hoping he wouldn't notice.

He frowned, and I stroked his stubble "I'll meet you at Dairy Queen after that, around four?"

"Alright"

He nervously tapped on his steering wheel, "I'll see you then".

I got out of the car and he sped off. As I made my way into the school, all I could think about the horrifying moment of going to the Dingo.

I had never been book smart, and had to actually work for good grades. I had been neglecting it though, and it was showing in my grades.

"What happened here?" My English teacher asked as he was going through a paper I wrote.

"This is not your normal level of writing" He lifted his glasses on his head and massaged the bridge of his nose, "You really should put in a little more effort, you could be whatever you wanted"

I looked down at my paper, "Yeah, I'll work more on this"

He leaned back in his chair, "Good, that's all I have, for now at least."

I walked out, crumpling up the paper and tossing it in the trash can.

As I walked out of my last class to my locker, I was mentally shaking. I saw Evie leaning against my locker, "Hey Eve, what's up?"

I tried to be as normal as possible, she raised her eyebrows at me, "I could ask you the same thing, where were you yesterday?"

I smiled, "at Tim's"

A grin spread across her face, "Aha, did you have fun?" she asked, poking my side.

I opened my locker and shook my head lightly, "Is that all you care about?" '

She giggled, "So you did!" she exclaimed, loudly enough for the whole school to hear.

"Thanks for informing the whole school" I put my books in and slammed the door closed, "Are you waiting for Ryan?"

"As always"

I looked at the clock and noticed, that I should get going, if I was going to make it to the Dairy Queen by four.

"Well, I gotta go, I'll see you later" Evie waved at me and walked to the opposite direction.

It took me fifteen minutes to walk to the Dingo, and I saw Damian's car outside. There were also other members from the River Kings, which didn't make me feel any

better. I took a deep breath and walked in.

The Dingo was dimly lit and filled with smoke. I could barely see anything, when I felt someone grabbing my arm. Damian was sitting in a booth, near the door and I sat down across from him.

He grinned at me, "You came, I thought you might not"

I could feel the sweat roll down my back, "Let's just get this over with"

He nodded, "Right down to business, I like that." he took a sip of his coffee, "Alright, from what happened last year, your brother owes me money, and the car he crashed when the cops got him" he stated matter-of-factly.

I was surprised, "Didn't you call the fuzz?" He rolled his eyes, "Of course I did, he was gonna switch to Shepards"

"Then what's the problem, the crash was your fault"

He was mad, I could tell, without even being able to see his face expressions clearly.

"Look girl, all's you gotta worry about is getting the money and the car for me"

I shrugged and thought for a moment, "And how do you think I'll do that? Nick and Kevin will be pissed when they find out"

Damien looked up from his coffee and muttered with an unlit cigarette between his lips, "They ain't gonna find out, they'll be in the pen faster than you think" then he looked satisfied, "If that is correct," he said pointing at the clock on the wall, "Kevin'll be taking a trip in the cop car as we speak"

All the color from my face drained and I felt sick. I looked up at the clock and it was almost four. I got up and Damian cleared his throat, "I'll expext you be ready by the end of next week."

Great, now I had to figure out how to get it done.