BUDDY CAMPBELL-

I drove Sodapop and Ponyboy in my car and Darry and Ponygirl rode in the truck. The boys sat in the back with their arms crossed and frowns on their faces.

"Do we really have to eat at these people's house?" Pony asked.

I adjusted my mirror and looked at him. "Yes. You do. And I expect all three of you to be your best behavior tonight. Sarah was nice enough to invite us to dinner and you aren't going to be rude to her, her parents, or her siblings. I don't care what they do, you two are going to be perfect gentlemen."

I saw them roll their eyes in the backseat and gave them both a warning glance before we pulled into Sarah's driveway.

"Buddy, this is socville!" Pony said after taking a look at the house.

"I don't care what it is, you two are going to behave." I said firmly and got out to meet Darry and Ponygirl before we went inside. Ponygirl was wearing a light pink dress that went all the way down to her ankles with a white sweater and her hair tied back at the sides. The rest of us wore dress shirts with ties and jeans that weren't ripped or frayed at the bottom. We walked up the front steps of her house and I rang the doorbell. Sarah came to the door and opened it quickly.

"Buddy! You made it!" she said excitedly and hugged me. She turned to my brothers and sister.

"This must be your family." she said.

"Yup. That's Darry, Sodapop, Ponyboy and Ponygirl." I said, pointing to everyone.

"Well, it's nice to meet everyone." She said and lead the way into her house.

It was huge, with paintings, and pictures of her family on vacations on the walls. The floors were marble and there was a crystal chandelier that hung in the front room. She lead us to a room with shelves filled with old books, armchairs that looked two hundred years old, there were small statues on the tables and a big desk in front of the window with a view of a pool in the backyard with sparkling blue water. A man was sitting in a leather chair behind the desk. He was writing on a piece of paper and looked up at us as we came in.

"Ah, you must be Buddy." He said, walking up to me. He looked about forty five, with dark brown hair and broad shoulders. He wore a silk shirt with his hair combed carefully out of his face. He smiled a big, genuine smile and shook ,my hand.

"Yes sir." I said and took his hand. I saw Sarah smile out of the corner of my eye and introduced everyone.

We talked a few minutes in his "Study", as he called it about the weather, politics, things like that. Soda and Ponygirl looked like they were about to die of boredom but Ponyboy stood between them, listening intently. We ate dinner at a big table in their dining room. Their dining room was big, like the rest of the house, with real silver forks and crystal wine glasses. Sarah's little brother and two little sisters were at the table. Her brother, Daniel, was a year older than the twins, and acted about five or six years younger. He kept shooting them dirty looks and refused to join in the conversation at the table. He just sat in his place across from the twins, sizing them up and looking them over from head to toe. Her little sisters were a little more polite, but still stared at them as if they had never seen a human being before.

After dinner, Darry, Sarah's parents and I sat in their parlor and had coffee while twins and Sodapop "played" with Sarah's brother and sisters. Her parents seemed to like us okay. I just hope nothing happened with Soda and the twins to jeopardize that.

PONYGIRL CURTIS-

I sat in Sarah's sisters' , Karen and Abby's bedroom. They had everything in there. Closets full of dresses of every color, jewelry boxes full of diamonds and emeralds and rubies. They had satin bed sheets and at least ten pillows on each of their beds. I saw a small white cat, sleeping peacefully in a bed just as extravagant as theirs in the corner.

"Where do you live?" Abby asked, brushing her long, blonde hair and studying herself in her mirror.

"Tulsa." I said nervously, pulling on a loose thread on my dress, a dress mom had made for me because we couldn't afford a new one.

"I mean, what neighborhood." She said smartly.

"I live on Iowa street." I said, barley above a whisper.

"I should've known." She spat. "You're a greaser."

I felt my heart plummet and my fists clench.

"I should've known you were socs too. The way act so entitled all the time."

"We are entitled." She said. "that's why we're socs and your greasers." She had an evil smile. She knew her words cut through me like a knife. They were only a year younger than me and I wanted to attack them, like Steve and Soda attack the socs when they hassle us. But that would mean Buddy wouldn't have a chance with Sarah. So I had to be content with biting my lip until I tasted blood and keeping my mouth shut.

PONYBOY CURTIS-

We walked out to the yard with Sarah's little brother Daniel. He still looked like he didn't approve of us. Soda didn't look like he approved of Daniel either, the way he was glaring at him. We walked out to his patio, where their pool was.

"So, you ever seen a pool before Grease?" he asked us.

"Yeah, you ever seen a soc with a fist in his mouth?" Sodapop asked and I gasped.

Daniel got up and walked to Soda, his eyes blazing. "You threatening me greaser?" he asked, his face two inches from Soda's.

"No, I'm warning you." He said in a tight voice, backing away from Daniel before he did something he would regret.

"What kind of name is Sodapop anyway, were your parents on drugs or something? Is that why they're dead, or did they just run out on you like dead beats?"

DARRY CURTIS-

We heard a few screams and a big splash from our seats in the house and ran to the window just in time to see Sodapop, Ponyboy, and Daniel in the pool, fighting each other. We all ran out to the pool. Me and buddy tried to get the boys out, but they weren't listening. All we heard was Soda swearing at Daniel and then saw him punch him in the nose. Blood poured out of his nose and the perfect blue water turned pink around them.

Finally, Buddy jumped in and pulled them apart, helping Sodapop and Ponyboy out of the pool. Ponyboy's eye was already starting to swell.

"You, get in my car and don't move an inch until I get there!" he said, pointing his finger at Soda and Ponyboy. Who shivered on that cold November night after getting wet. Sarah's mother ran to get a towel for Daniel and the boys. She handed them to Buddy.

"Here, it's too cold to be wet." She offered him the towels and he took them, thanking her and apologizing to Sarah's parents before going to the truck.

"Buddy," I said, catching up with him. "You take them home. I'll do something with Ponygirl for a while before we go home." I said and he nodded, his face bright red. I knew what was waiting for the boys when they got home, and I had to admit, I didn't feel sorry for them.

"Alright. Thanks Darry."

"You welcome." I said and walked back to the house to get Ponygirl. She was probably just as eager to get out of there as I was.

We drove down the road after apologizing one last time to Sarah's parents and went to get ice cream. It was the only thing I could think of. I pulled up to the ice cream parlor and we went in. I was glad I had some time with Ponygirl, just me and her. We sat down and started to eat our ice cream, when she looked up at me.

"Why are we getting ice cream and not Pony or Soda?"

"They got into a fight in the pool. Buddy's the one that's gotta deal with this one, so I figured we should stay outta the house for a while."

She looked down at her ice cream.

"Did you at least have fun?" I asked her after another minute of silence. She shook her head. Something told me Sarah's little sisters were about as nice to her as Daniel was to the boys.

"I'm proud of you." I said and she looked up at me funny.

"For what?" she asked.

"For being on your best behavior, even when those girls weren't."

"Oh," she said. "Thanks."

We sat in silence the rest of the time until we were getting ready to leave.

"Darry?" I small, high voice asked from behind me. I turned around to see Ruby, a friend I had in high school. I hadn't seen her since she was at my parents' funeral. She was in college now. She was a year older than me.

"Ruby." I said and reached to hug her. "It's been a while."

"yes, it has." She agreed.

"Please, sit down with us." I said and pulled out a chair for her.

"How have you been? How's college?" I asked.

"I've been great, I just finished college and I'm moving back home with my parents until I can find an apartment. How have you been?"

"I've been pretty good. Listen, why don't we meet somewhere and talk. Maybe we could get a cup of coffee." I said, looking at Ponygirl.

"I'd like that." She smiled.

"Great." I said.

We talked awhile more before I had to take Ponygirl home. The drive was pretty much silent. I watched the road and Ponygirl watched the window, pulling on a loose thread on her dress. She was real pretty that night. With her hair brushed through and her dress that went down to her ankles. She looked like mom. She always had dad's hair, but she has mom's everything else. I sighed as we pulled into the driveway. I didn't know what we were walking into. Ponygirl hopped out of her seat and went to the porch. She waited for me and opened the door. To my surprise, it was quite. The house was calm and warm. Buddy sat in the armchair reading the newspaper. He looked up.

"Hey, where did you guys go?" he asked, he looked tired and rubbed his eyes.

"We got ice cream. What happened here?"

"We came in, changed clothes, had a serious talk, and I punished them." He said simply, as if we were talking about the weather. I nodded, I knew he didn't want to talk about it. Especially in front of Ponygirl.

"Why don't you go change out of your dress." I suggested to Ponygirl, who sat on the couch, listening carefully to our conversation. She got up and walked out of the room and to the other end of the house and I heard her door lightly close.

PONYGIRL CURTIS-

I changed my clothes and sat on my bed. My brothers shouldn't have been punished, I thought bitterly to myself. Daniel deserved it. Just another reason to hate the socs. Now one of them had an actual personal problem with us, not just the fact we were poor. It made me upset just thinking about it. I jumped when I heard a soft knock on my window. It was Steve. We had been meeting at my window regularly these days. I smiled for the first time that day and climbed out onto the grass, with Steve's help. He seen the look on my face and kissed my cheek reassuringly.

"I hate them." I said, with all the hate I could put into my words.

"It'll be alright." He said. "Nobody needs them anyway. They'll grow up, get all their parents' money and never be anything important. They'll just exist." He said and I had to smile. I told him the story of Soda and Pony fighting Daniel in the pool and about the one punch that probably broke his nose. Steve laughed and I decided it was pretty funny.

BUDDY CAMPBELL-

I called Sarah that night to apologize.

"it's okay." She said. "They said they liked all of you. My father thinks this thing with the gangs is ridiculous. He thinks Daniel said something to your brothers but he's not talking."

"Is his nose okay?" I asked.

"Yes. Just a little swelled. How are Soda and Pony?" she asked.

"Fine, just cold. I'm sure your brother got some punches in there somewhere." I said with a smile. She laughed. "I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with us on thanksgiving." I said and waited impatiently for a response.

"Sure. I'd love that." She said. "When are you eating?"

"I don't know. Three maybe. I'll talk to Darry and get back to you."

"Great." She said. "Bye."

"Bye."

Darry was sitting in the living room with his newspaper. He told me about his friend, Ruby. She was invited to dinner on thanksgiving too. Along with Steve, Two-Bit, and Debbie. Though, I think Ms. Mathews was cooking that day too. So we planned on Steve, Soda, the twins, Sarah, Ruby, Darry and Me. I hadn't met Ruby yet. I think soda and Ponyboy met her once when Darry was still in high school. Or so he said. He told me about her. About her long brown hair and her emerald eyes. How she had a round face and a thin figure. She was from the middle class side of town. She went to college to be a secretary. I was happy he found someone. He spent too much time by himself or worrying. Sometimes both at the same time.

I went to my room for the night and drew another picture from my window. It was finally cold outside. The temperature dropped a little more every day and we were just starting to get the twins and Sodapop's coats out of the basement. I drew the sky with all the bright stars and the moon before I climbed into my bed ay nearly midnight. I closed my eyes, thinking of the plans we had made for the following Thursday.