A/N: Here we go, almost two months later. Yay, updateness! I would love ideas for how and when to end this, so post reviews with feedback and ideas! Enjoy.

Another Friday rolled around what seemed like an eternity later. Could it really have only been seven days? Each one dragged on and on until Alice wanted to shoot every teacher (and every clock) in the building. And even when Friday came, there was no real relief. Normally a weekend meant she could blow off steam and stay out all night, but she was still getting harassed at school and being out late wasn't the best plan. So she had nothing to do all weekend. Until, on the way home from school, she stopped at the DX.

"Hey Alice," said Soda, grinning, when she walked in. She had been back a few times and he was always friendly to her.

"Hey," she replied tiredly with a little smile. "How've you been?"

"Not too bad." He knew she wanted a Coke by now, like every day, and he got her one as he was talking. "And yourself?"

She just rolled her eyes and paid him. Soda laughed a little. "I bet," he chuckled.

On her way out, he stopped her. "Hey, do you wanna go to the drive-in with me and some guys tonight?"

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nah, I'll protect you. It'll probably just be Two-Bit and my little brother Pony anyways. They won't mind," he assured her.

"I should say no but I've barely left the house in the last few weeks…" she trailed off.

"Come on," he tried one last time. "It'll be fun."

"Fine," Alice sighed. "Only cause I'm so desperate to get away from my mother."

"Cool," said Soda. "You can come to my house at like seven and we'll walk there."

"Sounds good," she nodded. "See ya."

Alice knocked on the Curtis's door a little after seven that night. The youngest one—Ponyboy?—answered, looking a little embarrassed when he saw it was her. "Hi," he said, looking at the ground. She saw where that was coming from. He seemed pretty innocent sex-wise, and some of the dirty comments made about her in the past few weeks even made her blush, so it was no wonder if he was remembering them now.

"Hey," she said, sticking her hands into her jeans pockets almost-defensively but not quite. "Um…"

"Hey, Alice!" Soda's voice called from another room and he appeared a second later. "You ready, Pone?"

"Yeah," the younger boy said.

"Two-Bit's meeting us there," Soda explained as they stepped off the porch and headed on their way.

There was an awkward silence for a few minutes as they walked. Finally Alice broke it. "So, Ponyboy, you know Cherry Valance, right?"

The redheaded boy nodded. "Yeah, she's a junior. A soc."

"She's in my calculus class. We were talking about you the other day," she explained.

"What about me?" Ponyboy grinned.

"About how you saved those kids in the church..." Alice trailed off, deciding not to mention his friends dying. "She admires you a lot, I think."

A real, proud smile with just the slightest touch of sadness spread across Pony's face. "She's one good-looking chick," he said appreciatively. Sodapop nodded his agreement. Alice, not sure what they were comfortable with, remained silence.

"Well?" the older boy's demanding voice came a few seconds later. He was looking at Alice.

"Well what?"

"Do you think she's good-looking?" Pony answered for his brother.

"Oh," Alice laughed. "I wasn't gonna say anything in case it weirded you guys out. But yeah, she is. Really gorgeous."

After that, everything was much easier. The three teens were suddenly comfortable around each other, and the conversation progressed until they were all laughing and talking over each other. Alice hadn't felt like this in weeks.

It all ended, of course, with Two-Bit's "Hey, lesbo."

She rolled her eyes. "Hi."

"Hey, come on, Two-Bit," Soda intervened. "Leave her alone." The older boy rolled his eyes, but spat on a hand and held it out to Alice as if asking for a truce.

"A spit-shake?" she cocked an eyebrow. "What are we, seven?"

Two-Bit stared her down.

After a few seconds Alice spit on her own hand and shook with him. He cracked a grin.

By that time the movie was getting ready to start. The four kids hurried to the concession stand to buy popcorn and soda (Alice was only insulted once in the line, and by some little freshman who bolted at one glare from Two-Bit), and then found seats. They just had to wait a few minutes before the movie started.

It was about five minutes in when Two-Bit asked the fateful question. The question that everyone (that is, those who weren't going on and on about how disgusting it was and that Alice was going to hell) felt the need to ask.

"So... have you ever done it with a girl?"

They all watched Ponyboy's ears turn red.

Alice frowned before answering. "Yes, I have."

"Who?" all three said at once, even the blushing fourteen-year-old.

"You don't know her. She's from Kansas City."

Surprisingly, Ponyboy spoke first. "How old were you?"

"The first time? I was sixteen, same as I am now."

"Were you going with her, or was it just sort of a fling?" Soda asked quietly, either not wanting to offend her or not sure if it was a sensitive topic.

"We were dating for five months before. We stayed together until I moved two months later," Alice whispered, staring off to the side of the screen, not seeing anything.

It would have been apparent, if she had been paying attention, that the two older boys were feeling awkward in the situation, but Ponyboy was still intrigued. He quietly asked, "Do you miss her?"

Alice looked at him. "Yeah," she said softly. "Yeah, I do."

"Hey, Alice, I've got an idea. You wanna get out of here?" Soda asked suddenly.

"Sure," she replied, forcing her voice to sound more normal. "Where?"

"Come with me," he said. "Pony.... aw, what the hell, you can come. Darry'll kill me, but you can come."

Buck Merril's place was busy—it was a Friday night after all—and as soon as they got within sight, Alice's heart started pounding in excitement. She could hear the music blasting from all the way down the street.

"Soda..." began Pony. "I don't know if I should—"

"I'll take the blame; I'll tell Darry I dragged you here," interrupted his older brother.

"No, Soda... I don't know if I want to be here. The girls out here are so..."

"Hot!" Two-Bit offered.

"...Easy," finished Pony. "Slutty."

"I'll dance with you, Pony," assured Alice. "I'm sure the guys will want to go have some 'fun'. You can keep your innocence and protect me from penises."

He grinned. "Okay." Soda mouthed 'thanks' over his head, and Alice nodded.

It was exactly what she needed. Since Pony was a boy, she could dance without attracting the sort of attention she would have if she had been dancing with a girl; and since he was younger and still pretty innocent, they could both avoid having moves put on them by people they didn't want. And there was something about dancing that released energy and anger like nothing else.

Sometime between midnight and one, Two-Bit stumbled out of a bedroom with a blonde on his arm. Alice had been dancing with Pony all night, and was feeling better than she had in weeks. Soda, for the most part, had been on the dance floor with several different girls. Alice had drunk a little, but not much—like Soda, she didn't need it. Two-Bit, on the other hand, could barely walk. When they left, Alice and Soda supported him. Something about spending the night blowing off steam by dancing with friends, then dragging one of those friends, drunk and unable to stand up straight, home, gave her a strange sense of belonging. Weird, yes, but very true. And the best thing to happen since she'd moved to Tulsa.