Author's Notes: Okay, I went back through some past chapters and made a few changes. First of all, I decided I'd rather Steve, Evie, and Kathy be in the 11th grade instead of the 12th. It just seems better to me. Also, I realized I made a mistake with the lunchtime thing. Back inchapter two, I had Pony and AJ going to lunch with Two-Bit and Steve, and then in chapter twenty-two, I said that the upperclassmen had a different lunch hour than the lowerclassmen. That was just me not paying attention, so i went back and changed it. They all have the same lunchtime now! Okay, so that's all and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

Pardon me

While I burst into flames

I've had enough of this world

And it's people's mindless games

So pardon me while I burn

And rise above the flames

Pardon me

I'll never be the same

-Incubus

It was now Wednesday afternoon; it had been three days since Ponyboy and Johnny had disappeared and no one was any closer to knowing where they were.

At Will Rogers, things had gotten pretty tense. Several scuffles had broken out in the hallways and the greaser's were constantly having to be on guard, but especially Two-Bit and Steve, seeing as they were friends of Johnny and Ponyboy. No one had tried to mess with AJ yet, but that could be because Steve was escorting AJ to all her classes and Curly was shadowing her every time Steve was unable to.

In fact, on this particular afternoon, AJ sat with Curly and another greaser named Jason, in study hall. The study hall monitor, Mrs. Perry, who had been at Will Rogers for nineteen years, was possibly the toughest teacher in the school. She was blunt with her criticisms and sparse with her praise. She'd grown up on the East side and lost her husband in Korea.

AJ adored her.

The three of them were working on various homework projects, Jason and AJ on US History, which they had together, and Curly on Math.

"Okay," Curly whispered. "Here's how this word problem reads to me: if I have four ink pens and you have seven pears, how many waffles will fit on the hood of a car?"

AJ stared at him. "And what answer did you get?"

Curly looked at his sheet of paper. "Red, because cows don't wear sunglasses."

Jason, a short guy with pale blonde hair and bright blue eyes, shook his head. "Shepard, you're a dumbass."

"So's your Mama." Curly shot back. Jason flipped him off. AJ stifled a small laugh and stuck her nose back into her history book. "Jason, what did you get for number sixteen?"

Jason consulted his paper. "I'm not there yet, I'm stuck on twelve."

AJ looked over his shoulder. "What is the definition of States Rights?" She glanced at her own answer. "I've got 'citizens of every state had the right to take their property anywhere in the U.S. and not have it taken away'."

"Hmm. Sounds good to me." Jason scribbled that answer down. Curly looked at it.

"I can't even read your writing, man." He said. AJ rolled her eyes.

"Curly, like you can talk; you've got the handwriting of a mental patient." She said and Jason snickered. "Now shut up, so I can figure this out."

She looked at question sixteen again. It was the last question on the sheet and wanted a description on Oklahoma's stance during the Civil War. She timidly raised her hand. Mrs. Perry looked up from the paperback she was reading.

"Yes, Miss Adare?"

"Um…I need your help."

Mrs. Perry made her way over. She was a tiny stick of a woman, but AJ had seen her get into many a greaser's face.

"What do you need?" Mrs. Perry peered over her shoulder, reading the paper. "Who do you have for American History, Abigail?"

"Mr. Clutts." AJ answered. Mrs. Perry rolled her eyes.

"I should've known; that man is an incompetent nincompoop." She said. Curly hacked a laugh and Mrs. Perry turned her icy glaze on him.

"Something amuses you, Charles?"

He shook his head, trying to keep from laughing again. "No, ma'am."

"Then I suggest you return to your work." She looked at AJ's paper again. "Oklahoma was known as the Indian Territory in those days and many of the slave-holding Native American tribes supported the Confederacy."

"So we stood with the South, basically?" AJ asked and Mrs. Perry gave her one of her rare smiles.

"Basically." She glanced at the clock. "You have time to run down to the library, if you want to read about it in detail."

"Um, ma'am, I'm working on the same worksheet, can I go too?" Jason asked. She nodded.

"You may, Mr. Downs." She said. Curly sighed and sunk lower into his seat. Mrs. Perry raised her brows at him. "Are you finished, Mr. Shepard?"

"Yes, ma'am." He said. She nodded.

"Then you may go as well."

Curly stood up, barely believing his good luck.

The three of them high-tailed it to the library as quick as they could.

"I can't believe Attila the Hun let me leave with y'all!" Curly said.

AJ looked at him sharply.

"Don't call her that." She said. "She's pretty cool."

"Yeah," Jason agreed. "For a teacher."

"And it was a good idea to ask her about the Civil War." Curly added. "I mean, she's the only person in the school who was actually alive while it was going on…"

It took AJ a moment to realize what he'd said. When she did, she laughed quietly and walloped Curly on the arm. "You're such an ass." She told him.

It felt good to laugh, she thought, even if it was only for a few seconds. Being with Curly and Jason made her feel almost like she was with Pony and Johnny again. Almost, but not quite.

They quieted down when they got to the library. AJ headed over to the librarian, Ms. Millison. She was a young woman; this was only her second year as the school's librarian. She had gone to Will Rogers herself, as a member of the jet set. She looked very surprised to see three greasers in her library. AJ wasn't sure why she was so surprised, she and Pony were in there all the time.

"Hi, Ms. Millison." AJ marched up to the counter, Curly and Jason slouching like hoods behind her. "We're looking for books on the Civil War."

"Oh, yes, well they're over in the History section." Ms. Millison flipped through the card catalog. "317-325 in the non-fiction area."

"Okay, thanks!" AJ said brightly.

"Geez, AJ, you sure know how to work the Mary Sunshine angle, don'tcha?" Curly asked quietly. AJ grinned and headed over towards where the non-fiction was kept.

She pulled a few of the books off the shelf and the three of them sat down at a table to look through them.

They weren't there but for maybe ten minutes when AJ felt eyes on her. She looked up and saw two older soc's glaring at them from across the room.

"Shit." She muttered.

"What?" Curly asked. "What's wrong?"

"Don't look now, but there are two of the socially elite staring daggers at us." She whispered. Curly and Jason both looked up.

"Dammit." Jason said. "What, they're gonna start shit in the freakin' library?"

"Apparently." Curly replied. "Here they come."

AJ could tell by the size of them that they were seniors. "You're friends with them greasers that killed Bob, aren't you?" One asked. It took AJ a second to realize they were talking to her.

"Yeah…so what if I am?" She asked, trying to put on a tough voice.

"Bob was our friend." The other one said. "And we don't like it when people kill our friends."

"Yeah, and we enjoy it when people kill ours." Jason said sarcastically. "Look, we're trying to study here, so unless you gents got something important to say to AJ, hit the damn road."

"You better just watch your step, girly." The first soc said to her. "Sometimes little girl greasers get hurt."

AJ tried to look as tough as Jason and Curly did, despite the chill that ran down her spine. "And sometimes dumbass soc's do too." She said coolly.

"Is that a threat, you little bitch?" The soc asked.

Curly stood up. He could take a lot from these idiots, but he wasn't gonna sit there and let them disrespect his friend like that. Besides, he had promised Randle, on the sly, that he'd keep an eye on her.

"Don't you dare talk to her like that." He hissed, balling his fist. Jason stood too.

"What're you two gonna do about it?" The soc asked. Curly flicked out his blade and AJ groaned.

"Dammit, Curly, put it away before someone see's it!" She hissed, but it was too late; Ms. Millison had already spotted them.

And that's how, twenty minutes later, AJ found herself in the principal's office, sitting on the bench between Curly and Jason.

"Ms. Millison says you flipped out a knife in the library." Mr. McLean, the principal, said.

"Those jerks were threatening my friend!" Curly defended himself. "And in case you ain't noticed, she's a girl. I don't know about you, but I was taught to defend girls."

AJ looked around nervously. She'd never been in the principal's office before. In fact the only time she ever really saw Mr. McLean was during the various assemblies through out the school year. This thought only made her feel sad, remembering how Ponyboy would whine McLean's "catchphrase" in her ear, making her laugh.

"The principal is your pal with principles!"

"Miss Adare?" He was speaking to her, AJ realized with a start. "Can you tell me what happened? Start at the beginning."

"Well, me and Jason and Curly…I mean, Charles," She corrected, remembering that he wouldn't know Curly's nickname. "We had study hall this hour and Mrs. Perry gave us permission to go down to the library and look up some stuff on the Civil War, because we're studying it in Mr. Clutts class and we were just sitting there minding our own business when these guys came up." She paused.

"They asked me if I was friends with Ponyboy Curtis and Johnny Cade and I said yes. Then they told me that they were friends of that guy that got killed." She paused again, and swallowed. "And they said I had better watch my back, because sometimes girls like me got hurt. And when they threatened me again, Curly pulled out his blade. I swear, Mr. McLean, he was just trying to defend me."

"Yes, well, be that as it may, weapons aren't allowed on school property. Miss Adare, Mr. Downs, seeing as this is a first offense for both of you, I'm going to let you off with a warning. Mr. Shepard, however, given your track record, you're suspended the rest of the week." He said. Curly opened his mouth to argue, but AJ stepped on his foot and he didn't say anything.

By the time they got out of the principals office, it was time for their next class.

"Thanks, Curly." AJ said, giving him a quick hug. He was waiting for Tim to come pick him up.

"Don't worry about it, kid." He told her, his freckled face turning faintly pink. "Just watch your back, all right?"

She nodded. "All right."

She stuck with Jason the rest of the day, glad they had their last two classes together. After they got out of English, Steve was waiting for her.

"Hey," he said. "I heard you got called down to see McLean. What happened?"

With help from Jason, she told him quickly. Steve shook his head. "This shit is getting out of control." He said. "McLean suspended Curly for defending you?"

"Yeah." AJ twisted her mouth. "Of course, the goons who started it didn't even get a slap on the wrist."

"Of course not." Steve said, his tone bitter.

Something had to be done. He didn't know what yet, but something had to be done.