Author's Note: As we enter canon events, I want to remind everyone that I do not own The Outsiders, and I aim to incorporate the original storyline in an original, respectful way.

Happy reading :)

had been right – there really wasn't much to do in Stillwater. I had gone with Dad after school on Friday, even though what I really wanted to be doing was going shopping with Cherry and Penny, but he had insisted I tag along.

"It just feels as if we haven't seen much of each other lately," Dad told me as we strolled through campus. It was pretty, I supposed, with green quads and colonial-style brick buildings. Dad pointed out what all the buildings were, what departments were in each, where the dorms were. I was starting to suspect that maybe Dad was giving this little tour to try and pique my interest, get me thinking maybe I would want to go to school at OSU.

Yeah, right. There was no chance I was going to college in Oklahoma.

"I guess not."

"That's my fault, I suppose," he said. "I'm trying to get settled here, so it keeps me away a lot. I'm happy to see you getting out more, though. You seem to have found a good group of people."

I hid an eyeroll. It was the worst thing talking about my social life with him. I could practically feel him gearing up to ask me about Jerry. "I have. Everybody's been really great." I didn't say that everyone had been nice because that simply wasn't true. Jimmy wasn't nice. Kathy and Sylvia weren't nice. And Vickie was my friend, but she certainly wasn't very nice, either.

"Good," he said, sounding relieved. "That's good."

We lapsed back into silence. I really hadn't seen much of my father – he was always working, and I was always at school or cheerleading or with friends or going out on dates with Jerry. It wasn't as if he wasn't working a lot back in New York, but now it suddenly felt like…more. We were seeing less and less of each other, and it made our walk feel a bit awkward.

"I need to grab something from my office, so let's stop by there and then we'll go for dinner, head home."

I followed him to his office building and stood in the hallway while I waited. There was a custodian at the other end of the hall sweeping up, not paying us any mind. You could tell he kept a clean building, though – the floor was recently waxed and I could see my distorted reflection in it. When Dad had his papers and was leading us out of the building, we passed the custodian and he stopped for a moment to speak to him.

"Gene, this is my daughter, Bridget," he introduced, and Gene smiled at me and I returned it. "Didn't I tell you she goes to the same school as your daughters?"

Gene's eyes lit up at the mention of his children. "Yeah, I remember you sayin' that." He was a kind-looking man, with greying hair and slightly sad eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses. Something about the way he held himself made my heart hurt. "You might know 'em," he said to me. "Evelyn and Elizabeth Martin ring a bell?"

I took in a sharp breath. "Evelyn wouldn't happen to go by Evie, would she?" I asked, hoping my voice didn't waver too much. But Gene lit up.

"That would be her, yeah. You know her?"

"We have English together," I said tightly. I was bracing myself for him to suddenly turn mean and chew me out for what I had said to Evie, how I had humiliated her, but I guess he didn't know about that because the chewing out never came.

"Well, how 'bout that. I'll have to tell her I saw you." He smiled one last time at my father. "Y'all have a nice night, now."

"See you Monday, Gene," Dad said, and then we left the building.

"We got to talking about you girls the other day," he went on as we walked towards the car. "Commiserating about how you've both started dating," he laughed. "Since you know Evelyn, maybe you and your guys could double date."

I was sure Evie would rather kill herself.

xXx

It was after a date with Jerry that things started falling apart.

Not with us, no. By that point in time, people had started to realize that we were together, and it was nice. I liked going with him all over town. On that particular night, we had been invited to go to the drive-in with Bob, Cherry, Marcia, and Randy, but we ended up going to Jay's. We were wrapped up in each other back then, spending a lot of time just the two of us, and weren't big on doubling – or tripling.

As soon as I was back in my room, my phone started ringing. It surprised me because it was so late, and people usually have the decency to not call you when most people are already in bed.

"We're having an emotional emergency at Cherry's house. You should get over here," Vickie barked. I held the receiver away from my ear.

"Jeeze, Vick," I sighed, looking at the clock on the wall. "What time…it's late. What sort of emotional emergency could possibly be happening? It's too late for emotional emergencies."

Vickie huffed. "Listen, I don't have time to explain. Just something to do with Bob. And Randy, too."

"What did Randy do?" I asked, twirling the cord around my finger.

"There was just an incident with some greasers and Bob and Randy being drunk or something. Really though, could ya please just get over here? The three of us kinda need more backup."

Needless to say, I was able to slip back out the door without my father even having noticed my coming and going. Perks of Saturday night. I walked the three blocks to Cherry's house, hugging myself against the night air. I wasn't looking forward to having to cheer in this weather next Saturday, no sir.

When I finally got there, it was Penny who answered. I was able to see past her and noticed Missy and Vickie talking in the front room. "Thank god you're here," Penny breathed. "It's been quite a night, from what I've heard."

"What happened?" I asked, and I followed Penny into the front room. Vickie and Missy noticed me as I came in but said nothing as Penny explained.

"Apparently, Bob and Randy were drinking, and Cherry wasn't exactly too happy with them. And then Dallas Winston and a couple of his hood friends sat behind them at the Nightly Double and he had the nerve to come on to her. Well, he leaves, and those greasers walk them home, but Bob and Randy found them. There was this big old scene. Cherry called me as soon as Bob dropped the two of them off."

I raised my eyebrows. Dallas Winston came on to Cherry? Talk about nerve.

"I can't believe that Dallas Winston has any friends at all," I mused, even though I knew that he did. I was just being mean, though if anyone deserved it, it was him.

Vickie looked at Missy, then back to me. "Oh, he sure does. Including your own good friend, Two-Bit Mathews."

"So I guess they're real upset, then?" I asked, grasping at straws in order to try to figure out what exactly Cherry and Marcia needed us for. Emotional support, I supposed.

Vickie started walking out of the room, and the rest of us followed. "Yeah, I s'pose. They're up in her room."

Vickie led us into Cherry's room, where she and Marcia were sitting on the bed. Cherry looked incredibly upset, but Marcia looked...well, she looked like she usually did. She was flipping through a magazine and keeping quiet. The silence from her wasn't exactly normal, but I had been expecting tears.

"Hey, Bridget," Marcia said without looking up. "Are you staying over, too?"

I looked at Vickie, then at Cherry. "Am I?" I asked.

Cherry shrugged. "You can. Everyone else is."

I bit my lip, considering. All it would take was a phone call to my father to explain the change in plans. I felt a little bad about it considering he had talked about wanting to see me more, but there were more pressing matters for me to attend to.

At the time.

"Yeah, I'll stay," I said.

Vickie gave a short nod, approving my decision. Then she turned to Cherry. "I need to talk to you about something," she demanded. Cherry fidgeted.

"What about?" She asked.

Vickie rolled her eyes. "Alone," she stressed. "C'mon."

Cherry gave Marcia one last look, then stood up and followed Vickie into some private part of the house, leaving the rest of us to wonder what they could possibly be talking about.

"Anyone know what that's about?" Missy asked.

No one answered her, and no one knew.

The four of us were left in Cherry's room, but no one really said anything. I grabbed a Vogue and started flipping through it, wishing I were cute enough to be in Vogue. Or any magazine. I mean, I may have made the Pom-Pom squad, but I was no Audrey Hepburn or anything. My hair was too curly, my eyes resembled those of a cow's, and those god-awful freckles stood out on my skin like you wouldn't believe. And my face sort of still had that baby fat on it. Who knew what Jerry saw in me.

But, a girl can dream, so I just flipped through that magazine like I didn't care about any of that.

"You know who's kinda cute?" Marcia suddenly hummed. I looked up from my magazine.

"Who?" I asked.

Marcia smiled like what she was about to say was very, very naughty. "Two-Bit Mathews," she whispered. And the smile on her face somehow grew. I looked at Missy, who seemed awfully surprised to hear that, too, but not for the same reason as me.

Marcia and Two-Bit. No. That...that wasn't right. How could that be right? That sort of thing wasn't supposed to happen, socs and greasers getting together. Right? Was that allowed? I told myself I couldn't picture Marcia with Two-Bit, but the truth was that I really could. They were both chatty and had the same stupid sense of humor.

But they had only just met that night at the drive-in. I hadn't been there to warn her of his antics, how he loves to poke and prod your buttons until you give in. How he laughs at everything and can't take a damn thing seriously.

Then again, neither can Marcia. Maybe it was a match made in Heaven.

"Two-Bit Mathews?" I repeated. Marcia nodded. "But...you already have Randy. Remember him?"

She scoffed. "After tonight? After everything that happened? Kinda hard to see any of those boys in the same light."

How had the light shone on them before? Bob and Randy were the proverbial all-American boys that stood in front of the mirror every morning and told themselves they looked good in their khakis and then went about the business of their day, be it school or dates or football. What could have dimmed that? What had they done that was so awful that it changed Marcia's view of her boyfriend and his best friend completely?

"Oh," I simply said. "But what about Two-Bit? What makes him so special?"

Marcia sighed, like she was expecting me to say something like that. "I know he bothers you," Marcia said, "but he's not all bad. I thought he was real nice to talk to. Funny, too."

I suddenly felt ashamed, and I got a sick feeling in my stomach. Why would Two-Bit treat Marcia so well, but not me? Why couldn't we get along like they did? He hardly knew her. And what had I really done for him to dislike me? Why had seeing me kiss Jerry make him look so upset?

Too many questions. I never used to question so much in my life. It used to be very easy-going for me, but not now. Tulsa and Two-Bit Mathews and just about everything else had turned my world upside-down.

Later that night, I went downstairs in my borrowed nightgown to get a glass of water and found Cherry sitting at her kitchen table, head in her hands as she stared off into space. She didn't even seem to notice me come in, so I just went about getting a glass down and filling it up.

"Hey," I finally said. "What're you still doing up?"

Cherry shrugged and I sat down beside her. "I dunno. Just thinking."

I could guess what about.

"I'm sorry about Bob, Cherry," I whispered. She sighed.

"Thanks," she whispered back. "I never knew when we got together that he would ever be like this. I hope to God that Jerry never does something like this to you, Bridget. No one deserves to be treated like this."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

She looked me dead in the eye. "I mean that you should be with someone who will listen to you. And someone who respects your opinion. I think Bob does, deep down…but maybe there are just some things he cares about more."

"Hey," I tried, "he cares about you plenty. I know he does."

"I sure hope so. Because it's hard to care about him when he does things like this."

"He does this sort of thing a lot?" I almost didn't ask, but I had to know.

"Sure does," she sighed. "A few months ago, before you even moved here, he got pulled over. We were on a date, coming back from a party, and I hadn't even realized he'd had too much to drink. I was so mortified sitting there next to him, and I swore to myself that I wasn't going to go out with him when he was drinking ever again. And I made the girls promise we weren't gonna drink at parties anymore because I didn't want to get caught up in that mess ever again." Cherry shook her head. "I don't see how it's so easy for him to get liquor. All I know is that I'm sick of him humiliating me like that. He's not a gentleman, ya know? Two-Bit Mathews sat behind us and he offered to drive us home. We were walking to his house when Bob and Randy found us. And when Dallas Winston was botherin' me and Marcia, one of his friends stuck up for me. They're nice guys, but nobody would want you to think so because they're greasers."

In her quiet, dim-lit kitchen, I realized that Cherry was better than all of us.

xXx

The call came in the morning. If a call late at night is indecent, then a call early in the morning is plain old terrifying. They seem so much more urgent, like the caller can't even wait until the sun comes up to deliver their news. And it usually isn't good.

When the phone started ringing, it woke all six of us up, and we blearily stared at each other from around Cherry's room. We thought we could just wait it out, but it kept ringing and ringing, and there was no way any of us were going to get it, so we tried to tune it out and go back to sleep. Eventually, her mom or dad lumbered down the stairs and picked up, and the quiet returned.

A few minutes after picking up, there were hurried footsteps coming back up the stairs, some general commotion in the hall, and the urgent whispers of Cherry's parents. There was no hope for us to get back to sleep at that point, so we all lay there quietly, exchanging looks and raised eyebrows in silent question.

There was a knock. Cherry's mother poked her head in without waiting for an answer. I couldn't see her face, but her voice broke a bit when she said, "Sherri? Could you c'mere, please, baby?"

Cherry groaned, inconvenienced as she rolled out of bed and joined her parents in the hallway.

She was bawling not thirty seconds later.

xXx

A boy named Johnny Cade killed Bob. Mrs. Sheldon had called the Valances to tell them, and Cherry's parents told her, and the rest of us pieced it together. I didn't know who Johnny was, but when the paper came on Monday morning and I saw his picture, I recognized him. He went to the same school as I did, but I hadn't ever paid him any attention. He was just sort of non-descript. Except for that scar.

And then, next to a picture of Johnny Cade, there was a picture of Ponyboy Curtis.

My heart jumped into my throat as I read about how according to Bob and Randy's other friends – eyewitnesses to the whole thing – Ponyboy was being held underwater by them and the Cade boy came up and stabbed Bob. Now Bob was dead and the boys were missing. As soon as I finished reading the article, I folded the paper and pushed it far away from me.

Ponyboy was just the boy I sat next to in art class. The one who told me about Van Gogh and asked me about the natural history museum. And Bob was Cherry's boyfriend, a straight-shooter, a contender for Boy of the Year, and now he was gone. He was dead. And that Johnny Cade had been the one to do it.

Dad came into the kitchen half ready to leave for his first class and saw the paper sitting on the edge of the table. He skimmed over the article before heaving a heavy sigh. "If you'd like, you can come with me today. Or just stay home."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

He watched me carefully as he sat down and picked the paper up to read the article more closely. "I thought you just might want some time. You knew that boy, didn't you? He was dating one of your friends?" I nodded. "I just don't want you getting overwhelmed."

I was touched by his concern, but it was misplaced. "I'll be okay. It's awful what happened, but I wasn't that close to him. It's going to be worse for Cherry. I want to be there for her – if she even comes to school."

Dad watched me for another moment before nodding, then he started to read. "It says these boys go to Will Rogers," he mumbled. "Do you know either of them?"

He looked at me expectantly, and my heart went from sitting in my throat to dropping into my stomach. I didn't want to tell him I knew Ponyboy, that he sat next to me in class, that we talked. I didn't want my father thinking I associated with bad people, even though I wasn't exactly sure what all Ponyboy had to do with killing Bob – it sounded like Bob was the one trying to kill him.

Anyway, I lied.

"No," I said, forcing myself to sound casual. "I think I've seen them around, but that's it."

Dad accepted that, but every time I lie, even now, my stomach gets upset. Between Bob's death, Cherry and the rest of the community's grief, my concern for Ponyboy, and the lie, my body felt as if it was revolting.

xXx

"I'm not surprised she didn't come today," Missy said, monotone and numb. "Everybody would be getting in her face and asking her questions. I don't blame her for staying home."

The rest of the girls and I stood in our usual spot in the foyer, solemn and subdued. That was the mood throughout the entire school. The thing on everybody's minds was Bob Sheldon getting killed by Johnny Cade and where those boys could have run off to.

There had been a convocation that morning for Bob. Principal Vernon and the football coach spoke at what was essentially a memorial service. Everything had been eerily quiet, and while none of the adults got into the specifics of how he had passed – we all read the papers and knew what happened – there was a tension in the air, too. Sitting in that auditorium was like being inside a pressure cooker.

"So, what now?" I asked.

"The funeral's Thursday. Right after school lets out. We're all going," Marcia said to us pointedly, taking a rare hard stance. None of us dared to disagree. If anybody had any other plans, they were instantly dropped. We would be there for Cherry.

But that wasn't quite what I had meant. As we had sat in the auditorium that morning, listening on as Bob Sheldon was eulogized, I couldn't help but notice that all of our boys were trading serious, angry looks with the boys from the other side of town, all of them looking ready to pounce at any moment. I just couldn't help but think that things would only get worse.

Those boys were about to explode.

xXx

Two-Bit didn't even show up to school on Monday. Or the day after that.

He returned on Wednesday, not looking sad, but anxious and angry. Those eyes of his were stormy.

"You're friends with the dead guy's girl, ain't you?"

I shut my locker and wondered when these greasers would stop sneaking up on me. "I am. Why?"

"Because I need info. My buddies need info. Now, what do you know?"

I sighed, racking my brain for information. I had heard a lot of theories floating around the past few days, but I was sure I didn't know anything he didn't already. "Nothing the paper didn't report on."

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

"Alright, then." Two-Bit sighed and shoved his fists into his pockets. "We looked everywhere, every inch of this goddamn town." He looked off into the distance with a glazed look, shaking his head. "No sign of 'em. We're all worried. Johnny wouldn't've done it without good reason. I know you knew the guy, but he must've really scared Johnny somethin' awful for him to do…that." Two-Bit barked a humorless laugh. "I just can't believe it. None of us can."

Like with Vickie, it was uncomfortable to see Two-Bit start to unravel. I wasn't sure why he was telling me this – weren't we supposed to hate each other? Wasn't it written in the stars, fate for us to be on opposite ends? This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Bob wasn't supposed to be dead, those boys weren't supposed to have run away, and Two-Bit wasn't supposed to even take a book recommendation from me, let alone confide in me.

"His girl must be a mess. Sheldon's, I mean," he tacked on, and I remembered that he had offered to walk her and Marcia home. That Cherry thought Two-Bit was a gentleman.

I hugged my books tight. "It's been pretty hard on her."

Cherry had come back to school on Tuesday, earlier than I or any of our friends had expected, but she had hardly spoken. When I saw her that morning for the first time since we had slept over at her house, all I could think about was how she had been so angry at Bob that night, how hurt she had been because of him. How he had wasted her time, and no girl deserved a man who wasted her time.

But it was so obvious how all of that went out the window when he died. She still loved him.

"Well," Two-Bit roughly cleared his throat, "just thought I would ask. And, uh, I guess I did that. So I'll be goin' now."

"Wait, Two-Bit." He stopped, eyebrow cocked in question. "I…well, I hope your friends come home soon."

His lips twitched – a hint of a smile. "Yeah. Me, too."

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