The Outsiders © S.E. Hinton. This story is non-profit.
All notes/disclaimers in Chapter 1.



Not Today
Chapter 2: Theories and Take-Out

All we had in the cupboard was Tuna Helper, so that's what I figured I was making. Sodapop was gonna complain and then spread grape jelly all over his and Ponyboy probably wouldn't eat at all, but I hadn't made a grocery run in a while and our cupboards were getting awful bare.

I heard the knock on the door and it was a moment before I realized it wasn't Two-Bit tripping over our boots or banging into the wall. No one ever knocks on our door, well, except the cops and the people from the state. Pony was doing homework at the table and Soda was playing cards with Steve on the living room floor; neither one was paying attention or had probably even heard the knock. I stepped over them on my way to answer, mussing Soda's hair with my foot. He didn't even protest he was so busy trying to get a card out of his shoe without Steve noticing.

Even the fuzz would have been less of a surprise than seeing Jules at my door with a huge paper bag that smelled like Chinese take-out.

"Hi," she said uncertainly, biting on her bottom lip. "I hope it's not a bad time."

I tried to shake off my shock and reached out to take the bag from her. She was wearing light green scrubs, like the kind doctors wear in operating rooms. Her hair was up in a ponytail which made her eyes look even bigger and the color of the scrubs made them look even greener. She looked sorta grown-up like that, but still, there was something wild about her. I could tell.

"I just got done with class and I was picking up food for dinner, it's a new place that opened up near the campus, and I thought maybe you and your brothers hadn't eaten."

She said it all in a rush, like she'd rehearsed it and just wanted to get it out. I noticed something else in her voice, a tremble that probably had nothing to do with the weather since the heat wave hadn't shown one sign of breaking. Loneliness, maybe?

"How'd you know where I live?" I asked, and wished I could take it back right away. I didn't want to sound rude and ungrateful, especially since I apparently didn't have to make Tuna Helper after all.

If I offended her, she didn't show it. "You're the only Curtis on Pine in the phone book," was all she said. Her smile was infectious and I smiled back, allowing her in the house.

It had been days since any of us had even picked up after ourselves. Pony and I are really the only ones who do it, and Pony was in the middle of exams and I was in the middle of the big apartment complex job and we were both working like crazy. I don't think I'd even noticed it until now, when I led Jules through the house, past Steve and Soda who were now staring up at us amid a sea of cards, and into the kitchen. The dishes weren't even done.

"Sorry about the mess," I said quickly. "We've been busy around here."

She shrugged like she hadn't even noticed it, and was unpacking dozens of food cartons onto the counter. Steve and Soda filed into the kitchen, and I saw them both look at her from head to toe before Soda broke into a huge grin.

"Who's your friend, Darry?"

Steve was already opening the cartons, and he handed one full of kung pao chicken to me, and one full of chow mein to Soda before settling onto the counter with beef and broccoli for himself. He wasn't even using a fork.

"This is Jules, Jules, this is my brother Sodapop and his friend Steve."

I handed Steve a fork and he reluctantly took it while nodding at Jules. Her eyes were fixed on Soda, not that it should have surprised me.

"Darry said you were handsome but…"

I heard the sharp inhale and slow exhale of breath and tried to talk myself out of feeling jealous. Girls thought Soda was good-looking; I hadn't met one yet that didn't. I pointed through the kitchen and Jules' eyes followed me into the dining room. "That's Ponyboy."

"That's all you'll ever get to see of him, too. His nose is always stuck in a book," Soda offered cheerfully.

Jules nodded and smiled, but she weaved her way between us and the food, picking up a carton of fried rice on her way out of the kitchen. She walked up to Ponyboy, put the food down in front of him and stood there, expectantly.

Eventually, he looked up and blinked, as if he'd just noticed she was there.

"Hey, I'm Jules," she said, holding out her hand, much like the way she'd introduced herself to me a few days ago. "I'm a friend of Darry's."

Pony looked at me before taking her hand, dumbfounded. I knew what he was thinking. Steve and Soda, too. I don't have friends that are girls. Not anymore, that is. I don't meet new people and if I do (which I don't), they're not girls. I could see it written all over their faces and I tried my best to ignore it.

"I'm Ponyboy," he finally said, then pointed to the Chinese food carton. "Is that for me?"

Jules smiled. "Sure thing. There's a ton more in the kitchen, but you better get over there if you want some 'cause it's going fast."

She wasn't kidding. Soda and Steve were wolfing down the food as if they hadn't eaten in a week. Steve only looked up long enough to survey Jules from head to toe, again.

"Did you come over here to play doctor with ol' Darry or what?"

He and Soda dissolved into a fit of laughter and my sharp look toward Ponyboy did nothing to stop them. Jules didn't seem embarrassed, but I didn't know her well enough to know for sure. Besides, I thought it was rude considering she'd saved us from Tuna Helper. Using a pair of chopsticks, I whacked Steve and Soda over the head with them, which shut them up real quick.

"Ow!" Soda complained. "What's that for?"

"Don't say stuff like that! Ponyboy's fourteen!" I scolded lamely. I knew it was a stupid excuse, but I didn't know what to say on Julia's behalf. She just shook her head and cocked me a grin, as if to say it didn't bother her in the least.

"I'm fourteen, but I ain't stupid!" Ponyboy shot back at me, and the only thing I could do was glare at Steve since he was the one that started it all.

Finally, Jules stepped forward, reaching into the kitchen for a carton of won-ton. She opened it and popped one in her mouth, chewing thoughtfully before tipping her head in Steve's direction. "I'm actually a nursing student," she said. "Sometimes we have to go into a real situation, like an operation or an emergency room, and observe. That's what I had to do today, which is why I'm wearing this very flattering outfit."

"I like it," Soda said. "It looks comfortable."

Sodapop's cheerful observation made us all burst into laughter, and I relaxed for the first time in weeks.

I hadn't meant to let it get so late. Jules had the boys entertained with all of her superstitions (there were many of them) and was busy arguing the finer points of each one before I realized it was past ten o'clock. I could tell Pony thought she was alright, and of course Soda never had a problem with anyone, but Steve kept shaking his head like she was crazy as a loon and there was nothing they could do about it.

Which, I had to admit, might very well be true. She told Soda and Steve that at the DX, she'd only pull in from the north side, because it was bad luck to pull in for gas from the south. They argued with her, telling her you pulled in depending on what side your gas tank was on, any logical person knew that. Jules cheerfully admitted she was far from logical, and said that if you didn't arrive from the north and leave from the south, you were inviting trouble to your car.

Thankfully, that discussion led to what kind of car Jules drives (1962 Plymouth Belvedere, two-toned: black and rust, she said good-naturedly) and Steve stopped rolling his eyes and huffing his indignation long enough to chatter on about the engine and gas mileage of a Plymouth.

For my part, I tried to stay on the sidelines, partly because I don't talk much to begin with, at least not when Steve and Soda are around. They dominate the conversation in any room, and Pony and I are usually perfectly fine with sitting back and taking it all in. Tonight, in particular, I wanted to figure out what drew me to Jules in the first place and why I hadn't been able to stop thinking about her since I met her.

I hadn't figured it out at ten o'clock and I had to make sure both Pony and Soda were in bed at a decent hour or they were murder to wake up in the morning. Jules looked surprised when I announced what time it was and said she had to get up early in the morning. She bid goodbye to everyone and -- to my surprise -- they thanked her voraciously for the food, and I gave the boys a look that clearly said to keep their traps shut while I walked her out to her car.

It seemed like it was only getting warmer outside, and I knew that meant trouble for the rest of the night. Soda would probably insist on sleeping with the rickety old fan blowing right on him all night, which would upset Pony and he'd complain loudly until I let him come sleep with me. Which I don't like because I don't really like sleeping with anyone; especially not my little brother. I'm kinda big, and I like my space. Plus, Pony tends to kick.

Jules snapped her fingers in front of my face as we walked down the porch steps, and I blinked, wondering where my mind was all of a sudden. First I couldn't stop thinking about her, then I couldn't pay attention when she was around. Since when had I gotten so easily distracted?

"You alright?" she asked, but I could tell she wasn't really waiting for an answer. I just shrugged and shoved my hands into my pockets while she rummaged around in her purse for her keys. When she found them, she flipped her hair back and shoved a few strands that had come loose back behind her ear.

Her hair was dark, almost as dark as Johnny's was, and thick and unruly like that, too. When I'd first met her, it was down in loose waves around her face and maybe that was part of what made her seem so wild to me. Because she didn't seem that way now; not really. Sure she had crazy ideas and stuff but she'd seemed a lot less dangerous while she interacted with my brothers and I was starting to think I'd been way off with my first impression that day at her apartment.

"I'm sorry to just barge in on you," she said out of the blue, and it startled me: the apology, the chagrined look on her face and she was biting on her lip again. I wanted to tell her to stop doing that. "I was hopin' you'd stop by my place…you know, being that you're around the complex every day. But you didn't so…"

She trailed off and all I could think to say was, "Oh." I was stunned, really. I never woulda thought to just go up and knock on her door, no matter how many times I glanced over to her apartment and hoped I'd catch a glimpse of her coming or going. By now I was working all the way on the other side of the complex, and I couldn't see her door from the area I was roofing, so I'd sort of given up. I don't put much thought into girls anymore -- relationships, anyway. I just don't have the time.

"Maybe it seems too pushy of me," Jules went on, and I realized she talked the way she looked. She was real intense about whatever she was saying, and she said it like there was no other way to be. She was what she was and she believed it, all the way down to her soul.

I liked that.

"I know dropping in on you and your brothers was probably out of line, but you know how it gets…" She trailed off again. Shook her head and laughed a little. "No, course you don't. You're probably wishing for some time alone and here I am doing everything I can to avoid it."

I still hadn't said anything, and she was biting on her lip again. The keys rattled in her hand and she sort of exhaled sharply, then started walking around to the driver's side of the car. I couldn't let her leave like that. It seemed like I was rejecting her. I really, really wasn't.

"It's okay," I said quickly, and she stopped at her door and smiled at me.

"Yeah?"

I nodded firmly and tipped back on my heels. "Yeah," I said, smiling back. I didn't smile much at people, but she was sorta like Soda in that if she smiled at you, you couldn't help but return the favor. "It was real nice of you to bring over that food."

Her smile got bigger. "I wanted to say thank you for helping me out with the deadbolt, it sure was nice of you considering you didn't know me at all."

I shrugged. I don't make it a habit to help out every stranger in the world -- I just don't have time for that -- but my folks always tried to be there for people when they asked, which was why we left our door unlocked for our friends to always have a place to go. There was something about this girl, though, that made me want to help her too. Maybe it was just that she looked so lost half the time, and the other half she looked like she could've given Dallas Winston a run for his money.

"It's no big deal," I said, trying to sound nonchalant. "If you need anythin' else, you know where to find me."

Her smile was grim, maybe a little sad. She seemed about to get in her car, maybe drive away and I'd never see her again. But then a small glint in her eye, like she changed her mind or decided something just then, and I felt that familiar nervous energy run through me.

"I have theories too," she said.

"What?" I had taken my hands out of my pockets and was looking up at the sky. Not a cloud in sight, just clear, dark sky and oppressive heat.

"Theories," she repeated and I looked back down at her. She blinked at me with those big, pretty eyes. "You know, in addition to my superstitions."

There was laughter in her voice and I realized she knew I didn't take her superstitions very seriously. I figured not many people did, and maybe it was something about herself she'd just learned to accept without trying to explain. I was proud like that too; I didn't like anybody questioning me or my values, especially when it had to do with somethin' that was real important to me. Like my brothers and how I raised them. Lots of people wouldn't like that we kept beer in the refrigerator (for Two-Bit) and I let them eat chocolate cake for breakfast, but Pony got good grades and Soda worked real hard so what business of theirs was it anyway?

"Theories…like what?" I finally asked. I was sort of curious.

"Like," she said, moving back around her car and closer to me, "If you need something, it'll be there."

She was standing real close now, looking up at me and I had to remind myself to keep breathing. Still, I managed to shake my head in disbelief.

"That's not a theory," I said lightly. "That's wishful thinking. I could really use a thousand dollars but it ain't gonna turn up in my couch cushions."

She chuckled lightly. "I don't mean like that. I mean like less tangible things."

"Like what?"

"Like…" She paused, biting her lip. "You. Maybe I needed to meet you, and there you were, ladder blocking my doorway."

I shook my head. "My ladder wasn't blocking your doorway," I argued. "You just wouldn't walk under it."

She shrugged, and her eyes were twinkling. "Fate knows I don't walk underneath ladders," she pointed out.

"There's no such thing as fate," I shot back.

The frown that creased her face was real this time. She looked distressed, and it threw me for a loop.

"That's real sad," she said softly. "I'm starting to think that instead of me needing you, maybe you need me."

Then she leaned up and kissed me on the cheek, which threw me for another loop. If she didn't stop surprising the hell outta me, I was gonna fall over right onto my own porch. I didn't know what to say while she walked back around her car. I couldn't even focus on her as she keyed the lock and then got inside. Everything sort of had a fuzzy tinge to it, and I just barely noticed her give a little wave as she pulled away from the curb and drove down the street.

TBC…
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Reviewers for Chapter 1:

Bandit-Gurl42 - I'm glad you decided to check it out, too! OC's are usually very Sue-ish, and I try to avoid them, but sometimes they can be entertaining, and my aim is to make Jules as entertaining as possible. Hope you keep checking it out and thanks so much for reading and reviewing.

Arantxa - Since writing this story I have found a few Darry fics, but not many. I enjoy his character a lot and think it has a lot of possibilities to be fleshed out even more. He's definitely not a black and white character; lots of gray areas to work with. Thanks for reviewing!

Tessie26 - I am enjoying your story "Unforgettable" so much, and I must confess that seeing your Darry sub-plot sort of gave me the courage to post this one. I knew at least one other person would be interested in a Darry/OFC story. So thanks for your review, cause you're really the reason I bothered posting in the first place!

Julie - More and more Darry fans are coming out of the woodwork! I'm glad you like it and I hope you'll stay tuned! Every chapter is going to be from Darry's POV and there's a lot more to come! Thanks for reviewing!