Around noon, Alex started getting a little… hyper. Started acting like Two-Bit would be a more accurate observation. She did a handstand and looked at Johnny. "Wow. You look funny upside-down," she giggled.

He raised his eyebrows. "I could say the same about you! Your face is turning red!" That got her laughing, and she flipped to sit down.

"Whoa… everything's all… " She moved her arms around to show that everything was spinning. He shook his head and flopped down on the couch, then made a mental note not to do that anymore. "Johnny?" He looked up at her. "If you could go anywhere you wanted… where would you go?"

He thought a minute. "Someplace warm. I'm sick of being cold all the time."

"A beach? An island?"

He shrugged. "A beach. I don't like the idea of being out in the middle of the ocean. Kinda makes me nervous."

She nodded, figuring he wouldn't say much more. And she was right; he didn't.

Ponyboy came home first and threw his bookbag down. "NO MORE SCHOOL!"

"For a week and a half," Alex cut in.

"Don't remind me," he groaned. Johnny laughed quietly.

She jumped on him. "Yeah, but next time you're there, I'll be there too! And next year, I'm goin' out for the swim team, and the gymnastics team…"

Ponyboy shifted with her on his back so that she wasn't just on his left side. "What about track?"

She pulled a face. "I don't like running in circles."

He laughed. "Well, you'll be a good addition to most any team. It's mostly soc girls on the teams, but you'll show them. Our girls are just as good as theirs are."

Her eyes turned violent. "Excuse me. I'm no one's property. Girls aren't material possessions, you know. If I ever catch you talking like that again, I will not hesitate to beat the shit outta you." By then she was standing in front of him, and although she was much shorter, she could get scary.

Johnny touched her shoulder. "Hey. He didn't mean it like that."

She snapped out of her trance and saw the terrified look on Ponyboy's face. Her eyes softened and she hugged him tightly. "Awe, I'm so sorry, Pony… I didn't mean it like that." He hugged her back, relieved. Those black eyes could be as scary as hell in a second.


"ALEXANDRA!" A voice she just barely recognized called her out at the Dingo later that night, where she was laughing at Two-Bit as he hit on some soc girls. Dally looked up right along with Ponyboy and Johnny.

"Hey Tim," Dally acknowledged him.

Alex squinted up at him, and then a look of realization hit her. "Tim Shepard? Ain't you Curly's older brother?" Ponyboy had introduced her to Curly a few days ago, and he was nice enough… just a bit too wild for her taste.

"Yeah, but that ain't how ya know me."

Alex looked stumped. "Well, clue me in." Dally cracked up. "Shut ya trap!"

"I love you too, sis."

She rolled her eyes, then looked closer at Tim. She grabbed his hand, which held two rings. A class ring and a silver thumb ring. The silver caught her attention. She touched it, then jumped up and hugged him. "Tim!"

"Dall…. Get your sister off me." Dally sighed and pried his younger sister off of his friend. "It's about time ya recognized me."

"Stuff it, Shepard," she muttered. Ponyboy raised his eyebrows but said nothing. "Long story, bud… I'll tell ya later. Tim, don't ya have a sister?"

"Angela. Why?"

"I was wondering if she'd go… um, get some stuff with me. Ya know, can't be dragging the guys around and all…" Alex said quietly.

Tim raised his eyebrows for a second, then a look of realization hit him. "Oh! Yeah. Stuff. Yeah, I dig it. I'll go find her for ya." He disappeared into the crowd for a minute, then came back with his sister, a typical Greaser girl. She wore a short black skirt and a clingy red top with a pair of black heels that could put someone's eye out.

"Well, if it ain't the Princess." Her voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard. There was an edge to it, more of an edge than you would ever hear any other girl use. Angela, why are you doing this? This is so dumb! She's a sweet girl, you can tell that just by looking at her! Don't do this…not to Dallas. Not to his sister. But she couldn't stop. "Stand up."

Dally gave her a look that clearly asked 'Why are you letting her do this to you?' But she stood anyway, allowing Angela to tower over her in her high heels and long legs, while she stood in her falling apart blue jeans and a black t-shirt she'd borrowed from Ponyboy. Angela touched her hair… her long, blond hair that was coming out of its braid. Two-Bit had said she looked sexy in her jeans and t-shirt, and she had begun to sit closer to Ponyboy and Johnny. Alex reached up and took the rubber band out of her hair, then shook it out. The light reflected off her hair, lighting up her few freckles.

"When?"

"Tomorrow. Noon good for you, sugar?" Alex asked, sassiness in her voice.

Angela smiled a quick little smile. "Yeah." And then she was gone.

"What is it with you girls and…" Dallas started, but didn't finish, seeing the look of death in his sister's eyes. "…shopping?"

Alex grinned a little wickedly. "I don't shop… unless it's too big to get out of the store unnoticed…"

Sodapop appeared and practically tackled Alex into a big hug. It was shameless love, and no one seemed to mind. Everyone knew they weren't together, they just had the same touchy-feely personality. Mrs. Curtis had called him a hugger. Alex loved him to pieces. He always made her laugh, even when she remembered the pain she'd gone through. She couldn't believe she'd been afraid of these guys. It had only been a few weeks… but she supposed the fact that she was Dally's sister gave her some credibility.


"Come on, Alex. You look fine," her brother tried to convince her.

"Dallas, let me in there," a female voice called, the edge gone. He willingly ran out of the room as Angela came in. She wore jeans rolled up to her knees and a clingy blue shirt that set off her green eyes. "Okay. Let's see what you've got."

"I. Have. Nothing."

"Bullshit." Angela looked around, then grabbed the most decent pair of jeans. "These, and that black shirt. But let me fix it for ya, hon." She tied a knot in it to show off the blond girl's stomach. "See? Now. I'll put a little makeup on you… not much, I promise. Just some liner and mascara, and some lipstick. You've got perfect skin… how do you do that, anyhow?"

"Ivory soap and a bit of watered down hand lotion at night, and if I can find some, an egg white mask once a week. You mix the yolks with some shampoo and it does amazing things to your hair. And if it smells a bit, get some lemon juice-"

"Roll your eyes up and try not to blink too much."

"Okay. Get some lemon juice and rinse your hair with it. Smells great and makes your hair real shiny." She stopped talking as she applied the red-brown lipstick, then blotted it to take the edge off. Looking at herself, she nearly fainted. Her eyes looked huge, and not too dark, and her lips looked fuller and more beautiful than ever. "Wow. You could do this for movie stars or something. You really could. But. Let me fix something." She reached up to Angela's face with a tissue and wiped off the excess eye shadow, then cleaned it up, making her look less trashy in a matter of seconds, then blotted her lipstick. "Okay. Let's go. I need new… um, everything."

They got to the store, a little place where only one older man worked, and he didn't watch anyone too well. Alex expertly swiped three packages of white underwear, low-rise. The bras also went into the purse. The jeans, skirts, tops and shoes had to be paid for, but not before Angelaswiped some earrings, nail polish, and a tube of face mask. The grand total was somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 dollars. Quite a bit for a tightwad like herself, but she knew she was going to get it back soon enough.

The two left the store laughing and carrying on about what an idiot the guy was. They made their way back to Angela's place by four and decided that they would show Alex off at the Curtis' house around dinnertime. Until then… Angela was going to pierce Alex's ears.

"Just numb it for a little longer," Alex pleaded, getting nervous. The needle was sterilized and her ears were marked. Angela shook her head and put a clean cloth in her mouth, then shoved the needle through her ear, then put the earring in, cleaning up what little blood there was and then soaking her ear in peroxide for a minute. "Fuck!"

"I know. Calm down. Okay, it's not bleeding anymore." The other ear went numb, and a quick, sharp pain went through her ear, then was gone and replaced by the feeling of peroxide on her other ear. "I know. Fuck. But it's worth it, and besides, it looks real nice on you."

"Shit that hurts…" she muttered, rubbing her ear with her dry hand. She'd just painted her nails with a funky shade of purple and was wearing a dark blue skirt that hit about four inches above her knees that had a little flair to it with a nice black tank top that showed off her arms and a few inches of her stomach with her black shoes. Her legs were freshly shaved and she wore a light scent of flowers on her throat and wrists.

"But you look beautiful. And you're wearing shorts under that, right? You know how Two-Bit is."

Alex laughed as she put on her lip-gloss. "Yeah, you'd better believe I know! I've been staying at his place for like…. Three weeks now with Dallas. Glory, that boy will not stop finding ways to try and look down my shirt." She turned around. "Am I a ten, or what?"

"An eleven! Come on, let's go… there's gonna be a dance at the bowling alley tonight. You've gotta come. Oh, and get a few of the guys along."

"Come on, doll face, let's go." And they ran out of the house, laughing all the way. By the time they arrived at the Curtis' place, they were doubled over laughing and had to smooth their hair to keep the frizz at bay. It was a warm Friday night, and they were excited to show the boys how well Alex cleaned up.

They walked in. "Alex? Holy shit!" Sodapop circled her. "Who did this?"

"Me," Angela spoke up.

"Speaking of which…" Soda took in her almost- decent length skirt and nice tank top and non- trashy make up. "Y'all are some hot stuff!"

"Soda, what's with the…" Darry trailed off. "Never mind. I see why. You two look nice. What's the occasion?"

Alex grinned up at him. "Well, we were gonna go down to the bowling alley for the dance… any of y'all wanna go?" she hollered into the living room.

"Me! I'm there… where are we goin?" Two-Bit asked.

"Bowling alley," the girls answered. He stared. "What?"

"I'm in! I think. Darry, can I?" Ponyboy asked. Darry nodded. "Johnny?"

"I guess…" he said quietly, standing up.

"I'm in. Steve, you goin?"

"Naw… me and Evie have plans…"

"Oh, yeah… I dig ya. Darry… come on! Have some fun," Soda pleaded.

"No way."

"Come ON Darry! Loosen up for once," Alex joined in the pleading.

"No… I've got… Fine! I'll go!" he gave in. They waited while the guys greased their hair back a little better, then jumped into the cars to get down to the alley.

Two-Bit stuck his hand out to Angela. "Dance with me?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

Soda had found a girl to dance with, as had Darry. Soda's girl had soft blond hair and blue eyes… one of those girls you didn't expect to be a Greaser girl. Darry was dancing with a girl that had dark brown hair and a few freckles, along with green eyes.

Ponyboy bit his lip and smiled. "Wanna dance?" he asked, smiling shyly at Alex.

She grinned. "Yeah… do you know how?"

"Sure do. Come on." He pulled her out to the floor and they whirled around the floor in a dance she'd never learned, but she knew how to follow on the dance floor. They came back to the wall laughing and holding each other up. "Did you see his face?"

"Yeah! Did you see hers? Crimeny!"

"What happened?"

"HE-" Alex nodded her head at Ponyboy. "Twirled me into another couple!" Johnny laughed quietly, and she tried her best to look mad. "You think it's funny?"

"Yup." And she laughed with him.

"Johnny, do you know how to dance?" His face flamed and he shook his head. "Come on, slow songs are easy."