Whoo. I've came up with such a good story, that I had to make it next. After this one, expect a fic that you don't see often.

Chapter 11: Racing

It took a couple of days, but Dallas started hanging out the group. They started to call him Dally. Sometimes they got their words mixed up and called him Darry. Vice versa with Darry also.

Soda was lying on the hood of Steve's car, waiting for him to get off work. He was thinking of all the new friends he made. Two-Bit became good friends with both his brothers as well as his friends. Johnny was good with everyone too. He needed that. But Dally, that character was different. He was good with him, Steve, Two-Bit and kind of Darry. Pony once said that he wasn't too fond of Dally. Soda could see why. Dally also liked to hang out with Tim Shepard too. They had a lot in common.

But no matter what. He'd known Steve the longest. Ever since grade school. Soda liked Steve too. He was a good buddy. They'd made it through the beginning of the greaser/soc thing with the help of Two-Bit. But now they were going to high school, and it would be tougher. Well, they met Dally, and he was tough enough.

"What are you doing?"

Soda sat up and looked over to see Steve walking towards him. He had a rag in his hand to clean his hands.

"Just relaxing," said Soda getting off the car.

"On my car?"

"What. Not like it isn't rusty enough."

Steve shook his dirty finger smiling.

"No my friend. That's where you're wrong. This baby right there might not be tuff on the outside, but it is surely enough tuff in the inside."

Soda put on a confused face.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, I fixed this car for a little racing. I just finished today. I had to sneak a few tools from the gas station. But I finally got it to where it'll run like a good car."

"You plan on draggin'?"

"You know it. But we've got to find some place where no one is. That's where they usually hang out."

"Wait! You plan on doing it now?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I know we planned on hanging out. But I've got to test the car."

"What are you talking about? I'm in. I'll just let you do the driving."

Steve smiled. He loved it when Soda acted wild. He sometimes wondered if he broke his promise by drinking booze. His breathe never smelled like it though. It was a little nasty sometimes, though.

"Alright. Let's go."

The two jumped into the car, and Steve started up the car. The heavy engine kicked in and Soda knew how fast this car was. He was real excited.

"Man. The engine sounds real tuff."

"Exactly. Let's go find some people."

"Do you know a place?"

"Of course. You act like I'm never prepared."

"You aren't."

"Shut-up."

Steve peeled off from the gas station. The car was running smoothly. Steve took a couple turns at some places Soda had never been to. No wonder they hung here. Steve slowed down to a creep. He hoped he would find someone soon. He didn't get free gas just because he worked at the DX.

Finally, a car pulled up next to him. The window rolled down. Steve sat up in his seat. He hoped that they weren't just asking for directions. Both Soda and Steve looked into the window of the other car. There were two boys around their age in the car.

"You here to drag?" asked the boy who was driving.

"Are you?"

Soda went ahead and let Steve do the talking. He didn't want to mess up anything. He never really has before. Steve was answering every question with a question. It was a trick he picked up in case the person was a plain-clothes or something. Even though he didn't really need to do that. The people were around his age.

"Look. Cut the crap. You gonna race?"

Steve revved up his car to show off his engine.

"I'll let you answer that question."

The other guy smiled.

"Forty-five dollars. Let's go."

The two drove up to a starting point. The other guy put out his hand and counted down.

3, 2, 1…..

The cars drove off, leaving a trail from their tires. It was a race down to the end of the block. First person to pass the stop sign up ahead would win. Luckily, this was an abandoned part of the town.

The other guy was edging past Steve. Steve had the same face when the other guy edged passed him.

"Steve. They passed us," yelled Soda.

Steve just smiled and looked at Soda.

"You think I move this slow?"

Steve pushed the pedal down and the car jolted off. Soda nearly banged against the seat. He didn't know the car moved that fast. The car zoomed past the other car and Steve passed the stop sign.

He hit the brakes and turned the car. The car halted to a stop and was facing the opposite direction. Steve got out and Soda was holding his head as he stepped out.

The other car moved up and slowed down. The two boys got out smiling.

"Nice win. Lucky this is small compared to what me and my buddy get."

"Where do you get your money?" asked Steve while the other guy handed him the money.

"Hustling. What's your names?"

"I'm Steve. And this is my buddy Soda."

"Soda?" said the other guy's friend.

"Yeah. He's a little dizzy right now. You two got name?"

"Mark."

"Bryon."

"Nice race," said Steve leaning against his own car.

"This is just peewee," said Mark smiling. "The big leagues are somewhere else."

Mark pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen. He wrote something and handed it to Steve. Steve looked at the paper and looked back at Mark and Bryon.

"I'll be there."