Disclaimer: I'm not S.E. Hinton. No money am I making off of this. I'm just doing it cause I love to write.

Hi. Sorry I haven't updated in so long. I was working on a play at my school, so that took up most of my after school hours. But the horrid-ness is over now, and I'm back again.

But last time I only got three, count 'em, THREE reviews. Isn't that sad? Well I think so, so if you read please please please review. They keep me goin' with this thing. If you don't like it, review anyway. Flames accepted and criticism appreciated.

Oh yeah, this takes place like ten minutes after the last chapter. On with the show…

Chapter Seven
Relearning the Rules

Two-Bit the pomegranate man sat glued to the TV, which was a blessing, 'cause it actually let me get my homework (stupid as it was) done. Personally, I really didn't know what fruit I'd be, but just for the heck of it, I did put pomegranate. So if I failed, it was all Two-Bit's fault.

Soon after, Pony finished too, and we sat down on the back yard porch to enjoy the peace. Pony said that it wouldn't last for long though; once Soda (God, I still had to get used to that name) and Steve got home from work at the DX, the house would be even louder than it already was. I couldn't imagine how much louder it could get, I mean, they already had the TV and radio blaring, but I hadn't been here long, and I had heard stories of how wild it gets in greaser territory.

"Matt," said Ponyboy, interrupting my thoughts. "I got somethin' to tell ya. I know who you used to be. I saw you around at school before I met ya. You're a soc."

My heart skipped a beat. So he knew. He knew I was a soc. He knew.

"Um… I'll just be goin' then," I said, then stood up to leave.

"No, you don't understand. You USED to be a soc. I'm not kickin' you out just 'cause of your past. All I'm sayin' is we gotta teach you how to fight, or else your gonna get killed hangin' round here."

I sighed with relief. So he wasn't gonna kick me out.

"But what do ya mean, teach me to fight? I was a soc, I beat up grease… erm, people like you every day."

"But you never fought fair. Next time you get jumped, you're probably gonna be alone. And I don't even wanna think about what would happen to ya if they caught up with you again. It seems like they really wanted to do ya in. They got somethin' against ya?"

I didn't answer at first, but then lied and said, "No, nothin' particular. Just my bein' a greaser I guess."

The next couple of hours were probably the weirdest of my life. It involved Pony pretending to beat me up while I either tried to defend myself or just plain get out of the way. But it seemed as though I was a hopeless cause. I knew Pony noticed it too, but he still didn't give up. Eventually, he went on to teach me what to do if fists weren't good enough defense and if I didn't have a switchblade on me. Apparently broken bottles worked good.

By the time Soda and Steve got home, I was bruised and beaten up a bit, but we still didn't stop.

I was growing more tired as the evening drew nearer. But Pony insisted on one more fight.

Then, "PONY! What the hell are you doin' to this poor kid!"

Oh, god. Darry was home. I was sure that Ponyboy was gonna get it now.

But Pony just walked past him and said, "Nothin', Darry. Just teachin' him how to fight. Exactly the same way you taught me."

Darry just looked surprised and said, "Hey, Matt, wanna stay for dinner?"

"Sure." Nate was still out job searching, and this saved me the trouble of making dinner for just one person. Hey, maybe Pony would teach me how to cook, too. I hoped that wasn't as painful as fighting.

Soon after, we were all crowded around the kitchen table, grabbin' as much food as we could. It was pretty good, 'cept the mashed potatoes, which were orange, don't ask me why. Then, we sat around talkin' for a while.

"Did you really teach Pony how to fight by beatin' him up?" I asked Darry. I knew that probably wasn't a good thing to say around Darry, seein' as he could probably squash me like a bug, but I really wanted to know if this was the only way to know how to fight. There had to be somethin' easier.

To my surprise, Darry laughed. "More or less," he said. "Though I'm pretty sure I didn't hit Pony THAT hard," he said after examining my bruises. "Okay, tomorrow, you're training with me."

Oh joy.

- - - - -

Author Note: Yes, Pony knows that Matt is a soc. That DOES NOT mean, however, that he knows Matt beat them (him and Johnny) up that day in the park, and that he is basically the source of all their problems. No, I'm not lettin' poor Matty off the hook that easy. Sorry. But the greasers do know that Matt was orphaned in a fire – Nate told Darry when they talked on the phone the day Matt got beat up; when he called, Darry asked for the parents of Matt, and got the story from Nate. He told the gang later. Okay, I hope that clears up some stuff. Thanks for listening to my ramble.

A very special thanks to the reviewers…

Darkdestiny2000- Yeah, he really didn't care until he became a greaser himself. Oh, and don't worry, I love to ramble and listen to other people ramble. Ramble away…

Hahukum Konn- I was sooo happy to see that I got put on your favorite author list. That really means a lot to me! Yeah, I haven't done much with Two Bit yet, so I thought I'd throw that in. Yeah, he is really random sometimes! I know it's strange, but "pomegranate" is just such a fun word, and I had to use it. Who better to help than Two Bit?

Babygurl33- I dunno, but this is Two-Bit we're talkin' about lol. And yeah, I've had teachers like that before, with all the stupid questions…ugh… never questions about fruit before though. But does anyone really care about what my favorite color or animal is. Does that really help anyone get to know me? Does it help me know myself? Don't think so. Oh well, glad you liked that chapter!

Bookworm

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