Disclaimer: The Outsiders is © S.E.Hinton. I own Matt and Nate. Hahukum Konn owns Shawn, and I use him only with Hahukum's kind permission.

Sorry it's been so long, y'all!

Chapter Twelve
It's a Greaser Halloween!

Shawn Daggett moved into the extra bedroom. For a while I thought it would be a drag havin' an extra person in the house, but Shawn turned out to be really cool. He spent most of his day sleepin' and hangin' out at the Curtis house or mowin' lawns; he went to school now too. Eventually, Nate un-grounded me, more out of annoyance than anything else. I guess he got tired of my pacing around the room like a caged animal or something, so eventually he told me to get out of the house before I drove him 'round the twist.

I walked home from school with Ponyboy on October thirty-first to find the Curtis house completely transformed, as though it happened overnight. Jack o Lanterns and chains made of orange and black crepe paper covered the outside of the house, and fake tombstones and old chicken bones littered the yard.

Surprised, Pony and I entered the house, and found that Soda had taken off work, and he and Two-Bit (who obviously didn't work) had spent the day decorating the house for all the little trick or treaters who would raid the house for candy later that night.

Soda was in the kitchen making cookies, though this time, the dough was not splattered all over the walls, the ceiling and the doors like it had been at my house last time Soda had tried to cook. And this time, (since it was Halloween) the cookies were SUPPOSED to be orange. Though how Soda had any more orange food dye left was beyond my comprehension.

While we were in the kitchen, I noticed Two-Bit attempt to slip out of the house undetected.

"Hey Matthews? Where do ya think you're goin?" I asked. "You're not going to leave us here to do all the bakin' alone are ya?"

"I'm sure you can do plenty well without me," said Two-bit, cracking one of his trademark grins, though this one had a kind of sly air to it.

"Where ya goin'?" asked Pony.

"You'll see!" Two-bit called, slammin' the door behind him.

"Wonder what's up with him," said Soda as he started makin' a new bowl full of cookie dough batter, while me and Pony were busy licking the extra dough from the bowl and spoon.

Six dozen cookies later, Soda, Pony and I were sitting at the kitchen table drinking extra-chocolate milk and makin' more paper chains. The house was already covered inside and out with 'em, but we figured a few more couldn't hurt.

Soon after, Steve came in, followed by Darry.

"Looks great, you guys," said Darry. Apparently, all this decorating was usual at this time of the year.

"Thanks," said Soda, grinning.

We basically lounged around all day, drinkin' Pepsis and eating chocolate cake, watching all the horror movies that came on today. Shawn and even Nate joined in later in the afternoon, laughing at the fakeness of some of the old horror flicks, intently watching the others. We ate nearly all the cake and potato chips in the house, but Soda guarded his cookies with his life, claiming they were for the "cute little trick or treaters."

Sometime in the middle of "Frankenstein," Two-Bit came in, carrying a huge bag that he was sure to keep well hidden from the rest of us. After he greeted us, he retreated to the back of the house. No one but me took much notice of it, perhaps it was because they were all used to him acting so weird. But I was new at all this greaser stuff. So I tried to ignore him as he went into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Soon, darkness engulfed the city in its inky blackness, and Darry went outside to light the Jack o Lanterns (he didn't trust Soda with the matches; I personally didn't know if I could trust Soda with anything).

He had just returned to the couch when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" called Soda, jumping up, grabbing his plate of orange cookies. He opened the door, and the sound of "TRICK OR TREAT," could be heard easily above the volume of the television.

"One for you, and you, and you," said Soda, passing out cookies.

I glanced through the door at the little kids. I had to admit, they WERE pretty cute. All were dressed in homemade costumes, some were astronauts, princesses, Elvis impersonators, as well as various other things. One was even dressed up as a giant lobster!

You could tell they were all greasers, and for a while, I wondered why no rich kids were here, like they were in my old neighborhood. Then I remembered I lived on the wrong side of the tracks now, the other side of town, and that no soc parent in their right mind would drive their kids to this side of town at night just to get candy and sweets.

Well, I thought, they are just gonna miss out on Soda's cookies.

I watched as some of the kids snuck a bite of cookie before depositing the rest in the pillow cases they carried to hold their candy. Apparently Soda was famous for more than just his good looks.

Just then, Two-bit popped out of the bathroom. I jumped, surprised. Two-bit was dressed exactly like the one, the only, MICKEY MOUSE!

Now seeing a nearly grown man dressed as Mickey Mouse was enough to scare the hell out of any sane person, and the kids at the door screamed and ran away.

We all stared at him.

"Well?" he asked. "What do you think?"

"Umm," said Darry. "It's… great."

"What do ya think, Matt?" he asked.

I just stood there, gaping.

Shawn hastily stood up before he could be asked his opinion, claiming that he had to go to work, and slipped away before he could be questioned. It was only a day later that i realized that he didn't work at the sawmill anymore like he told me he used to, so he really didn't have anywhere to go. But I personally wished that I could have come up with an excuse that fast.

But I swore I heard him mutter, "I'm never going to understand this holiday."

I laughed as he exited. The holiday was fine. It was Two-Bit I would never understand.

- - - - -

Okay, I know its short, but lets just say the magic plot fairy has been evading me.

On to the reviews.

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Rate and review please.

Bookworm

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