Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders...

After Two-Bit and Velma had left the mall, He dropped her off at home, but before she went in side, she turned to Two-Bit, " Thank you...I know that probably wasn't you idea of fun..."

"Don't worry. It was work seeing a soc get punched in the face..."

"What?when did that happen?" She asked him.

"While you were getting changed..." Two-Bit laughed.

" I'll see you tomorrow, Two-Bit.. "

Friday came around pretty quickly, and the guys weren't exactly enthusiastic. They didn't want to go to a place where the only other greasers there would be throwing tomatoes at the performers, then getting kicked out. She was going to be alone..

Velma, along with the other people entering the talent show, arrived about an hour earlier that the audience. She looked around at the other people. There were a few couples dressed in 50's clothing, planning on doing the Twist for their act, a group of girls planning to do a cheer, a few guys dressed as Elvis, girls in very slutty outfits and way too much make-up, going to sing as a group, And various others. And Velma stood there, alone, Her red dress alittle north of the knee, with a low-cut v-neck front with the only thing keeping it up was two thin straps tied in a knot at the back of her neck. Her shoes sequin shoes were the same shade as her dress. She had on red lipstick and red eyeshadow and her hair was brushed neatly over one shoulder.

7 o'clock came and Velma heard the chairs scraping against the floor as people got their seats. She was going on 12th out of the 31 acts. By the 5th act, she was kind of getting nervous. The others were pretty good. By act 10, 3 of the guys that had been dressed as Elvis and a couple doing the Twist had gotten hit with tomatoes and oranges...Oranges! One of the guys were going to have a black eye because of that Orange. It didn't help her calm her nerves. She was pacing back and forth back stage till a teacher told her she was up next. She looking out on the stage as a girl singing a song got hit and Velma heard cheering coming from the audience. As what had hit the girl rolled away, Velma noticed it was a grapefruit. She was panicking inside by now. A teacher introduced Velma and she stepped out on the stage and looked around. She noticed where the greasers that were throwing things on stage, and there ,in the 4th row, sat Ponyboy, Johnny, Dally, Two-Bit, Darry, Sodapop and Steve. She smiled..They came! She thought happily... The music started and she stepped up to the microphone...

"That old black magic has me in its spell,

that old black magic that you weave so well.

Those icy fingers up and down my spine,

the same old witchcraft when your eyes meet mine,

the same old tingle that I feel inside,

and then that elevator starts its ride,

and, baby, down and down I go, round and round I go,

like a leaf that's caught in a tide.

I should stay away but what can I do?

A hear your name and I'm a flame,

a flame with such a burning desire,

that only your kiss can put out the fire,

for you're the lover that I have waited for,

the mate that Fate had me created for.

And every time your lips meet mine, darling,

down and down I go, round and round I go,

In a spin, loving the spin I'm in,

under that old black magic called

love!"

There was an eruption of applause, cheers and very cat-calls. After the judges ranked her ( a 9, a 10, a 9.5 ) Teacher ushered Velma off of the stage and the applause died down, The teacher stepped up to the microphone, " Yes. Now next we have - " He got hit in the head with a potato and fell over. He stood up, adjusted his glasses and yelled, " Thats it! Mr. Shepard, You get your brother, and your little ' gang ' out of here right now!" Then he got bombarded with various fruits, vegetables and eggs. After about a 5 minutes clean-up, the show continued.

By 9 o'clock, She was standing in the parking lot, surrounded by the guys, holding a small trophy with the star on top that said, ' 1st ' and on the base of it, it simply said, ' Talent Show ' and a gift certificate to one of the classiest restaurants in town with a piece of paper explaining that there was a reservation at 6 o'clock Saturday for 8 people . They were all congratulating her.

"I'm so glad you guys came. I was soo nervous.." She said, " I mean, You guys said..."

"Yeah, yeah.we know what we said...and I guess we were kinda being bastards about it.." Steve said with a shrug.

" I still can't believe you guys came.." She said quietly.

" I can't believe you wore that dress on stage infront of all those people.." Darry said, shaking his head in disapproval.

" Oh, Come on. Its not that bad.." She sighed, " Not like some of those ones the other girls wore.."

"Well, I like it, Its very - " Dally noticed that both Darry and Two-Bit were giving him the ' Finish-that-sentence-and-It-will-be-the-last-thing-you-do ' look ' , " Nice...its very nice..." Now, Dally was tough an all, but he wasn't dumb enough to get Darry mad.

Velma just blushed and looked down at the ground. She, and everyone else, knew that that was not what he was going to say.

"Hey, lets get outta here, man.."

As usual, Darry, Soda and Pony got into the truck while Johnny, Dally, Two-Bit, Steve and Velma got into Dallas's car. Velma still wasn't used to Dallys reckless driving.

They had spent the rest of the night just hanging out, talking and playing cards. Velma and Johnny had won about 6 games of poker each. Although she was sitting on Two-Bit's lap with his arms around her, telling her what to go with the cards she had. They had stayed up pretty late... Velma ended up falling asleep on the couch.