Thanks to Jamea (I'm glad you like my story so much!) and Tonyboy (That's good to know you think I keep Two-Bit in character! I always try my best not to spoil any original character from the book) for reviewing!

Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders

9 - Halloween

"Happy Halloween, kids! And congrats for your costumes, they are really scary!"

I smiled and shut the front door.

"There was no need to lie…their costumes were pathetic."

"Like when you dressed up, years ago, you were much better."

"Well, I never dressed like a huge pumpkin."

I laughed, as Sodapop rolled his eyes to his little brother. "Boys, come on! Do you want some hot chocolate? I think the next kids to stop by can help themselves…I left some candies outside."

"I love hot chocolate!" Soda and Pony said at the same time.

"I guess love for chocolate runs in the family!" I exclaimed, as we headed into the kitchen.

Sodapop, Ponyboy and I were at home. Mine, to be correct. My father had left for Oklahoma City since the following day he'd have a very important court case to face there. He didn't like the thought of leaving me alone, especially on Halloween, but I had told him I'd have some friends come over and he didn't have to worry. Then, I had told Soda about it, and he and Ponyboy had come along: Darrel said he'd relax since the night would be one of the few where he could stay alone and rest, and Steve and Two-Bit were going out with their girlfriends (or, in Two-Bit's case, some blonde girl he found attractive, like Ponyboy told me). My father had already phoned twice and I wished he'd stop. Pony and Soda, on the other hand, weren't feeling too comfortable when they stepped into my home, but when I told them dad still hadn't finished paying for it and half the furniture inside, they relaxed.

"I think it's time you tell me what happened with Seth." I said, pouring some hot chocolate in Ponyboy's cup. He couldn't use his right arm yet: he'd have to keep it in plaster for another dozen days or so.

"Oh, that." Soda grinned. "I thought it would spread like wildfire at your school…"

"I've heard nothing." I said. Thinking about it, I had been avoiding Sophie, Julian and most of my other friends at school lately. I liked staying alone better. I could daydream about Soda all the time and not have to listen about Julian's complaints about how much school sucked or Sophie's remarks on all those stupid bands she liked.

"Why won't you tell Sybil about that?" Pony asked, sipping his chocolate. "I think it's better if you tell her, rather then have her finding it out at school."

"Well…" Soda looked at me and grinned. "I guess Pony's right." He finished drinking his chocolate while I stared at him. I was feeling quite impatient. "So?"

"Do you know Cherry Valance?"

That was it…Soda had gone nuts. Why was he asking me about this Cherry something instead of telling me about Seth? "What?"

"I guess you don't know her, then. Well, she attends the same high school as Pony. Anyway, this girl…she's really pretty…"

"Oh, is she?" I suddenly didn't want to listen to him anymore. I was feeling strange, like I had never felt before. But Soda didn't notice anything and kept on talking. "Cherry knows that Fabian guy, she told us he always hits on her but she doesn't like him. However, she met him and she pretended she had changed her mind and asked him for a date: he said he couldn't wait and they decided they would go out that same evening."

I was starting to understand why he had asked me if I knew that girl. "How do you know this girl?" I asked. Soda just waved as if he wanted to ignore that. "Cherry also said, since it was their first date, it would be better to have a double date, so they could feel at their ease…Fabian said he didn't mind and that if it was okay he'd ask his best friend to come along. Seth Tucker. It was exactly what Cherry, and us, had hoped for."

Soda paused. "Could I have some more?" he pointed at his cup. I poured some more chocolate in his cup and in Ponyboy's, too. "So what happened then?"

"They went out. Cherry's friend…what was her name again, Pony? Well, it doesn't matter. They went to the movies and had a good time…well, Cherry pretended to…and then, when they went back to Seth's car…very expensive one, ain't it? They found out it wasn't there anymore."

"How come?"

"Cherry had suggested that Seth and Fabian left their car in a particular spot of the parking lot. Steve, Two-Bit and I went there and moved the car…we put in in front of the gate of this big house where a huge sign pointed, No parking. The owners called the nearest station to remove the car because they needed to go out and Seth's car was in the way."

I smiled. "So they took the car away?"

"Yeah. I think Seth has found it by now, though…it was three days ago…he probably called every station in town…"

"What about Cherry and her friend?"

"They pretended they were mad because the car had disappeared and called their parents to pick them up. Cherry told Fabian she was so mad she wasn't sure she wanted to go out with him again and they left."

Soda was laughing by now. "You should have seen his face. And Seth's face, too. He was miserable."

"How could you see them?"

"We just walked by. Seth doesn't know us, so he wouldn't suspect anything. We got into our car and drove away."

I thought for a moment. "I guess nobody at school knows because it would hurt Seth's reputation if people knew he was such an idiot as to 'lose' his car."

"I guess so, too." Soda was still laughing.

"But…I don't think that's enough after he's jumped Pony…" I glanced at Ponyboy. He was smiling, too, but he didn't look too pleased.

"Don't worry about that." Sodapop said, firmly. I had the feeling he wasn't being total honest with me. Then I mentally slapped myself. How could I think he was lying to me? He wasn't that kind of guy.

"Now, I think it's time to watch the horror movie, which is Halloween-theme related!" Soda happily said.

"Do we have to?" I muttered.

"Don't tell me Dracula scares you, Sybil!" Soda mocked me.

"Dracula?"

"Yeah, we rented this one. Are you easily scared by stuff?"

"No, Dracula's fine with me." I assured him, even if I wasn't feeling that confident. I had never liked horror movies, I was a total sucker when it came down to scary stuff and things like that. But I didn't want to look like a fool in front of Soda and Pony, so I pretended I was comfortable with the idea of watching the movie, put the tape in the video recorder, then sat on the couch between Soda and Pony.

"We weren't sure if we should rent Nosferatu or Dracula, but we chose this one cause Nosferatu is a mute movie." Soda said, smiling. "I've heard it's really scary, though. But of course, Dracula's the scariest."

That feeling of awkwardness started to rise. "Really?"

"Yup." Soda nodded. "Pony doesn't like this kind of movies, either."

"It's not true!" Ponyboy protested. "They don't scare me, I just prefer another kind of movies. And I'm the one who loves movies, anyway. You can't sit still long enough to enjoy one."

I looked at Soda, who replied: "Yeah, but horror movies are different. There's action, you can feel the thrill watching those, so I like 'em."

We stopped talking because the movie had started. When we were halfway through, I was already scared to death. I couldn't help but glance nervously around: we had turned the lights off and I didn't like the darkness, even if the TV glowed. "Do you want me to turn the lights on?" I asked, hoping Pony or Soda were tired of the darkness, too.

"Naw, that's okay. There's more atmosphere with the lights turned off." Sodapop answered, grinning. "Unless it's you the one who wants to turn them on."

"No, it doesn't matter." I lied. As the minutes went by, I felt worse. I got closer to Sodapop, to feel better, and he put an arm around me. "Sybil, are you sure you don't want to turn the lights on?"

"I…" I couldn't finish my sentence because a horrible scene was on, and I closed my eyes not to see anything that would give me nightmares afterwards. Soda grinned and kissed my forehead. "I think we'd better turn the TV off."

"We have to see the whole movie…or it doesn't make sense." I quickly said. I didn't want to turn it off and give everyone a reason to laugh at me. So we finished watching the movie and when it ended I sighed. "Well…cool movie."

"Don't lie, Sybil…it scared you something awful!" Soda smiled and Ponyboy did the same.

"Alright, so it scared me, I admit it…" I muttered. "How could you two not get scared?"

"It's just a movie…it ain't like it's real."

"I know, but it looks real…it makes you think certain things could happen…"

It was way past midnight and the boys had to go home. Ponyboy said goodnight and went outside, to leave me and Soda alone for a couple of minutes. "Are you sure you're not scared anymore?"

"Yes, I am…well, actually…no. I'm still scared, but I'll go straight to bed now, so…" I thought of those stairs and corridor I needed to go to reach my bedroom. Maybe I could just sleep on the sofa. "If you weren't here with Ponyboy, I'd ask you to stay." I blushed. I shouldn't have said such a thing, it made me sound like I was some kind of cheap broad. But Soda just grinned and kissed me: "Maybe another time I will."

I remembered something. "Is that Cherry a pretty girl?"

"I guess so."

"How do you know her?"

"Sybil, are you jealous?"

"No." I felt something inside melt, looking at Soda's breath-taking eyes. "Yes, I am."

"I don't care one bit about Cherry. I don't even know her that well. She was Pony's first crush."

"I see."

"I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

I nodded again. "Good night, Soda…"

"Good night. I hope you have sweet dreams…" he kissed me one last time before leaving.

I went back to the living room and sighed. I was feeling completely in love. Still a bit scared because of the movie, I decided not to act like a child and go upstairs, but the doorbell rang. Maybe Soda and Pony had forgotten something.

I opened the door and caught my breath. The tall, slender figure standing there looked surprised, too.

"Hello, little sister. Long time no see."