Disclaimer: I own everything! Okay, no I don't...

Author's Note: Just a real quick one, I promise! I just wanted to say that I tried not to make Steve too soft, but he may come across like that anyway. Hey, he's a hard character to write for! And it says at the end of the book that he softened up a little after Pony and Johnny come back. Also, this song at the beginning is supposed to be Alana talking to Two Bit, feeling bad because she kissed his friend. I'm telling you this so there isn't any confusion.

He stopped by the house

We were hanging out

He was wondering where you are

We went walking

We were just talking

Then he kissed me by his car

And now I'm sick inside

Yeah, it makes me wanna cry

I'm so sorry about last night

It happened so fast

I wanted it to last

It all just feels so right

But now I'm sick inside

Now I'm stuck with this feeling in the pit of my soul

I guess I should've had a little self-control

I knew that it was wrong, I admit it

I wish there was a way that I could make it all right

I really wanna tell you that I put up a fight

But that would be a lie

Yeah, I'm sick inside

Yeah, it makes me wanna cry

It all just feels so right

And now I'm sick inside

-Hope Partlow

"Greaser, greaser, greaser!" The sound rang in Alana Matthew's ears as she walked the halls of Walt Whitman High. She walked through a crowd of Soc's, smiling slightly at Cherry Valance when she smiled at her.

"Hey! Hey, Alana! Alana Matthews!" Ponyboy Curtis's voice brought her out of reverie.

"Hey, Pony." She said as he slowed to a walk beside her. "What's up?"

"Your brother's looking for you."

"Why?"

Ponyboy shrugged. "He didn't say. He just told me to tell you that he's lookin' for you."

"All right, Pony, thanks."

"I'll see you in Science, okay?" Ponyboy grinned his cute little smile.

"Yeah, see you."

Alana wondered what Two Bit wanted and where in the world she might find him. She looked for some of his friends; maybe they could tell her where he was.

"Hey, Danny, have you seen Two Bit?" She asked one of his buddies. "I heard he was looking for me."

"He is." Danny shrugged. "You know what class he has next hour?"

"U.S. History, I think. Why?"

"You could just go wait outside the door for him."

Now, why didn't she think of that? "Danny, you're brilliant."

He laughed and pushed some of his dark red hair from his face. "Yeah, tell that to my old man."

"I ever see him around, I will."

Danny laughed again and patted Alana's shoulder. "You're all right, Matthews." He said as he walked off.

Alana made her way over to the senior section. Yes, her brother was finally promoted to a senior this year. Finally.

She stood around outside Mr. Salmon's class room for a few minutes, waiting for Two Bit to show up. She finally spotted him, walking down the hall with Steve Randle. He looked surprised to see her.

"Alana? What're you doing here?"

She rolled her eyes. "Two Bit, about fifty people have been saying that you're lookin' for me. What's going on?"

He looked confused for a minute, but then his expression cleared. Alana rolled her eyes again; he was such a scatterbrain! "Oh, I'm takin' Grace out after school. You think you and Beth can find a ride?"

Beth Richards was Alana's best friend. She lived next door to the Matthews', so they give her a ride home everyday.

"I guess…" Alana said slowly, going over all her friends in her mind. Not many of them could drive and the ones that could had after school jobs.

"I could give them a ride." Steve told Two Bit.

"Don't you have to go to work?" He asked.

"I'm off today."

"Oh. Okay." Two Bit turned to his little sister. "Steve's gonna give you guys a ride."

"So I heard." She said dryly. They didn't even ask her!

"Meet me out front after the last bell." Steve told her. Well, Alana guessed he was talking to her. He was looking over her head. "Okay?"

"Uh, right. After the last bell." She looked at my brother. "Have fun with Grace."

Two Bit cocked his eyebrow, which really gets on Alana's nerves. "I'm sure I will."

She shook my head as she started to walk away. "Perv."

"You know you love me!" He shouted at her retreating back.

Alana just sorta waved and kept walking. Sometimes her brother could be really annoying.

"Where were you?" Beth asked as she slipped into her seat in English, right as the final bell rang.

"I had to find Two Bit. He can't give us a ride home after school, so Steve Randle's going to instead."

"Steve Randle!" Beth whispered. You would have thought that Alana said that The Monkee's were giving them a ride. "He's so cute! Don't you think?"

Alana nodded. Steve was cute. "He's all right. Hey, I thought you liked my brother?"

Beth had had a crush on Two Bit for years. It didn't help that he was always flirting with her. She knew she didn't have much of a chance with him, though, because she wasn't a blonde. "I still like him." She was saying. "But I'm not a blonde. Besides; I've decided that Ponyboy Curtis is much cuter. No offense."

Alana held up my hands. "None taken."

Alana thought she must have said that because she and Two Bit look so much alike. They've actually been mistaken for twins before, even though he's four years older than her.

"Ahem!" Mrs. Shaw cleared her throat. "Miss. Richards? Miss Matthews? Is there something you'd like to share with the rest of the class?"

"No, Ma'am." The two girls said quickly, but Alana shot Beth a small grin.

Okay, so maybe she is a bit like her brother.

Alana and Beth met up with Pony in Science, which was their last class.

"Steve said he was giving you girls a ride home." He said as they sat down at their lap table.

"Yep."

"He's taking me home, too. Y'all wanna come over for awhile?" He asked, smiling at Beth.

Alana shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"

"Cool."

Science was incredibly boring that day. Come to think of it, Science was boring everyday. Alana hate, hate, hated dissecting things. It was so gross.

After school, the three of them gathered their books from their lockers and met up at the front steps to wait for Steve. Alana was surprised at nervous she was. She's known Steve since she was a little girl and even though he was sometimes a jerk; he never gave her any reason to think about him. So why was she so nervous?

"Where is he?" Alana asked after a few minutes of waiting. "He said to meet him here after the last bell."

"Talkin' 'bout me?" A voice from behind caused her to jump. Steve walked up beside her, lighting a cigarette. He offered one to Pony, who took it.

"You two want a weed?" Steve asked.

"Sure." Beth took one out of Steve's pack as they walked to his car. Alana took one too. Pony lit his lighter for them. He climbed into the backseat of the car and Beth grinned at Alana and climbed in beside him. Alana took a deep breath and got in the front seat with Steve.

She'd always liked Steve's car. It was pretty tuff, she thought, and nowhere near as loud as Two Bit's hunk of junk (don't tell him she said that). She knew that Steve had his fixed up to drag race with, which is pretty cool, if you think about it.

"Will you go really fast for us?" Alana asked. "Please?"

Steve sent her his trademark half smirk-half smile. "Really fast? How fast is really fast?"

She giggled like an idiot. "Um. I don't know. Just go fast."

Steve flipped on the radio. The Doors were playing 'Light my Fire' and Steve tapped out the beat on the steering wheel as he picked up speed. Beth screamed when he turned the corner and Pony laughed.

Steve finally slowed down when he pulled into the DX.

"I thought you didn't have to work." Alana said.

"I don't. I gotta pick up Sodapop." He came to a stop and headed inside the gas station.

Duh. She gave herself a mental slap on the forehead. 'He probably thinks you're a real idiot'. She told herself.

"He didn't scare you guys too bad, did he?" Ponyboy asked. "He was just showing off."

"I wasn't scared." Alana told him. "I ride with Two Bit, remember?"

"I wasn't scared either." Beth interjected.

"Then why did you scream?" Alana asked.

"Er...from excitement?"

Alana rolled her eyes. "You're such a narf!"

Ponyboy looked confused. "What's a narf?"

"It's just some stupid word she made up." Beth told him. "Ignore her."

Alana started to retort, but before she had a chance, Steve and Soda were coming out.

"Skooch over, chick-a-dee." Soda told her. "I'm up front with you guys."

Alana scooted over to the middle of the seat, right next to Steve. Her arm was touching his, just barely. She could smell his scent, a mixture of car oil, Ivory soap, tobacco, and those peppermints he was always sucking on. It made her stomach feel funny.

Steve looked down at Alana; he'd never noticed before how pretty she was, with her hickory colored hair and bright blue eyes. She was turned around in her seat, saying something to Ponyboy and Beth. She laughed suddenly and reminded him of someone he couldn't quite place. He'd known her since they were little and she'd always been a cute kid. But he had begun to notice that she wasn't a kid anymore. She was growing up pretty good, he thought. Steve wondered if Two Bit would get mad if he asked Alana out, then he mentally shook his head. Where had that thought come from? He wasn't going to ask her out! He couldn't believe he had even thought that.

"Oh, Soda," Pony was saying. "Alana and Beth are coming over for awhile. That okay?"

Soda shrugged. "Fine by me. Steve, you can run them home later, right?"

"Huh? I mean, uh, yeah. Sure I can." Steve nodded and tried to concentrate on the road and not on the warm body next to him. 'No,' he told himself, 'she's not even that pretty. Sure, she smells like honeysuckle. And sure she laughs at your dumb jokes. But that doesn't mean you're interested in her. No siree, bub, you're not.'

That's what he kept telling himself.

Later That Evening-

Alana and Beth sat on the front porch watching Steve and the three Curtis brother's play football. It was pretty funny, Alana thought, watching them clown around. She and Beth would cheer on whoever had the ball, acting like Socy cheerleaders and laughing.

The radio was playing loudly in the corner and the two girls would dance around to it and sing loudly. When they sang 'Hang on, Sloopy', Pony started laughing so hard that he couldn't catch the ball.

"I have to use the bathroom." Alana told Beth in a calm minute. "I'll be right back." She slipped inside the house.

On her way to the restroom, she passed the Curtis' mantel and two pictures on it caught her eye. She slowed to a stop and picked one up. It was a small, dark haired boy with black eyes. Alana ran her finger down the side of the picture. Johnny. He'd been dead for a year and she still missed him. Dallas too, even though she didn't know Dally that well. She sat the pictures back on the mantel and continued her trek to the bathroom. She looked at them one more time on her way out.

When Alana stepped back out on the porch, the guys were sitting on the steps, resting and covered in sweat. It was kind of endearing, but kind of gross at the same time.

Steve looked up when Alana came out and he moved over so she could sit beside him and Beth on the steps. The radio was still playing loudly, an old Elvis song, and Steve felt his face growing hot as he listened to the words.

"I used to pull down on your pigtails

And pinch your turned up nose

But baby, you've been growin'

And lately, it's been a-showin'

Honey, from your head down to your toes"

"Steve, you all right, man?" Soda asked. "You look kinda flushed."

"Fine." He said quickly. "I'm fine. Just a little tired, that's all."

"Oh," Soda raised his eyebrows at Darry. "Okay."

"Well," Alana said. "I guess we better get home, huh, Beth?"

"Yeah." Beth sighed. "I wanna get home before my dad does. I got kitchen duty tonight."

Steve pulled his keys out of his pocket. "Let's go." He told them.

Beth was smiling at Pony. "I had lots of fun. Thanks for inviting us."

Ponyboy's face was turning red. "It was, uh, no problem."

"See you tomorrow, Ponyboy." Alana said, climbing in the front seat of Steve's car. "Bye, Soda. Bye, Darry."

"Bye." They told her.

On the way to her house, Alana studied Steve out of the corner of her eye. He was cute, she decided. Maybe not in a traditional way, like her brother, but there was something attractive about him anyway. And she really liked that tattoo on his arm.

"Thanks, Steve." She said as they pulled into her driveway. "I might see you at school tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah." Steve said. "Okay. Bye."

"Bye!" Both girls told him.

As soon as Steve got back to the Curtis', he was ambushed by his best friend.

"You dig her, don't you?" Sodapop demanded.

"Who?" Steve asked, with a sinking feeling in his stomach. Was he that obvious?

Soda rolled his eyes. "Alana, retard! You dig Alana!"

"What? No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do! You so do!"

"Okay!" Steve practically shouted. "Maybe I do. But you can't say anything, Mouth of the South."

"Why not?"

"Because," Steve dragged the word out. "She's Two Bit's little sister!"

"And-…oh." Soda stopped.

That was a problem, wasn't it?