I woke up on the Curtis's couch. Soda and Steve were wrestling on the floor around Johnny, Two-bit and Pony sat on the floor watching Mickey Mouse. Darry was in his chair reading the paper.

"Hey Darry, do you think Curly could come over today?" Pony asked.

"Yea sure go call him, see if Alice and Tim wanna come too."

Pony got up and went to the phone. I sat up when Darry mentioned Alice. Pony hung up the phone and came back in the room.

"They'll be over in a while after Tim gets Alice up and ready." He laughed and shook his head.

About 30 minutes later Tim opened the door and Said "Hey." Curly was behind him and went directly over to Pony and Alice stepped up beside Tim. I let my eyes travel up her body and I took it all in. She had on strappy pink sandals and short shorts that showed off her tan legs. Her shirt was pink and the long sleeves on it were cut. The shirt looked silky and it fit her well, showing off her curves. Her hair was pulled back and she had no make up on, she was defiantly not a typical greaser girl, and I liked that.

Soda and Steve had stopped wrestling before they came and Sodapop jumped up off the floor and greeted her.

"See I told ya she'd come back Dally." He smiled at her and laughed at me. I had talked to him last night about if he thought we'd see her again. I gave him my I'm-about-to-kill-you look.

Darry came in dragging Two-bit behind him. "Two-bit next time I want your help in the kitchen I'll ask for it." He said shaking his head and walking back into the other room.

Alice covered her mouth and looked like she was laughing. She was so beautiful. Two-bit walked over to her and threw his arm around her shoulders. "Well, looks like ya just cant stand to be away from me." She shook her head and laughed.

"Actually my idiot brothers dragged me along."

"Dragged! Dragged!" Tim said putting his hand over his heart. "HA! You gladly jumped out the door when we said we were going."

They sat down and we watched the TV Two-bit sat down next to her with his arm still around her shoulders until Darry came back in the room.

"Hello Darry, do ya think you can baby-sit one more for me for a few hours. She won't wanna be around my gang and I don't like to leave her at the house with the old man."

"Naw, she can stay with us for as long as she'd like. Is Curly staying?"

"Naw he wanted to come with me. Thanks Darry." Tim turned back Alice. "You be nice, don't drink, smoke, hurt any of um, and stay here, don't try to run off they'll catch you." He turned to leave then turned back. "And don't even THINK about trying to go home!" He hugged her, something I didn't think he would do in front of us and left.

She looked at Two-bit who still had his arm around her. "Ya gonna let me go?"

"Naw I gotta make sure ya know everybody, you didn't get a proper introduction yesterday." He turned her around to face everyone. "The o so muscular guy standing beside me here is Darrel Curtis, we call him Darry. Sodapop is the one on the floor stretched out there and Ponyboy is the one next to him. Darry, Soda, and Pony are brothers. The dark-haired one is Johnny, the bum one the couch in Steve." "Hey!" He said sitting up a little then lying back down. "And that there is Dallas, or Dally as we all call him. And me well I'm Two-bit Matthews"

"So how are you Tim's adoptive sister, we've all been wondering about that." Soda asked.

"Sit." Steve pointed to the spot beside him on the couch. She sat next to him without hesitating.

"Um well, I got dropped off here by my parents and got into a little trouble with some guy and Tim and Curly helped me out and then I stayed with them and here I am."

"Why'd you get dropped off?" Darry asked her as he leaned against the wall.

"My parents didn't want me. I was a mistake to them. They send money and I got a car last year but that's it. No letters, no pictures, nothing I wanted. Mrs. Shepard is my mother and Mr. Shepard is well, well he's there."

"So they just left you here." I asked not showing that I cared about what happened to her.

"Yea they just left. I don't really care I mean it's not a great place here, but it's better than what I was living with. I'm a senior at the highschool and I'm on the volleyball team."

"Pony goes to the school, he's a freshman." Soda said happily.

"Yea I've seen you around. You sometimes eat with Elizabeth and Sarah don't you."

"Yea you're in my art class."

"Yea I am. You're a really good artist."

"Thanks."

"Well this has been a fun chat but does anyone wanna play football?" I asked standing up and tossing a football between my hands.

"Sure." The guys all jumped up and out the door except for Two-bit and Alice and they walked out together. We chose teams and I got to play against Alice. Tim and Curly came around 2:30. We had gone back in to eat lunch around 1 and then came back out again.

I caught the ball and began to run for the touchdown. I looked back quickly to see Alice right behind me.

"Careful Dally she's going to catch you." Tim yelled.

The next thing I felt was Alice's arms around my waist pulling me to the ground. She landed on top of me. I rolled over and sat up on my elbows she was still stretched across my body. The guys had run over and stood around us. Two-bit was cracking up.

"She tackled you! Dally got tackled by a girl!"

Alice kicked her legs under Two-bit's feet causing him to fall to the ground.

"Excuse me, what is the matter with being tackled by a girl?" She asked putting her hand on her hip, causing more of her weight, or what little there was, to be put on me.

"Nuthin, it just don't happen very often, except by Sylvia." Steve said.

She looked up at Tim puzzled. "Yea you know her, you broke her nose one night." He said looked back down at her.

"So you're the one who broke her nose. Good job she was so pissed, it was just funny." I said laughing.

"No problem. I think she was the one who started the fight but I finished it alright. I had been sitting on 'her man' and she got all upset and started yelling at me and pushed me off him and then continued to trash talk me. I hit her and told her if your going to fight someone fight them, don't stand there and run your mouth."

The guys all cracked up and she tried to stand up but I pulled her back down to me. "Not so fast. Do ya think your brother will let ya come with me to the movies tonight?" "I dunno why don't ya ask him."

I stood up and helped her up and asked Tim if I could take her to the movies. I looked back at Alice quickly who had turned a bright pink color, maybe because she was afraid of how Tim would respond, but heck maybe she wanted me to ask him alone.

"Yea you can take her out. Just have her back before midnight, and don't pull anything on her." Tim said and I turned back around to her.

"Ok then, I'll pick ya up around 7 then." I said.

"Alright, yea. I'll see ya then." She turned back to Tim and Curly and said goodbye and they headed back home.

I walked back to my house and opened the door. My dad wasn't home luckily. I didn't want to go through the trouble with him. He always threatened me, not that it really scared me, he was always drunk, but it was just annoying. I changed my shirt, fixed my hair, and grabbed my leather jacket. I left my room and walked down to the Curtis's.

I opened the door and found that the only one missing was Two-bit. Steve and Soda were playing poker so I decided to join in. I looked down at my watch, 7:15. I got up and walked to the Shepard house. Defiantly not somewhere I go all that often.

I knocked on the door. Tim opened it. "Well hello there, I didn't think you'd show up. She's still getting ready so come on inside." He stepped to the side and let me come in shutting the door behind him. Curly looked me up and down and then turned down a hallway and opened a door and stepped inside. I heard him say something but could understand what he said. I figured it was Alice's room. Curly came back laughing and Alice followed him.

"He is not my boy…" She stopped. "Well…um." She said looking down at her feet. I looked at her again like I had done every time I saw her and took in her look. Strappy pink sandals, short jean skirt, pink tank top that said princess her hair was down and she had no makeup on.

"Well the movie starts at 8:00 so ya wanna get going." I smiled at her when she looked back up at me. She waved goodbye to Tim and Curly and we left.

I didn't have much to say to her but I came up with one thing. "You look nice tonight." I could almost just kick myself. "Thank you, you don't look half bad yourself." We walked in silence. When we reached a group of guys almost about to fight I pulled her to me and I kept her close. She felt so good next to me that I didn't let go. When we reached the theater I did the unthinkable I paid. I wanted to impress her so I didn't want to sneak in like I normally do. We bought drinks and popcorn and sat down. The movie started a few minutes later.

I looked down at her after about 30 minutes when I got bored. She shivered so I put my arm around her and she laid her head on my shoulder. When the movie ended we walked outside. "Well, it's only like 10 so do you wanna go to the Dingo?" I asked. "Sure." She said and I put my arm around her waist as we walked. I ordered us a milkshake and some fries. After the waitress left I looked at her. She was looking out the window.

"So… you've never looked for your parents?" I asked, bringing her attention back to me.

"I wrote my dad one letter every day for a year. I never got anything back besides money and last year my car. I wished every year they would come and get me, no one came to get me so I gave up, I stopped wishing and praying and finally I stopped writing."

"Oh. So you've lived here for 3 years with Tim Shepard, gone to the highschool, play volleyball, and never met anyone outside of the volleyball team and your brothers gang?"

"Yupp." She said and smiled at me. "I'm not real social."

"You talked to us pretty fast."

"Yes… but Tim and Curly were with me. I'm not one to just easily trust someone."

We ate and talked about her volleyball team, fights, New York, and how I got here. At 11:30 I paid and we headed to her house. My arm was around her waist and I felt her shiver again as the wind blew around us. Dang, I thought, after living here for 3 years you'd think she would know the nights are chilly. I stopped walking and took off my jacket and held it out for her to put on. Once she put it on I put my arm back around her and we continued to walk to her house. Once we reached her house I walked her up to her door. I turned her around and put my hands on her hips. She made me feel so good; I smiled down at her. "I had fun tonight Alice. I hope you did to."

She smiled back at me, practically melting me inside, something no other girl could do. "I did… I had a lot of fun. Thanks Dally." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed my cheek, then dropped back down to the ground. "Thanks for tonight it was fun." I said again and turned around and walked down the steps and to the sidewalk. I waved back at her and she walked inside the house.

As I walked I thought about Alice. There was something about her that was different. She was kind of like Ponyboy, maybe. She could go places if she really wanted to. She was beautiful. She wasn't trashy, but she could where a short skirt and still look decent. Something Sylvia couldn't do. She seemed to be smart, she hadn't really said anything about her grades. She was a senior in highschool, meaning in a year she would be leaving for college. I walked into the Curtis's house and crashed on the couch.