Adelle pushed his hand away for the fifth time and spoke louder than she had planned. "Steve, you're dirty!"

Steve Randle most definitely wasn't the cleanest boy around, but it was very rare that his dirtiness made her do more than shake her head and ask Darry if he could use the Curtis shower. In fact, seeing Steve dirty was such a common thing that it had almost become something to look forward to, a game of sorts. Where will today's big splotch of grease be on Steve? Tonight, though she desperately needed the laugh, she just couldn't find the humor in it.

Looking at Steve made her both curse and praise the American engine that had given out on her less than a mile away from the DX gas station. Were it not for the crooked-toothed grin that he passed her way when she sauntered up to the station in a checkered skirt and saddle shoes, she would probably still be under the delusion that the Soc life was the best life. She would still be a cheerleader. She would still have her parents's respect. She would still have more friends in her part of town than just Emma.

But, she wouldn't have Steve. She wouldn't have the grease stains that he sometimes left on her shirts. She wouldn't have his insistence that bad girls turned into good girls when they did good things for bad guys. Her life would be plain and boring, and she'd have never learned that the word Greaser was dirtier than Steve's hands or face could ever be. She would never have learned to appreciate what she had, all the while remembering that it wasn't the end all, be all.

Adelle though, at times, that she could quite possibly finally be in love. A girl who was used to having boyfriends, she had never felt much more for them than a passing like, if not a sense of obligation due to her status in school hierarchy. None of them made her stomach go flip-flop. None of them made her open her mouth wide and laugh at just a wink or a misused word. None of them made her feel like Steve Randle did. So, it definitely had to be more than like, but without ever having been in love, she couldn't say for sure that love was what she felt for Steve.

"Aw, come on, Adelle, I'm always dirty. That never stopped ya from kissin' me before." His laugh was a mixture of a loud bark and a cackle.

"Well, you haven't been this dirty before. I mean… you're dirty before you even go to work in the morning."

"So."

"And don't you take a shower when you come home?"

"Sometimes. Depends on the mood I'm in."

"Well, I'm in a clean mood, so please, stop touching me."

Adelle felt bad, embarassing him in front of his friends. It wasn't until Two-Bit stuck in a snide remark that she even realized she'd spoken loud enough to be heard. "I see the Soc comin' back," Two-Bit said around a chunk of chocolate cake. Adelle turned to him and stuck out her tongue, twisting her face. "Oh, yeah, that's real pretty. That's definitely the prom queen picture right there."

"Bite…" She cut off her words, the insult on her tongue. All it would do was bring him back at her and while she was normally always geared up for a battle with Two-Bit, this just wasn't the night. She was afraid that her frustrations with home and her situation would come out on him and what little bit of a life she had left would be ruined. If she said something that could get through Two-Bit's exterior to offend him, it would most definitely offend everyone else.

"Can it, Two-Bit, alright? Nobody cares what you gotta say."

Adelle was shocked at the gruff tone in his words, but shocked even more by the reply. "Oh, the Soc is rubbin' off on ya. Soon, he's gonna be bathin' every day, washin' his hair and goin' back for his G.E.D. Won't big man Steve be on the top of the world."

"Stop it, Two-Bit, you just stop it!" Ponyboy Curtis stood up and growled. His hair, previously dyed platinum blonde, was back to black and it certainly suited his boyish features better. One would hardly believe he was fifteen years old. Adelle hadn't believed he wasn't some kind of super kid that had gotten into high school early when he showed up in their classes. "I'm tired of all this fightin'. No Soc, No Greaser in this house, alright? It's caused us enough trouble!"

Adelle sighed. She pulled away from Steve again as he tried to grab her arm and stood up. "I'm sorry. This is my fault. I should just go home." She looked at Emma, who looked somewhere between comfortable and ready to bolt next to Sodapop Curtis. "Well, if Emma wants to go…"

She looked at her almost begging her to want to go, but before she could adopt her friend's desires, Steve stood up and said, "Nobody's goin' anywhere, unless it's Two-Bit for bein' a jackass. Come on."

He grabbed Adelle's hand and pulled her outside before she could squeak, let alone tell him not to touch her with his dirty hands. The air outside was chilly, but not cold enough for a jacket. She shivered for only a moment before her bare arms got used to the air. Her skirt swished in the breeze and every time she tried to flatten it, the material just swished again.

Steve leaned against the creaking banister, and as always, Adelle got nervous. Inside, she always knew that Darryl Curtis wouldn't have anything dangerous on his house. It might look rundown, but everything worked and the roof didn't leak. The railing groaned under pressure, but she knew deep down that it wouldn't fall. That didn't stop her, though, from instantly wanting to tell Steve to get up before he hurt himself. It just made her slow down enough to realize that he wasn't going to end up landing on his head.

"What's eatin' you, huh?" Steve leaned to the side and rested his arm against the posting. "You ain't let me touch ya since ya got here, and you're never this quiet. Somethin' happened and you ain't tellin' me."

Adelle sighed. How was she supposed to tell him that her feelings for him and her friendship with the others was about to get her thrown out of her own home? He knew that things were rougher at school, but that just made him laugh. The fact that the other Soc's ragged on her and ousted her from their clubs yet she hadn't backed down was enough to make him boast that he had the Greasiest Soc in the state, and he'd gotten it all with his crooked teeth and dirty face.

What would he do if she told him everything? She didn't know how he'd react. For all she knew, he could decide to suddenly grow a streak of honor and give her up. Or, he could threaten to beat up her father. Then again, he could turn the whole thing into a Greasers verus Soc's matter and once a rumble started, people would get hurt. None of the options worked for her, so she couldn't tell him unless it was absolutely necessary. She couldn't tell him until she had made up her own mind of what to do.

"I… I just had a bad day at school, Steve." She sighed and walked closer to him, though staying just far enough to keep the grease on his pants and chest from hitting her clothes. "I screwed up on a test because my head wasn't where it was supposed to be and I've been bummed about it all day."

"You're such a liar."

"I am not! Steve Randle, of all the people in the world, you are the last one to call me a liar. I said I had a bad day at school, and that's that."

She held her ground and stared at him firmly. She wasn't going to change her story, whether he believed her or not. All he could do was choke down her half-truth, because she did do below a B on an exam, and get over it. "I don't believe you," he told her.

Adelle sighed. "I know." She shrugged, then leaned in and kissed him lightly. "But, that's all you're getting out of me, so you might as well be happy with it." She stood up straight and let her arms fall loosely at her sides. "Now, I'm going to go in there and make things alright with Two-Bit, else he'll be whining to Pony about it all day. And, then, I'm going to ask Darry if you can take a shower because you're way too filthy for me be that close to."

"You gonna take that shower with me?"

Adelle barked a laugh. "Not likely."

"Then, I ain't takin' yet."

"Yes, you are."

She turned on her heel and half-stomped back inside. Steve could protest all he wanted, but before the night was over, he would be taking a shower. And, before the night was over, she was pretty sure that she would have to admit to herself, and probably to Emma during the ride back home, that she had acted the most Soc that she had since the day she accepted Steve's first date proposal.