There was something frightening about driving from the South side to the North side on her own. Emma didn't necessarily fear the area. There were enough people who knew her connection to the Curtis house that she didn't feel like she would be bothered. No, what made her fear was that things had finally changed. The world had finally flipped upside down and now Heaven was down and Hell was up.

The second she heard Ponyboy's voice, she knew what had happened. Pony didn't really understand what was going on, but all he could say was that Adelle was there and she was crying. Being one who knew the entire situation, she didn't have to ask him why she was there or how she ended up there. She knew that the worst had come to pass, and within minutes, she was in her car, headed to the other side of Tulsa.

For the first time, her nerves were even. Normally, she was on the edge of her seat, barely able to stop herself from shaking at the prospect of another night with Soda ginning at her. Now, even if Soda were there and he decided to do something, it wasn't important. She could handle anything that he threw her way, because that wasn't a crisis. In her own little world, things might as well have been perfect, or at least for the time being.

There was still the worry of her parents returning home. Someone would let them know that their daughter had turned her back on her own social class in favor of the dirty people across town. They would scream and rant and rave, but unlike Adelle's parents, any threats that her own mother and father tossed her way would be completely idle. In the end, they wouldn't want the scandal. Her house would become as cold as an Arctic igloo and there would be very few words spoken between her and her parents, but she knew that she would still have a home.

However, the leniency that she would be given wouldn't stretch into eternity. Emma knew her parents. She knew the way they thought. She only had another year of high school left and after she had her moment of rebellion, they fully expected her to go off to college and have no more thought of her indiscretions during her junior year. That would placate them during what they would see as the harsh times. However, if she were to do what she really wanted, which was bring Adelle home with her, she had no doubt that they would put their foot down. Without the constant influence of Adelle, they could hold onto their hopes that Emma would straighten out her life. With Adelle under their roof, she would only encourage her to rebel, encourage her to live in her daydream a little while longer.

The entire situation disgusted Emma. High society, indeed. What was so high about the persecution of others, when its only real purpose was to make themselves feel superior? The North side had less money, and because of that, most of them had less education, but that didn't make them bad people. They still worked hard and cared about their families. Some of them cared more for their children than the people in the grand houses that lived to the left and right of Emma. In the end, Greasers and Socs were both in the rumbles, and more times than not, the Socs were the ones who started the fights in the first place. The whole mess, the prejudice and bitterness, just made her sick.

Clutching the steering wheel tightly, Emma rounded the final corner and coasted along slowly down the street. She pulled up behind Adelle's car, then sat behind the wheel with the engine running. She didn't know how Adelle had managed to get all the way over there with the back window full. There was no way to see around or through the pile that climbed from the backseat of the car. She would guess that Adelle brought with her everything she could, though the girl had to have known that it wouldn't fit where she was going. Maybe she just didn't want her parents to burn any of it.

Sighing, Emma turned off the car and got out. She looked to the house and again, felt the bit of fear growing in her. She had never come to this house alone, and never thought she would. It had always been fun with her friend, to the point where she could understand why her parents would expect this lifestyle to be a passing fancy. She had thought that much of it herself. All the time that she had flirted with Soda, argued with Two-Bit and done her homework with Pony, in the back of her mind, she knew that it wouldn't last. She felt that she was playing, and at some point, the playground lights would go dim and she would return to her drab life. In a way, she thought that she might even be more appreciative of what she had after seeing everything that others didn't have.

Now, though, things were different. Adelle's eviction from her home by her own parents tinted the world that she'd never appreciated in the first place with a dark maroon shadow, so deep that it would soon turn to black. She saw the South side as the cruel people that they had tried to tell her lived on the North side. She saw how easily they turned on their own, and being so distant for so long, she knew it was only a matter of time before they turned on her. Life in general had just become one big mass of clutter and the only thing she could straighten out was that she was ashamed of her own kind.

Darry came to the door and Emma started her trek to the house. The front gate squeaked as she pushed her way through. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and wondered what she should say. He couldn't have known that this was coming into his life. He had so much trouble already, making sure that the state didn't come and take Soda and Pony away. Soda had finally reached eighteen, so that wasn't a problem, but Pony was only fifteen. If Adelle's parents caused problems, they could come and take Pony away. Though, Emma wasn't too sure that her parents would do much of anything besides ignore the fact that they ever had a daughter.

"You need to talk to her," Darry said. His words pushed Emma forward. "She won't talk to us. Anytime somebody asks her what happened, she just offers me money to let her stay here." He sighed and leaned against the doorframe. His hand slid through his hair, then back down and over his face. "I got a house full o' boys, Emma. I don't know how to handle a Soc girl."

Emma sighed. She felt bad for Darry, and at the same time was grateful for him. It was so hard to believe that a virtual stranger could be so kind. He could have easily told Adelle to go some place else, but instead, he let her babble and called her friend. He was a better person than most of her neighbors.

"She won't talk to Steve, either?"

He shrugged. "Not here. I sent Two-Bit over to the DX to get him, but I don't know if he'll come. It's Steve."

He spoke as if that should have been answer enough, as though Steve weren't one that was expected to do something nice for somebody else. If he'd have seen what happened at school earlier that day, he probably would have had a different attitude. Emma had to admit that even she hadn't thought of Steve as a particularly caring person. Sure, he liked Adelle and they had fun together, but beyond that, he was just another boy and they weren't known for their decency. After the school, though, she thought that it was very possible that Steve was on his way.

"I'll see what I can do, Darry," she said, "but Adelle… She'll clam up on me just like anybody else. She's not always open, but…" She sighed. "I can take her home with me until my parents come back if it's a problem. Or at least I can take her stuff somewhere? I don't know."

"Just talk to her and find out what's goin' on. I figure she's been kicked out, and that's Steve's fault. I knew that boy was gonna get somebody in trouble, but I always figured it'd be Soda. But, Steve got her in trouble, and you… just find out how hard it's gonna be to get her back home."

She didn't tell him that Adelle going home was, more than likely, not an option. He had enough to think about without the prospect of a crying girl begging him to give her a home. She had gotten to live in her own fantasy world for a while, it wouldn't hurt to let Darry have his.

Emma walked into the house and was directed to the back. She was told that Adelle was laying in Pony's room and when she walked in, the girl was still curled up on the bed. She called out to her and Adelle rolled over. Her eyes were red and puffy, her skin splotchy. She sat up and said, "I tried to tell them that I hadn't done anything, Emma. I really did."

"Adelle…" She crossed the room and sat down carefully on the bed. This was yet another place she never thought she would be. If it were Soda's room, she would have at least figured that he'd have gotten her in there once, just to tease her. But, Pony's room… "It's okay," she said, wrapping her arm around her shoulders.

"No, it's not. Because they said I was a whore, and they didn't even let me prove I didn't do anything. They didn't even want to give me a chance. They said… they said they never want to see me again!"

And Adelle fell into heavy sobs on Emma's chest. Emma wrapped her arms around her and held her tightly, wishing that she knew what to say, but at the same time knowing that there wasn't anything she could say. So, she just held her, let her cry and waited for Steve to show up and, for some reason, Soda, too.