Everett walked into Farrah's new room to find her sitting on the bed with her arms crossed. She noticed his presence and began to wipe away the tears running down her cheeks. Sniffling, she turned her back to him and said, "I hate it here."

"Yeah, I do too." The older brother replied, making his way to the bed. He sat beside her quietly and went on. "But we're here for Grandma, Fare. We can't be that selfish. She hasn't left her bed for almost a whole week."

Farrah sniffled again, and Everett watched as her shoulders shuddered out a heave. "I don't want to be here. I want to be in my room. I want to be in my neighborhood. And the greasers...they better leave us alone, Ev." She paused for a minute, then turned around to look at Everett. "Grandma said I looked just like her. Just like Mom."

Everett smiled weakly and said, "She's right. You do look a little like Mom. Her hair color and her smile. Yeah, you pretty much look like her."

They were quiet after that. It was seldom that they ever spoke of their mother. When the moment came that they did talk about her, there was a sort of connection between them. Everett was very close to his mother, whereas Farrah had never really gotten to know her. She had always been closer to her father, if it was possible.

Farrah walked over to the old dresser and pulled a sweater out from the drawer. Pulling it over her head, she told Everett, "I'm going to go to Cherry's house. Cover for me, okay?"

"No, I'm not letting you leave. Not in this neighborhood, especially at night. I already know about Dallas Winston and his buddies coming here." He shot her a wary look. "You can't leave this late."

With an upset frown, Farrah flopped back down on the bed and groaned. "I officially know what it's like to be in prison."

Everett rolled his eyes and ruffled his little sister's hair affectionately. He got up, told her goodnight, and left her to herself. As the chilly wind blew through the open window, she shivered and pulled the blankets over her head.

For some odd reason, at that moment, she started to think of Dallas Winston. He was such a jerk, she thought. He was so annoying with his crude language, inappropriate gestures, the way he made you feel like the only person in the world with those big brown eyes, that cocky arrogance that just made you so infuriated yet infatuated at the same...time...no. Ohhhh no. No, no, no! Not Dallas Winston!

Farrah tried to stomp out those thoughts by hugging a pillow over her head and screaming into it. Dallas is a jerk! Dallas is a cold, mean, heartless jerk! He might look good in those jeans, but he's still an evil jerk! Dallas Jerk! Jerk, jerk, jerk!

3

"Wake up, kiddo. Time for school." Darry told Pony early the next morning. "Dally said he'd pick you and Johnny up and drop you off at school."

Pony could smell his eldest brother's cooking in the next room. He looked at the clock, which said 6:34, and groaned. "Why so early, Darry? School don't start until eight."

"Correction. School starts at 7:30, and that means you have less than an hour to get ready, buddy boy." replied Darry as he piled eggs into a dish. He chuckled as he added, "I swear, you spend so much time gettin' ready in the morning. You're worse than a girl."

Soda yawned as he left his room, his dark hair mussed up in all directions. Scratching the back of his head, he took a seat at the kitchen table and began to eat his breakfast. Pony came out of his room as well, still clad in his pajamas, and cast a tired look at the door.

Dally came inside and greeted the Curtises in a way only Dally etched. "Look, I ain't used to wakin' up this early. Don't be pissin' me off, alright? Sheesh, I dunno how you people can get up this early." He took a seat next to Soda and put his elbows on the table, burying his face in his hands. Darry leaned against the stove with his arms folded across his chest.

"Ya'll are disappointin' me. Only six in the mornin', and you can't even think consciously." He stated with a cheeky grin on his face. "What did you do last night, then Dal? Another fight?"

Dally shook his head and replied, "No, all I did was walk Johnny home with Steve. I would of gone to the Dingo if we hadn't ran into that fucking brunette down the street." Darry and Pony gave Dally confused looks while Soda was halfway asleep through his eggs. Dally went on. "Yeah, you'd know her, Pony. Anyway, she's the one Johnny and me met at the Seven-Eleven. So we're walking Johnny home, right? And we're walkin' past that house where that old lady lives. That chick's sittin' on the porch, and she starts to leave when she sees us...,"

Dally continued to tell the story of what happened last night. Pony shook his head and commented that maybe he was wrong thinking that she was an okay kind of person. "After all," He said, taking a sip of milk. "She did talk to Johnny that one day. I mean, she seemed pretty nice."

"Nah, man. I dunno. But I don't get why she's living around here. She's a Soc, man. Her and her stupid jock brother are Socs. What's the deal with that?" Dally said with a yawn. It made him angry that the high class was moving into their area. Soon, there wouldn't be anything left for the Greasers. Or even worse...the Greasers would eventually become Socs.

Pulling out a cigarette from his pack, Dally sighed and looked over at Pony. "Go get dressed, man. I ain't gonna wait on you if you run late." At this, Pony jumped up from his seat and went into his room to change. Soda snored loudly as a mischievous look came over Dally's face. He smacked the teenager on the head, causing him to wake up.

"Huh, what...what? Oh, hey Dal...," He mumbled as he looked at his friend sleepily. Then he frowned in confusion and asked, "What are you doin' in my room?"

Dally raised an eyebrow. "This is the kitchen, man...,"

Soda looked around at the rundown, old kitchen. When he realized that this was true, he shook his head, said, "I'm goin' back to bed.", and left to his room. Dally and Darry chuckled at this, slowly becoming quiet.

"You hungry, Dal?" Darry asked as he turned around to face the stove. He stirred up some of the extra scrambled eggs and cleared his throat. "We've got plenty left over."

Dally shook his head and took another long drag on his cigarette. "Nah, I'm fine. Thanks though. Hey, I want to apologize about the whole jock thing. I know that was–,"

"Its okay." Darry cut in quickly. "I don't care about things like that. I just can't get over the idea of Socs living in our neighborhood. I mean, I don't mind..., it's just that it's strange."

Dally shook his head, a contemplative expression on his face. He couldn't understand why the brunette was living here either. "What good's gonna come from this anyhow?" He asked Darry.

"Last time I checked," Darry began, his tone oozing of wisedom. "People 'round here didn't really worry 'bout what's good."

3

A.N.: Another chapter, another day. I'm hoping for more reviews because I love em! This was kind of a boring chapter, in my opinion, but there's going to be a lot more coming up. I don't want to disappoint anyone. I promise Dally and Farrah will interact again!