Chapter 2: Up Up and Away

No. No. No. No!

Trudging back to her isolated ditch she woke up in Emma wanted to curl up in the fetal position and die.

She had asked thirteen people what year it was and every single person said 1965!

Kicking the sand in frustration her foot hit something hard in the process, it was her backpack so apparently she was Dora the Explorer now, glorious.

Rifling through it she found a bottle of water, some tampons and surprisingly her worn copy of "The Outsiders". It hit her like a ton of bricks.

Tulsa, Oklahoma

The sixties

The Dingo

She was in the book!

Sitting back down in the hot sand she groaned throwing the book back in the bag with so much force it knocked the bag over, why did this have to happen she couldn't just die like a normal person? Now she was stuck in a book she had barely read with no one to help her and apparently she was very under dressed.

Deciding she wasn't going to die due to Tulsa's overwhelming heat she took her backpack and went searching, she figured there must be one kind soul that could help her out.

Trying to pull her dress down as she walked, she took notice of a veterinary office. She had worked as a vet tech one summer she missed it, if no when she got out of this she would go back to working there it was what she loved.

She realized a couple things, she was definitely in greaser territory which made her feel anxious but it was also summer or at least near summer if she remembered correctly the events of the book took place in the fall so she probably wouldn't even see the characters.

Oh god the characters! Ponyboy and Johnny and all the rest were here in the same universe as her what would they look like? Would she be running into some Rob Lowe and Matt Dillon lookalikes? She would probably swoon if she did.

Shaking her head she walked into a convenient store, she wasn't here to make friends her only purpose was to get home. Looking through the sets of snacks she realized she didn't actually have any money with her she sighed looking at the bag of peanuts longingly.

"Hey miss you better not be stealing! I'll have no hood like you in my store!" She glared at the storekeeper hood she had been called that twice today probably because of the way she dressed.

"Excuse me mister but I'm not stealing anything okay god this is America I'm allowed to be here!" She huffed crossing her arms how dare he! She heard chuckling behind her she turned and sent her best glare toward the person laughing at her, he looked about her age with red curly hair and sideburns to match.

She tilted her head a bit wait a minute with that Cheshire cat grin and unmistakable Mickey Mouse T-shirt she knew exactly who that was.

"Two-bit!" She exclaimed involuntarily covering her mouth immediately his grin fell and was replaced with a confused glance at her. Realizing that he probably had questions that she wasn't ready to answer Emma decided to do the only thing she could think of

And that was run.

Zipping off outside she ran toward the door and onto the street receiving more stares, god she couldn't catch a break today

"Wait a minute little lady!" She heard Two-bit call after her, great this wasn't what she needed but she couldn't outrun him and she figured he was resilient so she eased up and stopped running turning to face him.

"Hello" She smiled sheepishly crossing her arms behind her back toeing the dirt"sorry about before I'm a little….crazy" Eh why not it wasn't a lie and maybe it would scare him off.

It didn't, he just smiled grinning from ear to ear "hey crazy's good I'm Kieth Mathews by the way or Two-bit for short but of course I'm guessing you already knew that."

She let out a strangled giggle "I'm Emma it's nice to meet you" she elected to opt out her last name just in case any former Montgomery's decided to join the party. It was then she noticed that neither of them were talking anymore but rather Two-bit was staring at her from head to toe, her dress had ridden up a bit from her running streak and she was sure the back exposed more than an average dress in that day should have, she blushed wildly.

Two-bit just went back to grinning and continued to stare "shoot honey you sure you don't charge by the hour?" He then laughed at his own joke. She looked at him appalled

"I'm not a prostitute!" Two-bit just grinned wider at her expression and raised his hands up in defence "just makin' sure so what's a girl like you doing out here all alone?"

She thought for a minute what the hell was she going to tell him? That she was from the future and that he was in a fictional world and in a few months two of his best friends were going to be dead?

No definitely not.

So she just stuck with a half truth."I'm just lost I can find my own way back really it was nice to meet you"

She didn't want him lingering or staying with her for too long if he found the book in her backpack all hell would break loose so she hoped that explanation would be enough and he'd leave her alone.

But of course it was Two-bit so that didn't end up happening.

"Well hey wait up!" He said jogging after her "Now what kind of person would you think I was if I didn't help you?" He said while winking at her and slinging an arm around her shoulders. It was a game to him help the little lost girl out and maybe he'd get something back in return well she wasn't having it, she screwed her eyes shut and pushed him back

"Look I don't know what you're playing at but I'm in a crisis at the moment and it doesn't help that your here grinning like everything is so hunky dory because it's not! I don't know where I am or how I can even get home and there is absolutely no way you can help me so please just leave me alone!" When she opened her eyes he was still smirking at her arms crossed and leaning against a tree

"Well I was gonna leave you alone but since your just so sweet I think I'll still around a little longer and watch you have a meltdown." Emma looked at him and instead of yelling she fell to the ground and cried, like really cried sob would actually be the right word. She just wanted to be home for god's sake hell she even missed her parents! Two-bit jumped back at the sight "Jesus Emma calm down, look I'll help you alright we just gotta make some pit stops and we'll figure this thing out ok?"

Not having the energy to refuse him she meekly nodded grabbing his hand. "Your one crazy broad" she heard him mutter. She was right there was one kind soul and it was Keith Mathews.