"Ahem."

Sodapop Curtis shot up in his chair amidst the snorts of laughter of his classmates. It was the last period of the day, and honestly he was surprised he had lasted this long.

"This is a classroom, not naptime, Mr. Curtis." His English teacher, Miss Morrison, reprimanded sternly, her features even more pinched-looking then usual. Soda relaxed, leaning back in his chair, his feet finding their way onto the top of his desk. He
sentMorrison that winning grin that he had become known for, in a bid to charm her. Apparentlyhe had fallen asleep again.

As soon as she had turned her back he slumped down into his chair with a muffled yawn, mentally cursing Darry for waking him up so early that morning. Steve shifted in his chair to send him a grin, shoving a crumpled piece of paper onto his desk. Sodadiscreetly
/took the note, double checking to make sure Morrison was still distracted before smoothingit, his blue eyes scanning the words quickly.

Man, you picked the worst time to take a nap. We got a new girl, and you ain't even noticed.

At the word "girl", Soda's head shot up, and Steve nearly fell from his chair with silent laughter at this reaction. He nodded his head in the direction of the front row. Soda followed his motion, his eyes locking on a foreign form in the chair closestto
the teacher's desk. All he could see from this angle was smooth blonde hair, and a dress nice enough to mark her as the middle class- neither a greaser nor a soc.

He glanced over at Steve again, who was grinningear to ear as he held his cupped hands in front of his chest, the universal signal for "she's got big jugs."

Soda pushed himself up in his chair as far as he could while still maintaining some level of being casual, when the blonde turned swiftly in her seat, apparently aware of the fact that she was being watched.

Soda faltered.

He wasn't sure if it was the intensity in her silver eyes as she fiercely glared at him, or the breathtaking structure of her face, or just the pouty lips that were currently pressed into a tight line of annoyance, but he was sureshe was the prettiest
girl in Tulsa.

She scoffed silently, undoubtedly at the stupid look on his face he knew he must be wearing, and turned back around, her hair bouncing. Steve fell once more into peels of silent laughter, not stopping even when the teacher sent him the dirtiest of looks.

The bell gave a shrill shriek, and Soda slid to his feet, his hands pocketed as he strode over to his best friend. Neither of them had bothered to bring their books, so naturally they had nothing to carry. "Man!" Steve hollered as soon as they were out
/in the hallway. "That broad was tuff. You see the way she looked at ya? Might as well have killed you with them eyes of hers."

Soda grinned, chuckling as he shook his head. "What's her name, anyway?" He asked, checking to make sure the collar of his unbuttoned flannel shirt was still popped enough to graze the ends of his greased back locks.

Steve shrugged. "Dunno. Didn't pay attention. I was noticing other things, man." Soda laughed, but not as much as he normally did during Steve's less than classy banter. Greasers weren't strangers to crude humor, it was everywhere in their neighborhood.
Hell, all you had to do was stop at Buck's for five minutesto see way more than you ever wanted to.

He pushed all thought of the beautiful girl to the back of his mind as Two-Bit jogged up to them in the hall. The three chattered absently as always, though Soda's mind wandered back to the image of the envelopes he had found in the mailbox that
a few houses wasn't enough to pay all those, he knew. Darry used to have this really good gig back in '63, some sort of dancing thing at a fancy vacation spot, and that had paid pretty well. He'd lost it, but never really said why. Dallysaidit
was probably cause of a girl, but the other Greasers knew that was beyondstupid. Darry was too serious and broody forlove.

The three made their way towards the Curtis's house, with Steve taking advantage of every uneven piece of ground to do a backflip or some other trick he'd thought up. They were passing by the DX when Two-Bit stopped, saying he needed to pick up a sixpackof
beer for some party he was going to. (As if he needed a party as an excuse to drink).

Soda and Steve waited outside, too many Greasers in one place and the employees tended to call the fuzz. They leaned against one of the gas pumps, boredly glancing around. A sign in the window caught Soda's attention, and he straightened.

"Hey man, look at that."He pointed, and Steve raised an eyebrow.

"Help wanted? You lookin' for a job or something?" He asked, smoothing back his hair with the comb he kept in his pocket.

"Darry's struggling with the house, man, he could use some help." Soda shrugged. He was too proud to say much about his family's financial issues, but Steve was his best friend, and he sort of knew about them anyway.

Steve shrugged as well, walking towards the station. "Let's check it out. I could use the cash, girls don't want nothin'to do with ya if you gotta sneak them into the drive-in."

The two sauntered into the station, both stopping to check their reflections in the windows. The owner, otherwise known as Mr. Dale Evans, was hesitant about hiring them at first. But Soda's relaxed charm and Steve's knowledge of automobiles soon
hired them on the spot as Two-Bit stood a little ways a way, watching with a beer in his hand.

The three made their way back to the Curtishouse, and Soda had a bit more of a bounce in his step than usual. He made Two-Bit and Steve swear not to tell Darry about the job, knowing he would undoubtedly feel guilty that Soda had gotten one, as if hewasn't
a goodenough provider.

As Ponyboy worked on his homework at the kitchen table, Steve found the chocolate cake, and Soda lounged on the couch, Two-Bit glanced up.

"Hey, you two up to going to that party tonight? Lots of girls going." He smirked, folding his arms. Soda shrugged, Steve nodded. Ponyboy glanced up. "I'll go."

Steve scoffed, shaking his head. "It ain't for kids, Ponyboy. Why don't you just go watch some cartoons?"

Soda shot his friend a look of annoyance, like he always did when he got too gruff with his baby brother, and Ponyboy sat back down, his face stormy as he glared at Steve's back.

"Great." Two-Bit nodded enthusiastically. "It's settled then. This night's gonna be good."

R&R! I feel like I'm super out of character. Let me know ofanything I can change. Also, for some reason the spacing and stuff goes weird after I write it? So I'm not doing that, and I don't know what is.