Disclaimer: I don't own 'The Outsiders'

Chapter 10:


I walked down the hallway, enjoying the silence. I was late for class, but I wasn't exactly in a rush. I had managed to make it to biology, saluting the teacher as I walked inside. I sat down right next to Pony and opened my textbook. "What page?"

"267."

I flipped through the pages, finally getting on that page. "Oh, great. Enzymes. Love 'em." I looked at Pony, following his eyes to the back of some girls head. "You alright, Pony?"

"She was just looking at me."

I laughed quietly. "Well, look at you go."

Pony turned to me, smile on his face. "I'm serious."

I looked at the girl, who did look back - not at Pony, but at me. And she was glaring. I waved a friendly wave her way, annoying her all the more.

Amy had it out for me for way too long. She was my friend for a hot five minutes before she turned on me. She threw a drink in my face, kissed my kind-of-boyfriend and glared at me. Amy was petty. And a total bitch, might I add

"Who's that again?" Pony asked once he saw me wave.

"Amy." I groaned, tapping my fingers against the table. "If she keeps looking over here, she's gonna get it."

"Jane -"

"I'm serious."

"You don't need to be suspended. Again."

I rolled my eyes, grabbing my pen once I saw the teacher writing something on the board. "I'm just sayin'."

Pony was writing too, but we were great multitasks, so we kept talking. "You work today?"

"At 4, yeah."

"Curly and I are gonna come with you after school."

"Why?" I asked, only because they spent way too much money there.

Pony shrugged. "He's chasing some tale. Mandy something."

"Mandy Hall or Lane?"

"Lane."

I nodded. "I work with her." I considered why Curly would like the air headed girl and I had summed it up to the fact that she had 'a huge rack', as Curly would say. "She's good people."

"Is anyone Curly's interested in good people?"

"Yes," I said. "It's anyone who will actually make it with Curly that is not good people."

Pony and I laughed about that, earning the teacher's glare.

"Is there something you need to say, Miss King?"

"Nope," I answered simply, continuing to take the notes.

The teacher turned around and Pony and I continued to joke.

The bell seemed to take forever to ring, but once it did, I raced out. Pony went off to his locker and so did I. I was walking along the hallway when I felt a nudge at my shoulder.

My bio book hit the ground and I groaned. "Damnit." I bent down to pick it up, tucking it under my arm before I spun around.

"Jane," Amy greeted with a tight smile. She had a pretty face, she just had nothing important to say. "How are you?"

"I'm great, Amy," I said to her, turning around and starting to walk back down the hall.

"You're not gonna ask how I am?" She stepped up beside me, smacking her gum. I hoped it got caught in her big, blonde hair.

"No."

"That's rude."

"Okay."

"Got nothing to say?"

I grew tired of her taunting quick. "I got plenty to say," I said, turning to face her, hands curled around my textbook tightly. "But I don't know if you'll understand."

Amy gave me her unimpressed face. "You think I'm stupid, huh?"

"Not stupid, just..." I shrugged, pretending to think about it. "Troubled."

Amy pushed my shoulders roughly, the anger plastered on her face. "Try me, King."

I caught myself, adjusting my books in my arms. "Okay, but there's gonna be some big words." I smirked. "Just let me know if you need me to slow down."

"Jane!" My head turned down the hallway, catching a running Curly coming my way. He threw his arm around me. "How's my girl?" he asked, glancing at Amy. "Ally."

"It's Amy," Amy corrected, eyes coming back to me. "Going through the Shepards, are you, Jane?"

"There's only two, so I'll be done soon," I said sarcastically, pushing Curly away from me. "You can have him when I'm done."

"Which one?" Amy smirked, licking her lips.

That pissed me off; thinking of Tim and Amy.

"Which one do you think?" I bit out, making Amy laugh triumphantly.

"I've hit a nerve." She smiled widely, her hands on her small hips. "Maybe I could get Tim to kiss me again. It wasn't hard last time."

I punched her right in the face. I punched her hard.

Within the next five minutes, I was in the office and I was getting suspended. I was overdue on my strikes, but the principle was having a good day. He gave me a three-day suspension that would play right into the weekend.

I was thankful that I was going straight to work after school, because my mother would be raging. And Paul would get to bug me about it until it was over. And my chores would be doubled.

Well, shit.


"She had the sweetest little -"

"Curly," I interrupted. "Yeah, I don't need to hear about Mandy's behind."

Curly laughed, staring off into the distance. "It's pretty sweet."

Pony laughed too, watching Curly daydream. "You're messed up, Curly."

Curly turned to look at Pony. "Don't pretend you haven't looked, man."

I smiled at Pony's blush. "At least Pony has the decency to not tell every ear about it."

Curly smirked my way, reminding me too much of Tim. "People talk about you too, J."

I pretended not to to interested, shifting in the booth. "What do they say?"

"They talk about your sweet ass too."

"God - Curly!" I grabbed the salt shaker from the table, throwing it at Curly's chest. I then stood, taking my notepad out of my apron. "I have to get back to work. I'm gonna get fired if I keep doing this."

"Get us some shakes, won't you?"

I looked down at Curly. "Will you pay for them?"

"No," Curly said honestly.

"Then no." I turned around and walked around to the other couple of tables, watching through the window at a bunch of greasers. I saw my brother's car turn into the parking lot.

Paul got out and said hi to a couple of people before walking inside with his buddy Chip. Paul saw me and walked over. "Mom told me about your day." He smirked, pulling out a cigarette. "Old habits die hard, huh?"

I took the cigarette away from him, sliding it into my pouch. "We're trying not to smoke in here."

Paul walked around me, looking at Chip. "What the hell's the point of comin' here then?"

I followed them to their table, clicking my pen. "What can I get for you?"

"A better sister."

I smacked the back of Paul's head, hearing Chip laugh. "No discount for you today." I looked at Chip. "Got a smartass comment for me too?"

He shook his head, smirking. "No, ma'am."

I nodded firmly, glaring at Paul before I walked away to get their regular orders they got every single time.

I hadn't meant to get suspended. I even regretted punching Amy. I wished I had the self control to just walk away from her, but she was really good at provoking me. It was one of her talents, I guess.

To avoid my mother, I went out to Buck's after work, leaving Pony and Curly once we walked in. They went off to do their guy-thing and I walked over to Tim at the pool table. He was with a couple of friends, trying to win a game.

I grabbed his beer from the edge of the table, sitting down in the seat a foot or two behind him. I watched his jeans as he bent over, sinking a ball into one of the holes.

"Nice, Shep!" one of the guy's said, twirling his stick and getting ready to take his own turn.

Tim turned around to me, grabbing the beer from my hands. "How are you doin', kid?"

I shrugged. "Fine."

"You just get off work?"

I nodded, taking the beer back and taking a long sip. "I got suspended today," I confessed.

Tim didn't have much of a reaction. "For what?" He put his big hand on the wall, leaning against it.

"I punched Amy in the face."

Tim's lips twitched and I knew he wanted to smile, but he didn't really. He took the beer back, taking a step closer. "What'd she say?"

I shook my head and stood. "Nothing important." I wrapped my arms around his torso, leaning up on my toes and kissing his lips. I tasted the beer and the cigarette smoke. As much as I wished he would quit smoking, I loved it when we kissed.

Even though it had been a little under a year, Tim and I hadn't mentioned any seriousness or future plans. We never told each other we loved one another, though I thought it was obvious. I wasn't really sure of Tim's feelings because he never said. He was one of my best friends more than anything. We kissed and we spent almost every night together, but Tim never showed me interest in pursuing any kind of future.

I knew that was just how Tim was. He wasn't the guy that was gonna tell you everything he was feeling and he wasn't a pansy. But that made him a little difficult to read. We were going steady together, but still, Tim didn't talk about us very often.

I easily loved him. I knew that for sure. How Tim felt? That was the mystery to me. I mean, he must've liked me quite a lot to have me stick around for so long.

"What're you thinkin' about, kid?"

I didn't want to scare him away with the topic, so every time it popped up in my mind, I just pushed it away. "Nothin'."

"Alright. Give me a good luck kiss, won't you?" Tim pecked my lips, grabbing his stick again and going back to the pool table.

I spent the rest of the night watching Tim play pool until he won. We went back to his car and talked until he dropped my off at my house. I had been perfectly okay with going back to Tim's, but he insisted that I talk to my mom about my suspension.

And, boy, did I get an earful from her.

"You oughta smarten up, Jane."

"I know, I know." I gave in, not having the energy to argue. I rubbed my face, running my hands in my hair and massaging my scalp. "I messed up and I'm sorry."

"Double the chores."

I nodded. "That's fair."

My mom sighed, her tense body slumping as she sat down in the chair. "How's this gonna look on a college application, Jane?"

"Should I even go?"

"Yes!" my mother said loudly. "One of you has to! And scholarships, Jane! You need to be good to get scholarships!"

If David had gone, maybe my mom wouldn't be nagging me about it so much.

"Okay!" I countered, standing and taking my coat in my hand. "You know I'm applying"

"I know you are, but -"

"Goodnight, mom," I said loudly, jogging down the hallway before we had to talk about it anymore. It was all we had talked about in the summer and I couldn't take it any damn longer.

A month ago, life had seemed so nice. I knew it wouldn't last forever and I had to right to be mad about it, but I was.

I fell onto my bed, falling asleep within minutes.