Disclaimer- The characters you recognize are not mine, but S.E. Hinton's, those you do not recognize are mine.

Author's note-Thank you endlessly to theperfectimperfection for being amazing and for not being annoyed when I bugged her two hundred plus times about this chapter.

This chapter is being posted as part of "Good Fic Day," an effort to raise the quality of writing here. We hope to encourage more writers to improve the quality of their own fan fiction - spell check, grammar check, keep the gang in character, outline, plot and don't use Mary Sues. Good fan fiction requires effort, and we would like to encourage other writers to rise to the challenge of producing better fan fiction, not only for our readers, but for S.E. Hinton, who created the wonderful book we are trying to honor.

"Hey, Johnny, I gotta work. You want me to drop you off at the Curtis place or do you want to hang out at the DX?" Steve asked as he started his car.

"I'll hang around with y'all. Pony has track so, I don't have nothin' to do." Johnny slumped into the seat and fished around in his pocket. "Hey, Steve, you want a cigarette?"

"Yeah, better get a smoke in before you go hanging around by the pumps. Remember last winter when that station by the Ribbon blew up? It was cool-lookin', but me and Soda don't want to end up like Gene Robbins, all crispy-like." Johnny pulled a cigarette out of his carton and sighed; Steve told that story every time someone mentioned the DX and a cigarette in the same conversation. Johnny thought it was because Steve didn't like fire. It would make sense because Steve accidently lit his shirt on fire as a kid. There was a neighborhood joke that he invented stop, drop, and roll.

"Hey, did that guy fix the vending machine?" Johnny mumbled just so there wouldn't be any more silence. Johnny didn't exactly like to talk, but he liked to listen. He liked silence too, just not awkward silence.

"Nope, but I figured out that if you kick it hard enough, the machine will give you what you want." Steve started laughing and Johnny smirked. It was just like Steve to kick a machine when it didn't do what he wanted. To get over that he started fixing up cars so he didn't have to beat up the most expensive machine he owned.

Under his breath Johnny said, "I bet Evie don't have to kick that hard."

"Hm?"

"Nothing."

XXX

The day at the DX was pretty slow; only about four people came to get gas pumped. Most of the time Steve ranted about how the vending machine needed to be repaired or he and Soda argued over radio stations. Johnny, however, didn't pay much mind to what was happening around him; instead he was daydreaming about what he would do when he left and what he was going to about that Soc who seemed like he was going to get some revenge—guys like him always did. That subject was constantly pushed back into his mind.

"Johnny…John!" Steve was snapping his fingers in front of Johnny's face.

Johnny shook and came back to reality. "Huh?"

"The girls are on their way here, lookit." Steve pointed down the block where Sandy, Evie, and Rebecca were making their way towards the DX.

"Oh." Johnny lifted his head and watched as Steve quickly but carefully combed some loose curls into a perfect position.

"Steve!" Evie was half way down the street, but ran anyway, barely missing an oncoming car.

"Hey, Evie, baby, don't hug me, I got oil all over me." She reached him in record time, still full of energy and not out of breath.

"I know." She stepped high on her tip-toes and pecked his lips.

"Well, now, who is this?" Soda turned to face their guest.

"This is Johnny's friend Rebecca. She just moved here, ya know," Sandy told him.

"Well, Miss Rebecca, I am Sodapop Curtis and I guarantee you will remember my name seein' as I'm the only Soda around." He bowed to her and Sandy giggled.

"Nice to meet you." Rebecca conjured up a little smile.

Evie leaned over and whispered, "He's a big fan of the whole chivalry thing."

"Did you spend all this time with those two?" Soda gestured to Evie and Sandy. "I'm proud of you. 'Must be a stubborn one to be able to last more than two hours with them without them putting a pound of paint on your face."

"Hey! It's not paint, it's makeup. And you like it." Evie poked Soda's chest hard.

"Cool it, Evie, I'm sorry." He held his hands up in surrender. "You don't have to go poking me."

"Aw, lay off him, he was just joking around," Sandy defended.

"Fine." Evie glared at him and crossed her arms.

"So, what did you girls do? Any pillow fights or something fun like that?" Soda grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.

Sandy swatted him playfully. "We baked cookies." She held up a cookie tin that they hadn't noticed before.

"That's my girl." Soda pecked her cheek and took the tin. Before they knew it Soda and Steve both had two cookies in their mouths.

"Hey! You are supposed to share those; we made them for the three of you."

"Oh." Steve smiled guiltily and held out the tin to Johnny. He selected one cookie from the three that were left and took a small bite out of it.

"I'm gonna go have a cigarette. Anyone wanna come?" Johnny said in such a quiet voice that it was almost inaudible.

"Nah, you go ahead." Steve told him and went back to eating the remainder of the cookies.

"I'll go," Rebecca said in a soft voice. The expressions on the faces of those around suggested that they were a bit surprised. Johnny nodded for her to follow him and put the rest of his cookie in his mouth.

It would have been very warm out, but the breeze was cooling everything down. The wind clearly wasn't pleasant to Rebecca; every time she put her hair behind her ears, the wind would blow it back out. Johnny started to chuckle slightly.

"What's so funny?" she asked a bit frustrated.

"It's just, you keep putting your hair back, but the wind keeps blowing it in your face again. I guess it ain't that funny," Johnny pulled his cigarettes out of his pocket and held one out to her. She took it and gave a nod of thanks.

"I guess it was a little funny." The faint sounds of a car horn and the rest of the city's sounds took over the conversation. It was about as silent as a city could get as they lit their cigarettes and turned the corner to go around the block.

"So," he began casually. "I didn't know you smoked."

"It's a habit I picked up from my friend—Betty." All around them there were kids playing in the yards and elderly people were sitting on their porches, both in some cases.

"Grammy! Wayne pulled my hair!" a little girl screeched as she ran up the porch to her grandmother.

"Did not! Her hair just got caught in my fist," a boy, about ten, defended. This incited a quiet fit of laughter between Johnny and Rebecca.

"Why?" she asked when they stopped laughing.

"I dunno, I just didn't peg you as a girl that would smoke, that's all." He shrugged and threw down his cigarette and crushed it under his tattered tennis shoes.

"Evie said the same thing, but I guess it just calms me down." That was evident as she took her last drag before dropping the last of it on the ground. She had a more relaxed look to her than before.

He managed a little smirk before saying, "What? Were you nervous to come here? We aren't that scary."

"What about that guy before school? I've got to say he was pretty unnerving." A fear that was more than just being unnerved flashed in her eyes, but she shook it off.

"Well, he just doesn't like me," he said simply.

"Why doesn't he like you?" The breeze picked up and Rebecca shivered a little.

"It's just what I look like and I don't have lots of money like he and his buddies do." Johnny shrugged and put his hands in his pockets.

"Oh," Rebecca said as they turned the corner in front of the DX.

"Johnny! Where were you guys?" Soda shouted from across the street.

"Yeah, Soda was about to go on and send out a search party," Steve added.

"I didn't think we were gone long," Johnny said nonchalantly as he walked up to them.

"Oh…it could be that I'm just a little impatient. Well, my shift is over, I got to head home. Anyone want to walk with me. Girls? Johnny? " Soda offered.

"I should go too." As Johnny waited for Soda to get his stuff he walked over to Rebecca who was sitting on Steve's car listening to Evie and Sandy bicker. "Do you have a way to get home?"

"Yeah, Evie's brother is going to take me when we go back to her house."

"Okay, Johnnycakes, let's head out. Bye!" Soda shouted over his shoulder as he was already bounding towards his house. Johnny waved, then ran to catch up with Soda.

XXX

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner?" Soda asked when they got to his house.

"I'm sure." Johnny took a drag on his cigarette and pushed himself off the porch railing.

"Well, okay, see ya." Soda turned and went inside. Johnny threw his cigarette down and started to head home.

For some reason every time Johnny tried to turn on to his street he ended up turning back to walk around the block just one more time. After a while, Johnny just decided to head to the drugstore and get a new pack of cigarettes. The closest drugstore was not one he usually went to because Dallas was banned for life from it—something about being caught with the owner's daughter. Dallas couldn't finish the detailed story without really heating up Johnny's ears.

The owner reached for his gun when Johnny walked in. Johnny sighed and dipped his head. It really bugged him that whenever he went anywhere the guys behind the counter always though he was going to rob the place.

As Johnny picked up a pack of Camels and pulled the money to pay for it out of his pocket, the owner relaxed a little. Johnny relaxed a little too, but when the cheery music on the radio changed to static Johnny was still sheepish.

"That'd be forty cents," the man behind the counter said finally.

"Oh," Johnny said and pulled another dime out of his pocket—his last one.

"Thanks for your business." The man behind the counter took the money with on hand, but the other was still holding onto the gun.

Johnny nodded to the man behind the counter and opened the door. When he heard the bell of the closing door he also heard the cheery music on the radio turn back on. It seemed as if the man turned the radio off just to make sure he could hear everything incase Johnny tried to pull something.
Johnny jumped slightly to shouts of, "Greaser!" He shook subtly until the laughter coming from the car faded into the distance. Every time he heard someone scream "greaser" it made him nervous. Sure, Johnny could fight, but he didn't like to be put in the position where he had to, especially if he was fighting Socs. Socs didn't exactly like to fight fair. They always had a couple more guys and weapons.

Johnny shut his eyes for a minute and ended up walking back the lot and smoking at least half of his new pack. For a while Johnny just sat there, feeling the air around him get cooler until an unsettling atmosphere took over the lot.

XXX

It was about ten o'clock when Johnny arrived home. The lights were on, but it was quiet in the house. The only noise was the faint hum from the television set, which was turned down very low. His father was passed out on the couch and his mother was curled up on the other end. It was an odd sight for multiple reasons. For one, they never went to bed before one in the morning, and two, they weren't screaming at each other—they actually looked like nice people. Johnny had never seen them asleep before; his parents looked almost happy and at peace. Johnny sighed and snatched a blanket up off the ground. He gently draped it over his mother and strolled tiredly to his room. He shut the door gently and collapsed onto his bed, glad to feel safe for once.