Disclaimer: I don't own anything from The Outsiders


1

"Pulmonary and systemic, as two very important circulatory systems inside the body -"

My head fell down on my desk as my pencil slowly slid from my hand. Biology was boring and I was exhausted. My eyes were closing and I could feel myself drifting off until I felt something light hid my head. Looking down, I saw the crumpled up piece of paper. I glanced back at Scott a couple seats back, who winked at me. I chuckled quietly, un-crumpling the paper.

Let me take you out tonight

I looked back at Scott and nodded, feeling the red on my cheeks.

He showed me his smirk and slowly looked me up and down. He leaned back in his seat and gave me an A-okay sign with his fingers, prompting his buddies to chuckle and praise him with slaps to the arm.

I glanced at the group of girls beside the boys and they were looking at me with harsh judgement and probably envy. As much as those pretty Soc girls pretended not to, they wanted to be with Scott as much more than friends.

The bell rang very soon after that and I went straight to my locker, grabbing my homework and running out of the school. I was close to the parking lot before I felt the back of my skirt fly up. I screamed, my hands finding my skirt to hold it down. I spun around, watching Brian rolling on the grass, laughing his head off.

Brian was one of Scott's buddies - very immature, thought he was funny, but he wasn't.

Scott approached slowly after, also laughing. "Get out of here, Brian."

Brian stood, face red from laughing so hard. He looked at me. "Sorry, Debbie, but you oughta show off those gams."

I breathed out, knowing that I was red and hot from embarrassment. It sure didn't help that every one hanging around the outside of the school saw and was having a good chuckle about it.

Scott put his arm around my shoulders, leading me toward the parking lot. "I'll pick you up at 7, alright?"

"Can we make it 8?" I asked politely. I figured the later I went out, the later I could stay out - even if it was just minutes. Also, I hadn't a clue when Danny wanted to pretended we were leaving for the movie.

"Whatever you want, sweetheart." Once we made it to my car, he grabbed my hips and he pushed me against my car, kissing me hastily.

I kissed him, but I felt uncomfortable with doing it right in front of the school. I let him have his fun before I pushed him away and grabbed the handle on my car. "I'll see you tonight, Scott." I got inside quickly, putting my books on the passenger seat and starting my car. I waved to Scott before leaving the parking lot.

When I got home, I did my homework right away. After that, I watched TV for fifteen minutes, and then I started to get dinner ready.

Only then did Danny come home. He threw his books on the couch lazily and he walked into the kitchen, sitting down at the dinner table. "What's for dinner?"

"Spaghetti."

"But we had spaghetti last night."

I shrugged. "I'm not a professional chef. Whatever is in the cupboard is what we're having."

"Alright." Danny sighed, putting his feet up onto the table. "What are you doing tonight?"

I opened up a box of spaghetti, shrugging as I dumped it into the hot water. "Scott wants to do something."

"Why don't you go out and do something fun with fun people?"

I groaned. "Danny -"

He chuckled. "Do something crazy, Deb, for once in your life."

I shook my head quickly. "And risk getting arrested? I don't think so."

"So what if you do?"

I laughed, just picturing in my head the situation that would arise should I ever get arrested. "Mom would disown me."

Danny laughed.

Soon after that, my mom came home from work and we started dinner, which was delicious and familiar. After I saw Scott's car come into the driveway, I walked to my mom's room and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

I opened the door. "Hey, Danny and I are gonna go see a movie."

"Who else?"

"Just me and Danny."

"How are you getting there?"

"Scott is going to give us a ride."

"Scott Landon?"

"Yes."

"Nice boy."

"Uh-huh."

My mom sighed, taking her glasses off and putting them on the bedside table, eyes boring into mine. "What time will you be home?"

"Before 11."

"That's right."

I nodded, taking a step back. "Can we go?"

"I'll allow it."

I closed the door and walked through the house to the front door. I slid on my shoes and walked out the door, Danny following closely behind. When he walked away from the car, I said, "You don't want a ride?"

"Nah." He shook his head, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I'm gonna go meet up with some friends."

"Okay," I said hesitantly, opening the passenger door to Scott's nice car.

"Hi, Danny," Scott called out the window.

Danny put on a fake smile. "Hello, Scott!" He waved before turning around, very loudly saying, "asshole."

Scott groaned as he started the car. "Punk."

"What are we doing tonight?" I asked to change the subject.

"Uh.." Scott said, giving me a look of pity. "We're not doing anything. Something came up for me, baby. I just thought I'd come give you a ride wherever you wanted to make it up to you."

I held in a groan, smiling instead. "That's okay. You can just drop me off at the Jax Diner."

"Alright."

Jax had the best milkshakes in the world that I could get for free sine the assistant manager was my cousin. They also were the only diner I could think of the had a TV on the counter.

I made it to Jax in one piece. I sipped on a chocolate milkshake and watched the TV on the counter for close to an hour before a couple of guys walked into the diner, not looking at all like they belonged.

Their jeans were too tight and they had cigarettes in their mouths despite the fact that they weren't allowed to do that in the diner. They were Greasers, obviously. One of them was lanky with brown curly hair and a goofy smile on his face. The other one was tall and muscular, a softer more handsome face.

Eavesdropping was bad, but I couldn't help it.

"We're on the wrong side of town, Curly."

"Well, I'm starvin', so let's get somethin' and get goin'," the curly headed one said. He walked over to the counter and rang the bell. "Can we get some service here?"

The tall one hit his arm. "Come on, man."

"The sooner I eat, the sooner we get to the party." He looked around for a waitress, saying, "Man, Buck's is gonna be good tonight, Pony." In the midst of looking for a waitress, his eyes landed on me. Though I quickly looked away, I could see him in my peripheral walking towards me. He stopped and leaned on the booth across from me. "Hello there. I'm Curly."

"She's too good for you, Curly," the tall one said, sitting down in the booth behind his friend.

That didn't stop Curly as he slid into the booth opposite from me. "I feel like I've seen you before."

"Oh?" My eyebrows rose, slightly amused.

Curly smirked. "In my dreams."

The guy in the booth behind turned around and looked at me. "We've seen you at school before."

Curly groaned, glancing at his friend. "Come on, man!" He shook his head, turning back to me with a grin. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

It was funny. He must've been younger than me. He was probably 15 or 16. He just walked into a diner on the west side of town and starting talking to a girl he wanted to talk to. Brave and confident or just stupid? Either way, I admired his actions.

"Debbie," I told him.

"No shit," he said, still smiling. "Wilson?"

My brows furrowed, wondering how he could've possibly known me. "Yeah. You -"

"We know your brother Danny." Curly chuckled, shaking his head. "Funny kid. You're..." He looked at me with uncertain eyes. "Different than I imagined. Anyway, are you comin' to Buck's too?"

"What?"

"There's a party at Buck's. Danny's gonna be there."

"He what?"

Damnit, Danny. Buck's was the one place I asked him never to go. The one place. And he goes. I didn't know if it was his first time, but I doubted it. Bad people went to hangout at Buck's - bad Greasers. I would cover for Danny, but not if he was at Buck's. But what was I supposed to do, go there and drag him out?

"Yeah, you comin' or not?"

Without even thinking - without registering the question in my brain or putting it through the intricate thought process I used for every question, I simply said, "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I am."

Curly got his burger while I internally freaked out. He scarfed down the burger as his friend - Ponyboy was his name - finished his cigarette. After he finished the burger, Curly grabbed my arm and walked out quickly, not paying for his burger.

I didn't say anything.

Curly and Pony laughed and talked about their lives while I tagged along beside them, quickly moving into the east side of Tulsa. The further we went, the more Greasers you saw just roaming the streets. I pretended not to be uncomfortable with the catcalls. That would never happen where I hung around.

We eventually made it to a small brick building that had only about ten windows. There were some cars parked there, but too many people hanging around outside to fit in all those cars. There were Greasers guys smoking and drinking, some girls in very tight, very short skirts hanging off of them.

I wrapped my jacket tighter around me, feeling more insecure than I would've liked to admit.

We walked up the distrusting stairs and knocked on the door. The door opened to a tall, intimidating-looking man who let us inside. The lights inside were all red, not really lighting anything up at all. The air was hot and the smell was not the best, but every single person in the room was smiling or dancing or drinking or smoking something.

"Hey, Danny boy!"

I waited for Curly to move out of the way before my eyes fell on my little brother.

He was sitting at a table with people who looked older than even me. One with dark hair and a girl in his lap, the other with a handsome face and a cigarette behind his ear, and the last one with a big smile on his face and Mickey Mouse on his shirt. Danny had his hair greased back, beer in front of him and something in his hand that was clearly a joint.

When he saw me, his eyes widened. "Shit," I heard him say over the music. He passed his joint off to the person next to him and he stood as I walked closer to her. "Deb, I can explain."

"The one place," I said, not yelling, but still angry. I pointed at him. "The one place, Danny."

"I know, I know," he said, putting on a regretful face, but he probably wasn't. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to come out with some friends."

"Friends?" I said, not impressed.

"Yeah." Danny nodded, taking a step to the side and pointing the the dark-haired guy with the girl in his lap. "That's Steve and Evie." He pointed to the pretty one. "Sodapop Curtis. And -" He pointed to the one closest the us. "Two-bit Mathews."

"Is this some kind of joke?" I couldn't help but be annoyed.

Curly, Ponyboy, Sodapop, Two-bit. The names, the people, the atmosphere - the whole thing was like a completely different world that I had never been to before.

"What's the problem here?" The one called Two-bit stood up, proving to be about four inches taller than me. His greased, dirty blonde hair looked red in the light. His eyes were seemingly light and his face was nice-looking, especially with a smile.

"This is my sister Debbie," Danny introduced me, arm coming around my shoulders. "She doesn't like it when I hang around places like these."

Two-bit looked me in the eyes, making me feel strange. Looking into a Greasers eyes was so different from a Soc. You could really see all the stuff they've been through. Anyway, he looked me in the eyes and touched my shoulder with his dirty hand and said, "Why don't you stay and hang out, Debbie? You seem like a cool chick."

"How old are you?" I probed. "Why are you hanging around with a fourteen-year-old?" I turned the Danny and grabbed his arm. "Come on, we're going home."

Two-bit grabbed my arm quickly, swaying on his feet a little. "Now, wait a second," he said, taking a step too close. His nose touched mine for a brief moment before he backed away. "You can take the kid home, if -" He paused, holding up his hand. "If you can beat me in a game of darts."

I shook my head. "No."

"Oh, come on, Debbie," Danny whined, tugging on my arm.

"Yeah, come on, Debbie," Two-bit said, smirking at me.

I sighed. "Fine."

Danny massaged my shoulders briefly. "Good luck, sis!" He ran off somewhere my eyes couldn't follow.

Two-bit led me to another room with a dart board. He handed me for darts, two of them a little broken. He put his foot on a piece of tape on the ground, acting as the line. "Watch and learn, baby." He threw the dart, missing the board completely.

I looked around, worrying for the safety of the few people around us. "My goodness."

He stepped out of the way, holding out his arms. "My lady."

I stood with one foot on the tape, glancing back at him. "How old are you?"

"Twenty, why?"

"I saw you at graduation last year," I told him, trying to keep my judgement to myself.

"Yeah." He laughed. "I had better things to do, I guess."

I threw the dart, scoring myself a ten. "What are you doing hanging around with a fourteen-year-old boy?"

He held his hands up as if to defend himself. "Shoot, I didn't know he was fourteen. Who gives? He's a cool kid."

"He's fourteen."

"You ought to loosen up," he said to be rather rudely. He grabbed a random beer from the pool table next to us, holding it out to me. "Here."

I looked down at it, and then up at him. "You're joking, right? I don't know where that's been!"

He took a sip, shrugging. "Tastes fine." Just as he held it out to me, his eyes widened and he reached for his neck. He started to make noises like he couldn't breathe and his face looked panicked.

"Oh, my god!" I felt my heartbeat quicken as I reached out and grabbed his shoulders.

He suddenly stopped, laughing loudly. "Got ya!"

I sighed, closing my eyes for a second to gain my composure. I looked at him with tired eyes. "You scared me."

He took another sip of the beer, eyes only on me. "You ever laugh?"

"Of course I laugh," I said defensively. I grabbed the beer from his hand, giving him a face that made him chuckle. I raised the beer bottle to my lips hesitantly and took a sip of the gross liquid. I pushed it against his chest, shaking my head. "Ugh."

He laughed, putting an arm around my shoulder. "You are somethin' else, baby."

"My name's Debbie," I said, still feeling the gross taste in my mouth.

"I know." He smiled, putting the bottle next to my face. "The more you drink, the better it tastes."

I was curious to see what would happen if I drank the rest of it. Two-bit seemed trustworthy enough that I felt comfortable doing that with him.

So I grabbed the bottle.


My eyes opened slowly and I felt myself laying down in a hard bed. When I opened my eyes fully, I was staring up at a ceiling I didn't recognize, with a body that I also didn't recognize beside me. I screamed, scrambling away. I was in the air for a millisecond before my back hit the hard, wood ground. I groaned, rubbing my face.

A head came over the edge of the bed, looking down at me. "You good?"

I looked up at Two-bit. "Yeah, I'm okay."

He smiled. "You're already falling for me."

I chuckled, letting my head fall against the floor again. "What time is it?" I looked toward the window, seeing that it was still dark. I should've been able to make it home in time, so I wasn't worried.

"5."

My eyes widened and I popped up quickly, feeling my body tingle as my vision blurred. I stopped in my spot, holding my head in my hands. "Shit," I swore without thinking, just because the pain was a lot.

"It's a little something I like to call a hangover."

I opened my eyes to look at Two-bit, who was pulling on a pair of pants. I quickly spun around to look away. "Sorry." I discreetly glanced down at myself, all my clothes on and no sign that I took them off. "I should really get home." I groaned, thinking about all the trouble I was in. I looked around. "Where are we?"

"Buck's."

"I didn't know it had rooms," I said, looking around at the small space.

"A few above the bar."

I nodded, finding the door and grabbing hold of the knob before I realized. "Where is Danny?"

Two-bit smiled a kind smile and walked toward the door. "Let's get some breakfast before we go losin' our heads."

He convinced me to go to a diner nearby called the Dingo. It was kind of like Jax except the people were different, there was no TV and the paint on all the tables were chipped. We ordered waffles and waited for them to come.

"Where is my brother?" I asked him.

Two-bit tapped the table. "You ain't gonna be able to control him, you know. He's just a kid. He wants to have a good time."

I gave Two-bit I looked I often gave Danny. "I just don't want what he wants now ruin what he needs in the future. I mean, how's he gonna get a decent job with a record?"

"He ain't," Two-bit said simply, shrugging. "But he'll have a whole lot of memories."

I chuckled. "Memories don't give you money to support yourself or your family."

He smirked. "Memories make you happy, money doesn't. You might as well make some memories, eh?"

I had never heard someone say that before and I looked at him skeptically. "You really live your life that way?"

"Shoot, why wouldn't I?"

I couldn't help but to smile. "I've never met anyone like you before, Two-bit."

"I'm one of a kind, baby."

"What's your real name?"

Two-bit smiled at me, a glimmer in his eye that seemed to permanently be there. "Five bucks and I'll tell ya."

I laughed, seeing our waffles on the way. "How about you just tell me what happened last night?"

"Oh, yeah." Two-bit laughed loudly before getting in on the story. "You were smashed. I mean, shit, Debbie, you can really drink."

"Oh, god," I groaned.

The waitress set our waffles down. "Here you are."

"Thank you," I said, reaching for the syrup.

"So, we're playing darts and you're drinkin' a brew and you're havin' a good time. I end up beatin' you, but you're too hammered to know, so we end up doing some shots at the bar."

"How?" I questioned. "I'm 17."

"It's Buck's," Two-bit said, as if it was explanation enough. "After shots, we danced and played pool and we were just bummin' around for a little while. You couldn't even talk, Debbie, but there were some folks with blankets sliding down the stairs and we all joined in and you -" Two-bit paused to laugh. "You ate shit."

I gasped. "What?"

"You should check your ass when you get home. It's probably all bruised up."

It did kind of hurt.

I sighed, cutting into my waffle neatly. "I'm not usually like that."

"I'm the life of the party, but you took that crown right off my head last night."

I shook my head. "I'm not supposed to drink."

"You ought to drink more," Two-bit said quietly. He took messy chunks of his waffle and shoved it in his mouth, chewing loudly.

"How did I get up into that room?"

"After you started throwin' up, I figure'd it was bed time for you. I tried to go back to the party, but you were hanging onto me, so I laid down beside ya."

I blushed furiously. "Sorry."

Two-bit didn't seem bothered at all. "That's alright. It was a good night."

I sighed, putting down my fork and knives, not feeling very well. "Thank you for not letting my pass out on the floor." I looked down at his plate, seeing the waffles already gone and I chuckled. "Hungry?"

Two-bit started to slide out of the booth. "DD?"

"What's DD?" I asked, also sliding out of the booth.

Two-bit grabbed my hand and started to run. "Dine and dash!" He didn't let go of my hand until we were down the street. He chuckled to himself. "I can't remember the last time I paid for breakfast - or anything, if we're speakin' the truth here."

I laughed, my breath finally catching up to me. "Oh, great, I'm bumming around with a fugitive." I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at him, still breathing a little heavily. "Now what?"

"Let's get you home."

I nodded, starting to walk in the direction I thought it was. Even though I was going to be in big trouble when I got home and I couldn't remember most of the night except for the memories that were slowly floating back to me, I could've confidently said that I had fun. "Thank you for the fun night, Two-bit."

He looked at me for a long second before saying, "My real name's Keith."

I started to smile. "Okay. Keith."

Two-bit shook his head quickly. "Only some people get to call me that."

"Who would those people be?"

Two-bit smiled. "The people who give me five bucks."