Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders. Amber Kemp belongs to aero!
A/N: I am human and make mistakes, so point them out if you spot them.
XXX
January 3, 1966
"Do you like my brother?" Angela asked me as I grabbed my textbook from my locker. She had a way of popping out of know where; it was frightening. I looked at her, raising an eyebrow.
"Which one?" I teased, smirking when I saw the look of panic creep onto her face. Angela had a thing with the girls her brothers dated… or hooked up with, whatever. I think that it was a mixture of jealousy and not thinking anyone was good enough for them. Either way it made a lot of girls hate her, a lot, because the Shepard boys were sluts, for lack of a better word.
"Not funny, Jane," she said, shoving my shoulder a little. "You're not gonna start dating Curly are you?"
"No," I snorted. I scrunched my nose a little, all that was going through my mind was: "Ew, Curly." I couldn't help but think how it was any of her business though. I really didn't care for being told what to do; it almost made me want to date the guy just to put her in her place.
"Really? 'Cuz he's been talking about you…"
"He has?" I interrupted as we made our way down the hall. That wasn't something I heard everyday, boys didn't really "talk" about me. My brother always told me that confidence is what made a girl attractive, I told him that was what ugly people said.
Hell, if being confident was attractive how come every single guy I've ever met went after the girls that thought they needed to be with a guy to feel better about themselves. I guess certain rules didn't apply when an older brother was talking to his kid sister.
"Does it matter?" Angela said, looking at me now. I smirked and switched my books into my other arm. She was too easy.
"I swear, Jane…"
"What?" I snapped, raising an eyebrow. We were supposed to be friends, even if I thought either of her brothers was remotely attractive and wanted to date them, shouldn't she be glad they weren't with some slutty girl? And she was threatening me?
"Don't you have a class to be gettin' to?" I asked before she rolled her eyes at me and stomped off. I couldn't help but wonder if I was like that when I was fourteen, we were more alike then I would have liked to admit and maybe that's why we could be so mean to each other and still be friends.
It wasn't that I was interested in Curly or anything. I was just curious to the fact that he was interested. Sure I had been on dates but I'd never had a boyfriend before, someone who actually wanted to date me. I really had nothing going for me, I wasn't book smart, or pretty like Kathy, I was a twig and had no figure, and I had an attitude that was border lining on being a complete bitch. So to me, having a guy talk about me was flattering, even if it was Curly Shepard.
XXX
It was the first day back from Christmas vacation and I was glad to have a fresh start with new classes. I was pretty sure I had failed at least one of my other ones last semester. I swear all my teachers had it out for me or at least that was the excuse I was going to use, I wasn't really a good student. I tended to be a smart ass and talk back and teachers didn't like that apparently. In my opinion the teachers at this school had some kind of God complex, always had to be right and found some sort of sick pleasure in failing students because they could. Aside from that I never did homework and skipped too much for my own good.
The class I had right after study hall was cooking, the easiest class a girl could take. I liked to sew but cooking wasn't something I was good at. One time I burnt water, given I was too absent minded to wait for water to boil and kind of forgot about it. I walked into the classroom and hurried to grab a seat next Amber.
Amber Kemp started school at Will Rogers in freshman year. She was Steve's cousin and her family had moved to Tulsa from Memphis the summer going into high school. We had been pretty much inseparable since the day we'd met. I didn't know if it was because I found her bitchiness absolutely hilarious or that I was just as bad. We got along well though; she was my best friend even though she was too honest most of the time.
"Ya know it's just our luck getting stuck in the class with all the damn Soc's," Amber said as she snapped her gum. There were two cooking classes, one before lunch and one after. Both of us were stuck in the one before and it happened to be jammed packed with the people I hated the most. And there went the best class of the semester down the drain.
"It's the perfect opportunity to burn down the room and take them all down with us," I grinned and glanced at the two empty chairs at our table. Each group had four members and the last two girls to show up to class would be forced to interact with us.
Amber chuckled as a pretty blonde sat down beside me. She had perfect hair and had on what I assumed were expensive clothing. I didn't know why she would pay to actually wear it… not that she paid for anything. The girl didn't even introduce herself; she sat there like Amber and me were Medusa or something.
I could tell Amber was about to say something until Lee Fox sat down in the chair beside her. I raised an eyebrow, wherever there was a Fox, a Shepard was near by. That much I did know.
"Hey, Blondie, you're in my seat."
I looked past the blonde and saw Curly leaning up against the counter; I rolled my eyes before leaning back in my chair. I didn't know what he was up to but it couldn't be good if he was in a kitchen. The blonde quickly stood up and joined the girls at the other tables that couldn't seem to stop staring.
"What're you staring at?" Amber said, looking at the girls at the opposite table. "It ain't like this is the girls room, mind your damn business."
The girls quickly looked away and started whispering. Amber had a way of speaking her mind and being absolutely blunt about it. That was exactly why we got along, for the simple reason that we could tolerate each other. I smirked before turning towards Curly as he slid the chair across the tile floor. Sitting on the chair backwards he leaned towards me.
"Don't you two have shop or something?" I asked, tapping my nails on the table. Guys never signed up for cooking, it was a 'girl' class. Amber said it was the only downer about it, I didn't mind much.
"I figured, what's the best class to crash?" Curly grinned. "And girl's gym was a no go because we'd be kicked out. We couldn't believe no one thought of this before."
"Food and girls, all ya need to do is add a couple beer and we could have a real good time," Lee said as he winked at Amber before putting his arm around her. I scrunched my nose as Amber laughed at him.
Lee Fox was a lady's man; he was charming, funny, and good-looking. His brother Marty was Tim Shepard's right hand man. All of them were known for the trouble they caused but Curly and Lee were the ones that always seemed to get caught. They were the guys Keith didn't want me around, but of course it seemed like all the guys around here were the same.
Everyone got quiet when Mrs. Cooper walked into the room. She kept her eye on Curly and Lee as she made her way to her desk. Mrs. Cooper was my favourite teacher, she taught health class along with this one. She was laid back and one of those teachers that kids could actually go and ask a question after class. I watched as she looked over what I assumed to be her attendance sheet.
"Looks like you're gonna get kicked out anyway," I whispered to Curly.
"Watch and learn Mathews," he grinned as the teacher looked up from her desk.
"Mr. Shepard, Mr. Fox. Are you supposed to be somewhere else?" Mrs. Cooper asked, giving them both a smile as she organized her loose papers.
"Me and Lee, just switched into this class this morning, they said our names might not be on the list 'til tomorrow," Curly lied as if it were as easy as telling the truth.
"Is that so? If I go down to the office they won't tell me any different, then?"
"No, ma'am," Curly piped. "Wouldn't want you to work those pretty little legs more then you got to though."
I rolled my eyes, Mrs. Cooper was the teacher that all the guys fantasized about and probably talked about in the locker room. She was young, blonde, and the reason my brother kept failing health class. No doubt, she was used to the kind of comments that Curly had given her, hell, probably worse if she's dealt with my brother for this long.
"Mhm," Mrs. Cooper said, unphased. "Well, Charles, if you're going to be in my class. Sit in your seat properly."
Curly got up out of his seat, turning it around before giving me a smug grin. I shook my head at him and couldn't help but to smile back.
XXX
By the time all four of us were at our cooking station and actually cooking we had managed to measure all the ingredients out… twice because Curly knocked over the bowl, and then spill the mop bucket water everywhere because Amber and Lee thought it'd be fun to slide across wet floor.
We were way behind and probably have to stay after class to finish the dishes. The muffins were already in the oven and now all we could do was wait. I could have started the dishes then but I was putting them off for as long as possible.
"What're you thinking about?"
I turned and looked at Curly. I must have been pretty out of it because I hadn't even realized that he sat down. I wanted to ask why he cared but it wasn't too often someone asked.
"About your stupid ass putting us behind," I said as I started tapping my nails on the table again.
"Well, at least you're thinkin' about me," he grinned.
"Don't flatter yourself, Curly."
"When are you gonna let me take you out?" he interrupted. I looked at him as I stopped tapping my nails on the table. To be honest, he made me nervous.
"Never," I answered as I looked at Amber who was waving us over to see the finished product.
"Ya know, playing hard to get only works for so long," he said, following me to the cooking station. I rolled my eyes before turning around to face him.
"What? Until you get bored and move on?"
It has happened before and it is relieving to know that before any relationship starts how committed some of these guys were. Besides, I wasn't playing hard to get because when it came to Curly Shepard I was unattainable.
"Nah, 'til I just show up on your doorstep," he grinned. I shook my head; he thought he was so sly. I turned around and made my way back to the cooking station, looking down at what Amber and Lee pulled out of the oven. They were supposed to be muffins.
"Those do not look like muffins," Lee said, peering over my shoulder. He started poking at one before I slapped at his hand.
"No shit," Amber said. "I blame Curly."
I giggled and looked up to see Mrs. Cooper making her way to our station before Curly could spit out some wiseass remark. She looked down at our so-called muffins and smirked a little. Even the teacher was laughing at our cooking skills.
"Did you use baking soda?" Mrs. Cooper asked. I nodded, I was the one who was in charge of measuring all the shit out and specifically remembered the baking soda because I forgot it last year… during the final project.
She stuck her finger in one of them, tasting it. Her face scrunched up a little and Amber let out a laugh.
"And flour?" she asked. I knew I put flour in because I needed two cups. It was the main ingredient.
"Are you sure you didn't confuse the icing sugar with flour?" she asked, interrupting my thoughts. I sighed and let Lee poke at one of the failed muffins.
"I always enjoy having a Mathews in my class," she grinned before she made her way to the next station.
"Right," I mumbled before tossing the food into the trash. Because us Mathews' were a fucking riot, class fucking clowns.
"Don't worry Jane," Amber said as she started filling a sink. "We make salad tomorrow."
It wasn't the muffins I cared about, they were just muffins. Maybe I was over reacting, and I knew Mrs. Cooper didn't mean any harm, if anything it was meant to be a compliment. I guess I was taking it the wrong way or maybe I was in a bad mood and looking into things too much.
"You are way cooler then your brother," Curly said to me, quiet enough so only I could hear him. I smirked before rolling my eyes at him. He was so full of it, but I gave him an A for effort.
"Shut up, Curly."
XXX
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