Disclaimer: S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders, and Them Crooked Vultures own "Mind Eraser, No Chaser".

CHAPTER TWO
Wednesday, December 21st, 1966

All I wanna do is have my mind erased,
I'm begging you, pleading you, stop comateasing us all.

He wanted to claim that he hadn't been counting, but Steve had seen Anna flirt with Henry Phillips five times in the last two days. Plus, already once that morning, and school hadn't even started yet. That made six times in less than three days that he had seen it happen, but he had no idea how many times they'd flirted with each other that he hadn't seen. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. He also wanted to claim that it didn't bother him, but he wasn't that good a liar.

Not being as over Anna as he would like was something he was dealing with. He'd messed up - more than once - and that was it. Relationship finished. He'd fought as much as he could, but after screwing up as badly as he had, there wasn't much fighting he could do. After a while - after the night of the rumble - he'd had to simply accept that his relationship with Anna really was over. For good. And he'd been dealing with that.

Moving on with Evie had just been stupid and pointless. She'd been a good friend while he was miserable about Anna, but to think she could have ever been more than that again was just plain dumb. It hadn't worked in helping him get over Anna, but it sure had worked in making Anna even more pissed at him. The arguments that followed had been brutal and painful and partly because of his need to make sure he stayed in her mind. He might have been trying to get over her, but he didn't want her getting over him.

But the arguments had stopped after the night of the rumble, and he'd left Anna alone since. It was the least he could do after what she'd done for him that night, and he'd figured it might help them both. Leaving her alone, pretending as though she didn't exist, and as though they had never happened … he'd thought it would help him move on and get over her.

He wasn't sure it had worked. His relationship with Evie ended shortly after that night, but not his thoughts about Anna. They were never-ending. He didn't speak to her or about her, but he sure spent a lot of time thinking about her. He didn't like it. He sure liked her - that he knew - but he didn't like that his thoughts always went back to her.

He hung out with his buddies, he still worked as much as he could, and he was … well, he wasn't happy about acting as though he and Anna had never been together, but he did it because it helped. It hadn't helped him get over her - yet - but it helped him deal with not being with her. And he was sure it helped Anna deal with what had happened.

At least, it had helped him before he'd seen her flirting with another guy. He couldn't expect her to stay single for the rest of her life, and since getting back with Evie he'd never once considered he would get her back, but he didn't have to like seeing her with another guy. Seeing her flirting with Phillips on Friday had been torture.

"Hey, staring ain't gonna make it go away."

Steve looked at Two-Bit. "What're you talkin' about?"

"I'm talking about you glaring at Anna and Henry as though if you stare hard enough, you can make them disappear," Two-Bit said. "Or make one of them disappear."

"I ain't staring."

"No, you're glaring."

Steve scowled. "Ain't you supposed to be meeting Kathy?"

"Na, she's at home sick. Not surprising after the way I convinced her to sneak out Friday night." Two-Bit shook his head, smiling in wonder. "That girl's still crazy about me even after all the shit I pull."

"Gotta wonder why," Steve said.

"You ain't kiddin'. I was surprised enough to see her and Anna turn up at the Dingo on Friday; talking her into spending the night with me was even more of a shock."

Steve frowned, watching Phillips lean down to whisper something to Anna. He hated the bastard.

"Hey, I tell ya I nearly got into it with Rex Hamilton last night?"

"Christ, Two-Bit," he said, looking away from Anna. "There's a damn good reason Hamilton leads the River Kings, you know?"

"Sure do; the guy's crazy. Lucky for me Shepard Senior and the same Henry Phillips you've spent the last few minutes scowling at came along."

"Really?"

Two-Bit laughed. "If there's one group of guys I don't wanna admit getting help from, it's Shepard and his boys. But, from what I picked up, Hamilton's got even more beef with Shepard than he does me."

Steve said nothing. So Phillips had helped Two-Bit out … didn't change anything; he still hated the guy. But it did make him worry about Two-Bit some more. His buddy had been causing trouble all over the place for months, and this was the second fight in a week with a River King.

"Time to go, man," Two-Bit said, still grinning.

Steve nodded, glad the distraction of Two-Bit and school would take his mind off of Anna for a while.

XXXXX

Anna noticed Evie long before her cousin began heading in her direction. She hadn't been looking for her, but it was a habit she'd gotten into. After Steve and Evie got back together, it was just easier to know where they both were. All she had to do was notice them before they noticed her and she could make her clever escape. She wouldn't have to deal with the awkward and forced conversations, the angry arguments, or the ache in her chest.

It just made life easier, because if she had thought running into Steve and Evie a year ago - before the tutoring, before the friendship, and before the relationship - had been bad, it was nothing compared to running into them after the tutoring, the friendship, and the relationship with Steve. That was the worst.

But now it was normal for her to take note of where both Steve and Evie were. She didn't stop to think about it, but some part of her brain mentally took note. She knew where they were; she knew where not to look. It was better that way.

Better, until Evie caught her attention by staring at her. And after glancing at her in confusion, Anna had been more than pissed off to find her cousin heading her way, a determined look on her face.

Things were … polite between them. They weren't friends anymore, but they were still family. They'd always be family and it was for that reason alone that Anna tolerated Evie.

"Anna?" Henry's warm hand on her arm had her looking up at him.

She smiled, throat dry. He sure had an interesting affect on her. As much as she'd like to deny it, his flirting worked on her just like he seemed to want it to. She wasn't sure what he wanted from her, but the more he upped his flirting, the more she thought Kathy was right about him. And the more unsure she became about him. She liked him, but …

"Sorry, what were you sayin'?"

He smiled back, leaning an arm on the side of the building she was leaning against. "I was sayin' that I think we should ditch."

"First period?"

She and Henry shared three of their classes, and she supposed that was how she had come to like him so easily. They sat next to each other in all three classes, and Henry was nothing but easy to get along with. She didn't have a lot of time for the guys in Tim's gang, all of whom ended up at her house far too often, but Henry was different. It really was a wonder why she didn't have a full-blown crush on him yet.

He leaned closer. "I was thinkin' we skip out on the whole day, but -"

"Hey."

Anna wasn't sure if the sinking of her heart was at Evie finally arriving, or Henry's words being cut off. Maybe she liked him more than she realised. Or maybe she just disliked Evie more than she realised. She frowned, looking at Evie.

"Hey."

"How's it going?" Evie asked.

She shrugged, not in the mood for small talk with her cousin. "It's okay."

Silence followed - the crappy awkward silence that fell over the two of them constantly. Anna pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow at Evie, waiting. She was glad for Henry's company, and didn't miss the fact that he had stuck around when Evie turned up, despite leaving her alone with Kathy at the Dingo last week. Well, even if she didn't like him, he was a good friend.

Evie sighed. "Mom wanted me to invite you and Danny over for dinner tonight. You haven't been in ages, and she's hanging out for one of her 'family dinners'."

"Oh." Shit. "We can't make it."

"Why not?"

Well, that was a good question. She frantically tried to come up with some excuse, but found herself with nothing.

"She has a date," Henry said, throwing an arm around her shoulder.

Anna scoffed, nudging him in the ribs, and ignoring both his laugh and the heat in her face. "I don't have a date," she mumbled, giving him a half-assed glare. But she couldn't be angry, not when his words finally gave her something. She looked at Evie. "Danny has a date."

Evie frowned. "Who with?"

"Shelley Winters. He's been seeing her for a while now."

"But … didn't he just get into a fight over Mary-Louise last week?"

"Yeah, I think so." Anna shrugged, not very keen on analysing her brother's love-life. She knew he was seeing Shelley, but she also knew he and Mary-Louise were still stuck on what they'd had a few months back.

"Right. Well, maybe next week, then," Evie muttered. She left without another word, right as the warning bell rang.

Grabbing her books out of her arms, Henry grinned. "Walk ya to class?"

She nodded, walking inside with him and not unaware of Steve climbing off the hood of his car to head inside. She might not think about him, but she was still aware of him. She needed to be aware of him so she didn't have any of those awkward run-ins.

It was lucky for her - or maybe it wasn't luck but a well thought out strategy - that she hadn't had any kind of run-in with him since the day of the rumble. Last week at the Dingo didn't count, because she had agreed to do it. She had agreed to go inside with Kathy and she had been shaking the whole time. She didn't want any run-ins - awkward, accidental, or intentional.

"You know, it's too bad you ain't over Steve," Henry said.

They had reached her math classroom, and she turned to face him. "Who says I'm not over Steve?"

"The lie you just told Evie says you ain't over him."

Anna frowned. "I wasn't lying."

"You know, if I didn't know about the gang meeting planned for tonight, I might've believed you. But Tim's adamant everyone turn up … especially his second in command."

"Oh."

She didn't know what to say. She wanted to lie some more, she wanted to deny she had lied in the first place, and she even wanted to explain why she had lied. Most of all, she wanted to deny Henry's comment about Steve. She wanted to tell him that she was over Steve … but that would just be another lie. Instead, she stood still and fiddled with the necklace around her neck.

"You knew about the gang meeting, didn't you?" Henry was grinning.

"I might have."

He sighed, handing over her books. "You know, a sure-fire way to get over someone is by moving on with someone else."

She nodded. "I know that." A part of her even believed that was why Steve had gotten back together with Evie. Of course that doesn't explain why he stayed with Evie.

"So, maybe if you let someone take you out, it might help you get over him." Henry was leaving, walking backwards down the nearly empty hallway so he could still look at her. "Maybe if you went out with me, you might even realise there's not much to get over."

Her stomach dropped because he might be serious. And that was nice. It was always nice to know a boy liked her, but when they liked her, had been half-seriously flirting with her for weeks, and was now asking her out … it became something she wasn't sure she was ready for.

But maybe he wasn't serious. Henry had a way of flirting and making her feel like the only girl in the word that he even spoke to, but she wasn't. She didn't expect to be, either, because they were friends.

So she grinned, stepping closer to the doorway of her classroom. "Sure, Henry. If I ever find myself not over Steve, I'll be sure to let you know."

She headed inside before he could respond, almost positive her off-hand reply had nothing to do with Steve Randle.

XXXXX

"Hey, Two-Bit tell ya about his almost fight last night?" Steve asked, digging out his smokes.

Sodapop sighed. "Yeah. I dunno what to do about it, though. There ain't much that'll talk Two-Bit outta anything."

Steve went to answer when a very girly giggle came from inside. He frowned. "Who the hell's in with the kid?"

"Anita Mort," Soda said. "They're paired up on some assignment thing."

Steve frowned. He knew of Anita's brother - and so did everyone else - but didn't know Anita that well. He remembered her from his birthday party a few months back, and knew that she'd fallen victim to Ricky Bolton's rumours just like Anna had, but that was it. Although … The words were out of his mouth before he'd even thought them through.

"Ain't she the one who works at the bakery with Anna?"

Soda raised his eyebrows. "Oh. Are we talking about Anna again?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"I mean you ain't said two words about her in months. Is it suddenly okay to talk about her now?"

Steve sat on the porch steps, hoping to avoid Soda's gaze. "I wasn't talkin' about her."

"You brought her up."

"That don't mean nothin'."

Soda sat next to him. "You seen her lately?"

Shrugging, Steve pulled out a smoke and lit up. "See her all the time; we've got study hall together."

Soda said nothing, and Steve knew he was waiting to see if he would continue. He didn't want to. He didn't want to talk about Anna because not talking about Anna was how he'd been dealing with not being with Anna. But there was that heavy feeling in his chest and he was pretty sure talking things out with Soda might help. If he could talk to anyone about Anna, it was Soda.

"She's been spending an awful lot of time with Henry Phillips," he finally said.

"Are they dating?"

Steve took a long drag before answering. "I don't think so - I would've heard if they were - but they sure flirt a lot."

"And that's a bad thing?"

He shrugged again, not sure how much he wanted to admit. "Ain't my business, really."

"But you don't like it, right?" Soda asked.

Steve wasn't sure if he liked or cursed the fact that, if he wasn't willing to talk, Soda could always drag the information out of him. "Like it? I hate it, man. I fucking hate it."

"You're jealous?"

"Of course I'm not." They both knew he was lying. "Well, I might be." He couldn't outright admit it. Not aloud.

They were silent again, and Steve's mind went back to seeing Anna and Phillips together at lunch. They'd been talking far too much for his liking, they'd been sitting far too close for his liking, and they'd been giving each other far too many small touches for his liking. There had been a moment where he'd actually thought Phillips was going to kiss her and there hadn't been anything he could do about it. There never was. He had to watch them flirt all the time and he was starting to wonder just how used to seeing Anna with another guy he was going to have to get.

He didn't want to have to get used to it. Hell, he didn't want it to be real. Anna and another guy just wasn't right. They might be broken up, and he might not have thought about the two of them getting back together in months, but that didn't mean he was okay with her being with someone else … with her moving on.

His chest tightened. Surely she wasn't truly moving on. He'd seen the way she reacted to being near him at the Dingo last week; she was uncomfortable as hell. If she was over him and entirely done with what they'd had, then being around him shouldn't have been a problem. But if she wasn't over him and done with what they had, then she wouldn't be moving on …

He looked at Soda, completely confused. "What should I do?"

Soda's eyes widened. "Well, are you over her?"

It was a good question, but he wasn't sure he liked the answer. One part of him liked to think he was over Anna - or at least getting there - but another part of him was quietly pining for her like an idiot and he hated it.

But that wasn't right. He was dealing. Slowly but surely, he was getting over Anna. It didn't hurt as much to think about her, the rejection she'd thrown at him when he'd tried to apologise didn't bother him as much, and the guilt that ate at him was slowly fading away.

However, the memory of her, the strange feelings she'd caused him to have, and the urge to just constantly be with her were still strong. They weren't fading at all. He knew it was stupid and that it sounded stupid, but it was what it was. The bad feelings about Anna were leaving, but he needed the good ones to go, too. If he wanted to get over her, then he needed to forget about the good feelings.

"Stevie?"

He looked at Soda. Somehow saying aloud what he'd known for months was damn hard. He shook his head. "I don't think I am."

"You want her back?"

"I - no." He sighed. "I dunno …"

Soda was silent for a moment. "You gotta think hard about this, man. I know you, and I know you still think about Anna a lot; if you do want her back, then do it. Get her back."

Steve didn't say anything. Getting Anna back wasn't as easy as it sounded, nor was he sure it was what he wanted. Well, he knew that she was who he wanted, but it was all so confusing. Seeing her with another guy had messed him up - being around her like he had Friday night had messed him up.

He'd thought he was dealing with not having her, but now she was all he could think about. Even more than usual.

Soda continued. "But if you're just jealous about her and Henry, then maybe you should try and forget it."

"You think that's all this is? You think I might just be pissed that she's moving on?" Steve scowled as he spoke, but a part of him hoped it was true.

"I just don't think it would be fair to her to go after her just out of jealousy - just because you don't like seeing her with another guy. That wouldn't be cool. Not after everything that happened."

And that was how Steve knew that talking to Soda was the right thing to do. He hadn't thought of getting Anna back, wanting her back, or anything else like that for a long time. But seeing her with Phillips had made him realise that even if he wasn't moving on, she might be. The last thing he wanted to do was mess Anna up anymore than he already had, and going after her out of jealousy alone wasn't going to do her any good.

He was jealous - there was no denying that - but maybe it was just because he saw her with Phillips. Just because he thought about her more than he'd like didn't mean anything. Neither did the fact that he wasn't yet over her; that would come eventually. Maybe his jealousy - his possibly wanting her back - was all because she was moving on, and that was just a little hard to deal with.

Taking one last drag of his smoke, Steve silently hoped Soda's theory was right.

I know I'm gonna be your dangerous side effect,
Ignorance is bliss until they take your bliss away.

A/N: Thanks to RileysMomma for beta-reading. Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed. I appreciate it so much.

Feel free to point out any mistakes. I'm bound to have missed something in the final edit.