Author Note: I do not own the rights to these characters. The rights, forever and always, belong to S. E. Hinton. Any characters not from the original Outsiders are my own characters. The name Typhani is pronounced as Tiffany.

School was starting back up in two weeks and I was already ready. The first day of school was my favorite. I was at the local market with Soda, his mom and Dallas. Dallas came along because his parents got in a big fight last night, then his mom walked out on his dad and he didn't want to be around him when he's angry and I totally agree with him. Jack is not someone fun to be with when he's mad.

Sue was shopping and the three of us walked around messing around with the toys on the ground. I saw Dallas pick up some toys and stick them in his pockets.

"Dallas, what are you doing? Put 'em back!" I demanded.

"Yeah, I'd like to see how mad my dad'll be when he has to come pick me up from jail." He snapped back.

"Ah, c'mon Dal, there's no reason to be like that." Soda said. He tried getting the toys from Dallas' pockets but he turned away from Soda.

The store clerk saw and caught him and went after him and Dallas ran away. The clerk guy called for security and the guards jumped in front of Dallas and caught him. They handcuffed him and took him away. My mouth dropped opened in shock. We took off for a dead run for Sue.

"Mom, mom, mom! Dallas, the fuzz took him away." Soda shouted.

"What? Why?" Sue asked.

"He stole something." I sighed. "I tried to tell him to put it back but he didn't want to listen."

"Let's go get him." Sue motioned us to the cashier. "Excuse me but was there a boy here a second ago that stole something."

"Yeah, fifth one this week, too. Check the back." The cashier pointed his finger to a door behind him. We came in silently and the police officer turned to see who it was.

"What are you doing here?" The officer yelled.

"That boy there is my… friend's son." Sue tried to get Dallas back but failed.

"Yeah, what do you want me to do about it?" The officer asked sarcastically.

"What did he do that was so bad?"

"What did he do? Are you kidding me lady? The stupid kid stole something." The officer yelled back.

"Well excuse me! He's been having a real tough time at home. Okay?" Sue defended.

"I don't care what you say; he's going to jail just like the other four!" The officer accused. He took Dallas by the arm and led him out to his police car.

"Oh, we better tell Jack what happened. Let's go." Sue said.

We drove back to Dallas' house and walked right inside. We saw that Jack was cleaning up a mess, probably from the fight last night. He looked up at us with a cut on his forehead. He looked terrible and the place was a mess, although the place is normally messy anyway. All the boys' houses' were typically messy except my house, my mom makes us keep it clean.

"What do you guys want?" Jack asked irritated.

"Um, Jack Dear, Dallas was arrested for stealing something. I'm so sorry." Sue explained. Jack stood up and wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

"Why would my idiot kid do that?" Jack asked.

"Jack, be reasonable. Dallas is taking this really hard." Sue defended.

"So he thinks he can just steal something? He's been acting real stupid lately." Jack confessed.

"Typhani would your parents mind if Soda went back to your place for a while? Jack and I need to talk." Sue greeted us out.

Soda and I walked back to my house. It was about dinnertime so my mom was probably making dinner. When we walked inside it smelled like chicken. Travis and Max were in the living watching cartoons and dad was taking a nap on the recliner. Soda and I snuck upstairs to my room. Once I was out of grade school, Soda was no longer allowed in my room alone because my parents knew I liked him and were afraid of the things we might do.

"Typhani, is that you up there?" My mom called from the kitchen.

"Yes."

"Okay, just checking."

"Does your mom care if I'm here?" Soda questioned.

"Nah, it's my dad who's worried because after next year you guys are not allowed in my room alone with me." I explained. "My dad's just afraid of the things we might do since I…" I stopped myself from saying "since I like you" because that would spill my secret. Instead I said, "Since you guys are boys and I'm a girl."

"He thinks we'll kiss you." He joked even though it was the truth.

"Ewww!" We both sang in unison. We laughed and sat on my bed.

"Do you think Dally'll be okay?" Soda started.

"I sure hope so. School starts up in two weeks." I responded.

"He can care less about school. If it wasn't for his mom, he'd drop out…" He stopped and we both looked at each other because we both had the same crazy idea.

"If Dallas' mom is gone, and then does that mean he'll drop out?" I asked worried.

"I hope not. But truthfully, I don't think his dad would care if he did. I mean my dad would certainly kill me if I did." Soda said.

"Yeah, same." I agreed.

"Sodapop, you're mom's here to pick you up!" Dad yelled from downstairs.

I walked with Soda downstairs to say good-bye. When I saw Sue, her eyes were red as if she'd been crying. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to put her on the spot. And if I did, my mom would get all emotional and things would all be bad from there.

"Come on, Sweetie." Sue motioned for Soda to hurry up so they could leave with nobody noticing her red eyes.

"Sue, are you all right? Your eyes are so red." Mom worried.

"Yes, I'm fine. Jack and I only got in a fight." I knew the fight was about Dallas because that's what they were talking about before we left the house.

"Okay, but if you need anything just call." Mom added.

"Thank you. Soda let's go." Sue waved good-bye.

"What was the fight about, Typhani?" Dad asked.

"Dallas got arrested and Jack was getting mad about it and Sue was trying to calm him down. I don't know what happened after that." I explained.

"Why was he arrested?" Dad asked another question like he always does when something really bugs him. He asks any questions that come to mind on the subject.

"Well when his parents had that fight and Grace walked out on Jack, it really bugged Dallas and he was real upset and angry at the store. Then he started to just take things and the clerk caught him." I confessed. At first I didn't want to tell my parents because I knew they would make a fuss about it but I couldn't ignore it after Sue mentioned it. Mom and Dad don't really like that I'm friends with a bunch of guys in the first place, so with Dallas getting arrested doesn't help the problem.

"Can we just not talk about this?" I stopped the conversation because it was kinda making me sad.

I noticed that Travis was pretty upset too. I mean Dallas and Travis are best friends. They're inseparable, almost like twins. Maybe not twins but like brothers.

The rest of the evening Travis never said a word. I took it that he really was upset about Dallas. I thought about it all evening, even at night while I was lying in my bed. I really hoped that Dallas would be back for school, or at least soon. I was worried about him and I missed him already.

Dallas was no ordinary guy. He was special, well, at least to me. He was different than other guys I've met. He might have been stupid at some times but he put out his best effort to hurt only himself. He really cared about me and Johnny; he cared for us more than he cared for anyone else. It's not that he respected us and treated us like little puppies, he just watched out for us and made sure we were okay before anyone else. He cared for the others but they didn't need him as much as Johnny and I do. Without Dallas, there was a hole in my heart and all I could think about was Dallas. After thinking about it for some time, I realized my parents were kinda right; I needed a girl-friend. Someone I could vent my feelings to and do girlie things with. Not that I was into girlie stuff to begin with but, you know, just someone I could do things with that I wouldn't do with the boys. Now was not the time to think about making new friends. All I needed to worry about was making sure that Dallas would make it out of jail safely and Travis would get over himself and just be friends with Dallas. I have never seen two different people be such good friends. And I was the one that introduced them. I recalled the day they met.

I was over at Johnny's house and everyone else was there too. This time I brought Travis with me. Dallas was the first to greet us and he smiled when he first met Travis. Everyone was real nice to Travis and we all got along well. My parents were happy Travis made friends. They always seemed to look down upon my decisions but accepted Travis'. The next day Dallas had invited Travis to hang out and that's when it started, the beautiful friendship between Dallas Winston and Travis Taylor. They were inseparable, just like Soda and Steve. Well, at least that's what I thought. Who knew something could actually tear them apart.