Author Note: I hope you are enjoying the story so far! Just a reminder: I do not own the rights to these characters. The rights belong, forever and always, to S. E. Hinton. I'd really appreciate any reviews, good or bad! Thanks!

Sometimes on Soda's lunch break, he would sneak on campus and have lunch with us or we would meet him somewhere. Today he was sneaking on campus. I was sitting at our usual table, waiting for my friends to show up. A girl came up on my right and kinda startled me.

"Excuse me, I'm new here and I was wondering if I could sit here?" The girl asked me. She was blonde with blue eyes, cute but not one of the first people I would ask to be my friend.

"Go ahead." I said.

"Do you always sit by yourself?" She asked.

"No, I'm waiting for my friends." I answered.

"I'm Sandy Mason by the way." She introduced herself.

"I'm Typhani Taylor and you're in my math class right?" I started conversation though math was nothing I was interested in talking about.

"Yes I am." She said. "Who are they?" She pointed to a group of boys messing around and bothering other people.

"That's them, that's my friends." I smiled.

"Oh." She seemed disappointed. "Who's he?" Then she pointed to a boy that almost every girl he passed smiled at him. She smiled too when she saw him.

"Sodapop Curtis, the cutest boy at Will Rogers High School, the guy I've had a crush on since first grade." I mused.

"No wonder you have a crush on him. He is so… different. He stands out from every other guy and I like him." She said and I looked at her making sure she realized that I said I liked him. I dropped it because every girl falls in love with Sodapop.

Two-Bit, Steve, Dallas, and Soda all came over to the table at the same time and surrounded Sandy. They flirted with her and not once asked her for her name.

"So, Typh, who's your friend?" Soda asked me.

"That's Sandy and this is Soda, Two-Bit, Dallas, and Steve." I introduced everybody to each other. I was left out of the flirting and talking but I just did homework I didn't do yet.

History is probably one of the most boring subjects ever! One time I fell asleep and got an F on the quiz we took that day. Today I was about to fall asleep but then I remembered Soda and Steve were in auto shop. So, I decided to tell the teacher I was going to the bathroom but sneak over to the mechanics area of the school. The auto shop teacher, Mr. Wood (how ironic that his name is wood and he's the auto teacher), was pretty cool about kids coming over to hang out with his students. He liked me because I wasn't much of a bother.

I saw Steve standing next to some old truck. He didn't see me come up. I also saw that Soda was the one working on the car.

"Hey." I said looking over Soda's shoulder.

"Hey. Steve." Soda called Steve to bring to his attention that I was here.

"Oh, it's just you." He said coldly.

"It's nice to see you too." I said back sarcastically.

"So have you seen Sandy lately?" Soda asked. His question took me by surprise. I didn't want to answer; so, I asked Steve a question. "Why aren't you doing anything?"

"I already passed this test. Soda needs to pass before we can move on. And besides I know more about cars than you know yourself." Steve smiled, proud that he was so "educated."

"Right."

"C'mon, I really wanna know. Has she said anything about me?" I think Soda was interested in Sandy. But Sandy knew I liked him. She would never date him. At least I don't think she would. Not after I told her.

"Um, you know she hasn't mentioned you. Why do you care?"

"I kinda like her." Soda admitted.

"Fantastic." I said to myself. I saw Steve trying to hold in his laughter. Steve always seems to laugh when I had problems with my crush on Soda. "I gotta go." I pouted back to class.

Sandy and I became very close friends. She was just like all my other friends. She didn't care if I was a Soc or a Greaser. She got along with all my friends and strangely got Soda out of his depression phase. I didn't know if I should be mad about that or just go along with it. I was being the better person and just went along with it. The worst part was that Soda and Sandy got along the best.

About a week after I met Sandy, I had one of the worst days ever. I saw Sandy in math class and at lunch, as usual but after school she was nowhere in sight. So, I didn't wait any longer. I was standing at the front of the school waiting for Soda, now, he was my ride home. I heard running footsteps coming from being me and getting louder. I turned around to indentify the runner as Sandy.

"Typhani, guess what, Soda just asked me out and I said yes!" She shared the "bad" news with me.

"Oh." Was all I could say.

"Aren't you happy for me?" She asked, concerned.

"No, Sandy I told you that I liked Soda and you just think it's okay to date him? I thought you were my friend, I guess not." I complained.

"Fine, if you want to act like a child about this, be my guest." Sandy argued back.

I walked back to where I was waiting. I was thinking about it and Sandy was probably going to go home with Soda and I was in no mood to be with either of them. I wasn't sure if I should be mad at Soda too because he didn't do anything to hurt me purposely. Though he did know I liked him. I stood there arguing with myself about whether I should go home with him or not.

"Hey, Curtis." Someone said from behind me. I looked around me seeing if anyone named "Curtis" was near me. I turned around and saw Dallas. So I figured he was talking to me.

"Why in the world would you think its okay to call me that?" I asked, angered by the nickname.

"I just figured that you and Sodapop would end up getting married one day." I was sure he was joking, but it didn't seem like he was.

"How much do you wanna bet we won't get married?" I made a bet and I was serious.

"Alright, I bet you ten bucks the two of you will get married." We shook on it. "Now tell me what's really wrong."

"I don't want to talk about it here." I said. He dragged me to behind a building.

"Will you tell me here?" He asked.

"Sandy is going out with Soda." I whined

"So?"

"I told Sandy I liked Soda and then she just thought it was okay to go out with him." I raged.

"I thought she was like your best friend?"

"I thought she was too." I said.

"Maybe this will make you feel better." Dallas leaned down and kissed me. My first kiss and it was with Dallas Winston. Some people may call me crazy but it was strangely sweet. He leaned away and I didn't know what to say. I liked the kiss but I couldn't form the words to say it too him. Since I was so speechless, I just walked away and walked home. Maybe I could think of something to say to him but I didn't get much time to think because Two-Bit pulled up alongside me and offered me a ride. I didn't want to turn him down so I got in the car.

"Just take me home." I murmured still in shock.

"You alright?" Two-Bit asked paying more attention to me than the road.

"Two-Bit be careful!" I moved his head back to the road. "Sandy's going out with Soda."

"Oh, I heard about that. Man, I've never seen Soda so happy with anyone before. So, really what's wrong with you?" He asked, again. He obviously didn't know I liked Soda.

"You don't remember?"

"Remember what?" He was confused now.

"I guess you don't remember."

"Remember what?" He was dying to know now.

"That I've liked Soda since we met in first grade." I let him in on the secret.

"Pfft, I knew that. I thought it was something else." Two-Bit's voice was filled with disappointment. "Well, I am sorry your dream guy was snatched right from under your nose."

He dropped me off at home and I was relieved to finally be alone. Even if it was in my dreary home where nothing good ever happens. I went right to the kitchen for a snack, disappointment, I found nothing good to eat. So I went up to my room to start the homework I was never going to finish. I sat on my bed for a little while when Dallas came in through my window.

"Hey, Taylor, why'd you run away?" He came and sat beside me.

"I was scared. I didn't know what to think or… I just couldn't process the fact that you kissed me. Dallas, that was my first kiss." I said.

"Were you scared because you didn't know what your old man would say?" He tried to guess.

"No, it's just the fact that you kissed me, that's all."

"Here, I want you to have this." He pulled a silver chain out of his pocket with a simple cross pendent attached.
"Dallas, it's beautiful." I took it from his hands and admired the piece of art he brought for me.

"My mom told me to give it to the person I cared most about." He told me the background of the necklace.

"So you carry it in your pocket until you find the one you care most about?" I joked.

"Nah, I stole it from her jewelry box earlier today." He said. I smirked at his crime. "Look, Typhani, I really like you. Will you please be my girlfriend?"

"No." I put my finger to his mouth to keep him from commenting on my answer because I knew he would complain. "But, I will say yes when you break up with Sylvia."

"Uh, you are so stubborn." He complained.

"Promise?"

"Alright, I promise to break up with Sylvia." He gave in.

"Good, now get out of here before my dad see's you." He kissed me one last time and climbed back out the window.

The next day I was eager to find out if Dallas followed through on his promise. I knew he would but I wasn't sure if he would lie about it or not. My only problem was that I couldn't find Dallas all day and I looked everywhere. While I was walking past a park that was on the way to my house, I found Dallas there with Sylvia. They were arguing, yelling loudly, I figured it was about Dallas breaking up with her. I wasn't planning to go over there but then Sylvia saw me and I had to go over there.

"Speak of the devil. Here's your little sweetheart." Sylvia was really mad now. "You better watch it Taylore was heheee." She was walked away in a huff.

"Well, I'm all yours now. And you saw me break with her, so…" Dallas was trying to get me to say I'm his girlfriend.

"Yes, I will be your girlfriend." I smiled. He put his arm around my shoulder and walked me home.

"Isn't it dangerous for you to be walking around here?" I worried.

"Nah, I'm okay as long as I got you. Now if I was alone, yeah, that guy over there would come and try to pick a fight with me. But no guy would ever try to jump someone when he's with a girl or when that girl is a Soc with a hood, like you for example." He explained.

I found it funny what people would do just to beat someone up but then there were rules you had to follow as to who you beat up and when you cannot jump them. Then I wondered why this all happened, why one neighborhood was against the other. It's like we're living in our own war that we couldn't get out of until some hippie takes over and says, "Peace not war!"

We got to my house and I made Dallas leave because my dad was home. He kissed me before leaving and it was like being in heaven for a second of my life. I went inside; finally home, not that I should be excited about that or anything. Both Dad and Mom were already home, sitting in the living room reading the paper. I didn't bother to say hello and went upstairs. Travis was in his room, on the phone. I stood in the doorway, watching him, he was obviously talking to a girl because his laugh was fake and he was pacing. That's what he did when he was nervous or talking to a girl. He hung up and sighed. He turned and saw me standing in the doorway and he jumped, not expecting to see me there.

"What's her name?" I asked.

"I wasn't talking to a girl." He lied.

"Travis, you were doing that fake laugh thing. Anyone could tell you were talking to a girl."

"Okay, yeah, her name is Cynthia. I'm meeting her here in a few minutes. I'm gonna wait for her outside."

"You mean she's coming to pick you up?" I asked, strangely bothered by the fact that he was going to make his girlfriend come pick him up.

"Nah, my friends are picking me up and then we are going to get her." He explained and walked out before I could ask any more questions. He seemed angry with me, aggravated. I walked back to my room, where I looked out the window to see what Travis was really doing. He was standing there facing away from our house. He then turned and faced the house across the street from us and all I could see was the cigarette in his mouth. My mouth dropped open. I never thought in a million years that Travis would ever smoke. I ran outside to catch him before his friends did, if they were even coming.

"What are you doing?" I pulled the cigarette from his mouth and put it out, smashing it on the ground.

"Waiting for my friends, what're you doing?" He was even more aggravated with me now.

"Travis, what happens when Dad sees you?" I was making sure that he wouldn't get into any trouble.

"He already knows, so don't worry about it. Look, I did lie to you about Cynthia. She doesn't want to go out with me. Nobody is coming to get me. I just needed to come out here and calm myself. Why are you so worried if I smoke, all your friends do it?" He said.

"I can tell them all I want but it won't stop them, but you're my brother and you might actually listen to me." I explained.

"Well, too bad because I ain't going to listen to you this time." He went back inside. I decided to leave him alone; it was probably what he wanted all this time. I went back inside too. Mom and Dad were in the exact same position they were in when I came home. Ignoring them I went back upstairs.