Thank you so much for your reviews. FrankElza thank you. I am so excited about what is to come. She gets close with a lot of the greasers. But more about that later. BrokenAskeus she will have a love interest, but you will have to wait and see who that is. :) I am really excited about this story. I have had it in my head for years so now it is time to share. Please continue to read and review. Let me know what you guys think. :)

Avoid

The rest of the week I avoided the greasers. I saw Johnny Cade, but I was afraid to talk to him. My brother would be pissed and I didn't want him to hurt Johnny.

As the weekend came around I was confused. I was supposed to hate the greasers, and they were supposed to hate me. They were supposed to be these bad guys, but Johnny wasn't the one causing problems. That stupid Soc was the one that was going to beat him up.

I was frustrated and didn't want to wait for Bob to get out of practice. I saw Randy walking up the hill to the football field.

"Hey, Randy?" I ran up to him. "Can you tell Bob I walked home?"

"Alone? I don't think he is going to like that Lizzie."

"Just tell him I'm not feeling well." I sighed. "I will be fine."

"Okay…..be careful Lizzie. Stay on the Soc side…" I nodded and suppressed my urge to roll my eyes.

I walked away from him and started home. I would be on the Soc side most of the way, but there was a short cut I knew. I didn't think it would hurt anything. Well I guess I wasn't thinking.

Here I was a Soc in a pretty… wel l ugly dress to me walking into gang territory. That seemed smart.

"Hey what do we have here?" A young guy came out from behind a car.

"I….I just…..I am going home…" I tried to sound brave, but I knew I didn't. He was not just a greaser. He was part of a gang. I started getting scared.

"You look to pretty to be walking alone. Maybe I should help you out." He got closer to me.

"No I am fine thank you." I backed up.

"Oh come on sweetheart I just want to help." He walked toward me again. I backed up and felt someone wrap their arms around me from behind.

"Well what do we have here?" Another man said in my ear. "A Soc in our neck of the woods?"

"Let me go." I struggled to get free.

"Hey! Let her go Tim." I heard Johnny's voice.

"Stay out of it kid!" Tim said back.

I look up and see Johnny looking at us.

An older guy came up behind Johnny. He looked like he was protecting him.

"You heard him Tim! Let her go," the guy said.

Tim scoffed but let me go.

I ran to Johnny and he put me behind him. "It's okay." Johnny said.

Tim crossed his arms. "You may want to let your Soc friend know where the territories are."

Johnny nodded and pushed me in front of him as we walked away.

"Why are you walking home?" Johnny asked me tensely.

"I…I didn't want to wait for Bob." I had tears in my eyes, but I hid them. "Thank you….for helping me….."

I looked up at the other guy. "Both of you."

"Well you shouldn't be out here." The other guy said.

"Dally.." Johnny started.

"No Johnny she needs to stay where she belongs."

"He is right Johnny. I don't want to cause problems. I'm sorry if I have."

Johnny stopped me. "You didn't cause any problems. Just don't come that way. If you want a short cut go to the greaser side. I told them what you did for me. They won't let you get hurt."

I nodded and then we kept walking. They walked me to the Soc side and turned to leave.

"Hey…thanks again."

"Just be careful kid," Dally said to me. "Tim Shepard is not one to mess with."

I nodded. Johnny smiled at me a bit and we parted.

When I got to the dinner all the Socies hung out at, I heard my brother's car come up behind me.

"Elizabeth, get in the car." I nod and got in.

"You know you're not supposed to walk home alone. You are supposed to wait for me. "

"I didn't feel well Bob." I said as I closed my door.

He sighed. "Well still. It's not safe. Did you stay on the Soc side?"

I nodded. I had to lie. I didn't want him to be mad at me again.

"Just, don't do that again. I was worried about you."

I nodded again.

The greasers everyone in my life told me were bad had just saved me. How can that be bad? Dally looked mad, but he also seemed to care.

I wanted to be their friend. I wonder if Johnny told me the truth. Did they really want to protect me because of what I did for him? They looked and acted tough, but then again so did my brother. My brother hides his pain with alcohol. Maybe they hid theirs with grease.