Well, even if you guys don't review, I'm still gonna upload chapters. This is one of my few stories that I have the whole thing roughly planned out.

I do not own The Outsiders

I managed to stay focused in school, though every now and then I caught myself thinking about Alex. She had looked so angry when I saw her this morning; she could've set a field up in flames with her eyes. I didn't think I had ever seen anyone that mad before and it kind of scared me. It didn't seem fair for someone like her to be so angry all the time.

A couple of girls whispering behind me broke my thoughts. "Did you see that new girl?" a tiny blond said.

"Yeah, her clothes were so awful. Who wears that other than guys?" her friend whispered back. "She really needs to get some sense of fashion. Her hair's too long too. She needs to cut off over half of it just to get rid of the dry ends."

"I wouldn't say that to her though. According to her brothers, who are very cute, she has a reputation for beating people if they make her mad. Probably best just to ignore her."

I shook my head as I turned my attention back to my notebook. I was pretty sure Alex wouldn't give a shit about what those girls were saying, but I hated it when people talked bad about my friends. If they knew about even half of the shit that we had gone through, they wouldn't be saying that stuff.

The day ended faster than I expected it to. I walked towards the door and saw Alex down the hallway. I stopped at the door and waited for her. She paused and glanced at me for a second before walking outside with me following her.

"You stalking me now? Surprised I didn't see your nose mashed up against the window." She let out a small laugh, but I already knew that she was joking.

"Wanna hang out? Seems like you want to put off going home." I fell into step beside her.

Alex looked at me. "Think your friends would be alright hanging with a girl who won't wear skirts?"

I almost rolled my eyes, but stopped myself. I thought of Two-Bit and Dally and I understood why she said that. "Don't think it'll be a problem."

She looked over my shoulder and set her jaw. I followed her gaze and saw Brian and Tyler with a group of Socs. That surprised me because Socs were exclusive and I figured they ignored the middle class families. Brian was looking at us, and it looked like there was a dare in his eyes. Tyler saw us and gave us the same look.

I turned back to Alex, who was pulling out a cigarette. She lit it and blew the smoke out her nose. "Either way, they gotta be better company than those two."

We walked down the street until I saw the gang up ahead, close to my house. They were just standing around, talking and smoking. Two-Bit said something and cracked up, the others just giving him weird looks.

Johnny looked up and saw us. He had a strange look, like he didn't know whether to feel happy I was there or scared that I wasn't alone. I gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Guys, this is Alex. Alex this is Johnny, Dally, Two-Bit, Steve, and my brothers Soda and Darry," I said, gesturing to each as I introduced them.

Alex looked at Johnny and I saw something change in her eyes. For the first time, the hard angry look melted away and was replaced with one that I couldn't exactly place. It looked almost like sympathy, or understanding, but I wasn't sure. She gently patted his shoulder and gave him a small smile.

I kept looking at her. She looked so different when she wasn't angry. I wouldn't go as far as to say that she looked beautiful, but it did soften her appearance a bit to where she almost looked approachable. When she looked up I moved my eyes to the ground, but I could feel a smile tugging at the corner of my lips.

But my feeling quickly left when I saw something light up in Two-Bit's face. Oh no, he was gonna say something and she was going to be pissed.

"Where did Pony find you? And why hasn't he introduced us sooner?" Two-Bit said, his signature smile growing even bigger.

Alex took another drag on her cigarette, the hard look returning to her eyes. "Maybe because we met yesterday." She flicked her ashes toward him. "Try anything with me and you won't feel so high and mighty."

Two-Bit smiled again before he looked over at me. "I like her." Looking back at her, he said, "I'm gonna like hanging out with you." He slapped her back in a friendly way and I noticed that she just barely flinched under his touch.

Soda tapped my shoulder. "Is she the girl I saw you talking with yesterday?" I nodded and he smiled. Why was everyone smiling so much? He reached his hand out to her. "Nice to meet you." She shook it, but when Soda pulled his hand back he flexed his fingers a bit.

Then I saw Dally eyeing her. He stepped up to her and stood what I thought was a little too close. She leaned back and glared up at him. "Mind taking a step back?"

"If you give me something in return I might." His hand fell down to her waist.

He really should not have done that.

Alex pulled her fist back and slugged him in the jaw. Dally reeled back in surprise and I saw that same fire burn in his eyes. He spun back and slapped her face. She rubbed her cheek and glared back. In one swift motion, she pulled off her jacket and threw it at me.

Alex and Dally exchanged a few swings, all of us standing back and watching. Finally Dally punched her in the stomach and she fell to the ground, arms curled around her midsection. Dally stood back, smiling triumphantly. I knelt down next to her.

"You alright?"

She didn't say anything. She slowly stood up, spit out some blood, and pulled her jacket from my arms. She gave the rest of the gang a look that was so intense they all took a step back. As she pulled the worn leather over her bare arms, she looked back at me.

"So was that a welcoming gesture or were they telling me to go to hell?" I opened my mouth to reply, but before I could she turned and started to walk off.

I caught up with her. "Alex wait!" She turned around so fast that her braid flew out and smacked me across the face. "Oww!"

"Sorry Pony."

"Don't worry about it. That was just Dally; he's rougher than the rest of us. Plus you sort of started that when you slugged him. The rest of us aren't that bad. You honestly fit right in. I like you and I can tell that the others do too. We'll watch over you."

"I don't need protection Ponyboy. I can take care of myself." She looked like she wanted to beat me up.

I sighed. "That's not what I meant. We all watch out for each other. If one of us gets hurt, we all feel it. It looks like you get along with Johnny, Two-Bit, and Soda. You probably don't think Dally likes you, but he'll respect you for putting up a fight. So what do you say?"

Alex sighed and looked at the sky. I glanced over my shoulder to see all the guys watching us. When I turned back to her she looked content. Then she smiled, letting it light up her face.

I motioned for her to follow me. "Come on." We walked back to the guys.

Dally looked at her as he rubbed his jaw. "Damn, for a girl you sure can pack a punch. Think you almost dislocated my jaw. Good job."

Steve and Darry walked up and shook her hand, telling her that they were impressed with how she could fight. Then she looked back at me and she looked genuinely happy.

I smiled at her and squeezed her shoulder. "Welcome to the gang."

Hope you enjoyed it.

Ciao,

Kris