Sixteen
Chapter Two

Author's Note: Hello, Everyone. I hope you're all having a fabulous day.

I would've updated the other day, but before a new chapter is posted, my goal is to have a couple extra chapters written. Also, something terrible is happening with my grandfather, and that had delayed my writing that was suppose to occur over the weekend. Although I won't bore you with the details, please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. I would really appreciate it.

And lastly, I'd like to thank andthatwasenough & bindizoya-sagittaquarius. I really appreciate both of you reviewing, and I hope to hear from both of you with each new chapter to come!

In chapter two, we meet a few new characters, and I'm curious to see what you all think of them. My cousin currently doesn't know how to feel about one of the lovely ladies in this chapter. ;)


Dad didn't seem too concerned earlier when he found out I was hanging out with kids from the East side. Initially, I was pretty shocked. My parents were aware of how some of the kids on that side of town behaved, and when my dad only stared at me blankly, not displaying any form of alarm, I thought maybe he, along with my mom, had experienced a change of heart. My parents were affectionate and always willing to help others in need, so I thought they were more accepting of people on the East side, knowing fully that they could hardly make ends meet each week.

Boy, was I wrong with that guess.

It turns out Dad didn't seem to care too much about my new take of friends because he was waiting to react once Mom got home. Now, I'm aware he was waiting for her to know, so he could feed off her reaction for the fear that if he had responded while alone, he would've either been too hard or too lenient on me.

Now that I realize this is what he's doing, I'm actually pretty thankful for it.

"Honey, we need to talk about Eileen's latest interest," Dad begins. Mom, along with my older sister, Imogene, and older brother, Douglas, look up towards him. For the fear of how my mom will react, I continue staring blankly at my plate, pushing my spaghetti noodles around with a preoccupied mind. "I believe she skipped her afternoon classes today, and she told me that she was hanging out with her new friends from the East side." Imogene gasps loudly, successfully catching my attention.

"What's the matter, Imogene?"

"Mom, she's hanging out with greasers," she explains. "She's hanging out with hoods. They're going to get her into serious trouble. Do you know what their idea of fun consists of?" When Mom turns to look at me, I can see her eyes swimming with worry. "If she makes them mad, they might even hurt her."

"That's not true, Mom!"

"Honey, I don't know if I'm comfortable with you hanging out with those teens. If what Imogene said is true, those boys, and even the girls, could possibly hurt you. You've seen them on the news. Darling, they hold up gas stations and stuff like that. They're well trained when it comes to fights, and I wouldn't be surprised if their arguments resorted to fists automatically." Dad nods his head, wordlessly expressing he shares the same concern as my mother.

"Mom, they're not as bad as you think they are," I share. "I don't doubt that there are some dangerous greasers out there, but these guys, and girls, aren't that bad." Douglas swallows some of his dinner, staring at me the whole time.

"What's their names?"

"Well, there's Sodapop Curtis, Two-Bit Mathews, Steve Randle, Dallas Winston, and some girls named Sandy, Sylvia and Evie." Imogene's eyes widen drastically while Douglas looks towards Mom nervously.

"Yeah," he answers quietly. "I don't blame you for not wanting her to hang around them. Soda and Two-Bit aren't bad, but Steve has quite a temper, and Dallas is in jail more than he's not. Rumor has it that he's got a long list down at the station, and all of the cops know him by name." Imogene's face drains of color, and to be honest, I'm not too sure if it's over the description Douglas has provided my family with of Dallas or if it's because I consider those boys my new friends.

"If those two boys aren't that great, then surely the girls aren't the nicest too, right?" Dad asks, desperately craving more information in order to keep me, his little girl, safe and away from those "goons". Douglas merely shrugs his shoulders.

"I've heard about them," Imogene speaks up. "Carolyn's little sister is fairly good friends with Sandy. She's not too bad; from what I understand, she's a ditz, but she's an absolute sweetheart, willing to go out of her way for anyone. She's not like a typical greaser girl, but as for the other two, I haven't heard such good things about." Mom looks at her, silently pleading with her to continue.

"Come on, Imogene, tell us what you know about those other girls." Dad speaks gently, persuading my oldest sibling to expose them of Evie and Sylvia's persona.

"From what I understand, Sylvia is a frequent customer of Buck's. She has this on-again-off-again relationship with Dallas Winston, and whenever they're not together, she's down at his place dancing dirty with some other men. I don't think Evie is as bad as her. I think Evie is more civil and not as erotic, but I know that she can either be your best friend or she can be your worst enemy. Either way, I've heard that Evie is an absolute witch, even if you're her best friend." Dad and Mom share a quick glance with each other before turning their attention towards me.

"We don't want you hanging out with those teens again," Dad instructs. "If we catch your, or if Imogene or Douglas catch you, there will be severe consequences. Do you understand, young lady?" As discreet as I can be, I roll my eyes; to my amazement, my parents fail to notice.

"Eileen, it's for your own good," Mom adds sweetly. "You're smart, and you're a good girl. You don't need to be getting mixed up with teens like that. What happened to Jacquelyn? Aren't you two still friends? You have her. You have no reason to hang around those teens. Do you understand why we're doing this?" With an agitated grumble, I answer her question.

"Yes, Mom, I understand."

XxXxXxX

It's been almost a week since my parents calmly demanded that I remain as far away from my greasers friends as possible. For the first few days, I felt guilty and awful for disobeying them, but as the time spent with them progresses, the guilt goes away. Although greasers are notorious for negative things in this town, this group is more fun than Jacquelyn and our small group of friends ever were.

At lunch, Jacquelyn eagerly waves me over with a gigantic smile on her face. My eyes dart towards the corner of the cafeteria, where Sodapop and his friends are sitting. Like Jacquelyn, he's motioning me towards their group. I bite down on my bottom lip, deciding on where to go. With my old friend acknowledging me, I'm starting to feel the ever familiar feeling of guilt that I was so positive I abandoned earlier this week. The only positive about this reoccurring feeling is that the source isn't from disobeying my parents.

Instead, it's from pushing my grade school best friend out of my life.

With a heavy sigh, I start towards Soda's table. I try not to think about Jacquelyn, and how she's probably watching my back with hurt set in her eyes. My mind dwells on it; no matter how much I force myself to think of something else, the mental image of her makes itself present.

I drop my tray beside Soda, controlling myself as best as I can to not look back at Jacquelyn, and I can feel myself wanting to give in. My self-control is weakening, and I know that any minute, I'm going to cave. "Hey, what's wrong?" Soda asks, grabbing my attention. I look at him, plastering a fake smile onto my face.

"Nothing," I lie, trying harder to push her out of my mind. Sodapop, along with Sandy and Two-Bit, don't look convinced. "I promise, nothing is wrong. I'm fine." All three of them continue staring at me while Dallas, Sylvia, Steve and Evie carry on with their own conversation. "I have to say, you guys are really lucky my brother and sister aren't in the same lunch as us." Soda seems to forget about my previous guilty state. He cracks a wide grin.

I couldn't help but share with them what my parents said to me. I should've known better; I should've kept it to myself for the fear that I would manage to offend them, but I couldn't help myself. I felt they deserved to know.

To my surprise, they took it exceptionally well. Soda, Two-Bit and Sandy found a lot of humor in it; they laughed for a good few minutes. Sylvia merely rolled her eyes, and I managed to get a self-satisfied smirk from Dallas, a grin from Evie and a few seconds of laughter from Steve.

I had felt fairly accomplished, no doubt.

"Oh, yes," Sandy giggles. "I bet these hooligans are gonna jump ya after school." Sodapop wraps his arm around Sandy's shoulders, pulling her against his body. He presses a kiss to her temple before pulling her into a headlock. "Soda!" She sequels through laughs, struggling to break free.

"Sandy, you're givin' away our plans! Now, she's gonna know." He playfully scolds, ruffling up her hair. Seconds later, he releases her.

"You two are nuts."

XxXxXxX

Sodapop takes a seat beside me in English, dropping his copy of Grapes of Wrath onto the table. "Hello, Doll Face," he greets, sitting down. "Steve an' I are gonna head out on the town tonight. Wanna come with? It's Friday night an' all. You ain't got plans, do you?" I shake my head slowly, trying to comprehend what's going on.

It sounds as though Sandy and Evie aren't going, and if that's the case, why in the world would Soda want me to tag along?

Before I think twice, I voice my concern. "If it's only you and Steve, why do you want me to go?" Soda shrugs.

"I dunno," he comments. "We're gonna have a fun time tonight, and I was just wonderin' if you wanna go or not. Are ya in?"

"I don't know. I'll think about it. What do you two even plan on doing anyway?" Soda starts to smile like a madman, ultimately causing newer concerns of mine to skyrocket. "Soda, I can't get into trouble with the law or else my parents are going to kill me."

"It's a surprise," he answers, staring at me innocently. "But trust me, we ain't gonna get caught by any police. If we do, we'll take all the blame, and we'll convince the officer to not pin anything on you." My eyes widen, and I'm sure he's staring at an expression of absolute horror. Sodapop laughs, turning to get his desk ready for class.

Weakly, I turn forward to face the chalkboard.

As Mrs Gramm bores the class with her overanalyzed explanation of Grapes of Wrath, I find myself thinking hard about all of the excitement going out with Soda and Steve tonight will bring.

Lately, the idea of getting caught with these greasers excites me. I know that sneaking out of the house once my parents and siblings have retired to their room will bring an adrenaline rush, and once the idea inhabits itself into my mind, I find myself start to crave the rush.

I anxiously tap my fingers on the top of my desk. I'm sure everyone around me can tell I'm starting to get antsy, and frankly, I don't know if I'll be able to remain calm until the end of class. I'm going to explode.

I can't wait to tell Soda that I'm in for whatever antics he and Steve plan on partaking in this evening.

XxXxXxX

Jacquelyn races to my side, inviting herself to walk home with me. Honestly, I don't care. I'm too engrossed in the thought of what Soda and Steve have in mind for later tonight.

All I know is that I'm suppose to be at the end of my block by 12:30 this evening.

"How come you didn't sit with me today?" Jacquelyn asks, making her presence known. Instead of a verbal answer, I shrug my shoulders. "I've noticed you been hanging out with those greasers lately. What's up with that?"

"I don't know, Jackie."

"I don't want them getting you into trouble. You're aware that it's going to happen, right? What do your parents think of them? Do they know about how much trouble they're going to get you in?" She impatiently brushes her curly brown hair out of her face, waiting for my response.

"Jacquelyn," I sigh. "They aren't as bad as you think they are. Yes, the whole town of Tulsa makes them sound like they're going to kill anyone who looks at them wrong, but no, they're actually fun to hang around." She frowns, weakly shaking her head.

"No, I highly doubt that, Eileen. They're no good, trouble making hoodlums."

"Seriously, Jacquelyn?" I groan, rolling my eyes. "Sure, they do get into trouble. Who doesn't? No one is perfect. But is it really necessary to degrade them when you're not on speaking terms with any of them? Do you really have a right to talk terribly about them when all you're familiar with is the stereotypes that the soc put on them?" She opens her mouth to intervene. Before she can get in a word, I proceed with my rant. "I'm not trying to say they're perfect, but neither are you, Jacquelyn. And before you start to criticize them, how about trying to get to know one of them? After that, you have something to base your currently insulting opinion off of."

She stops abruptly, taken off guard that I would basically defend a bunch of poorer teens. I halt seconds later. I turn to look at her; Jackie stares back at me angrily; her arms crossed over her chest tightly. "If that's the case, don't come crawling back to me when you realize they're screwing up your future." Jacquelyn turns suddenly, storming off in the opposite direction.

I watch her wander off, wondering if she could have possibly been anymore dramatic.


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