"What's up with you today?" Soda asked Dallas, who was opening the gate.

"She's being a bitch, and what's worse, she'll have you running around like dogs." He held the gate open so Soda could exit.

"What? You are the one who brought her here."

"And you aren't complaining, are you? You like what you see." Dallas pointed out, taking another cigarette out of his pocket.

"So do you, Dallas" Soda looked into his eyes. "But she isn't the problem; you are."

"And how so?"

Soda approached and whispered, "I know why you brought her here. It's not for her looks and neither for helping her out."

"Really, Curtis?"

"Where's the necklace."

His face grimed.

"Come on, Soda, you know I can't pay my debts."

"Us too, Dallas, but this is just not right."

"I'll tell you what's not right. The Socs no right to come to your workplace and start a fight, and that bitch-girl, whose name is unknown to you, is so rich that she didn't even notice that she didn't have shoes on her feet. How many of these necklaces does she have? Can you imagine? I know you know what I'm trying to say, Soda."

Soda hesitated. Yes, he understood that the Socs and the Greasers had a drastic difference concerning money, but it just didn't feel right; that's not how his parents nor Darry taught him or educated him. It was wrong.

"I've never seen her around, she will never remember about it."

Soda wasn't sure of anything that he had said. Dallas went to open the door of his car.

Back in the Curtis house, Johnny and Ponyboy were in the middle of an interrogation.

"Natalie, where are you from?" Johnny asked the guest. Ponyboy and Johnny, the little hearts of the Greasers, were very excited to see someone so unusual in their neighborhood.

"I'm from France."

"Like really from France?"

"Yes," she smiled warmly, "I shall be going."

"No, it's better if you stay. You still feel dizzy, and besides, you're bleeding." Ponyboy argued.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, don't worry."

"Alright, could you go ask if my suitcase is in the car?"

They both stood up and quickly left the house, which made her very satisfied. She liked when people listened to her.

"Hey, Dallas," Ponyboy interrupted his conversation with Soda. "Is there a suitcase by any chance in your car?"

"Dallas!" Soda snapped. "Are you serious?!"

"Calm down, I was about to get it." Dally rolled his eyes and opened the car door. "Here, grab it, boys."

"Seriously, I don't want to see you do stuff like that."

"It never bothered you, and now it does, huh" Dally pointed out. "And don't forget the shoes."

The shoes. Soda felt the expensive material of the heels again and carefully looked at the brand. Maybe Dally was right, she wouldn't have cared less. Or would she?

"Thank you for the shoes and the suitcase." Natalie thanked Johnny and Ponyboy.

"Why the suitcase? Are you traveling?" Johnny asked her.

"No, well, yes. I was out of town."

"You live here?"

"Yes, it's been a week since I moved."

"From France?"

"Yes."

"And where were you yesterday?"

"I will tell you some other day."

"Soda, will Natalie stay here for the night since we can't bring her home?" Ponyboy asked his brother.

"Yes, come to Natalie, I'll show you your room."

She followed Soda, who was followed by Ponyboy. Sodapop was feeling dizzy too - she was in a greaser's house. He didn't have any problems bringing a greaser girl to his place, but now he felt that it wasn't enough to make her satisfied, and he wanted her to be.

"I'll just sleep on the couch," Pony said, leaving them two alone.

"You don't have a spare room?"

"It's a long story." Soda didn't want to talk about it.

"No, you can stay and tell me."

"I don't understand you," Soda smiled. "You want to know about other people, but you don't share about yourself."

"You owe me," she said, emphasizing the you.

"Here's your suitcase," Ponyboy interrupted them by placing a beige luggage on the bed.

"Thank you," Natalie said as she stood up from the bed. "Could you help me to unzip my dress for me? I'll go take a shower."

"Since you have a suitcase, you were traveling? Where do you live?" Sodapop tried to act natural.

"I moved here last week," she answered. "And this week, I went out of town for a few days."

Soda stood behind her as she held her tangled hair in her hand, lifting it. Dallas was watching them in the door frame without them both knowing.

"Please be careful, Soda, it's a gentle material."

He gently unzipped her dress.

"Here's your purse, I forgot it in my car." Dallas intervened, placing it on Soda's bed.

When she left, Soda came back to the living room, where Dallas waited for him.

"I can't stand this kind of people," Dallas started to complain, as usual, "Unzip my dress this way, gently, don't ruin the fabric." He mimicked.

"Come on, Dallas, it's her way of living." Ponyboy said, sitting on the couch.

"And don't try to defend her just because she was nice to you." Dallas repeated himself.

"It's an expensive dress, wouldn't you say the same in her position?" Soda didn't even look at him.

"Of course, of course, I would even-"

"Stop buggin', everyone, Dallas, what's wrong with you? Isn't it your fault she's here," Soda snapped. "Be thankful that she doesn't call the police, especially on you."

Soda knew that he was annoyed because Dallas thought that he could rob her as she wouldn't be staying in town, it turned out she lived here now.

It was the longest hour for the Curtis boys, who wanted to use the bathroom before going to bed. Darry gave up and wished the boys good night while Soda waited patiently to use the restroom.

"Natalie?" Soda gently knocked on the door. "May I come in?"

"Yes, come in."

She was finishing up her hair, was she there for one hour just combing them? But he had no right to complain, she looked like a lavish black swan in her nearly transparent nightgown.

She left the bathroom and went back into the living room. There was no one around. She went back inside the bedroom, analyzing everything on her way there.

She opened her leather purse to see if everything was in place. The two envelopes seemed untouched when she took them out. She then proceeded to clean the room a little bit, she put the suitcase on the floor, hung the dress and the purse on the back of a chair, and tried to go to sleep, but outside the dogs were barking, and the streetlight disturbed her from her sleep.

Soda tip toed quietly to see if she was already asleep. Natalie was laying in his bed, waiting for him.

"Soda, stay here, tell me more about your family."

He walked in and sat on the bed besides her.

"My older brother is Darry, the one that got the band-aids, he works two jobs, well not anymore, it's a bit complicated…." Soda started quickly and felt that he was saying too much.

"You can continue, I don't mind." She smiled at him.

"Well, he has a girlfriend now and he wants to spend more time with her, it's normal, so he quit one of his jobs." Soda explained, "So it's more difficult for me, I have to work all the time, but I guess it's my time to start to finance the family the way Darry always did."

She stayed silent.

"And Ponyboy, he's the youngest, and he's in college. It's what matters the most, he's good at school."

"It's going to be okay, Soda." she said as she sat down on the bed facing him, "My life isn't the same, but I understand how hard it is to earn money to live."

"And, well, our parents had a car accident, so we try to stay together now with my brothers, but it's not that easy sometimes."

"I don't have any brothers or sisters, I'm all alone." she shared. "And now that I moved, I do not know anyone around here."

"Well," he smiled, "You know us now."

"You are surely a very sweet family."

Her fox eyes intimidated him, he couldn't stay concentrated. Her feminine energy filled the room, she attracted every bit of Soda. It felt like she knew what she was capable of.

"So, Darry's girlfriend, how she's like?"

"Well," Soda looked away for a second, thinking, "I only saw her onc,; I think it hasn't been a really long time."

"And you?"

"Me?"

"You don't have a girlfriend?"

"I don't." Soda smiled nervously, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

She looked straight into his eyes, smiling a little "What would you like the answer to be?"

Soda bit his lip. "I-"

"Let's go to sleep, Soda," she said as she pulled the sheets away, "You can stay, I feel dizzy a little."

Soda was still speechless from her answer. It wasn't that frequent that a girl held him in a tight grip, it was rare that a girl would've been so… so confident while with him?

He couldn't help it, he wanted to spend the night with her too, so he switched his flirty side on too, but carefully.

He lay next to her and whispered, "Are you sure you want me to sleep next to you?"

She was looking at his lips while he spoke and approached even closer, so he could feel her breathing. "Turn off the lights, Soda."

Soda felt shivers down his spine. Natalie sure knew what she was doing with him. But he didn't want to move; he wanted to stay right there.

"Soda, the lights." she repeated.

He turned his body to switch the lights off. When he turned back to where he was, she was already lying on the pillow with her eyes closed.

The tension was crazy, and he hoped that not only for him but for her too. She didn't seem to mind that they had met a few hours ago, but why, why would he care anyway, he used to bring girls sometimes and didn't care much, but now he did. He wanted to make things right because he never felt anything like it before.

He didn't know if he was dreaming or if it was real, but she surely did bump accidentally, or not, into his body at night; she even put her head on his chest, or maybe not. Maybe it was something he wished would have happened.