AN: Somewhere along the way I accidentally replaced chapter 1 with chapter 2, so there were two chapter 2s in a row, how embarrassing! I realize I probably lost a lot of potential readers that way, but if there's a chance you came back for a second try, everything should be all fixed. Don't be afraid to holler at me in the future if that happens again ;w;

Chapter 1

Virginia Campbell had just finished eating with her mother, which left her half an hour to get ready before her ride showed up. It would be her, Connie, Connie's boyfriend, Arthur, and Joann tonight. She and Joann would third-and-forth-wheel, like always, but at least Arthur had a car and was pleasant enough to be around, if not a little too quiet.

The girl went up to her room to change. It wasn't freezing outside but it was still a spring night, so she threw on a warm sweater and a pair of thick tights under her skirt. She'd most likely end up packing a blanket to throw over the girls' laps too. She let down her hair and got to work brushing it out. It was dark brown and had natural curls that made it poof out. Brushing it too much always made it sillier looking, in her opinion, so she wore it up and out of her face at school and at work, where she would constantly be leaning over her paperwork or restocking shelves.

If only her mom would let her cut it, then she could leave it down all the time and avoid the headaches and the odd folds that hair ties left.

She fiddled with her hair and makeup until she heard a honk outside.

"What time is it over?" called Mrs. Campbell as her daughter descended the steps in a hurry. Mrs. Campbell and her daughter were nearly identical, if you didn't account for the features that came with age. They had the same long, dark hair and chocolate eyes, and they both had narrow faces with long eyelashes. The only things that didn't match were that Mrs. Campbell's complexion was shades darker and she spoke with a hint of an accent her daughter didn't have.

"Nine-thirty, I think," answered Virginia, pulling on her overcoat, "maybe ten if they start the cartoons late."

"Please call me if you're going to be late." Her mother always worried.

Virginia promised she would, and asked if she could relay to her father where she was when he got home.

The familiar pale yellow Chrysler waited outside, pulled up alongside the curb with three teeangers waiting inside. Virginia hurried over, gently closing the front door behind her, and stepped into the car with a warm greeting. She sat in the back next to Joann Turner.

Joann was a shrinking violet in all manner of the word: she was a bookworm who's favorite color was light purple. She did well in school unless she had to present anything in front of class. She'd mumble her way through as few sentences as she could while her dishwater blonde hair hung down in front of her face. She'd take a low grade if it meant she could go sit back down. In private, though, she was kind and honest, and could really get to talking if it was about something she liked.

Connie Novich was louder, and had long auburn hair and bright blue eyes. She used to care a lot about books and grades and music, but since freshman year she mostly only cared about growing up and getting married.

Virginia used to fit perfectly in their friend group, but she struggled to find her place anymore. She could talk to strangers or keep to herself. She made decent grades but wasn't on the honor roll. This year, she started helping out at her dad's shop since she wasn't involved in any extracurriculars, and more so this year she found herself playing protector for Joann when Connie would knit-pick her about the clothes she wore or the boys she liked.

Driving, as he always did, was Arthur Heimbach. He was new to the group, in the grand scheme of things. He and Connie had been going together for a little over a year, and after all that time, Virginia still wasn't sure about him. He was over six feet and all bones. Connie did all his talking for him it seemed, until he did get the odd word in here or there, all of which left Virginia a little more annoyed than she was before he opened his mouth.

They pulled away from Virginia's house on 17th Street right as the sun started to set.

Conversations of homework, dances, and gossip flew through the car on the short ride to the Admiral Twin. A quick pass through town led to the service road, and then to the rocky entrance of the drive-in. A number of cars crept through the gates in front of them.

Once inside, Arthur put the car in park and the four teens filed out. Virginia never really understood going to the drive-in if you were going to sit outside anyway, but she wouldn't have been able to see the movie from the backseat, and the proper cinema in town didn't reshow movies that had already been out. She paid the quarter to get in and made her way to the outdoor seating. Connie and Arthur got drinks while Joann and Virginia kept anyone else from sitting in their seats, even if the Admiral was hardly busy this time of year.

After everyone settled in the hard plastic chairs, the advertisements lit up, projected on the big screen, the lights dimmed, and a hush fell over the crowd. Soon after, when all the color had completely gone from the sky, the MGM lion roared through the speakers and the film opened up on a beach in Fort Lauderdale.

Virginia was so enthralled with the movie that she practically fell out of her seat when a deep voice called out from behind. Everyone was taken out of the fictional Rusty Wells' performance of "Do the Clam" instantly.

"You kids behaving yourselves tonight?" The stern voice was louder than the music and earned a few shushes from the audience. Virginia's heart raced. It had sounded like a police officer until she whipped her head around to discover the source.

Virginia had completely forgotten the boy's threat to show up until he was a foot from her face with a greeting.

"Howdy," Two-Bit Mathews said, voice now his own. He was wearing his signature leather jacket and a look of mischief.

"What are you doing here?" Virginia shot at him in a sharp whisper.

"I told ya I'd come, didn't I?" He didn't even try to keep his voice down and was shushed again by someone a few aisles away. He partially took the hint, plopping down in the seat right behind Virginia. He leaned forward, crossing his arms on the back of her chair and getting closer to her ear to talk. "Y'all started the fun without me."

The smell of alcohol on his breath wafted directly to Virginia's nose. She supposed 8pm on a Saturday was a reasonable time to get drunk, not that she had anything to compare it to. She was never expecting the results to be this close to her.

"We're about half-way through by now," she informed him. Her eyes were sliding back and forth between a profile view of Two-Bit and the happenings on the screen. A different song was playing now, this one slow and charming, as she observed Two-Bit Mathews at the closest he had ever been.

He had rusty-brown hair; sides combed back, front combed forward and twisted, and slickly styled with grease. He had a straight nose and eyebrows that were even straighter (until he spoke, that is, then they arched up and down with an abundance of expression.) His long sideburns poked out onto his cheeks, and Virginia half expected if they grew any longer they would run right into his smile lines.

He either had grey or blue eyes, she couldn't quite tell at this time of night, but she was currently betting on blue.

And he was handsome, not that she'd ever admit it to him or her friends. They hardly ever agreed with her taste in men in the first place.

"Well, what'd I miss?" Two-Bit asked. Before Virginia could come up with a response, Arthur had cut in.

"Why don't you leave her alone?" said Arthur harshly, leaning back in his seat to make eye contact. Arthur was very non confrontational, so it threw Virginia off that he was saying something now, from four seats down. Her eyes flashed back and forth between them.

"I'm not-"

"Get outta here, you filthy greaser," Connie was now snapping in a harsh whisper.

"Watch it!" Two-Bit's voice flashed cold, the first time Virginia had ever heard it that way. Her eyes were darting between the three of them now.

"He's not bothering anyone," added Virginia, finally finding her words. She looked back and forth, baffled by what the couple had said. She and her friends had always been such wallflowers. She knew of the divide in her school and in Tulsa as a whole, but they always agreed they were never on one side or the other. She felt her place was near invisible, placed smack dab in the middle without a stake in the never ending fights. Her friends' families weren't rich, but they did okay, so why suddenly the harsh words?

"If he doesn't leave now, the piece of shit'll end up picking a fight with someone," said Arthur, throwing a glare. He put an arm around Connie to hold her a little tighter and Virginia suddenly thought how she preferred it when he didn't talk at all.

"Why? You lookin' for a fight?" Two-Bit was getting to his feet now, eyes blazing.

"No, now cool it!" Arthur shot back with no intention of getting up.

Joann was shuddering in her seat at all the commotion. Virginia knew she had to intervene somehow.

"Yeah, cool it, both of you," she repeated in a much more gentle tone. She stood up from her seat, trying her best to think of a way to ease the tension. "Come with me to get a shake?"

It must have worked because Two-Bit eventually tore his attention away from Arthur, stuffed his hands in the pockets on his jacket, and gave a nod.

"Ginny, don't be like that…" could be heard from behind the two, but they were already walking off in the direction of the convenience stand.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Virginia started apologizing.

"I'm sorry," she said, hoping Two-Bit would relax, "they've never acted like that before." That wasn't one hundred percent true. Connie had never been the biggest fan of troublemakers, and had started saying mean things directly about Two-Bit when Virginia brought up how he had been shoplifting at the family store, bringing up certain rumors whenever they saw him in the hall. "I don't know why they took you being here so personally."

"Eh, everything's personal with a soc," he said with a shrug, which caught Virginia off guard.

"Connie's not a soc," she tried to defend. Connie's mom was a hairdresser and her dad ran a repair shop. They didn't own a three story house or have fancy new cars. She wore cute sweaters and was usually one of the leads for the fall musical, but that didn't make her a socialite around school, did it? And Arthur's family was well enough off, but he was in academic clubs, he wasn't a letterman.

Virginia wasn't certain why she was defending them after how they had been acting.

"Yeah, and I'm James Dean," Two-Bit replied sarcastically.

Virginia looked him up and down, taking in the square toed boots and the pack of cigarettes half hanging out his pocket.

"You could be," she mused, but Two-Bit shook her off lightly.

"Nah, not me, but if you ever meet Dallas Winston… Now there's a regular James Dean. ...Not that I'd recommend going out of your way to meet Dallas Winston."

This wasn't the first time Virginia had heard that name. She wasn't completely certain if they went to school with Dallas, but she had heard through the grapevine that he was a member of the gang Two-Bit ran with, and a not so nice one at that. He was frequently in and out of jail, if what she heard was right.

To be honest, the only things she knew for certain were that Two-Bit Mathews was a greaser in a gang, he had a knack for swiping things out from under peoples' noses, and that he had a joke for every occasion.

She didn't want to make any rash judgment calls, but some little voice in the back of her mind asked if it was safe for her to be alone with a boy like that.

"You're not the type to go picking fights for no reason, are you?" she asked as they passed through the entrance of the concession building.

"Hell, I'd be lying if I said no," mused Two-Bit, getting in line behind her, "but he hardly gave me no reason."

Virginia just nodded and turned her attention to the menu.

"Do you want anything?" she asked, knowing immediately what she was going to order. She pilfered through her bag for her coin purse.

"I'm paying," said Two-Bit. He pulled a number of coins from his pocket and began counting them. Virginia was about to refute his offer, remembering how she had inadvertently shorted his change earlier that day, but before she could they were at the counter. Two-Bit got himself a chocolate shake and Virginia ordered a float with Pepsi. She drank Pepsi like it was going out of style.

When the two went back to sit down, Virginia wasn't allowed a moment to hesitate about going and sitting back down with her friends. Two-Bit was pulling at the elbow of her sleeve, guiding her to sit in one of the back rows, where he could kick his feet up on the empty seats in front of them and crack jokes without getting yelled at.

Virginia learned a number of things in the last forty-minutes of the movie. Two-Bit didn't have a job, but his mom gave him extra cash when he stayed home with his baby-sister at night. She learned his "baby" sister was actually ten and named Celia, and that he liked John Wayne movies the best.

Two-Bit learned that Virginia was an only child who always wished she had a sibling or two. He learned that the first thing she bought with her own money from working for her dad was Chuck Berry's Rockin' at the Hops album, and that she wished she looked and sang like Ann Margret. He also learned that he could call her Ginny, if he wanted.

They talked through the last song and kiss of the movie (which would have upset Virginia if she hadn't seen it before), and through the lights rising while the credits rolled. She hadn't expected the time to have flown like it did.

As the car lights flicked on in front of the rows of seats, it occurred to Virginia she'd have to uncomfortably face her friends if she wanted to leave. With the rest of the audience, she and Two-Bit rose to their feet.

"You want a ride home?" he asked, taking a drag off his cigarette. "I'm parked over at the roadhouse if you don't mind walkin'."

Virginia hadn't expected the offer, and really wanted to accept it, but she didn't want to have the inevitable awkward conversation with her friends about how she abandoned them on their night out together. At the same time, while she had fun talking with the boy standing before her, she didn't know him well enough to go walking alongside a highway to get to his car parked at a bar just yet.

"I don't think I can spare the extra time," she lamented, the easiest excuse she had. "My parents would chew me out if I got home any later than it is, especially with some boy they don't know."

"'Some boy,'" he repeated with a snort. "Sometimes I forget what going after good girls is like."

"'Good girls,'" now she was the one repeating his words, albeit more bitterly than he had said it. She supposed she would be considered 'good' compared to the girls at school who were more fond of dating guys like him, but she wasn't sure. The only boyfriend she ever had, Jimmy Snelling, broke up with her because his mom thought Virginia had too much of an attitude.

"Yeah, you're pretty good," said Two-Bit with a small grin. "Come on, I'll get you home."

"No, honestly, it's okay," Virginia shook her head. He didn't need to go out of his way for someone he hardly knew. "My friends will take me, it's fine."

"Some friends," he muttered. He dropped the butt of his cigarette and ground it into the dirt. "I'm sure I got you in enough trouble with them too."

"It'll be fine, Two-Bit," she stressed. They would get over it, or else she'd have to say some of the words that were swimming around in her head. Words like how "they didn't get a say in who she talked to," or "where did they get off yelling like that for no reason?".

"Thank you for sitting with me," she added, trying to change the subject, "I had fun talking to you."

Two-Bit didn't offer much in ways of goodbyes. He gave a smile and a simple, "See you 'round," then kicked at the ground and waved as he walked away. Virginia watched as he went, a jumbled mix of butterflies and disappointment in her stomach, until she had to look away, searching in hopes that her actual ride home hadn't left the parking lot just yet.

Luckily, she spotted the group she came with throwing away their trash. Joann had Viriginia's blanket wrapped around her shoulders and Arthur led Connie away from the stands, arm around her waist. Virginia hustled to reach them and Joann was the only one who greeted her, offering a place with her under the blanket as they walked back to the car.

"Enjoy the movie?" she asked and Virginia confirmed she did. Aside from a few other comments about the songs from Joann, who was very good at pretending conflicts didn't happen, the car ride was a quiet one, thick with tension.

Virginia wouldn't stir up more trouble on the subject if they wouldn't.

She got home just in time for her mother to sleep peacefully and for her father to thank a silent Arthur for getting all the girls home safe.

Maybe she turned him down too hard that night, because that was the last she heard from Two-Bit Mathews for a while. He still sat on the other side of the science lab but he didn't bother her one way or another. She assumed he had lost interest, which she hated to admit left her feeling crummier than she ever imagined it would.

That was, until one Friday at the end of the month. As Virginia was collecting her things when the bell rang after fourth period, Two-Bit was striding across the room to her side. Without a word, he had slipped a ripped piece of notebook paper on top of her Pee-Chee folder. Before she could question him, he was back at Phil Dufour's side and pushing open the classroom door.

Connie, who had resumed talking to Virginia after a day's silent treatment due to the drive-in incident, gave her a look that read both confused and unimpressed.

"Come on," Virginia tried to divert, ushering the two of them out into the hall as well and on to their next classes. She held tight to the note until she was finally settled by herself in English. She unfolded it and read quietly to herself:

They're showing another Elvis picture at the Circle if you wanna come with me - TB

She had to read it over twice.

As soon as the bell rang at the end of the day, Virginia rushed out the side door of Will Rogers High School in hopes of catching Two-Bit before he drove home. With some luck, she caught him, leaning against the hood of a beat up Plymouth. He wasn't alone either. In front of him, engaging in conversation, were two boys. One had a messy head of black hair and the other was wearing the school track uniform. One of them must have said something funny, because Two-Bit was holding his side and letting out a cackle.

Virginia approached carefully, not wanting to rudely interrupt their conversation, but had no such luck. The youngest looking boy caught her gaze directly, quickly elbowing the taller boy next to him. The taller one looked back and forth and began to whisper something. Then, Two-Bit looked over and Virginia couldn't help but smile as she waved the piece of paper he had left in front of her.

"I gotta get going," announced the one boy as soon as Virginia was close enough to make out their faces. He rushed a goodbye and jogged off in the direction of the football field.

"See ya, Pone," called the dark haired one. He looked Virginia up and down from under his bangs skeptically and the girl tried to look friendly under his scrutiny.

"What'd'ya think?" Two-Bit was talking now, the only voice she was familiar with. He was leaning back even further on the hood of the car, all but his thumbs tucked into the pockets of his jeans. Virginia half wondered if he was trying to look cooler now that she had arrived. "I'll pick you up around seven?"

"I work all night tonight," she answered, offering a half-smile. "But tomorrow or the next day my evenings are clear."

"Tomorrow at six then," he said with no room for debate. She didn't have any gripes with that.

"Tomorrow at six," she agreed. He grinned her way and pushed away from the car while pulling a set of keys from the pocket of his jacket. He opened the driver's side door and hopped in, and the other boy with him rounded the car to sit up front on the other side. Virginia could see how one of the side-view mirrors shook when the door was closed and how one of the headlights was entirely busted. "Is this thing safe?"

"I'm not dead yet," Two-Bit called as he cranked the key and the engine sputtered to life. The Plymouth slowly rolled a few inches, and then a few feet.

"Who's she, Two?" Virginia heard the boy in the passenger's seat ask as they pulled away, barely audible over the rattling engine.

"Girl who's daddy I keep ripping off," said Two-Bit. His laughs roared just as loud as the car pulling out of the lot.

She bit her lip and shook her head. Having a date to the movies with the boy who was now at the top of the store's "Deny Service" list was the last thing she imagined herself doing.