Chapter One: New Face
The year was 1982, the time of having big hair, bright neon colors, MTV, and the best blockbuster movies. It was the best time to be a teenager, especially for the Curtis gang and the many other greasers that lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The greasers were as close as a family, always there for each other when they needed them.
The other gang was a bunch of rich kids known as the Socs, who got their kicks from jumping greasers, trying to show them who's boss. However, they would always have a rumble, which was an organized fight between both gangs that always had a reason behind it.
Bexley Curtis, Sodapop's twin sister, was coming out of Tulsa's top music store to get the latest Guns N Roses album. She couldn't miss out on it the second she heard it came out. When she walked out of the store with the CD in her hands, a girl about her age had bumped into her.
It was a girl that she had never seen before. She wore blue jeans, boots, a white tank top and a baseball cap. Her dark auburn hair was braided. She wore headphones that were attached to her Walkman. "Oh, god, I'm so sorry," she exclaimed as she took them off. The impact caused Bexley to drop her new CD.
"It's alright. I don't pay attention to where I'm going a majority of the time," Bexley chuckled as she picked her CD up. It didn't have any cracks in it from hitting the ground. "You new around here? I've never seen you around here before," "Yeah, I just moved here. I'm Rachel Parks. Who're you?" Rachel asked, holding her hand out for a handshake.
"Bexley Curtis," she said, shaking her hand. Rachel smiled at her and said, "Nice to meet you. Do you know of any good stores around this town? I don't know my way around," Rachel asked her. Bexley grinned at her, knowing just the place that they could go. "I know the place. The DX is the best store in town. My brother and his best friend work there. Just stay close to me and watch your back," Bexley offered, glancing over her shoulder.
"How come?" Rachel asked, not knowing about the socs. "The socs swarm this area. They don't like the greasers, which is what we are. They see us as dirt beneath their shoes. They think they're all high and mighty, since they're the South-side jet set," Bexley explained to her.
Rachel listened to what she said and she nodded. The two girls started walking towards the DX. "Thanks for letting me know," Rachel said. "No problem. It's something that you have to know if you're a greaser," Bexley said just as they got to the DX. Soda was behind the counter while Steve was in the back, working on a car.
Rachel saw Soda and blushed a bit when she saw him before she went to one of the coolers to get a drink. "Soda, guess who's here?" Bexley said with a smile, waving at him. Soda smiled at his twin sister and saw the girl that was with her. "Hey, Bex. Who's that?" he asked, motioning towards Rachel.
"Oh, her? That's Rachel. She just moved her and I wanted to show her around town. Where's Steve at?" she told him, not seeing him in the store. "Oh, he's in the back working on a car. He should be done in a minute," Soda said as he started counting the money in the register because they were about to clock out for the day.
As Soda said, Steve came out of the garage with grease on his face. He wasn't wearing an undershirt unlike Sodapop. "Alright, Soda, I'm… almost done," Steve said when he saw Rachel for the first time. She was the most beautiful girl that he had ever seen. His heart started racing away in his broad chest. There were even butterflies in his stomach.
Rachel saw Steve out of the corner of her eye and she looked over at him, her face turned red. "Hello, there. I'm Rachel," she said, extending her hand for a handshake. He took her hand and shook it. "I'm Steve. Steve Randle," he told her. "It's nice to meet you, Steve," she told him.
She was calm and collected on the outside, but on the inside, she had the same feelings as he did. He was the hottest guy that she had ever seen in her life. She couldn't stop checking him out as she got a drink from one of the coolers. "How much do I owe you?" Rachel said as she brought the drink to him.
"1.50," Soda replied with a smile. He also saw Steve blushing bright red. After she paid for the drink, she thanked them and she asked, "There any good cars back there?" Steve's eyes widened when she asked this. No other girl he knew didn't have an interest in cars, not even Bexley. "You know about cars?" he asked with a smirk.
"Most cars because I was a mechanic in my hometown," Rachel said with a smile. "Really?" Steve asked in surprise, his eyes widening a bit. "Yeah, mind if I look back there?" she asked him. "Yeah, sure, let's go," he told her with a head nod towards the car. They went to the back to take a look at the car that Steve was working on.
"Oh, a 75 Camaro with six speed. What's wrong with it?" Rachel asked as she leaned over the hood to look inside. "I can't get it started," Steve said to her, leaning on the car with his hands. Rachel started looking through the car's engine. "Hmm, it's the carburetor. It's cracked. It needs a new one," she said as she took it out of the engine, getting her hands dirty.
"Hold on, I think I have one of those," he said as he got another carburetor from the back shelf. He brought it over to her. "Thanks," he said as she took some tools that she needed. It didn't take her long to get it inside the engine. "Alright, I think I got it. Try starting it again," she told him.
Steve sat in the driver's side and he turned the car on and the engine rumbled, showing that it was turned on. Rachel found a cloth on the workbench and she wiped the grease from her hands. Steve was thoroughly impressed that she was able to get it started. "Wow, you're really good at this," he said as he got out of the car, "Someone's going to be very happy,"
"Thanks. My mom told me I had a talent for cars," she said as she remembered her mom. "Well, she raised you right," Steve said with a smile, feeling his cheeks become hot. Rachel blushed too. "Yeah, she did. Thanks for letting me help you with the car," she told him.
"Not a problem. I've been trying to figure it out for the last couple of days," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "At least it's finally fixed," she said while smiling. She glanced down at his bare chest, even when he shut the hood of the car, flexing a bit in the process. She quickly looked away when her face became red.
"So, how long have you been in Tulsa?" she asked him. "My whole life actually. Did you just move here?" he asked her with a smile. "Yeah, I moved here from Kansas," she replied. "Really? I actually have a cousin that lives there," Steve said as he smiled at her again. "My home town is in Wichita," Rachel replied, blushing more at his dashing smile.
"Well, my cousin lives in a town above that," he said. The two talked for a little while longer, just genuinely talking like two friends that have known each other forever. Rachel then looked up at the clock that hung on the wall. "Oh, I didn't realize how long it's been. I didn't mean to take up a lot of your time," she said.
"You're fine. We're about to clock outta here anyway," Steve replied, wiping the grease off of his face. "So what're you doing after work?" she asked him. "Eh, probably go to Soda and Bexley's house to play some poker. Wanna come?" he offered.
She nodded at him and said, "Yeah, sure. I'd have to follow you though," "I can take you there," he said, knowing Two-Bit would try to make a move on her. She nodded at him and waited for him to clock out. After him and Soda clocked out, they all went to the Curtis house.
The whole gang was there when they got inside of the house. Rachel would be lying if she said that she wasn't nervous to be surrounded by six different guys. She stepped closer to Bexley, who waved at the gang. "Hey guys, we're back," she announced. Darry came out of the kitchen when he heard his kid sister. He stopped in the doorway when he saw Rachel behind her.
"Who's this?" he asked her. Bexley turned a bit to look at Rachel. "This is Rachel. Rachel, this is my older brother, Darry," she introduced to him. The second Two-Bit saw her, he walked up to her and he took her hand. "Well, who is this gorgeous woman here in front of me?" he asked flirtatiously.
This caused Rachel to blush a bit when he did that. "Rachel… nice to meet you," she said with a grin. "Okay, Two, back up a couple of feet," Bexley said, pushing the rusty-haired greaser back gently. "Is that his real name?" Rachel wondered. Bexley sat down on the couch as she said, "His real name is Keith but he doesn't like his name. So we call him Two-Bit,"
Rachel smiled at Two-Bit and she shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Two-Bit. I actually have a godson named Keith too," she said. "No kidding?" Bexley said with a surprised grin. "Yeah, my best friend from back home had a son and her father's name was Keith. So that's what they named him," Rachel replied.
"Bex, want me to deal you in?" Soda called from the table as he got the table set for their next game of poker. "Yeah, deal me in. You play, Rachel?" Bexley asked the auburn, standing up from the couch. "Not really. But I can watch and learn," she said, walking to the dining room with Bexley.
"You're learning from the best. But don't follow Soda's example because he's a big fat cheater," Bexley teased him. "Hey, I don't!" Soda shouted, "Don't listen to what my sister says. She's jealous that I'm a better player," "Yeah, yeah, I'll believe it when I see it," she said with an eye roll. Ponyboy couldn't help but chuckle at what she said.
"Steve, you comin'?" Soda called. "Yeah, comin'!" Steve shouted back, bounding his way into the dining area. Rachel sat between Bexley and Steve as they started to play the game. As they played, Soda tried slipping a card inside of his shoe, which didn't go unnoticed. "Hey, we can see you," Ponyboy said. Rachel chuckled when she saw this. "I guess he really does cheat,"
"Told ya so," Bexley said with a laugh. After a while, they all finished the game and they went to the living room. As expected, Two-Bit couldn't stop flirting with Rachel. She was even blushing from the way he was looking at her - He was actually really cute.
"I see you're a fan of Mickey?" Rachel asked, looking at his sleeveless shirt. It had Mickey on the front of it. "Trust me, he's that mouse's biggest fan," Bexley teased him, saying it loud enough for him to hear. "Hey, I'm proud of it," Two-Bit said with a proud smile.
Bexley stood up and she stretched her arms. "You know what? I think I've had enough fun with you guys for one night. Wanna get out of here, Rachel?" she asked the auburn. She could see that Rachel was getting overwhelmed by being surrounded by the gang. "Yeah, I'm not used to this," she said with a nod.
"That alright, Dar?" Bexley asked her eldest brother. "Yeah. Just be back before dark. Take a blade with you," Darry agreed. "Don't worry, I got one. I'll see you later," Bexley said as she pulled Rachel out of the house.