• It was the night of the biggest rumble since the night Johnny Cade and Dallas Winston died. The greasers were lined up with Tim Shepherd’s gang, and the Socials were due to be driving up any second. “Good to see you again, Darry.” smiled Matt Marks, one of Darrel Curtis’s old friends from grade school. Matt and I (his younger sister that was eighteen) had moved back to Tulsa, Oklahoma, when our parents got a divorce. It had been two years since we had moved, and we finally wanted to move back.

    “It’s been a while, Matt.” Darry returned the smile. Ponyboy and Sodapop Curtis chuckled at Two-Bit’s jokes; Steve Randle looked around with anticipation. “Is Amy with you?”

    “She’ll be showing up in a moment.” Matt replied. “She insisted that her and her old gang fights tonight.”

    They turned just as I was leading a group of five other girls walked towards them. I had my blonde hair tied into a ponytail was the only one that wore jeans, converses, and a tank top with an open shirt. I had changed since I moved to Manhattan, but I was glad that Darry’s cold eyes flickered when he saw me.

    The other girls smiled as they got closer. One was Liz Shay, who had her brown eyes on Two-Bit Mathews. She had curly blonde hair; just the way Two-Bit liked it. There was Nikki Collins, who looked older than she actually was, with brown hair and deadly eyes. She smiled over at Ponyboy, who blushed deeply. Angel Benson, with her flowing brunette hair and her soft smile was directed at Matt. There was Samantha Ryans. She had a small Australian accent, but beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes that knocked Sodapop dumbstruck. It made him forget all about Sandy and how she broke his heart. The last was Steve’s darlin’, Evie Cage. She had been by his side since she had met him, her hair still blonde and straight, and her eyes still dark with makeup. We were about the most badass girls on the block and the only girls that would even be considered Socs. But, we weren’t. We were greasers and damn proud of it. Each of us--besides me--wore black mini-skirts, a white tank top, and black boots. I didn’t change when I had arrived this morning.

    I made my way to Darry. “Good to see you again, Darrel.” I spoke softly, reminding him how musical my voice was. I could tell by his soft smile.

    “You’re fighting tonight, Amy?”

    “You know me. My gang fights alongside yours. Just like always.”

    We all turned our heads towards the honking of the Socs’ Mustangs, and Steve growled. He hated the Socs guts and everything they were worth. Evie put her arms around Steve’s neck, trying to calm him before the fight. Drunken Two-Bit leaned against Liz, his reckless grin spreading across his lips. Matt and I smiled over at each. Matt mouthed: “Just like old times.” I nodded in agreement.

    “Light this candle!” I mouthed back, making Matt chuckle softly.

    The Socs looked at us all, and one snorted loudly when they got to us girls. Darry took a step forward towards the biggest Soc named Alex Marshall, the new football captain. He was the one that snorted when he saw us lined up. It was a no-weapons rumble, and we were all ready for business. I turned to my gang, “Run at the sight of fuzz.” I ordered. They all nodded. Some of them had records a mile long and couldn’t afford to get arrested again.

    “Women? Are you kidding us?” asked Alex, sizing up Nikki. Nikki gasped horrified, knowing what his eyes were looking at, and Ponyboy looked up at Alex. Ponyboy was a few inches taller than Nikki, and pushed her behind him. “Tougher than last time, huh, killer?”

    “Don’t you talk to my brother like that.” snarled Sodapop. Alex smiled grimly and then took the first punch, hitting Ponyboy in the jaw. Pony fell backwards and Alex caught Nikki’s boot to the face. Pony jumped up and helped Nikki, taking Alex to the ground. Darry grabbed hold of the next biggest Soc and stomped him to the ground. The others screamed wildly, beating the snot out of everyone that crossed their path. I grabbed the nearest one by the throat and threw him to the ground, landing on top of him. He punched me in my stomach and it hurt pretty badly since he didn’t hold back. I fought back and began clawing at him, catching another fist to the stomach. Then I felt a shoe hit me in my ribcage and I fell off of the Soc, landing in the mud. It began storming, lightning flashing around us. It rained heavily once I got back up and jumped onto the back of the Soc that was fighting Darry. I wrapped my arms around his throat, trying to cut off his air supply. I covered his eyes as Darry slugged him. Then I heard hooting and hollering as the Soc flipped me over his shoulder. I hit the mud hard and groaned in pain as the Socs ran. I heard the sirens of the fuzz coming and I shouted to the girls, “RUN!” They took off, the guys behind them. Soda lied on the ground unconscious, his head bleeding. Sam was crouched down beside him; she looked over at me with worried eyes.

    “Come on!” shouted Steve, picking up Soda and running with Evie and Sam. I closed my eyes and groaned, being lifted into the air. I was on my feet.

    “Hurry!” said Darry, taking my hand. We began running, and my back began hurting something fierce. It began to rain harder, pounding us hard. I knew that everyone would stash out at the Curtis house, but half of them would then travel to my house which was across the street. The fuzz was gone now and I began to slow down. He hoisted me over his shoulder and finally reached the front steps. I could taste blood in my mouth once he laid me on the couch.

    “Oh man, she got hit good, didn’t she?” said Two-Bit, inspecting me over. Soda was lying on the other couch, also in pain like myself. But he was asleep. I wasn’t. I laughed unexpectedly, causing everyone to look at me strangely.

    “That was fun,” I said, wiping blood from my cheek. They laughed also. Evie, Steve, Matt, Angel, Nikki, Liz, Two-Bit, Sam, and Ponyboy all walked over to the Marks house or went over to other houses. Pony showed up ten minutes later, going to sleep with the bandaged up Soda. Sam wanted to stay with Soda, but she had to get some rest and there was nothing more she could do. I stayed up, kept spitting blood out of my mouth into a nearby trashcan. My mouth was busted open when a Soc had punched me. Darry handed me a glass of water. I thanked him and began drinking it, glad that the blood quit pouring out. I sat up on the couch and Darry sat next to me. We were both bandaged up and very tired. I was wearing some clean clothes, which I was happy for. I could hear the rain pouring now lightly outside. I yawned and said, “I’m glad I’m back in Tulsa. Manhattan was hell.”

    “I imagine so,” Darry replied. “You haven’t changed much. You’re still pretty tough.”

    I said what was on my mind, a bad habit that I always had. “I missed you, Darry.”

    He looked at me and his cold eyes were soft for once. “I missed you, too, Amy. It’s hard to believe that it’s been two years.”

    I nodded. I recalled when I had to leave. He was eighteen and I was sixteen. It was hard for us, of course. We were just kids, but we were in love. Stupid, huh? I cried to my parents that I didn’t want to leave, but they forced me. They said that I didn’t know what love was. Apparently they didn’t either. I remember watching Darry and his brothers standing in the middle of the street as our car roared down the street.

    He chuckled and I looked over at him. “Do you remember that night at the football game? When my parents caught us kissing behind the bleachers?”

    I laughed also, “I actually do. Soda was crazy back then as he is now.” I then looked into his eyes and I could read them. Once again, my mind spoke, “How did that kiss go?” I said, smiling slyly.

    Darry leaned close and his lips touched mine softly. I heard giggling and looked over at the doorway, breaking our kiss. I saw Soda and Pony staring at us. Darry noticed them. “Soda! Pony! Get back to bed; ya’ll got things to do in the morning!”

    Darry picked me up into his arms as Soda and Pony went back to bed. He carried me into his bedroom and we lied down on his bed. I was cuddled into his arms and recalled doing this when we were kids. His parents took us to the country side, right next to the small ponds. I wondered if he remembered it too. I looked up at him, and he was looking down at me. I stretched upwards and we held another kiss, but longer this time.



    I woke up the next morning before Darry could. Before you begin thinking nasty, nothing happened! Well. Not yet, anyway.

    Pony woke up at the same time and I helped him cook breakfast for his brothers. I wasn’t hungry; I was going to get food from my house soon anyway. Sure enough, Matt, Steve, and Sam arrived right on schedule. “Anyone home?” called out Steve.

    “Don’t slam the door. The others are asleep.” I said, smiling at my brother. I began stirring the cake mix for chocolate cake. I remember helping Mrs. Curtis with baking cakes. It was always fun. I was sitting on the counter top when Steve walked into the kitchen and dipped his finger in the batter. “Steve!” I shouted, gasping loudly.

    “Cooking cake for Super-Dope, Amy?” he laughed. Darry was behind him, and lifted him into the air. Darry had gotten a lot of muscle since he was seventeen.

    “He’ll probably not eat it now,” I sighed, still stirring the cake. The others would eat it. Darry walked over to me, putting his finger into the bowl and ate the batter.

    “Eat what?” he asked innocently with his finger in his mouth.

    “Oh, ya’ll are just messed up.” I replied, glaring at all of them. Sam and Matt laughed, sitting on the couch. Sam had gotten a job at the gas station with Soda and Steve, and Matt was just wondering what I was up to. Darry gave me a soft kiss and I really wasn’t expecting it. I smiled, jumping down from the counter. I poured the tainted batter in the cake pan, shoving it in the oven. I put the spoon into Pony’s mouth. “Merry Christmas, kiddo.” I smiled. He chuckled, liking the spoon and giving his brothers their breakfast. Soda was up and only had jeans on. He quickly ate, running around the house, looking for his clothes. Darry looked over at Pony.

    “There are inspectors coming a three o’clock, so make sure this house is spotless. I’ll get home at two.” Darry told him. He looked over at me and I nodded when he mouthed, “Help the kid.” Soda jumped across the couch and almost landed on Steve. Soda kissed Sam and they ran out the door, Steve close behind, shouting at him. “I’ll see you later, kiddo.” he said to Pony, giving his little brother a rub on the head. He leaned down and kissed me again, and then he ran out the door after the others, carrying his roofing tools over his shoulder.

    “That was painful to watch,” Two-Bit said, lifting the window from the outside and crawling inside.

    “Two-Bit, there is a front door.” Matt said, changing the channel on the TV. Then he jumped up. “Oh, crap, I’m late. I gotta go to work. Later.” and he dashed out the door before I could ask where he was going. Five minutes passed and Liz showed up. Her and Two-Bit went out on a date, and then Nikki showed up for Pony. Most of the house was cleaned, and there was the kitchen and bedrooms to clean.

    “Go ahead,” I smiled at them. “I’ll clean the house up. Just be back before Darry comes home.”

    “Thanks, Amy.” said, Pony, waving as they left.

    I began to walk around the house, cleaning up the rooms. First was Soda and Pony’s room. I picked up books and put them on Pony’s desk, stacked nice and neat like library shelves. I found a letter from Soda to Sandy, but it was unopened. I threw it and some other documents into the desk drawers and made the bed. All clean. I picked up the dirty clothes and threw them into the basket in the bathroom, which was already cleaned. Next was Darry’s room. I made the bed all nice and neat, and then started putting up some books that looked like they haven’t been opened in forever. While I was picking up a book and flipping through the pages, a photo fell out. It was a photo of both me and Darry at a football game. I smiled and flipped to the back and it read: “Darry and Amy, Together Forever”. I placed it back into the book and put the few books on Darry’s desk. I put the dirty clothes into the same basket in the bathroom and began cleaning the kitchen. I pulled the cooked cake from the oven, shutting off the oven. I waited for it to cool when the front door opened.

    “Anyone home?” called out Evie, coming inside with Angel. They walked into the kitchen and wondered what I was doing. “Washing dishes?” Evie said, inspecting my work.

    “There are inspectors coming today. I just want to help. Pony is out with Nikki right now, so I decided to clean up some before Darry and Soda came home.” I explained quickly, putting the clean and dry dishes up into the cabinets. I was pleased once I got done and I noticed that Angel was whipping together icing for the cake. More dishes, but I would get to them later. The cake was cool when we put the icing on. I covered the cake and put it in the icebox, washing the rest of the dishes.

    “So,” said Evie slowly, sitting down on the couch. I was sitting on the floor with Angel, both of us watching TV. I broke my attention and looked at Evie.

    “So?”

    “So…why didn’t you go home last night?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

    “I spent the night here.” I replied. They both looked at me now, jaws dropped. “We didn’t do anything!” I hollered, standing up suddenly. I looked at the clock and it said it was two o-five. Darry would be home soon. Pony walked inside and Nikki was gone. “Where’s Nikki?” I asked.

    “I took her home. She’ll be gone for a few weeks in Florida to visit her grandparents.” he replied, sitting on the couch. Then he looked around. “Dang, what happened here? It looks like the clean fairy rolled through.”

    “I’ll take that as a compliment,” I said, smiling lightly. Then the door opened again and I couldn’t believe that it took three hours to clean this house. Darry walked inside with Soda and Steve. Steve left with Evie and Angel. I stood up and decided that I was going to go home to get a shower. I ran across the street where we lived and took a quick and hot shower. I got dressed in my jeans and black shoes. I pulled on a black bra and a black t-shirt. I brushed my hair and put it up, and noticed that it was now two fifty. Wow, time flies. I dashed back over to the Curtis’s house. I opened the door and noticed that everyone had taken a quick shower and was all clean. I threw the clothes into the basket and tided the bathroom that they messed up. It was hot and steamy in there, so I worked quickly. Soda was in the kitchen, whipping up some kool-aid. Pony was yelling at him, trying to tell Soda not to put in so much sugar. Darry was asleep on the couch; his arm had a pulled muscle again.

    I looked around. All was clean.

    Then there was a knock at the door. Soda dashed and answered the door while Pony finished the kool-aid. I woke up Darry, and he leaned up, knowing what was going on. He stretched his arm out, standing up. I went into the kitchen and brushed through Pony’s blonde hair, which had never changed back to brown, with my fingers. “Amy, Amy!” he pushed my hands away and I made him go into the living room.

    The inspector entered the house. “Good afternoon, Mr. Curtis.” he nodded to Darry. I walked into the living room. “And who is this?” he asked, wondering who the new face was.

    “This is Amy Marks, my girlfriend.” Darry said, smiling lightly. He pulled me to him and I shook the inspector’s hand, saying hello.

    The inspector talked to both Soda and Pony about how they liked living with Darry and then he inspected the house. And then something unexpected happened.

    He wanted to know about mine and Darry’s relationship.

    We told him that I had just moved back yesterday and we were just typical boyfriend and girlfriend. It was quite awkward. But it paid off. They had passed another inspection once the inspector left a seven at night. We all had supper and then I broke out the cake. It was actually pretty good. I put all the dirty dishes in the sink and yawned. “Alright, I’ll see you guys later.” I said, pushing the door open.

    Darry was up in a second, grabbing me by the waist. “Whoa, where are you going?”

    “Home.” I said slowly, pointing to the house across the street. He pulled me close to him to where we were only inches away from kissing.

    “Are you sure you want to do that?” he asked softly. I noticed that Soda and Pony had already gone to bed, so the lights were very dim in the house.

    “Darry, what are you suggesting?” I gasped. I put my arms around his neck. I wouldn’t do that (you know, that thing that’s going through your mind right now). But I did kiss him lightly. “Come on, Darry. I need to go home.”

    Darry sighed, lifting me into the air. “You should just stay here with us.”

    “Can I?” I asked.

    “Sure. Let me show you to your room.”

    He sat me down and took my hand, leading me into his bedroom.



    It was three in the morning when I heard a loud crash. Darry jumped up and I sat up quickly. I noticed that he was only wearing jeans. I blinked. Darry ran into the living room and he noticed that one of the windows were broken. “Grease!” they shouted as they drove. I ran after him, clutching his arm as he went to chase after the Socs.

    “No, Darry! Their not worth it!” I shouted. He growled, calling them every name that he could think of. Soda and Ponyboy ran into the living room and asked what was going on. I duck taped a t-shirt over the broken window hole. Ponyboy and Soda went back to bed; Pony had school in the morning. “Come on. Let’s go back to bed.” I pulled on his arm. He let me take him back into the bedroom and he cursed.

    “Damn Socs. They’ve never attacked like this. They’re mad because we whipped them again at the rumble.” he said. I rolled onto the bed, and he lied down next to me. I put my head on his chest and he put his arm around my waist. We were pretty warm underneath the covers. I smiled and closed my eyes, putting my arm around him. It didn’t take long to fall asleep for me, but I could hear his light breathing as he thought about how to get revenge on the Socs.


    I finally woke up at noon, and realized that I was alone besides for Two-Bit and Steve, who was just bumming around like usual. I haven’t seen none of my gang members, which wasn’t new. Most of them were fourteen to seventeen and still had to go to school, besides me and Sam. Sam was at work, Evie went to Florida with Nikki and Liz, and Angel was at school. I soon found out that Nikki and Liz had to live in Florida until school was over because their parents were afraid of all the fighting. You should have heard what Two-Bit said about that; that boy was angry! Steve and Two-Bit was smoking, and I could tell that Steve was hacked off about something. Probably his dad again, I thought. I cleaned up the kitchen and realized that Darry had cooked a cake before he left. Such a sweetie. It saved me lots of time. I also noticed that my clothes were moved into Darry’s closet, thanks to Matt. I guess I’m living with these guys now. Angel is living with Matt now, which isn’t much of a shocker.

    We watched “Mickey Mouse” for three hours. Then I heard something outside that scared me half to death. It was the roar of an engine and someone was knocking sharply on the door. Steve opened the door and three Socs shoved past him. Two-Bit sprung to his feet as one of the Socs grabbed me by my shirt collar. Steve and Two-Bit pushed back the other two Socs.

    “Amy Marks.” he growled. “You’re supposed to be a Soc. Why are you here?” he asked me quietly. Steve and Two-Bit was watching me. I shoved him off, realizing who it was. It was the guy that hated Darry for going out with me. Darry used to be the captain of the football team when I was captain of the cheerleading team. “You’re not a grease ball like these scum! Can’t you tell that I’m doing this for you. I love you. I couldn’t believe my eyes when you moved back here and began hanging with these people.”

    “I’m not a damn Social, and I don’t love you. Do us a favor and leave. Get out.” I growled, surprised that Two-Bit didn’t curse him out for calling them ‘Scum’. He got angry and shoved me to the ground and into a table. I cut my arm on a beer bottle that shattered with my fall. Steve and Two-Bit both whipped out knives and the Socs ran once Steve had sliced the one that shoved me, cutting his shirt open with blood. I was trembling when they helped me to my feet. I had glass in my arm, which Steve pulled out for me. He was doing it slowly, since it was pretty deep in there. We were sitting at the kitchen table when Soda, Pony, and Darry all arrived. Two-Bit was picking up the glass and wiping up blood. I was silent, trying to make out what had happened here, so my hand over my eyes as Steve pulled out the glass one by one. He grimaced at the large piece of glass that was painfully took out.

    “What the hell happened?” Darry walked over to me, putting his hands on my shoulders.

    “Socs showed up.” said Two-Bit. He grabbed some bandages and handed them to Darry. “They said that she was supposed to be a Soc. She told them to leave and…I don’t know, they just went crazy.”

    “I don’t want to be a Soc.” I said, wiping away the tears that went down my cheeks. Darry began bandaging my arm up, and I thanked them both.

    “Who were the Socs?” Soda asked, pouring a glass of chocolate milk.

    “It was Malcolm Nights and his crew, John Lens and Max Michaels,” I looked up at Darry, who eyes went ice cold. “You remember him?”

    “Malcolm Nights? Why does that sound familiar?” Soda questioned, taking a long drink of the milk.

    “He’s the one I fought we I was seventeen. That day that I came home and dad yelled at me. I broke his arm that day.” Darry smiled, pleased with himself. He looked at my arm and the bandage was going a bit red from blood. “I’ll break it again for what he did to you.”

    “No, I don’t want anymore fighting.” I replied. I stood up and walked into the living room. I lied down on the couch, curling into a ball. My arm hurt badly and I thought about what they had said. I should be a Soc? I don’t want to be a Soc. Socials may get all the breaks, but my place is with Two-Bit, Steve, Angel, Sam, Matt, Pony, and them. With Darry. Darry walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. I had stopped crying, but it still hurt. I leaned against Darry. He put his arm around me and it was all silent in the house.

    He finally spoke. “I’m declaring a rumble two nights from now. Knives. You and the girls hide out.” the others cheered besides Ponyboy. He hated knives.

    “No. Dammit, Darry. No!” I shouted. I pushed him away and stood to my feet. “No more fighting. You’ll get your revenge later, but not now. Not knives.”

    He stood up and grabbed my hands, making my bandaged arm more visible to me as he lifted my arms. “It was you today. It could be any of us next. I’m declaring a rumble two nights from now,” he repeated. “Knives.”

    He dropped my arms and they fell to my sides. I just looked up at him with sad eyes. “You’ve changed, Darrel. The Darry I knew wouldn’t do this.” once again, I spoke my mind without thinking. He looked at me, hurt. Then his eyes turned to a permanent ice cold.

    “That Darry didn’t have two kid brothers to worry about.”

    “Darry…” I said slowly. Then I realized what was going on. I remember Soda writing to me and Matt months ago about what had happened to Ponyboy and Johnny. How Darry thought that he was going to lose Ponyboy like he lost his parents. I felt stupid and selfish. I looked up with him and said, “I’m sorry.”

    He put his arms around me. “I love you, Amy.” he said softly in my ear.

    “I love you, Darry.” I replied. He smiled softly and I put my head against his chest. Two-bit and Steve walked past us. I heard Steve say, “Looks like Super-Dope finally found a girl.”

    Darry glared at him. I giggled and put my arms around his neck.



    Two nights passed and I was sitting upstairs in the Marks house with Ponyboy, Angel, and Sam. Angel was lying back in the bed while Sam started stitching designs on the hem of her light blue mini-skirt that she had to work in. I was talking to Ponyboy, who was lying on the floor with me. I yawned loudly and looked at the clock. Seven pm. “Come on, Pony. We better get home.” I said, standing up.

    “Okay. Hope their not too banged up.”

    When we crossed the street, the boys were just then coming down the road. I noticed that Soda and Two-Bit were holding up Steve, who’s face had been cut up pretty bad. Matt was trudging behind them, holding his cut arm. Then I noticed something that scared me something awful.

    “Where’s Darry?” asked Pony before I could ask. I recalled watching them all do somersaults off the porch and everything an hour ago. Now he was gone.

    “He got hauled in,” replied Matt. He walked past me, groaning in pain. Then he turned around to stand next to me. “Someone called the police, and then he made the rest of us run. He was beating the snot out of some guy. I think it was that Malcolm guy.”

    I took off at full speed.

    “Wait!” called out Soda and Pony, chasing after me. They tried to grab me, but I moved out of the way before they could. The police station was far off, I could tell. I remember walking down there with Darry when we were kids, looking for Dally. Soda was running beside me now, and Pony was ahead.

    “If the station sees you cut up, Sodapop, they’ll throw you into a boys’ home. Go back to Steve and them. Me and Pony will get Darry back.” I ordered. Soda stopped running and then turned back to the others. As we were running, I could hear someone blaring a Beatles record and could tell what song it was. But I continued to run. I didn’t stop running when we arrived and busted through the door. There was a ruckus around the place and I looked around for Darry. I saw him sitting in a chair, holding his bleeding head. “Darry!” I screamed over the racket, jumping on him. I hugged him and he was shocked to see me. Then I yelled at him, “Don’t ever do that again! You scared the daylights out of me!”

    He put an arm around me, not speaking, and I kissed his bleeding lips. The police officer that hauled him in told us to leave. Pony and I helped Darry to his feet and we carried him down to the park. Ponyboy was sitting on top of the monkey bars as I helped clean off the blood with the clean fountain water. Darry didn’t speak, just washed his face in the water. He ran water through his hair, washing out dirt and blood. “Are you alright?” I asked softly, still a little angry that he had to get revenge on Malcolm. But he didn’t do it out of spite. He did it out of love.

    “I’m fine.” he replied. He looked over at me, and I stood up. “You’re ready to leave?”

    “It’s pretty late and we still got to stitch up Steve.” I replied. I began to walk off when something cold and wet hit me in my back. I turned around and growled. His hands were cupped with water. “You know what, Darrel Shaynne Curtis, you’re just a--” I couldn’t think up an insult so I just pushed him into the fountain. He bolted up and grabbed my waist, pulling me in also. It was frightfully cold and we jumped out of the water into each others arms. We had completely forgot that it was still December. Pony was laughing at us as we walked home, both shivering like crazy. We finally reached the front steps and noticed that Steve was asleep on the couch, all bandaged up like the others. Soda was asleep in his bed and Matt had gone home to Angel, and Sam was asleep with Soda. Pony slept on the other couch, while Darry and I slept in the bed like always. Well, we weren’t asleep. We stayed up randomly talking about what had happened to us when I had moved. He was telling me about how Johnny and Dally died and how Cherry Valance was always helping the greasers. I remembered her--she was the co-captain of the cheerleading team when I was captain. I told him how Matt and I lived in Manhattan with our parents, and then they had a divorce when my dad got hauled in. We both soon fell asleep.