Secret (The Outsiders)

Greaser Versus Soc

It had been two weeks since I'd spoken to Johnny. He hardly ever came to the Curtis house anymore. Two-Bit said he spent all his time over at his place now. I wasn't complaining. I couldn't face him either. I'm not going to lie. I was ashamed of what I did to him. I was Johnny's first girlfriend and I screwed it up for him.

I went to school as usual. I had Chemistry with Johnny but he sat in the back and I sat in the front. He was always there before me and came out after me so we didn't have to face each other. I could tell he was still hurting, and I felt like kicking myself every time I walked past him. He'd take quick glances at me and his eyes were glazed over with a broken pain that I hadn't seen before.

Like every day, Johnny try slipping past me but I gently grabbed his arm. He jumped. I knew I had scared him. "It's only me." Slowly, Johnny turned to meet me and that same pain was in his eyes. He shifted from foot to foot nervously and carefully glanced at me beneath his black bangs. "Hey," she finally spoke. "I just want to talk. Can I at least get five minutes of your time?" Johnny nodded.

"I'm sorry," I began. "I'm sorry for screwing up so bad. I thought we would work. I liked you a lot, Johnny Cade. I really did. I wanted to make it work. I don't want this to ruin the friendship we used to have. You're my buddy, Johnny. I can't get along without you." Johnny had slowly brought his eyes up to me. He hesitated but he finally nodded. "We'll try. Don't be upset if I'm not too hot on the idea of you and Sodapop." I understood that. Soda and I still didn't consider ourselves a couple. We kept it all a secret. We snuck off at night and went somewhere we could be alone. He gave me a jolt in my heart I had never felt.

I finally managed a small smile at Johnny and he smiled right back. "Maybe we can grab a Coke later this week and catch up." With a nod, Johnny agreed. "That sounds nice." With that, Johnny headed to class and so did I.

After school I headed straight to the DX like always. I found something hilarious in scaring the girls that always came around to flirt with Soda. I could get this cold, mean stare when I wanted to and, man, did it terrify some of the girls. Today, there weren't any around. There was a tuff red Mustang sitting outside. Soda was leaned up against the wall with a Pepsi in his hand.

"Whatcha doing, sweetheart?" Soda always asked. "I'm not working today so I thought I'd stop by and see you. I uh spoke with Johnny today." I noticed Soda stiffen beside me. "What's got you so stiff?" I teased. Johnny and Soda were buddies, but Soda was like any boy when it came to exboyfriends. He did relax and placed his arm around me before pulling me close and kissing the side of my head. "I'm off in twenty minutes. Do you want to chill out here for a little while? We can wall back together. I don't want you walking alone right now. Too many people are getting jumped lately. You know I don't underestimate you, but you'd need help taking down a big Soc."

He was right. I always looked tough and I knew how to fight, but I was incredibly small for sixteen. I was five feet tall and it didn't take much to knock me down.

I waited for Soda. There was something about watching him that always brought a smile to my lips. The way his grin never seemed to falter. He was always laughing even if there wasn't something funny happening. Soda always brought a smile to whomever was standing around.

It felt like much longer than twenty minutes. She stuck his head in the door and yelled, "I'm out of here! I'll see you guys tomorrow!" She joined me at the corner of the building. She threw his arm around me and we walked back to his place.

I heard a groan and a loud string of swearing followed. Each voice was different but one in particular stuck out to me. It was eerily familiar. It finally dawned on me as the familiar voice let out a bellow.

It was Dally.

There wasn't any time to think. My brother was in trouble, and I had to help. Soda was running after me and he was gaining on my heels. "Dally!" I screamed. "Dally!" The shouting was getting louder as I rounded a corner. My brother and four big Socs were in the lot. I could tell from where I stood my brother was battered and bloody. I pulled my switch out and nearly leaped onto the smaller of the four guys. I delivered a harsh blow to his cheekbone. The Soc desperately tried to shake me off and his friends were trying to pull me off, but I had a death grip on his shirt. I swung my hand around and my blade cut someone. I heard a whimper of pain and another swear.

The gang came running along within five minutes. Someone lifted me off the Soc and I thrashed around as curses spewed from my lips at the guy as he ran. "Put me down!" I shouted and shoved m hands against the guy who had been holding me. It was Johnny.

I didn't have time to think about that. I ran to my brother's side. He was out cold. "Dally!" I shouted, shaking him hard. "Wake up, you bastard!" I raised my hand to slap him, but someone behind me grabbed my arm before I could. "Dammit, Dallas Winston. Someone call 911. This doesn't look good." I sat on my knees beside him.

"The Socs haven't stayed on their side of town since Johnny got out of the cooler. It was bad enough when they jumped you and Ponyboy, but it's getting worse. Two-Bit got jumped yesterday. Steve saw them by the Curtis house," Darry said. He was right. It wasn't too long ago I got jumped outside of the DX. They were still pissed even after the rumble and after Johnny spent time for killing Bob.

I could hear sirens in the distance and I slowly stood up. We all backed up as they pulled in and began hauling a knocked out Dallas Winston into the ambulance. I picked my blade off the ground. It was red with blood. "So I did get him," I laughed to myself. "Yeah, you did." Two-Bit held up his hand. There was a long scratch across his hand. "You got me too." I guess he noticed how terribly I felt. I was ready to start spilling apologies, but Two-Bit stopped me. "You were helping your broth-your buddy." I glared at Two-Bit, and he had an apologetic look in his eyes, but no one seemed to notice. "I can't be mad at you for lashing out like that. We thought you had those Socs on your lonesome."

The ambulance roared off and I watched as it disappeared around the corner. "We should go." Johnny said. "Not yet. Let him wake up and get calmed down. He was beaten up something awful." Dally's face was all cut up. He reminded me of when we found Johnny after Bob and his friends jumped him.

"We can go in the morning." Soda suggested. I nodded. That would give Dallas enough time. Soda wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me to him. Dally was my brother and Soda was one of the only two who knew. "Those Socs better stay on their side of town. It's like they're trying to start a World War III around here."

"More like World War Soc," Two-Bit piped in.

Steve shook his head and glanced at all of us. We had all been jumped at one point or another. It wasn't right that we had to walk around our neighborhood terrified of what might happen. We shouldn't be scared to get jumped. "This ends now. It won't keep going on like this." I sounded determined. I was. We were going to fight back.