Spring break is a wonderful thing…

So I meant for this to be a one-shot about Steve and Evie… Then it sort of moved to incorporate Soda and Sandy… In the end it turned out to be very drabble-ish.

Evie's POV

Never in a million years would Steve Randle admit to being insecure, but to this day, I think I'm the only girl he's ever really gotten close to. It sickens me how many girls thought I was only with him at first to get close to Soda. But not as much as it sickens me to think how many other girls tried to do exactly that.

Sometimes that's the price of having a beautiful best friend. I would know.

Like Steve and Soda, Sandy and I had been best friends since grade school- back when boys still had cooties. But we grew up. And I wasn't blind, deaf, or stupid. Sandy was always the pretty one.

That cruel game- the one where a person pretends to like someone just to get close to someone else? It's not just girls who play that game. And I don't care what Steve claims… It hurt every time.

But high school was a new start. I never could explain to Sandy what I saw in Steve Randle. He was a little rough around the edges, sure, but what greaser wasn't? We weren't exactly classy ourselves. And once you got past that toughness, he was a really good guy. Loyal and smart where it mattered. Real tuff.

A lot of people thought Steve and I got together because we grew tired of being third wheels to Sandy and Soda, but it was actually the other way around. I'm not sure when exactly my best friend started to fall for Sodapop Curtis, but any initial doubts she had were erased when they did get together. That boy was so sweet to her it was sickening. He hung the moon over her head and showered her with all the stars he could find. You couldn't find a more perfect couple.

I don't know why I wasn't jealous. Sometimes I felt like I should have been jealous. Soda seemed to be everything girls dreamed about, and no one ever accused him of only being with Sandy because she put out. As far as I could tell, they never argued or grew tired of each other's company.

The same couldn't be said of Steve and me. We fought over everything, and I couldn't count the number of lunkheads Steve lit into for calling me a whore because I gave myself to him so easily. (Which isn't to say we weren't careful. We had both agreed that we didn't want kids ever.) On that note, I didn't hesitate to go after the girls who dared to insult me to my face either. Who were they to say I had no self-respect just because I could admit that I liked the way it felt to be with him? I saw no point in playing hard to get.

Anyway, I would take our imperfect relationship over their fairytale fling any day. If I had wanted Soda, I would have gone after him, but I didn't. I wanted Steve. And besides, they found out that fairytales don't last pretty quick.

Everything changed when the Curtis boys' parents died. I hate to say that they fell apart because he didn't have the time to devote all of his attention to her anymore, but…

Their first fight came when Sodapop dropped out of high school. And they didn't start small. In her defense, it came completely without warning. As she screamed at him across the parking lot, I could see on Steve's face that he had known, but no one had told me. And evidently, no one had told Sandy either.

What I remember most about that day is how quiet Soda was while Sandy blew up at him. He just stood there and took it, seeming to accept the blame. That didn't seem fair to me. It still doesn't. Eventually, they made up, but things were never the same between them afterwards.

I knew Sandy could be a little unfair sometimes, but she was still my best friend. I listened sympathetically to all the relationship troubles that Soda didn't seem to realize they were having. The poor guy was still head-over-heels for her.

Now, I know it might sound terribly disloyal, but this is after the real disaster, mind you. Back then, I was as good a best friend as I could possibly manage to be. Sometimes she would get on my nerves, but Sandy was like a sister to me, and that's what sisters do- occasionally drive each other crazy. She didn't seem to understand that just because Steve and I fought, it didn't mean we were in danger of breaking up.

The night Sandy permanently destroyed whatever it was she had with Soda didn't start out as anything too out of the ordinary. Sandy had come over unannounced, practically seething because Sodapop had cancelled their plans… again. He'd picked up another shift at the station. I took it upon myself to be the reasonable one. I tried to explain to her that the boy had a family to help support now. It sucked, but he didn't really have time to be a teenager. But she would have none of it.

I didn't follow her when she stormed out of my house. Now I wish I had. I figured Sandy just needed a little time to cool off. It turns out she got a little more than cool. She went to Buck's and got absolutely soused.

A month later Sandy was on the next train to Florida.

Soda was crushed. I didn't see Steve for a week straight. I found out later that this was because Johnny Cade and Ponyboy Curtis had disappeared, too, after killing a Soc. It was an emotional week. Steve's gang suffered so many losses, I felt guilty when I was the one crying on his shoulder, mourning for a best friend who wasn't even dead.

It was a painful week, and the recovery was slow. I have to give credit to Steve for sticking around. I knew it couldn't be easy dealing with a girlfriend and a best friend who couldn't shake their mopey attitudes. It only reinforced how much I wanted to be with him.

Image and reputations were tricky. If asked, I'm sure the majority of the student body would have assumed that I would be the one to get knocked up by another guy. But I was always faithful. And as far as I know, so was Steve.

We were no perfect, movie couple. We were real. Ours wasn't the type of relationship that people liked to fawn over. Steve wasn't the type of boy who attracted friends easily. I wasn't the type of girl people stopped to stare at.

Separated, we were unspectacular, but when we're together… we became something amazing. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Review please!

I don't own the Outsiders!