Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders, but I would gladly buy him if SE Hinton offers to sell!

Rain soaked her from head to toe and she smiled into his shoulder. His blonde hair tickled her nose and his warm breath caused a tingling sensation to spread through her neck. For a moment, just a moment, it didn't matter how much her parents hated her or what they said to her. It didn't matter how much her sister yelled at her or how she turned her back on her because of this boy and his friends. All that mattered was her and this unique boy holding her while a storm raged on around them.

All that mattered was her and Sodapop Curtis.

"Marcia! You're going to miss the bus!" Brad Brown shouted up to his daughter, who bustled about her bedroom gathering her school supplies.

"I'm coming, Daddy! Aimee! Have you seen my biology textbook?"

"The little bitch probably stole it just to get a rise out of us," Brad murmured to his dark haired wife, who nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, upstairs, a dark haired girl with pale skin entered her sister's room.

"Sorry, Marcia, I haven't seen it. Have you checked under your bed?" Aimee Brown answered. Her twin sister, Marcia, stopped and laughed before reaching under her queen sized bed and withdrew a thick, blue book decorated with dolphins and sea creatures. Biology was written across the top in bright orange. "How'd you know, Aimee?"

"You always leave your books under the bed, Marcy!" Aimee laughed. "Now, let's go, we're going to be late."

Aimee rushed downstairs, smiling at her parents only to receive a scowl in return. Ah, she was used to it.

Aimee rushed outside to get on the bus that had pulled up to the driveway, Marcia hot on her heels.

Aimee smiled as she climbed the metal steps. "Thank you for waiting, Mr. Margo."

"You're welcome, Aimee," the man grinned. Mr. Margo was an old man with white hair atop his head and on his upper lip with a large midsection, but a good heart all the same. "I figured that your sister lost something again."

Marcia rolled her eyes and glared at the middle class bus driver. She hated anyone that was not rich, or a 'Soc' as people now called them. Aimee honestly found it rather silly. Why call them Socs instead of rich kids? Or why call Greasers Greasers instead of ordinary kids? Honestly, Aimee didn't care if she was rich or if those kids were poor or if this bus driver was middle class? What made them so different other than money?

Aimee seated herself in the seat behind the bus driver while her twin traveled further back on the bus to sit with the other Socs. The dark haired girl stared out the window at the passing scenery. They were currently passing by a DX gasoline station, and Aimee was so excited to escape this prison people called high school afterward and get a Pepsi.

Little did she know that that visit to the DX would change her life forever.

Aimee muddled through the day until finally, she was able to escape the penitentiary that people called school and treat herself to a soda at the DX.

Typically, when she walked in, she'd see a boy with a rather large nose and hair combed into complicated swirls, but today was different. Instead of Steve Randall behind the counter, she met eyes with a different teenager, about her age. He was beautiful with long blonde hair that was almost gold and laughing, lively brown orbs.

"What can I do for you, miss?" The boy questioned, politely.

"One Pepsi please." As if knowing what she wanted the moment she walked in, he turned around and immediately held a Pepsi in his hand. "Thank you... um..." She squinted at his name tag," Sodapop? What an original name."

"Yeah and it's my real one too. Even says so on my birthday certificate. What's your name?"

"Aimee, spelled A-I-M-E-E."

He grinned a smile with teeth so white they glittered in the sun light that filtered through the windows. "Do you always spell out your name when you introduce yourself?"

"Yes. People always misspell it, so the moment we meet I establish the fact that if you misspell my name, you probably weren't paying attention when we met."

The boy laughed. "I like your argument."

"So, if you don't mind me asking, where's Steve today? I've never seen you here before."

"Well, Steve is sick, so I offered to work his shift today. I typically leave to pick up my brother from school, but it wasn't that hard to call my friend, Two Bit, to drop him off at home."

"Oh, where does your brother go to school?" Aimee asked.

"He goes to Will Rogers High School right down the street. He could walk here, but what with all of the Socs around, we don't want to risk him getting jumped."

"Oh, I go there as well. I guess you can say I'm a Soc, but honestly I think this whole Soc vs. Greaser thing is rather dumb. What makes us any different other than green paper?"

Sodapop chuckled. "Agreed. I thought we settled this two years ago with that rumble!"

"I know. I was out of town during that, but it wasn't long before the story reached me."

"Yeah. Hey, I don't mean to be rude, but do I know you from somewhere?"

"Perhaps you know my twin sister, Marcia."

"Yes! She used to come around with Cherry all the time, but I haven't seen her in a while."

"Yeah, Cherry hasn't talked to Marcia since Marcia pranked this poor kid at school one day."

Soda looked confused. "What'd they do?"

"They poured a bucket of hair grease on this poor blonde kid, saying he's a Greaser and that he needs more hair grease, or something like that. He ran to the bathroom and I hung a bag with clothes on his locker, but that didn't help his humiliation. He ditched school for the rest of the day."

"Huh," Soda looked perplexed and maybe even a little worried," I'm suprised my brother didn't tell me about that."

"What's your brother's name?"

"Ponyboy Curtis, why?"

Aimee blushed a deep red. If she'd known, she wouldn't have brought it up. "Um... yeah... well, he's the one that Marcia pranked. If it had been anyone else, Cherry would have forgiven her eventually, but with Ponyboy, it was personal."

"Damn that boy!" Aimee jumped at Soda's sudden outburst. "Sorry, but it's not like Ponyboy to keep secrets from me."

"It's alright, I understand. If it were my sibling, it would be angry too."

The blonde quietly seethed for another moment or two before finally sighing and saying with a sheepish grin, "Aimee, would you like to go out with me sometime? Just as a thank you for helping my brother after the prank."

Aimee didn't know what to say.

Will Aimee accept? Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out!