The last chapter of Mean Socs is dedicated to the real Beka. The one that inspired me to write it, the one that obsessed over it from the beginning, my best friend. I'm still not exactly sure what happened, but this to the Beka I met back in November, that made this the cover of this story for me.
{Tobleedgrease}

Elizabeth's POV:

"Beka, are you coming home for the summer?" I ask into a payphone, tugging on my leather jacket with one hand. I haven't talked to her since the wedding in December, but it's worth a shot. Maybe we can rent a place in Tulsa for the summer and I'll go back to school next year.

"No, I'm living with Dally now, full time. You know that. Why?" She asks. Suddenly, someone taps me on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, miss. I need to use the phone. Are you almost finished?" She asks. I nod. Her voice sounds oddly familiar, and sends a chill down my spine.

"Yeah, just give me one second please," I whisper, not looking at the woman. Then I go back to Beka.

"I gotta go. I'll call you as soon as I get a chance. Although that might be a while," I say, picking my suitcase up off of the ground. I didn't exactly think through where I would go once I left.

"Wait, Elizabeth. Something's wrong. Why is it so loud in there? Is everything ok with you and Darry?" She asks. I pause for a moment, not knowing how to respond.

"Nope.... We broke up," I say after a moment.

"Well.... Where are you staying? With your mom?" She asks. I sigh. When was the last time I even talked to my mom? When I told her about Darry and I? When she cut me off?

"No. I haven't talked to her in.... forever," I say. Beka gasps.

"Elizabeth, you need a place to stay! Find a place for tonight, and then call me tomorrow. We'll fly you out her as soon as possible!" She yells into the phone.

"O-ok...." I whisper, finally realizing what I'm going to be losing. Everything. My family. My husband. My life...

"Well, I gotta go. Bye," I say, holding back tears as I hang up.

"I'm done with the phone. Sorry I took so long," I say. That's when I look at the girl who wanted to use it.

"Jewel?" I gasp. The girl laughs.

"I was waiting for you to notice! How've you been?" She asks, hugging my neck. I shrug.

"I've been better."

"So I heard about you and that Darry guy. I can't believe you ever went out with him anyways! What did he have going for him, looks? Bet didn't have any money, though. Especially after his parents died," She says. I want to scream that he has so much going for him, that he's the most amazing, handsome, smart, independent man that I've ever met, but I don't. I can't right now. It's too soon, and I'm still hurt by what he said.

"So you need a place to stay?" She asks, since I didn't respond to her last statement.

"Y-yeah. That would be great," I say, even though I really don't want to with her. If being with Darry taught me one thing it's that it shouldn't matter what social class you are, love is love, and friendship is friendship. If you really care about someone, you won't make fun of the people they care about.

"Cool. Let's go. You can stay at my place," She says. I smile instead of saying thank you. It seems like a good idea, but how am I going to get the money for a plane ticket later on? I don't have a job. Or a husband to provide for me anymore. I'm on my own....

We get back to Jewel's house quickly and she pulls out the trundle bed from the bottom of her bed. Just like when we used to have sleepovers in high school. Before I met Beka, before I started going out with Darry, before my life changed so much for the better.

Why am I throwing that away? Why am I letting this happen and why do I feel like I can't go back to him? It just doesn't make sense... I sit on the down bed and put my head in my hands before she even has time to put sheets on it.

"Elizabeth?" Jewel asks, and kneels down in front of me. I figure she does it to comfort me, but she still breaks me out of my thoughts.

"Y-yeah?" I ask, my voice shaking.

"I have to get the bed ready before you sit," She says plainly.

"Don't you want sheets?" She asks. I just sigh and get up for her. After she puts the sheets on, I get under the covers and end up falling asleep without even changing into my pajamas.

The next day was uneventful, I went out and looked for a job. The only place that wanted to hire me was the Dingo, but I know that Darry works there part time, and that Pony and Soda go there a lot. I just couldn't do it. I said no. That night I called Beka again.

"Hey! Where are you staying?" She asks immediately.

"Jewel's. From school. Remember her?" I ask. She gasps.

"Jewel Scott? The Soc bitch that turned on you when you started going out with Darry?"

"That's the one."

"Well, you're coming to New York tomorrow then. Dal and I'll take care of the plane ticket. Just be at the airport at 6:00 tomorrow night," She instructs.

And before I can even ask, "I'll pay for the ticket. Don't worry." I smile.

"Ok. Thank you, Beka. See you tomorrow," I say. We say goodbye and I hang up, happy that I'm getting finally out of Tulsa. What's keeping me here? Darry? People I don't even talk to anymore? I need to be going to school! I should be back in New York with Beka. I never should have even left....
I never should have came back to Darry. Aren't I better than that?

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"Elizabeth, you're leaving tonight! In 2 hours I might never see you again. We should go do something fun," Jewel says.

"Fun? Like what?" I ask her, smoothing my dress out. It's the dress I wore on the day Darry asked me out. I didn't do it on purpose, it's what I had clean. She shrugs.

"Let's go get some beer." She sounds like a typical teenage girl, you'd never know that she graduated high school with a 4.0 GPA.

"Sounds good to me. Just don't let me drink too much. I have to get on a plane tonight," I instruct her as we get in the car. She drives quickly and recklessly to the supermarket. She's always been like that. After she parks, we grab a cart and walk in. We stand in the alcohol isle for a while, staring at the different brands.

"Which one do you want?" She asks like a actually care. Before I can answer, we hear cart being pushed towards us. Jewel and I both look up, and immediately I'm at a loss for words.

There he is, that boy that I fell in love with in high school. My heart starts beating fast, and I feel nervous. I can't help but stare at him. And when I do, I realize something.

I can't leave. I love him.

Darry's POV:

"Boys, I'm going to the store! I'll be back soon," I call from the kitchen, running to get my keys off the coffee table before the boys asked me to buy them anything else, to no avail. I just got home from work, early today, 5:00 and found that we have nothing left to make dinner with. Figured it might be a good idea to do a little shopping.

"Wait, Darry! Can you buy me a pack of smokes?" Ponyboy asks, coming out of his room.

"Have you finished your homework yet?" I ask him. His eyes dart down, and his ears go red.

"N-no. Most of it thought. And I'm still working," He says. I shake my head.

"Then I guess you're gonna try to quit, then. You smoke too much anyways. No go finish your work," I bark at him before walking out the door.

It's been two days since Elizabeth left, and I don't think I've ever been so depressed in my life. That's probably why I'm so hard on the kid.

I drive slowly to the store, thinking over everything from how are mom and dad doing "up there", to what should I have for dinner, but mostly how is Elizabeth doing without me? Probably a whole ton better. I don't deserve someone as amazing as her, do I? I ponder these things as I turn into the parking lot.

Parking the car easily, I grab a cart and walk into the supermarket. I go to the meat department and grab some chicken, and then do something I didn't expect to: go to the alcohol section. Not only does beer sound appetizing right now, to take my mind off of her, I hear a familiar voice over there drawing me into the isle. I can't tell who it belongs to exactly, someone from high school maybe?

That's when I see her: Jewel Scott, Elizabeth's ex-best friend. She's told me stories about how horrible that girl treated her, and I feel the hatred bubbling up inside of me. Jewel nudges the girl standing next to her. I barely recognize her, she's wearing a short light blue dress with a belt at the waist, black heels, and her hair is neatly curled with a headband at the top. Like the day I asked her out. I feel myself falling in love with this girl all over again, and it's downright amazing. She's not the same girl I knew only a few days ago, she's the girl I once fell in love with, so very long ago. The girl that I had seen in the hall, the girl who I had never talked to before.

I look down as to not make eye contact with her as I put a case of beer in the cart. She's so beautiful, and it's just too painful.

"Ew, look at him! He's gotten grosser since school ended! What did you ever see in him?" Jewel asks. Way too loudly, I might add. I look up quickly, she shrugs and blushes. I look back down, and start moving the cart again.

"Ouch!" The girl yells.

"Sorry..." I say, walking up to her. We stare at each other for a moment, when I decide to take a leap of fate.

"Hi. I'm Darrel Curtis," I say.

"Elizabeth," She says, sticking her hand out. I shake it.

The beautiful girls lips conform into a smile as I ask, "Would you like to go out some time, Elizabeth?"

The End

A/N: So that's it! Mean Socs is over.... I'm so upset. It took me a while to write, and I stopped every now and then thinking
"Is this story really over? Do I really have nothing left to say?"
I had a hard time publishing it after that, too. This was the first full length fanfic I've ever written and I had so much fun doing it. I got more reads, votes and support than I ever dreamed I would. I could not be more happy about the turn out that it's gotten. What did you think of it? Let me know?

And not to self promote or anything, but if you liked this story you should check out my other two Outsiders fanfictions Broken and Hope. Broken is a Sodapop story that's almost over and Hope is Dally/Ponyboy (but not at the same time if that makes any sense). I'm also writing another fanfic called "My Worst Summer", and I've decided to post the first chapter on June 21st, so be on the lookout for that.

And I just want to say thank you to these amazing people who supported me since I started posting here:

alexisissorandom, PonygirlCurtis722, Tobleedgrease and obsessivecompulsions

And another thank you to everyone who has voted and commented on this story, it means the world to me.

So that's all I have to say. I hope you enjoyed. Bye for now.

Love,

Katy💕