built for sin~ sodapop curtis

seven

iris's pov

arcane. secret, mysterious, understood only by few. according to darry, that's how i am. i can see how he would think that, but i don't fully agree. i think sodapop is more like that than i am. everyone thinks they have him down, the happy go-lucky kid, never bothered by anything, but i know that's not true,

because everyone thinks i'm the free spirited girl that travels everywhere, when really, i'm just running from the world, which doesn't make the most sense, but when has my life ever made sense?

i have one full day left, then i leave tomorrow, i decided on washington. i've been before, but i only stayed a few days.

soda and steve entered a drag race tonight and we're all gonna go, but during the day dally and i are gonna get a time capsule, then after the boys are off work and out of school, we're each going to put something important to us inside.

they all seem to know what they wanna put, but i have no clue.

"hey ripley, this big enough?" dally asked.

"should be," i said. we paid and walked back home. "you know what you're gonna put?" i asked. "yeah, you?" he asked. "i have no fucking idea," i groaned and put my head in my hands. "i dunno man johnny said something meaningful," he replied.

i thought of what i could put, and decided on the first thing i got for christmas from the curtis's. a coca-cola keychain, as lame as that sounds, i carried it with me everywhere. i used to drink anything but coke and they thought it would be funny to get me a keychain since i never drank it.

it's the only thing i've kept all these years.

it was one of the only things that kept me going, knowing i'd find my way back here.

"any ideas?" dally interrupted my thoughts. "yeah i got somethin'," i replied standing up. "are the drag races as dangerous here as they are in new york?" i asked, changing the subject. "nah, the ones in new york are about ten times worse," he said. "well that's relieving," i said walking into the kitchen and grabbing a pepsi.

"you know it's fucking up pony and johnny that you're leaving right?" he asked as i sat back in darry's chair.

"i know, i just don't know how to stay here," i said.

"why not?" he asked. "dal, i don't wanna end up in the same position i did 4 years ago," i said. "we were all too young to protect you then," he argued. "i'm sorry dally i've made up my mind," i said and took a sip of the pepsi. it burned my throat as i swallowed.

"when did pepsi start to burn your throat?" i asked. "that's probably the good stuff darry hides from ponyboy,"he said.

"oops," i shrugged.

when the clock hit 4 o'clock, almost on cue, two-bit, johnny, and ponyboy walked in.

"finally i was starting to get bored since johnny decided to go to school today," i said and they laughed. "sorry iris," johnny laughed. "i'm messin' with ya," i smiled.

"soda and steve were closing up when we walked passed 'em," two-bit said. "great," i said.  when soda and steve got back, darry soon followed, we all gathered our belongings we wanted to put and sat around the capsule. "do we wanna know why we each put what we are gonna put?" darry asked.

"i don't want you to know why i put what i put," soda and i said in unison.

"okay then," darry chuckled. "well let's put them in then," ponyboy said. i grabbed the keychain out of my pocket and set it in the capsule.

the only persons i saw was soda's.

he put the mini snow globe keychain i gave him for christmas when we were 10. i was confused, but didn't ask questions. i closed the capsule and looked at everyone. "let's go bury this," i said and we went to the lot with a few shovels.

i grabbed a shovel from johnny and started digging. "woah shouldn't one of us do it?" steve asked and pony whacked his arm.

"that was sexist, and no i'm perfectly capable i've done this before," i said.

"doing what?" two-bit asked. "burying people who got in my way," i said and his eyes went wide making me laugh. "i buried at least one of my belongings in every state i lived in," i said. "so sentimental, now somebody help her dig," dally said. "how about you smart ass," i said handing him one of the shovels.

after we buried the capsule, we all got cleaned up and got ready to go to the drag race. somehow, steve rolled his ankle, and soda was now the only one in the race.

we got to the dx and soda drove the car he fixed behind us, to the race.

we all got out of the car and went to where soda parked next to the other racers. "if i wasn't such a dumb ass i was ask you to ride with me iris," steve said. "aw, i love being everyone's favorite," i said and they all laughed. "actually pony's my favorite," soda said and i rolled my eyes and smiled. "well you ain't mine either," i said.

"i actually happen to be good at drag racing so i'd have been happy to ride with either of you," i said.

"why don't you ride with soda?" johnny asked. "because he didn't ask," i smiled. "well if you're so good at racing then why don't you ride with me?" soda asked. "gladly," i said. "no i don't want her getting hurt," two-bit said. "i'll be okay two," i reassured him.

we got in the car and soda got everything ready. he set his helmet in my lap. "what?" i asked. "you heard two-bit, i ain't gonna let you get hurt," he said.

"well what if you get hurt because i wore it?" i asked.

he gave me a look and i put it on. he started the car and we pulled up to the starting line, they waved the flag and soda took off. we were ahead, but the other racer was close behind us.

"drift right!" i said. he did as i said, we went on like that awhile, drifting left and right, but in the end, soda won.

we got out of the car and i jumped and hugged him. we realized what we had just done and he set me down.

i cleared my throat and held out my hand. "good job soda," i said. he shook my hand while laughing. "thanks ripley, probably woulda lost if you hadn't ridden with me," he said. i smiled and the gang walked over. "that was awesome!" and "you were amazing!" went around to soda and i laughed.

"and of course you were great too iris," steve said.

i flipped my hair and winked. "stop it," i said and they all laughed.