The Two I Trust | The Outsiders

Start Your Engines

Sodas pov:

The big day.

The day that determines wether I'll see the girl I love again or not.

I was really anxious and fidgeting all morning.

The gang came over and I made waffles this time. We ate a silent breakfast from all of us being nervous. After that, I had a little bit of time to get more practice in.

Practice.

That's all I've been doing ever since I finished working on the car. Hopefully all those extra shifts working on the car and all that practicing will pay off.

"Alright Sodapop. Don't let us down man." Johnny drawled.

"Remember, this affects the rest of my life." Rylie reminded me.

The gang was hyping me up. Some of their words made me more nervous, while the others made me more confident.

Once it was time to go, we took the truck up to the DX to pick up the car. Emma got in with me, and we drove down to the track.

I rolled up my car in my spot which was next to Randy's.

"Ready to be a Soc, sweet cheeks?" Randy smirked. Rylie gave him a disgusted look.

We had a little bit of time before the race started. A few other racers were going too, but the bet is just between Randy and I.

Dally and Ponyboy came up to Emma's window.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Pony asked worried.

"Pony, im fine." She huffed.

"I don't know if I want you in this race, you could get extremely hurt, man." Dally asserted.

"Come on guys, I used to do this all the time."

But they just kept on and on. After a while of Pony and Dally being overprotective, she started to roll up their window and smashed Dally's arm in it. I bursted out laughing.

"Wait, wait, give me my arm back, man!" Dally called.

She rolled down the window slightly, and let him free his arm.

"Just be careful, please." Dally pleaded.

Pony gave her a quick kiss, then they both went back to the crowd to watch. Next, Rylie and Johnny came up to my window.

"Come on Sodapop. Win this for me." Rylie pleaded giving him a kiss.

"I can't loose my sister man." Johnny called. He looked super stressed.

A few minutes later, a greaser went up to be the announcer.

"Racing for the greasers, we have Sodapop Curtis!" The greasers in the audience cheered and Socs stayed quiet.

"Racing for the Socs, we have Randy Anderson." He said with less enthusiasm.

The Socs cheered. Next, he explained the bet and the crowd booed and starting chanting how unfair it was. But the bet was already made, and we can't change anything now, as much as I wish I could.

The announcer said a few more things, then began the race. I gripped onto the steering wheel so hard my knuckles were white.

"On your marks. Get set.....GO!"

I stepped on the gas pedal all the way to the floor. Emma started looking out the window, and behind us figuring out a strategy. She'd call things like:

"To your left!"

"Purple car coming up behind you!"

"Go over to the side infront of that car so they can't get by!"

And stuff like that. She was good. Without her, I'd probably be a lot father behind.

We were almost in the lead. I'd say we were in about 3rd place right now.

"Randy's coming up behind us." She muttered.

I panicked a little, then remembered what Emma told me one day. She said something like, "don't focus on Randy, focus on the road and where your're going." It made sense. So I tried to keep Randy out of my head as much as possible.

Randy's car was now right beside ours. I glanced over and he looked real mad. He looked desperate to win. Like he'd do anything to get Rylie back.

I wasn't going to let that happen.

"He's trying to bump into us! Slow down a little, and he might slide off the road into the grass!" Emma called.

"Slow down?! We're almost in the lead!"

"Trust me Soda. Hurry, before he slams into us!"

I trusted her. I braked a little and Randy, not expecting me to do that, was sliding full force, and slid into the grass.

"You can speed back up now." She shouted.
"We are only a little bit behind, but you'll catch up. At least Randy doesn't got a chance now."

I smiled. She kept look out, and making calls for me. She was a big help.

Once we lapped around again, I saw Randy trying to push his car back onto the road. He's a lap behind anyway, but there's still a chance he could catch up if he speeds enough. I kept going and passing other cars.

"Over to the right!"

"We're in first place!" I shouted in excitement. Emma cheered with me.

"Now, keep that place Sodapop Curtis!"

I was really confident now. It was the last lap! Then I saw Randy's car coming up behind us. He had a real expensive car, so it might be faster than mine. I started getting nervous.

"Snap out of it Soda, we gotta win!" Emma acknowledged.

I nodded my head, still keeping my eyes on the road. We were about ten feet away from the finish line, about to finish first place, then we see Randy's car.

Crossing the finish line.

Before us.

I started sweating. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. I got out of the car super ashamed. Emma could barely move. I glanced in the audience and saw the gang with the saddest looks on their faces.

Everyone looked on the verge of tears while Johnny was already crying. He started punching the wall next to him.

Rylie was trying to comfort Johnny, but it was hard when she needed comfort herself.

What have I done.

I messed up bad.

Real bad.

The gang ran over to me. We all group hugged Rylie.

"I win grease monkeys!" Randy bragged. "Hand over the princess!"

I didn't know what to do with myself, so I just stood there.