Broken Ice

i'm a monster

Sadie's POV

"Have you seen Darry and Pony?"

"Not yet."

"Yes! I'm first!" I laughed. "They're probably home by now. Wanna stop and see them? Then we can all go out to dinner?"

"Umm... sure, but I don't wanna run into mom and dad." I said, awkwardly.

"Huh?" He asked.

"What?"

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that..." He muttered.

"Where are they?"

"A graveyard..." He mumbled after hesitation.

"Wait, what?"

"They passed away. Almost a year ago..."

I stopped. "Wait, so that's why Dallas said I didn't have to worry about my parents coming? And why the mayor said he was sorry for my loss?"

"Yeah. Dallas wanted to tell ya, but figured you should probably hear it from one of us instead."

I continued walking again. "Oh... wow. That's certainly news. I really missed a lot." I muttered.

"Yeah... but you're back now. We can catch you up on everything. Everything else is pretty much good news!"

I grinned. "Wow. I mean, that's good! I love good news. Yay!" We both laughed.

We walked back to his house and I got cold feet as soon as I stepped up to the door.

"Wait, is this a good idea?" I asked.

"Whaddya mean?"

"I mean, are Darry and Pony even gonna want to see me?"

"Are you crazy? Of course they are. They miss you." He said, before twisting the door knob.

"I know you're right. But it's just so... I dunno. Stressful. Everything's different. I don't know what to expect, I guess."

"Trust me. I think you're gonna be ok." He said. "They've been waiting to see you again."

"Alright. Come on."

He opened the door and held it open for me. "Surprise, I'm home early." Sodapop said, casually. Almost like a dad coming home from work.

"Surprise I'm here, too." I said, keeping the same tone. He looked at me and I grinned.

"Sadie!" Ponyboy yelled. He ran up to me before I could even process anything and knocked me to the ground with a large hug.

I laughed and hugged him from the floor. "You're here! Finally!" He yelled.

I grinned. I looked up and Darry offered me a hand to help me up. I took his offer, but before I could stand up straight he pulled my hand and hugged me.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Soda and Pony's hugs. But this one was different. It made me feel welcomed and like he really cared.

This hug just had sadness written all over it. "I missed you, Sadie." He whispered.

"Aww, I missed you guys, too." I said.

I heard a bark from outside. "Comet!" I yelled.

I ran out back and saw him running around. I crouched down and he jumped up on me. I laughed as he kicked my face.

"Comets happy to see ya, too." Sodapop said with a smile.

I grinned and stood up, but it quickly faded when I realized what I had to say.

I sighed and looked at the three of them in the eye. "I am... so so sorry... for everything." I said trying to find the words to say. "I... goodness, I dunno. I owe you more than that, but I don't even know what to say to you guys."

"Don't worry about it. We're just glad you're ok."
Darry said walking next to me.

"Wanna go out to eat? Now that we're all home." Soda asked.

"I'm down."

"Sure."

"Let's go."

We all walked down the street to the diner down the road and sat in a small booth in the corner.

"It feels so weird to be here. God, I never thought I'd be doing this."

"So..." Sodapop started. "How did you get into ice skating? How did it all happen? Why'd you run away that night?"

"Well, I mean, I lost my mind. I think we can all agree on that. I just couldn't take it anymore. I planned to come back. I really did. Then these kids came and gave me these free tickets to a new skating rink opening and I wasn't gonna use it, but I had nothing better to do. So then I started skating and Cassidy told me she thought I could do better. She got me into all this."

"So we have her to blame for you never coming back?" Darry asked with a grin.

"I guess." I said with a laugh. "But she also helped me out. Found us a place to live, even though she got kicked out for helping me, fixed my hair, nose and alcohol problem. I owe her it all."

"Well, I'm glad you got to where you are." Ponyboy said.

I grinned. "It's so weird now. Like... what comes next? I asked that same question, actually, just before I got accepted to nationals. But now, there's really not much. Now I just have to go back to New York and be... normal again."

"Wait, you're going back to New York?" Soda asked.

"Well... yeah. Why wouldn't I? I mean, my whole life is up there. I still plan to continue skating. Plus, I can't just stay down here. I have a life up there. A real one. That isn't messed up. Where the mayor doesn't know me as a purple haired freak."

I paused as I realized I was getting ahead of myself. "I dunno. It's a lot of decisions to make at one moment. One second I'm laying in bed and the next I'm forced to make all these life altering decisions. It's a lot at once."

I took a breath. "I don't wanna talk about this right now. I make a decision and someone's mad no matter what."

"I get it. I just didn't expect it, I guess. But we aren't mad no matter what you choose." Darry said.

I sighed. "Thanks. But hey, enough about me. I missed a lot. I mean, I come back and my parents are dead." I said with a grin. "Update me on everything that happened here. I'm curious. I wanna know."

Ponyboy grinned. "Boy, do we have a lot of stories for ya. How we met all our friends, Sandy, Cherry. Or the time Dallas got Soda and Two got arrested."

"You got arrested?" I asked with a laugh.

"We were just having fun." He said with a fake pout.

I laughed. Ponyboy went on to tell me a few more things and I couldn't help, but feel jealous. I missed all this stuff. My entire family has a whole life without me and I feel like it just hit me now.

I hope I can make this up to them in the week that I'm here.

I'm a monster.