He Was Mine, I Was His

Worry

Two weeks had passed since that night. Elizabeth and Ada made it back safely from their vacation. As I assumed, nothing exciting happened in Iowa. It was nice to have them back though seeing as the tension from that night at the fair seemed to never lift. I told Elizabeth about it and she agreed that Matt and his friends were bad news. 

“Stay far, far away from that crew,” she explained. “Nothing good ever happens when they’re around. But don’t worry about Dallas because you all know he can hold his own.”

I knew she was right but something about what Johnny said that night still stuck with me. I thought about it as I drove over to the Curtis house for their Sunday brunch. As expected, Dally was missing. He hadn’t been to one in those two weeks, in fact, Johnny has been the only one to see him since that night. It wasn’t long before he was brought up in conversation. 

“Should I wait to see if Dal shows up or are we ready to eat?” Soda asked as he poked his head around the kitchen doorway. 

“You know he’s not coming,” Steve replied, almost somberly. “Let’s just eat.”

“You seen him around anymore Johnny?” Soda asked, setting the food on the table. 

Johnny simply shook his head. The tension was killing me. After all, Dallas could hold his own. He was going to be just fine.

“Why don’t we all go dancing this weekend? Take a load off. Have some fun. This isn’t the first time Dally has disappeared and it most likely won’t be the last,” I suggested in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“I don’t kn-” Soda started before Darry cut him off.

“Just go. Your hair’s gonna turn gray from all your worrying. What happened to that carefree Soda I used to know?”

“Fine, but you’re coming with us then,” Soda agreed, finally cheering up. 

“You don’t have to tell me twice. I’ve been ready to break out my dancing shoes,” Darry smiled. 

And so at the end of the week, we all went dancing. Elizabeth found a sitter to watch Ada and decided to join us. Getting ready with her was fun, like getting ready with a friend for prom. We both sat on the counter in the bathroom as she pregamed with a beer. I knew instantly I would be the one driving home tonight. She wore a beautiful red dress while I wore a black one. 

“Oh, Sodapop’s going to love that,” she smiled when I walked out of my room. 

I gave her a little twirl and thanked her for the compliment. We grabbed our bags and got in my car before heading to meet the group. We all met at a club called Ace’s. As always, Soda looked handsome as ever. The club was crowded but our group had no problem mingling in with the crowd. After a few drinks, everyone one was making themselves known on the dance floor. Two-Bit seemed to be the star that night as he made it a goal to dance with as many taken women as he could. Of course, he made me be his first. After our dance to Good Golly Miss Molly by Little Richard, I danced the rest of the night away with Sodapop. 

I still stand by the fact that music is the ultimate drug because no matter where you are or what you’re feeling, it always makes everything better. As Sodapop spun me around the dance floor, I saw everyone lit up with joy and excitement. I guess love was in the air that night because Darry found a really nice girl named Dawn to dance with. Elizabeth met quite the looker named Roger at the bar. Two-Bit actually decided to spend the rest of the night with a single woman who seemed to be really digging him. And something I never thought was possible happened, I fell even more in love with Sodapop that night. 

As we danced to the song that always had our hearts, These Arms of Mine, he held me like he never wanted to let go. 

“I’m gonna marry you,” he said, as if that thought had snuck out the door to his mouth. 

“I do,” I replied without lifting my head from his chest. 

He lifted my head with his finger so my eyes met with his. “You’re not supposed to say that yet.”

“Didn’t you just propose?” I teased.

He laughed and held me to his chest again, “Patience, my dear.”

We danced until midnight and decided to bring the party home. I let Elizabeth know that I was staying with Sodapop. She took advantage of the fact that Ada was with a babysitter for the night and went home with Roger. It seemed like tonight sent her back into her teenage years. It was truly a beautiful thing to watch. 

Back at the Curtis house, a few of the boys started a game of poker while Pony read Johnny a book as they sat on the couch. I hovered around the poker game for a while but then found myself wandering into the living room. I sat down next to Johnny and listened to Pony read. Gone With the Wind or something like that. It seemed to be one of Ponyboy’s favorites the way he read with such passion. Next thing I knew, Johnny had fallen asleep in my lap and Pony’s reading got slower. Meanwhile, the excitement of the poker game had only risen. 

At around two o’clock in the morning, the phone rang. The boys in the dining room were too riled up to pay attention to it. 

“Phone!” Ponyboy yelled, not wanting to pull away from his book. No one even flinched away from the game.

“They’re not paying attention, Pony. This one’s all you,” I whispered, trying not to wake up Johnny. 

Ponyboy sighed and got up to answer the phone. I looked down at Johnny. He looked so peaceful laying in my lap. But everything changed as soon as I heard Ponyboy gasp. I quickly shifted my gaze to him. He looked like someone punched him in the gut. As soon as I saw his eyes water, I knew something was wrong. All he could do was stare at me, not saying a word.