Nothing Gold Can Stay

Chapter Five

The police came around noon. Let's just say the whole experience was terrifying for me but Darry and Soda were by my side the whole time. Dallas did end up coming back and told us that Johnny and Ponyboy were on their way to Texas. The only person that actually believed him was Two-Bit who was too innocent for just about everything. The poor guy wanted to drive to Texas to go looking for them. Luckily, we were able to convince him not to much to his disappointment but who could blame him? Anyone else in the situation would've easily agreed to do something like this. Soda seemed to be getting worried. Sandy hadn't been answering his calls and he just kept looking at the phone expecting it to ring. You would think that any other girlfriend whose boyfriend's brother had been convicted of a crime would at the very least come over to comfort him but we hadn't heard anything. No matter how much Darry told him not to worry about it and that she would reach out eventually, he still wouldn't look away from the phone.

Finally, after dinner, there was a knock at the door. Darry stood up to go get it. Soda flinched when he heard Sandy's calm nurturing voice. It almost sounded like she was crying. At least she had the guts to try to put herself in our position. When she finally did make her way over, her cheeks were in fact red and she looked......almost scared to be reaching us. Her blonde hair was a mess and she had a suitcase right by her side. Something told me she had some bad news.

"Have you heard anything?" Sandy asked, her voice quieter than usual. Soda stared at her up and down. Something was definitely wrong.

"Apparently they're heading to Texas," he said softly. She shook her head in disbelief.

"That was Dally's excuse?" she asked not believing it herself.

"Yeah," he said. She put her head down for a second before looking up again.

"Listen. I'm sorry for not returning your calls," she said forgetting I was there.

"You want me to leave you alone?" I whispered to Soda.

"Think it'll be best if you did," Sandy answered. I turned to Sodapop. He nodded and I went into my room but I couldn't help but overhear them.

"Why didn't you?" Soda asked after a moment of silence. "And why are you crying?"

She took a deep breath and I began to wonder what in the world was going on. Eventually, she spoke.

"My folks kicked me out," she admitted. I couldn't help but hate Sandy's mom. She hated her daughter and obviously wasn't trying to mend their relationship like any other mother. I almost felt bad intruding but I couldn't help myself. I would need to be there if Sandy hurt him.

"You can stay here as long as you want Sandy," Darry told her assuming that was why she had the suitcase and I thought the same thing.

"Thank you Darry......but can you leave us alone?" she asked. Without another word, I could hear him walking into another room. It almost seemed like she was scared to tell him something.

"Something tells me there's something you're not telling me," Soda examined. She didn't say anything. I peeked through my bedroom door to see him grabbing her hand. "Come on Sandy. Just talk to me, okay? I'm not mad. I just want you to be honest with me. Why did your mom kick you out?"

"I don't know Soda! God, if I did know, don't you think I would tell you?" she snapped. I jerked my head back. I had never heard her snap at anyone, much less her own boyfriend. She seemed.....too sweet to do such a thing. I could tell Soda was shook too.

"Sandy! Come on! I know you better than anyone. What's bothering you?" he asked showing how upset he was. I didn't know if Sandy would ever admit what was going on so I was surprised she did.