A Glimpse of Us • Sodapop Curtis

Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ ｆｏｕｒｔｅｅｎ

Tori

     I sat at the kitchen table nervously waiting for Soda to come back down stairs. I was tapping my fingers to my knees, letting my eyes roam around the kitchen nervously.

     The sound of footsteps could be heard behind me, but I still kept my body facing forward. I knew it was Soda and I couldn't bring myself to face him out of embarrassment of what happened earlier.

     I felt him tap on my shoulder a couple of times, and I squeezed my eyes shut and let in a deep breath in attempt to calm my nerves down.

     I slowly turned my head from where I was sitting, and a smile formed on my lips.

     In front of me was a gorgeous bouquet of flowers, angel's breath.

     I dragged my eyes up to meet Soda's and I noticed a light blush on his cheeks, "I know they're your favorite."

     Steve waltzed into the kitchen interrupting us, "And he didn't even have to buy them, he picked them right out of the ground, fresh."

      Soda snapped his head to glare as Steve, "Don't you have something to do? Like shoving cake in your face?"

      Steve chuckled at his reaction, and I couldn't help to glare at Steve too for ruining the moment.

     "It doesn't matter where you got them from Soda, you got them for me, and that's all that matters."

      Soda gave me a small smile, his cheeks growing red for a second time, "I'm glad you like them, T"

     "I'll just leave them on the counter for now, until we get back," I replied to go set them on the table before Pony came in and snatched them from me.

     "You're supposed to put them in water, Mathews," Pony grumbled.

      I raised my eyebrow at Pony as he walked away to grab a cup and fill with it water, "Well, I was going to, when I took them home."

      Pony turned his head to me to give me a 'are you serious?' look.

      Soda, Steve, and I watched as Pony pulled open a drawer to pull out some scissors, "What the hell do you need those for?" Steve blurted.

      "You have to cut the stems," Pony answered not turning around.

      "And how do you know that?" I laughed.

      "I read it in a book once, also my mom used to cut them before she placed them in water," Pony mumbled.

     "How sweet, maybe the next time we get into a rumble with the soc's you can pick and cut flowers for them." Steve mocked, chuckling.

     "Maybe you can find a book on how to properly land one of those flips you've been trying to do," Soda chuckled, defending his brother.

      "Whatever," Steve mumbled, finally retreating from the kitchen.

      "Well, thank you for taking care of my flowers, Pony," I calmly spoke.

      "Well if I didn't, they would probably dry up and wither away."

      Soda chuckled, "You're probably right, i've never seen Tori keep a plant living for more than a few hours."

      "It's not my fault!" I gasped.

     "Sure." Soda and Pony retorted together.

     I rolled my eyes at both at them, but in the end they were right. I could not take care of a single flower for the life of me.

      "You ready to go?" Soda asked, holding his hand out to me, helping me up from the chair.

     I gently smiled to Soda taking ahold of his hand, letting him know I was. But I could feel the butterflies starting to flutter in my stomach again.

      I think the most embarrassing thing to happen tonight, would be me passing out.

     "Where are you guys going?" Pony asked as he was finished putting all the cut flowers into the glass.

       "It's a surprise," Soda answered, squeezing my hand.

       I looked down at our entwined hands, just now to only realize we were still holding each other.

       How pathetic would it be to pass out from Soda holding my hand?

      I was tugged towards the door by Soda, and as we were walking out I glanced in the living room to see Two-bit glaring at me and pointing two of his fingers at his eyes and then back at us.

       I didn't have time to react and glare back at him because Soda was already tugging me out the door.

       "Are you nervous?" Soda asked, tugging me down the steps.

      "Why do you ask?"

       Soda slightly glanced back at me and smirked, "Because your hand is all sweaty."

      I pulled my hand out of Soda's and gasped, "No it is not!"

       "Yes it is."

      I ignored him and quickly rubbed my hands on the sides of my shirt while he was still faced away from me.

       We reached Soda's truck and he opened the door for me, still smirking, "Don't worry, I think it's cute."

      "There is nothing cute about sweaty hands," I grumbled, hopping into the car.

       Soda closed the door, and I waited for him to make his way around the car.

       "Can I know where we're going now?" I asked as he hopped in the driver's side.

Soda rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "I thought you and me could get some ice cream, I know it's nothing special but-"

"It sounds great Soda, it is special," I said cutting him off.

He smiled at me gently and started his truck, "You know Tori, you're acting a little weird today."

"What? No i'm not," I replied turning away from him.

"Yes, you are Tori. Are you suddenly nervous around me?" Soda asked, I could see him smirking through the reflection of the window.

"What reason would I have to suddenly be nervous around you?" I grumbled.

"I don't know, you tell me T," he chuckled.

"Well, I am not. I like you a lot, and there's nothing about that, that makes me nervous." I replied snarky.

I then realized what came out of my mouth, and I felt my cheeks heat up.

And of course my hands were getting sweaty all over again.

"You're turning red Tori."

"No, I am not!"