ITS ABOUT TIME ➤ Ponyboy Curtis

17

𝙶𝚎𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚊 𝙳𝚊𝚠𝚗 𝙼𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚠𝚜

    "SODA! We have work, hurry up!" Steve pounded on the bathroom door. He turned to me. "You don't even take this long to get ready."
Sodapop barged out of the bathroom whilst buttoning his DX shirt. "You were in there forever, Soda!" I groaned.
Sodapop shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah well my hair just ain't bouncing and behaving today." He grabbed the keys to Steve's truck and asked, "Can I drive today?"
"Hell no!" Steve snatched his keys from Soda's hands. "You don't get to drive when you take your own sweet time in the bathroom."
I walked past the boys and out the door. "C'mon or else we'll be even more late than we already are." I looked over my shoulder to glare at Sodapop. "Thanks to you."
Soda rushed to my side. "My hair wasn't staying the way I wanted it, I told you! Don't pin this on me, Firecracker."
Steve was walking behind us now. "I'll do whatever I want, Sodie-pop." I protested.
He grinned mischievously at me. "Except beat me to the front seat!" He suddenly started sprinting to the car, trying to steal the front seat from me.
"Sodapop Curtis!" I laughed and chased after him. I jumped on his back, trying to knock him down, but Steve caught up with us and yanked me off of him.
"Run Soda, Run!" He yelled and locked me in his arms. This had happened multiple times before, Soda racing me to the front seat and Steve trying to hold me back. Steve had become a brother like figure in my life. Him and I fought, laughed, and acted like we were blood. I don't know why we had that connection, we just did.
Our bond didn't stop me from trying to kick him in the crotch. "Steve Randle, you son of a bitch!" I struggled to break out of his grip.
Sodapop whooped and hollered as he jumped into the passenger seat. "Sucks to suck, Georgia!" Steve let me go and hurried to the drivers seat. Him and Soda did some sort of man-hug and high-five to celebrate.
I heaved open the back car door. Steve's truck was pure medal. He insisted on souping it up with the heaviest and "necessary" attachments. "I'm not a fan of you guys right now." I grumbled and tried my best not to smile.
Sodapop turned around to face the backseat. "I can see you smiling, Georgie! Don't hide it!" He wiggled his finger on the way to pinch my cheek. I pretended to bite him, snapping my jaw like an alligator, and he quickly retracted his hand. "Damn it, Georgie! You're extra feisty today, huh?"
I smiled proudly. Moments like these were my favorite. I loved my boys, they kept me happy.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

I examined my fingernails behind the DX counter. They had grown out, I hadn't been to the salon in a few weeks. The door's chime caught my attention from my nails. "Hi Pone!" I beamed when I saw who had walked in.
Pony smiled sweetly "Hi Georgia." He walked behind the counter and sat on the stool behind the cash register.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"Thought I stop by and visit ya." Pony said with a smile.
"Thinking about me, were you?" I laughed at Pony's reddening face. "I'm only fooling around, Ponyboy. "Did you and Darry talk? Is everything okay?"
Pony shrugged his shoulders. "We're alright, he said he was sorry."
"Did you forgive him?"
"Yeah. Two-Bit was right about him only wanting the best for me."
I rolled my eyes. "Oh so we're gonna pretend like I wasn't the one who said it first?"
Ponyboy chuckled. "How's work going?" He asked. My eyes softened and I gave him a gentle smile. Even when he's going through something rough, Pony still wanted to know how I was doing. That's part of the reason I liked him so much; Pony cared about me so much and put my needs ahead of his. He was more than just cute, but sensitive and caring.
"Miserable, but what else is knew." I shrugged and leaned against the back wall. "I swear, if one more buck-toothed hood asks for my number, I'm gonna stick my head in a deep fryer."
"Steve asked for you number?" Ponyboy joked. The gang often poked jokes at Steve for having crooked teeth. I once told him that he should take Buck Merrill's name because it now suited him more than Buck.
I laughed. "Awe don't be too mean, Ponyboy." I said, nudging his shoulder.
"I'm not! I'm just saying he needs braces."
I started to agree with him, saying how he could eat corn through a picket fence, when the door chimed again. "Hi, how can I-" I started, but stopped suddenly after seeing Phillip enter.
"Hi, Georgia." He walked up to the register.
I smiled. "Hey, Phillip."
"I came to ask you if you're coming to the party tonight." Phillip leaned against the counter. "I wanna know if I should dress nicely or not."
I laughed, "You can dress however you want. I'm not coming."
"Well, why not? It's gonna be plenty of fun." he asked, seemingly disappointed.
I shrugged. "I'm not much of a party person."
"That's a shame." Phillip and I made eye contact and he grinned. I couldn't help but blush, even though I didn't like him. He was a handsome guy who was giving me attention. Who's wouldn't blush?
Ponyboy cleared his throat. "Are you gonna buy anything?" He asked stiffly. I was taken aback by his tone. Ponyboy never acted like that, he was always so patient and polite.
"Uh.." Said Phillip. "I'll take a pack of cools."
I turned around to grab a pack of cigarettes and caught a glimpse of Ponyboy. He was glaring at Phillip. I didn't think it was intentional or a big deal so I just grabbed the pack and handed it to Phillip. "That'd be fifty cents."
He slipped me two quarters over the counter. "Well since you're not gonna be at the party, why don't we get together sometime."
I went wide eyed. "Like a date?"
Phillip smirked. "Of course. I wanna take you out." I froze in fear. I couldn't believe that I was being asked out. I hadn't any of experience with being asked out—my last boyfriend didn't even ask me out, he just said I was his.
I turned to my right. Pony was next to me. Ponyboy's face looked stressed—His eyebrows were tilted and he was biting his bottom lip. He seemed as nervous as I was. I turned back to look at Phillip. He was almost perfect looking and very charming, but I didn't want to date him. I wanted Ponyboy, but it didn't seem like he was going to ask me out anytime soon.
I took a deep breath, shuffled on my feet, and said, "Sure."
Phillip grinned. "Alright then! Why don't you meet me at Rusty's tomorrow at noon?"
I nodded hesitantly. Rusty's drive-in was near the Soc part of town.
Phillip winked and headed out the door. "See ya!" The room was suddenly still. The air felt heavy, almost suffocating.
I stood still for a moment, not knowing what would be said. Instead of speaking, I thought about my choice to hang out with Phillip—It felt nice to have a date, and surely made me feel more confident, but it was just with the wrong guy. Yeah I was happy, I would just be happier if it was Pony to ask me out. I didn't know how to feel. Phillip seemed nice, but he wasn't Ponyboy. Ponyboy was perfect, but I wasn't sure if he was interested in me. Part of me wished that the date with Phillip would make him jealous. The other part of me wished that I hadn't agreed to go on the date because maybe then Ponyboy would make a move.
Neither me or Ponyboy uttered a word for a minute or two. Eventually, I slowly turned away from staring at the door to look at Ponyboy. He wouldn't look at me. All I could see was his sullen face that was unusually pale. Ponyboy's jaw was clenched and he was roughly picking at his fingernails. I was worried, and about to speak up, when Ponyboy's voice broke the silence. "I have to go." He said woodenly.
"Ok." I spoke silently, barely over a whisper, before Pony rushed out the door. His behavior today was so strange. I was once again confused.
I didn't know what made Pony run out like that. It had to be something related to Phillip, but I didn't know what it was. I questioned if he was jealous and my small wish came true. But then again, if he liked me he would have made a move before Phillip had the chance. Maybe it was because of the social-class difference. I don't know what our tax-bracket had to do with anything, and I would be shocked if Pony actually saw something wrong with me dating a middle-class guy—Him and I would often talk about how socs and greasers are the same and how it was unfair that we were treated differently, so why would he care about it? I was really confused. So confused that I told Darry, Soda, and Steve about it on the ride home in hopes that they would tell me something useful.
"Turn this junk off!" Steve groaned. The Beatles were playing on the car radio and Darry refused to turn it off. Him and I happened to like The Beatles unlike the rest of the gang.
"I think you're forgetting whose car this is Steve." Darry side-eyed him.
Me and Soda laughed from the back seat.
"Oh how I wish that my car didn't break. Then I would be able to listen to some good music" Steve grumbled that last part.
A comfortable silence fell over us and I took it as a chance to tell the guys.
"I got asked out Today." I stated.
Soda whipped his head to face me. "By who?"
"A kid I met at the drive in." I said flatly.
Steve turned in his seat. "Did ya say yes? Where's he takin' ya?"
I scratched behind my ear. "I agreed to go with him to Rusty's."
"You don't seem to happy bout it."
"I am, Steve, I just-" I thought for a moment. "Nothing."
Darry looked at me from the rearview mirror.
"And what's this kids name?"
"Phillip."
"Phillip." Darry repeated. "Sounds like a Soc."
I rolled my eyes slightly so Darry wouldn't notice. "He isn't, he's middle-class. I'll be safe anyway, I swear."
Darry huffed. "You better be." He grumbled.
"Does Ponyboy know?" Sodapop questioned.
I nodded. "He was there with me when it happened.
I heard him groan, "Oh boy" and drag his hand across his face.
I cocked an eyebrow out of curiosity. "What?"
"Nothing, Georgie. Don't worry about it." Sodapop patted me on the shoulder and looked out the window.
Why did Ponyboy have to be involved in this? I thought about why Sodapop would react the way that he did. Had he figured out that I liked Ponyboy, or did he also have an issue with Phillip's social status? God, I thought, how could agreeing to a date be so stressful.