i never said i liked you (book 2)

plastic & fake

{sodapop}

6:45 pm

I really wish I would've been the one to introduce Stephanie to Nancy, but I wasn't. Nancy moved here at the end of June, her dad got a promotion. Nancy is more soc material than she is greaser, so I was surprised when she took an interest to me.

<<flashback>> june 30th, 1965
12:35 pm

It's been two whole days since Stephanie left for college, and it was really taking a toll on me. I was in the DX restocking the shelves when the door opened and a pretty girl walked in, I glumly spoke, "Welcome to the DX." She looked at me sadly, "Why so glum?" "Oh...it's nothing," "Well, I think it's something." I quickly changed the subject, "So, you must be new," "Was it that obvious?" "Well, when you work at the only gas station in town...you know everyone." She smiled, "I'm Nancy, Nancy Walker. I just moved here from Indiana," "What brings you to Tulsa?" "My dad got a promotion," "Oh, that's cool." She sighed, "So are you gonna tell me your name, or am I gonna have to guess," "You wouldn't be able to guess it, I bet you $100," "And why's that?" "I have a weird name," "Well, your looks makeup for it." I smiled, "My name is Sodapop, Sodapop Curtis," "You know...I don't think your name is weird at all, I think it's unique."
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<present day>

After I met Nancy, I asked her out and we just sorta hit it off. But I knew it was going to take time for Steph to get used to her, and that's because Nancy's a soc....just like Cherry Valance.

{stephanie}

7:00 pm

We all sat down for dinner, except the table was more full because Kylee and...Nancy were here. I was puzzled, it was weird that Sodapop didn't tell me that he had a girlfriend...he tells me everything. I was pulled out of my thoughts when Steve put his hand on my knee and quietly spoke, "So, what do you think of Nancy?" "Oh, she's nice I guess," "Yeah, she's nice. She's been hanging out with me and Sodapop since July," "Oh...how come you never told me..you know when we talked on the phone," "Oh, Sodapop didn't want me to," "What?" "Yeah, he asked me to not say anything about it," "Oh..okay." A fork hitting a glass grabbed my attention, Ponyboy continued tapping his fork against his plate until he had everyone's attention. He cleared his throat, "I just wanted to take a minute and express how much we've missed Stephanie these past 4 months, we're proud of you Steph...getting into Berkeley has been your dream since you were a little girl. Mom and dad would be so proud of you." I smiled as the boys all raised their glasses, Dally smiled, "To Stephanie," the boys all repeated and clanked their glasses against one another. Darry smiled, "So Steph, I see you met Nancy. I bet you girls will get along great." Nancy did that obnoxious fake smile of hers, "I'm sure we will!!." Kylee and I made eye contact and we were both thinking the same thing, plastic bitch.

7:30 pm

After dinner, everyone just sort of did their own thing, some were playing cards, and the others were just chatting. I found Sodapop in the kitchen doing some dishes, I sighed, "So..you and Nancy?" "Yup," "Soda, why didn't you do tell me?" "I just...didn't think it was important," "That's a lie, Steve said that you didn't want him to tell me," "Steve doesn't know what he's talking about." I crossed my arms and glared at him, he defeatedly sighed, "Nancy...she's different," "What do you mean?" "She's...not a greaser," "Yeah? So?" "I just didn't think you'd like her, because she's a soc like Cherry," "I don't care what she is, she's your girlfriend and I respect that," "I'm sorry I didn't tell you," "It's whatever." Of course, Nancy walked into the kitchen. She smiled, "So!!! What are yall talking about?" Soda kept his attention to the dishes, "Just catching up...that's all."

I left the kitchen and went to find Steve, he was on the front porch. I went out and realized he was sitting by himself, I quickly spoke, "Hey! Are you okay?!?" He laughed, "I'm fine, just taking a breather," "You've just been quiet...are you okay?" "Well, today...my mom..she passed away 15 years ago today." I upsettingly spoke, "Oh my God! Steve, I forgot. I am so sorry." I wrapped my arms around him, he sadly sighed, "It's alright Steph, just a lot to take in," "I'm a terrible girlfriend, I can't believe I didn't remember. I shouldn't have come home today, it probably just made everything worse for you." He pulled away from me and sympathetically looked at me, "Steph, you are not a terrible girlfriend...you have a lot on your mind. I'm so glad you came home today...I need you." He held onto me tightly, I was so relieved to finally have his touch again. I was about to kiss him when the porch door swung open, Nancy walked over and smiled, "Hey guys! Steve, I was gonna give you this earlier...I forgot though." She handed him a sympathy card, and gave me a nasty look. I confusedly spoke, "So, Nancy, how did you know about Steve's mom?" "Oh! He mentioned it a little while back..so I decided to get him a little card to cheer him up." Steve smiled, "Thanks Nancy, that means a lot," "Of course Steve, you mean the world to me." She patted his shoulder and walked back inside, I had a feeling that what Kylee is gonna tell me about this girl...has something to do with Steve. And I didn't quite like it.

{kylee}

8:00 pm

Stephanie and I planned for me to sleepover so that we could catch up, and boy we had a lot to catch up on. Me and her were sitting in the living room waiting for everyone to leave,  instantaneously Nancy walked up, she spoke, "Stephanie! It was nice to meet you, I hope to see more of you before you head back to California," Steph fake smiled, "Yeah, same." Sodapop walked Nancy out, and all the other boys followed. Dally came over to me, "So, I will see you tomorrow beautiful," "Okay, get home safe please," "I'm always safe." He pressed his lips against mine and followed everyone else outside, Steve kissed Stephanie on the forehead, "I will see you tomorrow babe, we can spend the whole day together," she confusedly spoke, "But what about work-," "Don't even worry about that, I have it all taken care of." She softly kissed him and watched as he walked away, following pursuit of the other boys. Once it was just the Curtis brothers, Steph and I, we started making our way to the stairs. Except we were stopped by the eldest Curtis brother's voice, Darry stood in the living room, "Steph, aren't you gonna fill us in about college?!?" "Oh, uhm. I will tomorrow, I promise!." We quickly made our way to her room before her brothers could protest, once we got in her room she shut the door and seriously looked at me, "Please tell me everything about that plastic Barbie."
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~k