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I was always told that I was a sunny child. I never cried, I never threw a tantrum. I was always smiling, always laughing, always happy. That's what prompted my parents to name me Sunshine. Unusual names aren't uncommon in my family, my twin brother's name is Sodapop, after what our mother craved most when she was pregnant with us, and my younger brother's name is Ponyboy. Darryl, or simply Darry, is named after our father, Darryl Shaynne Curtis the first. I'd never really felt anything until I met Bob, I felt like I was living in a constant state of numbness. I never really laughed like Soda or dreamt like Pony, I didn't think of my future like Darry. Nothing in my life was full of color, it was all black and white.
The first day I'd really seen Bob outside of school was at the park. My brothers were off playing football with their friends and I was sitting up against a tree, reading Rebecca. I wasn't interested in playing with the boys, I didn't really like football and Steve had been getting on my nerves lately. My mom had picked the book out for me for my birthday a few months earlier. I hadn't touched it until that day.
Bob Sheldon was a name I'd always known. He was older than me but we'd gone to school together since I could remember. I'd never come across him before, not even at school. I stuck to my own kind, greaser girls who wore too much makeup and short skirts. I didn't like them. I didn't like makeup up and I wore modest dresses, ones that came just below my knees just in case I was dress-coded. I didn't tease my hair like the girls who adored the former first lady Jackie Kennedy and I didn't push it back with a headband like the popular girls. I was plain in my eyes, something Sodapop teased me about relentlessly.
That day at the park, the day I first laid eyes on Bob Sheldon was one I'm still not sure happened. I'd just gotten to the third chapter in Rebecca when I heard the slamming of a car door. Bob was the culprit. He was red in the face as he looked at his passenger, a girl with flaming red hair and blue eyes; Cherry Valance, his off-again and on-again girlfriend of two years. They were in the midst of a fight, Cherry accusing him of something that I couldn't make out.
I hadn't noticed just how attractive Bob Sheldon was until the moment he stalked off from Cherry and towards the tree I was sitting under. I'd never seen the blue of his eyes until the sun hit them just right, or the darker tones that he had in his already dark hair.
I quickly looked down at my book, not wanting him to notice I was staring. I'd always been nervous around people I didn't know. He sat down a few feet away from me and ran a hand down his face before blowing out a breath. I could tell he was stressed from the way his shoulders were tensed up. He looked so much older than he was at that moment like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.
I don't know what came over me at that moment. I don't know if it was the chill in the Winter weather or if it was the fact that he just looked so miserable, but I couldn't stop the words that came out of my mouth.
"The course of true love never did run smooth," I told him, my nose still buried in my book. I couldn't stop the heat that rushed to my cheeks and ears.
I couldn't tell you what his face looked like at that moment. Looking back now, I wish I'd looked up from the page I was on.
"It's far from true love." He told me, a slight chuckle in his voice.
"Then why are you with her?" I questioned boldly, finally looking up from my book.
Bob looked taken aback at my question as if he couldn't believe that I'd asked it, and honestly, I couldn't believe I'd asked it either.
"Nobody's ever asked me that before." He replies quietly. "Stability I guess. She's a safe option."
"If love were safe, everybody would be in a relationship."
He thinks for a moment about what I said, his eyes narrowed. He wasn't angry at my words like I expected him to be.
"I'm Bob." He says with a smile, extending his hand towards me.
"Sunny." I shake his hand with a smile.
When we shook hands, I felt the spark my mother often talked about. When I was little she'd told me that true love comes as a spark, whether from a look or a simple touch. That's how she knew she loved my father and they were meant to be.
"Sunny..." He hums, causing butterflies to form in my stomach at the way he says my name. "That's unusual."
"It's short for Sunshine," I say shyly, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.
It was almost as if he knew who my brothers were when I said my full name. Tulsa is a small town, where everybody knows everybody, and that includes the East and the West sides. I expected some nasty comment about my social standing or who my brothers are, but he didn't say anything.
"You're okay for a grease." He says softly, looking over at me. There wasn't a hint of disgust in them.
