In The Moment [Sodapop Curtis]

Chapter 5

Liz woke up with a start on Saturday morning. Every part of her wanted to lay in bed and process the previous night, but today was her first day volunteering at the hospital again and she knew she couldn't be late. Everytime Liz tells someone, adults especially, that she is volunteering at the hospital, they get so excited and impressed that she doesn't have the heart to tell them she actually hates it. She was good at it, that wasn't the issue. The issue was that she absolutely hated science and mathematics. Although she excelled at both, they were her least favorite subjects in school. The only reason she was volunteering again was because it would look on her resume when she went into college, and would help her get jobs in the medical field during her studies. Liz's parents want her to become a doctor, so she's becoming a doctor. She didn't really have a say in what she was going to college for when it came to her parents. They were paying for it, so she had to do what they wanted her to do. Besides, she got to pick the school, so it wasn't all bad.

Liz hopped out of bed and walked over to her closet to pick out her clothes for the day. After a while of looking, she settled on a plain purple dress, short white socks, and white ballet flats. She sat at her vanity to put on some light makeup as well, settling on mascara and a little blush to even out the redness from her sunburn. Just as she was walking down the stairs, she heard a horn honk in the driveway. One of the nurses at the hospital, Darla, lived a few streets over from Liz, and Liz's house was on the way to the hospital. Darla picked Liz up for work everyday last summer, and Liz assumed she would do the same today. Darla was as nice as anyone could get. She had short blonde hair, brown eyes, and a big smile. She was pretty young, too, only a couple years older than Liz. Before they worked at the hospital together, Liz used to babysit Darla's now three-year-old son, Michael. Liz shouts a quick goodbye to her mom and brother and walks out of the house. Darla's smile falters a little when Liz gets in the car.

"What's wrong, hon? You seem upset about something." she asks, obviously concerned for the younger girl.

"Oh, nothing! I'm doing alright. Just thinking about some things."

"Do you want to talk about what's going on?

"I don't know... it's kind of a lot."

"Well why don't you start from the beginning?"

And so, Liz tells Darla the whole story of the previous evening. She tries her best to gloss over the parts about her and Sodapop being alone, afraid of what Darla would think of her. She also tried to hype up the beginning when she was talking with Paul. Although Liz told Sodapop that nothing was happening between her and Paul, she felt guilty for not following her friends' leads. The rest of the girls had secured Soc boyfriends (with the exception of Bev who was still working on Chet). They were super happy together and had similar goals. All her friends have ever wanted was for Liz to start dating one of the Socs, too. At the end of the day, Liz knew that as long as she lived in this town, the only thing she could really do was date another Soc. Her friends and family would absolutely lose their minds if she dated anyone who didn't live on the West Side. Regardless of what she felt about anybody else, she had to do the safe thing, and Paul seemed safe. Sure, he got into a few skirmishes with the Greasers, but who doesn't? And he was smart, well-established, and kind to Liz. She made up her mind at that moment that she would do whatever she needed to do to get Paul to like her. Before she knew it, Liz had finished telling Darla the story and they had pulled into the hospital parking lot. "Wow, you really weren't kidding," Darla says, "that was a lot." Liz feels her face grow warm with embarrassment as she responds: "Yeah, I know. I'm just glad it's over with and I can focus on what actually matters."

"You don't think things with that boy actually matter?"

"Things with Paul do, but not with the other one. He's a Greaser, you know? Last night was a one-time thing. I was nice to him because he talked to me first. But I'm never going to see him again because he doesn't ever do anything that I do or go anywhere that I go."