I Secretly Liked It (A Sodapop Curtis Love Story)

Wow. The sun sure was bright today. I must've gotten amnesia or somethin because I have no idea where I am or how I got here. The only things that I have are my name, age, and the clothes on my body. I know that my name is Marie and that I'm 16, but everything else seemed to be blurred in the back of my mind. I walked into a town where there were few stores connected together in a row. Kinda like townhouses. I needed to know where I was. I entered a shop called Betsy's Hair and Nail Salon. The walls were coated in purple pastel paint and the floors were white tile. Ahead of me, there was a tall desk. A woman with big, bleach blond hair sat behind it. 

"Hey, I'm sorry to bother you but could you tell me where I am?" 

She looked me up and down and scoffed. "I can tell that you're not from around here...are you like Canadian?" She must've been referring to my clothes. 

"Canadian? You're kidding right? Look, could you just tell me where I am and what year it is please?"

"Hun, you're in Tulsa, Oklahoma and its 1965."

Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1965. Okay, now that I know where I am and what year it is, I need to get out of these clothes. But clothes cost money and that is one of the many things that I don't have. I needed to find some before people start realizing that I'm not from around here. I ran out of the salon and glanced around. 

I saw a woman at the end of the sidewalk with two small children. She was frantically looking around and calling out to people. Maybe she had lost something, I could help her. I ran down the sidewalk. 

"Hey! Do you need help with somethin?"

"Yes! I need help with these someones." She put her hands on a little girl and boy's shoulders. 

"I have to go to work soon for an emergency, you see, because I'm a doctor.  I need a last minute baby sitter and no one is answering their telephones."

"Yeah, I can help out with that. I..uh..just moved here and I'm trying to save up some money to buy some new clothes." I don't know why I lied about moving here. I guess I didn't want her to think that I was an irresponsible, homeless girl, who'll sell her kids or somethin. I'd never do anything like that. 

"Thank you so much! Just meet me back here at six. Oh and here's $20, you can buy yourself some new clothes."

"Wow, thanks." I say smiling. She smiles back, kisses her kids on their foreheads, hops in her car, and drives away. 

"So do you guys know any good stores?"

The little girl stepped forward and said, "I do! Have you ever been to Betsy's Hair and Nail Salon?"

I groaned. And mumbled some swear words under my breath.

"I was just there."

"Right next store there's a clothing shop where all the older girls go to. My mom says she'll take me there when I fit into those clothes." 

I nod to her and we all began to walk there. On the way, we introduced ourselves. The girl is eight and her name is Kathy. The boy is 6 and his name is Paul. After shopping with them, I bought 3 outfits and still have a dollar or two left over. 

"I'm hungry!" Paul pouted. I was starting to get hungry too. 

"I know where the best ice cream parlor is, but it's on the other side of town." Kathy says.

"Well if it's as good as you say it is, then let's go!" 

We were walking for a while. 

"Kathy, are you sure this is the right way?" Paul asks.

"Nope." Kathy didn't care. She was enjoying the walk. "

"There's a gas station over there! We could ask for directions" I say.

"That's the DX." Paul corrects me. 

When we got to the DX, I saw two guys leaned against the building. One was muscular, handsome, and had a lot of grease in his hair. The other one was real pretty. He had brown eyes and dark hair. He looked like he had just walked out of a movie. I held the children's hands and walked up to the boys. The first boy left to go help a customer. 

"Hey, um we were on our way to get ice cream and we got lost, do you mind helping us? I ask.

"Sure. Are you new here? I've never seen you around here."

"Yeah, I just got here today actually."

"That's cool. What side of town do ya live on?"

I stepped closer to him and talked quieter so the children couldn't hear me.

"This is going to sound crazy but I just woke up outside of town and I had no idea where I was or how I got here. I don't even remember my family."

"Geez, how'd you end up with the kids?" 

I told him the whole story of how I ended up with the kids. 

"Do you need a place to stay tonight?" 

"If you don't mind, I don't really have anywhere else to go." I didn't want to be rude and take advantage of someone that I just met, but I really did need a place to stay. 

"It's fine. By the way, my names Sodapop. You can call me Soda." He smiled.

"Oh um I'm Marie.." His smiling was overwhelming. I stared at the ground and blushed. 

"Can we go now, I'm getting really hungry!" Kathy whined. 

"Oh yeah, sorry. Where's the ice cream place?" 

"It's down the road on the left."

"Thanks."

"No problem. What time are you coming back?" Soda asks.

"What?" I say confused.

"So I can walk you to my house." He says laughing.

"I'm so stupid! I'll come back around six." I was blushing like crazy. I could feel my cheeks burning. 

"You're not stupid." He said, staring into my eyes. We both stood there for a moment like everything was frozen in time, except us. Kathy began tugging my arm. 

"C'mon! Let's go!" 

"Okay, okay! See ya later Soda." He waved and got back to work.

"Marie and Soda sitting in a tree...” Kathy began to sing. Paul joined in too. 

"Hey! Knock it off you two!" I tried to hide the smirk on my face but I couldn't. Because I secretly liked it.