Summer Nights // Sodapop Curtis

Six

When I walked inside, everyone rushed to the door.

"There you guys are!" Aunt Karen said with relief, grabbing Julia from my arms.

"Where's Amy?" Uncle Tim asked.

"Why were you out so late?" Dad asked.

"Are you guys hungry?" Mom asked.

"Amy didn't come with me," I said. "I thought she would have been home by now."

"Well, she isn't. Do you have any idea where she is?" Aunt Karen asked.

"She went out with Tom," I answered.

"Let me give you his phone number," she said, "you can call his house and see if she's there."

"Okay," I sighed, not understanding why she couldn't call him herself.

She handed me a little address book open to a page with Tom's name and number written on it. I went up to Amy's room to use her phone, and I sat on her bed as I dialed his number.

"Hello?" I heard Tom's voice come from the other line.

"Hi Tom. This is Amy's cousin, Callie."

"Hi Callie, what's up?" He asked.

"Is Amy still there?" I asked.

"Still here? I haven't seen her all day," he answered.

"Oh, sorry to bother you," I said.

"Bye," he said, and he hung up.

I walked back downstairs, wondering where Amy had gone.

"Did you talk with Tom?" Aunt Karen asked.

"Yes. Amy is still with him, they were planning on going to see a movie," I lied, I didn't want Aunt Karen to worry.

"Well, I guess we should eat dinner without her," Aunt Karen said, and she went into the kitchen.

"Don't tell what we did today, tell them we stayed at the park the whole time," I whispered to Charlie and Peter.

"And what's in it for us?" Peter asked, crossing his arms.

"More candy," I replied.

"It's a deal," Charlie said, and we shook hands.

"Dinner is ready!" Aunt Karen called out from the kitchen.

We walked into the kitchen and sat at the table, where we ate silently. Something seemed weird.

"I saw Tom and his mother at the market today," Aunt Karen said.

"That must have been before Amy went out with him," I said.

"It was only about an hour ago, you said she was with him all day," Aunt Karen said.

"She walked with us to the park and hung around with us for a while before she went to see Tom," I explained.

"That makes sense," Aunt Karen said.

After what seemed like the longest dinner of my life, I went upstairs to Amy's room and sat down on my bed to read. It was getting late, and Amy still wasn't home. The phone in Amy's room started ringing, and I ran over to answer it.

"Hello?" I said.

"Is this Callie?" I heard a familiar voice ask.

"Yes it is," I smiled.

"Sodapop gave me your number, I guess we're going on a date tomorrow," Dally said.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't know how to say no. When he asked if I liked anyone in the gang, you were the first person that I thought of," I explained.