Revolution - An Outsiders / Sodapop Fanfic

Five

None of us were sure what to do the next day. Abbey was supposed to be coming but we didn't know when and we assumed she was just going to come to us at the house. It was a Saturday and Soda, Steve, and Darry didn't have work. It was tense with Soda and Sydney in the same house all day.

"He's driving me mad!" Sydney whispered harshly, pulling me aside so Soda wouldn't hear. I had a feeling he could tell though because she wasn't amazing at hiding her feelings.
"I know he is," I said, "It's because he-"
Her eyes grew wide and I wanted to tell her but I couldn't. I promised Soda I wouldn't.
"Never mind," I apologized.
She seemed to understand because she didn't ask any further questions. She ran her hands through her hair, distressed.
"I just don't know what to do, Ponyboy."
"And Abbey won't tell you," I added.
"She thinks I can figure something out on my own. And I already did! I had a brilliant idea! And that was to ask her what to do!"

I didn't know what to say then. I was at a loss for words but I wanted to say something comforting so I said the only thing I could think of;
"He's not mad at you."
She stared at me, letting my words sink in.
"Okay," she said finally, "thanks."
And she turned around and walked away.

Soda had been giving Sydney the cold shoulder all day but when she wasn't looking, he couldn't take his eyes off her. I knew how he felt about her, what was making him act the way he was. It killed me that he felt that way but I couldn't do anything about it.

Although Sydney was frustrated with Soda, he couldn't take away her excitement for Abbey. She made us all dinner and set the table so we could all sit down and eat together. Well, almost all of us. When she called us all to the table, I saw that the table was set for five.
"Oops," Sydney said, glaring at Soda, "I guess I must've counted wrong."

She was really mad at Soda to do that. There was no way she counted wrong. Steve, Darry, Two-Bit and I took seats. Sydney was standing at the last spot and Soda was on his own. They stared at each other. Sydney furious, Soda heartbroken. And then I saw Sydney's heart break too. She moved from the chair and gestured for Soda to sit. Her eyes looked sorry and I didn't doubt that she was. Soda took the seat and seemed to give her a worse cold shoulder than before.

Sydney grabbed a sandwich and went out on the front porch. Through the window, I could see her sitting on the chair and looking out into the street. I let her be.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her jump out of her seat and run. She went out of my view so I too, jumped from my chair and ran out the front door.

"Ponyboy?" Soda asked from behind me. He spoke a lot when Sydney wasn't around. I didn't stop to explain to him though. So he followed me. And eventually everyone else did too.

I immediately saw what made Sydney run. Soda did too, he stopped at the door. Darry and Two-Bit made it past and the three of us followed Sydney down the road. Sydney was a sprinter, even I couldn't catch up to her. So was the girl running to us from the other side of the street. She was fast but not as fast as she could be. Probably because of the closet of a suitcase she was dragging behind her.

She and Sydney looked identical as they got closer to each other. Their long brown hair (that was the same shade, length, and had the same amount of waviness to it) was flying behind them as they ran. They moved the same way with the exception of Abbey's one hand pulling her suitcase. They both wore loose light blue shirts that made their skin and eyes pop. Neither had anything on their feet - besides dirt.

Abbey let go of her suitcase a few feet before meeting Sydney so that she had both hands free to crush her with. They ran into each other and hugged each other so tightly they both fell to the ground, still attached.

Darry, Two-Bit, and I caught up in no time. We joined the dog pile, happily. Darry was the happiest to see her out of the three of us but nothing compared to Sydney. It was clear that after seeing each other everyday for sixteen years, two weeks apart felt like eternity to the Lucas sisters.

I looked back and saw that Soda and Steve were still stuck at the door. Steve seemed to be trying to comfort Soda or maybe convince him to come out. But Soda didn't budge. Steve gave up and ran to join us.

"Abbey!" He said in between his warrior calls.
"Stevie!" She cried as she ran to give him a nougie. Abbey had always seen Steve as a little brother that thought he was too cool. He hated when she called him Stevie but this time, he didn't protest, just accepted it.

Abbey had hugged Two-Bit, she and Darry performed their old special handshake, and she hugged me so hard she picked me up. She glanced at Soda who was waiting on the porch and her smiled vanished. She was going to give him hell for how he was treating Sydney. And it crushed me because that would only make things worse.

We walked back to house, the six of us, chatting about Abbey's university, Sydney's cupcakes, Darry's job, and Johnny and Dally.
"I really am sorry about them," Abbey said sadly, "I wish I'd spent more time with them. I remember the year we moved, I was sixteen so Dally must've been thirteen. I remember, he spent that whole year hitting on me."

A couple of us laughed. It was true. Dally really did fancy Abbey for a while. He was confident that she'd go out with him eventually, even when he found out she was moving. Dally liked the Lucas's. Shawn was a year older than him so they used to be good friends. Dally thought of Sydney as a little sister, they'd play baseball a lot together. Abbey was good at keeping Dally under control.

"I remember that," I said, "He loved you guys."
"I miss him," Sydney admitted, "I can't believe he's gone forever. He seemed like the kind of person to... I don't know. It's like, a lot of people probably expected he'd die like that. But I thought there was another side of him he'd choose to act on over, well, the side he did... I really don't know."

Abbey hadn't taken her eyes of Soda since we started walking. She looked like she had something she really wanted to say to him. I didn't doubt he'd get an earful. I just hoped he'd talk to Sydney soon.

"Hey Sodapop!" Abbey called to him as we neared the house, "How you been?"
I guess I was wrong about Abbey being harsh with Soda. He was too.
"I'm okay," Soda said surprised. He was looking at Sydney.
"Well what would make you great?" Abbey joked. Leave it to her to be 'settle'.
Soda faked a smile and Abbey left him alone.

We went back to eating our dinner, Sydney and Abbey joined us. Of course, Soda wasn't talking again.

"You've gotten a lot quieter, Soda," Abbey pointed out simply.
Soda averted his eyes and shrugged.
"Yeah, you know what Soda?" Sydney asked jokingly, "I don't know what your problem is, but I'm sure it's hard to pronounce."
We knew she was joking so it was quite funny. Most of us laughed at the joke. Soda didn't. Sydney rolled her eyes.

Abbey had already made herself at home. She had her things lying around the house (that we cleaned specifically for her) and she was sitting on the counter.

"My noodles are cold," Steve complained, getting up to put the plate in the microwave. He opened the door and sitting right there, was a pen.
"It's been four years!" Darry shouted, half laughing, "Stop putting things in my microwave, Abbey!"
Abbey couldn't be bothered to look up when she said, "If you've got any complaints, speak to my mother. I'm her fault."

Sydney snorted. Most of us laughed, the exception being Soda. I tried to picture Darry calling up Mrs. Lucas, asking her to kindly tell her daughter to 'QUIT PUTTING THINGS IN MY MICROWAVE!" But that just made me laugh more.

Two-Bit pulled his plate out of the microwave and nearly dropped it.
"Golly that's hot!"

I could hear it coming. I could sense it. Four summers ago, all we ever heard was Steve, Sydney, and Soda singing, each line one by one in that exact order, "Too hot! Hot damn! Call the police and a fireman!" No one was surprised when Steve started it off.
"Too hot!"
"Hot damn!"
...

Sydney's head whipped around so fast I was surprised she didn't get whiplash. She glared at Soda with so much hatred right then. He continued to pay no attention to her, acted as if nothing had happened. When no one said anything, he looked up. It might've been the first time the two of them made eye contact in a long time. And it wasn't going to turn out well.

When Soda didn't waver under Sydney's intense glare, she stood up. Her hands were in fists and she looked like she was about to break something. Her eyes were lasers.

And that was too much for Soda. His face cracked and he ran as fast as he could to Darry's office.