Summer Nights // Sodapop Curtis

Eighteen

"Thank you for today, Soda," I said as I climbed out of the truck. He closed the door behind me and embraced me in a hug.

"One of the first times we talked, you told me that all you wanted to do was spend your summer at the beach instead of being here. I know it wasn't an ocean, but it was the closest thing we have," Sodpaop said.

"It was better than any beach in the world," I smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Goodnight Sodapop."

"Goodnight Callie," he waved, climbing back into the truck.

I noticed that my Dad's car was back in the driveway, and I realized that he and Aunt Karen must have been back from visiting Grandma. I ran inside, anxious to hear how she was doing, but when I saw everyone in the family sitting together with tear-stained faces, I knew that there couldn't be any good news.

"W-what happened?" I asked cautiously.

"She's gone," Dad said, putting his arm around me. I couldn't even cry, I didn't want to accept that my Grandmother was really gone. It was the first time I had seen my father cry, and Charlie looked more upset than I'd ever seen him. I ran upstairs to Amy's room and closed the door behind me. I sat down on my bed, and that's when I really began to cry.

Amy came in a few minutes later with tears streaming down her face too, but neither of us acknowledged each other. There was a knock on the door, then Aunt Karen entered and sat down on the bed next to Amy. I went and sat down next to Aunt Karen, and she put her arms around Amy and I. She explained to us the plans for the funeral, and then Mom came in to talk to me alone. I didn't hear much of what either of them said, but the only thing that I really heard was that the funeral was the day after tomorrow, and the day after the funeral we were going back home to Chicago. Mom, Amy, and Karen all went downstairs for dinner, but I wasn't hungry.

Three days. Three days was all I had left in Tulsa. Hearing this only made me cry more, and now I would have to think of a way to tell Sodapop that I was leaving. I took a moment to pull myself together, and once I stopped crying, I picked up the phone and dialed the Curtis' number.

"Hello," I heard a deep voice talking.

"Darry? It's Callie," I said.

"I'll get Soda," he said.

"Callie! What's up?" Sodapop asked.

"Sodapop, can we go on another date?" I asked him, I wanted the last time I saw him to be special.

"Sure. When do you want to go?" He asked.

"Friday night," I answered.

"Okay, I'll pick you up at seven. Are you okay? You sound a little off," he said.

"I'm fine," I lied. "I'll see you Friday," I said, and hung up the phone.

Although it was only Tuesday and my Grandma's funeral wasn't until Thursday, I couldn't see Sodapop before our date. He would know something was wrong and I would have to tell him I was leaving. If I told him I was leaving, he would just break up with me.

That night, I sat on my bed crying for hours. When it was finally starting to get light outside, I quietly went downstairs, trying not to wake anyone up. When I arrived in the kitchen, I saw Charlie sitting at the table, looking absolutely miserable.

"Charlie? Are you okay?" I whispered.

He shook his head no. Not knowing what to do, I ran upstairs grabbed his shoes from his suitcase and then got mine. I came back downstairs and handed him his shoes. I wrote a quick note saying that we had gone out for a walk, and we left quietly.

As we walked down the street, we didn't say a word, but I held Charlie's hand the whole way. I hadn't had a plan of where we are going to go, but when we arrived at the diner on the rougher side of town, I knew that was where we were meant to be, Charlie and I always went out for pancakes when we were upset. The diner was empty except for an older man drinking a cup of coffee. Charlie and I sat at the counter, and I ordered for the both of us, pancakes.

"No one I've ever known has died," Charlie said, setting down his fork and turning to face me.

"Me neither," I said.

"Do you think we'll be okay?" Charlie asked.

"As long as we stick together, we'll be fine," I embraced him in a hug.

"Hey Callie," a familiar voice said. I pulled away from hugging Charlie to see Ponyboy standing in front of me.

"Hey Ponyboy, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Came to get some breakfast, Two-Bit and Steve ate all of our food," he rolled his eyes. "Soda said you sounded weird on the phone, you okay?"

"I'm fine," I said quickly, "but Charlie and I better get going."

"Bye Callie!" Ponyboy waved.

"Goodbye Ponyboy," I smiled. Realizing that this could be the last time I ever see him, I hugged him. I pulled away from the hug and Charlie and I rushed out of the diner.

"You haven't told your friends that you're leaving," Charlie said as we walked home.

"I just can't," I said.

The rest of the day went by in a blur, there was sadness among everyone in the house, and besides Julia, who had no idea what was going on, everyone was silent.

The next day, we all dressed in black and drove a few hours to the church that our grandmother had gone to since she was young. The funeral was as all funeral are, sad, and we ended up going to Grandma's house to pack up some of her things after the funeral. We looked through boxes of old photos, toys, and everything else she owned. Sitting on her nightstand was a silver necklace with a heart charm on it. I picked it up and held it in my hand.

"Your grandfather gave that to your grandmother on her eighteenth birthday," Dad said. He grabbed the necklace from me and put it around my neck. "You should keep it, you know what it's like to be young and in love."

"I guess I do," I said, holding onto the heart charm and thinking about Sodapop.

A/N

one more chapter left and then the epilogue. I'm super excited for the next two parts!
xx
maddie