The Outsiders: Before My Time Sequel | Sodapop

Always Be The Gang

Soda's POV
June 1966

This bright white flash of light blinds me every time. This is only the second time but I really don't like it. I don't think I could ever get used to that, because a few seconds later all I can see are moving blobs of color that block my otherwise perfect vision.

This past year just hasn't felt real. I feel like I'm going to wake up from a coma one of these days and I'll be able to tell my brothers all about what I imagined the future to be like. I got comfortable in that reality, I wasn't happy to be back home without the beautiful girl I fell madly in love with.

In moments, we were back home. The dust coverings over the furniture were replaced with the chairs and couches we had, and the windows had curtains on them and not wooden boards. Everything looked exactly the same, it was like we had never left.

We all silently looked around at each other, not able to keep our eyes focused on one certain person. It was like we were all trying to validate our experiences with each other. Did it really happen? Or are we all looney?

Dally slowly took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and gave it a small shake, mentally guessing how many smokes he got left. His tired eyes fixated on the ground as he took one out and put it between his thin lips, but he didn't light it just yet.

"Dal? You okay?" Pony asked. He noticed too.

Dally snapped his head toward Ponyboy. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Real fine, man."

"I know that this is a real bummer, but there ain't nothing we can do about it," Darry said, breaking the heavy silence. He picked up the Time Machine along with the note of destruction that Lillian had wrote for him.

I held my hands out toward him. "I can take care of it."

"Are you sure?" Darry asked hesitantly.

"I know exactly what to do," I reassured confidently.

"Okay." Darry was quick to give in. He handed it to me, and I hugged it close to my chest, careful not to crush it. "I expect y'all to go to bed early. I've got work in the morning, and I don't need no ruckus keeping me up, y'hear me?" 

"Can I crash here?" Steve asked.

"That's fine," Darry said with a yawn. "See y'all in the morning."

Darry went into his room. Ponyboy did too. Dally offered to walk Johnny home, so they left and Two-Bit's plan was to get boozed up and galavant around town to try to distract and distance himself from everything. And Bri was...

She wasn't here. I almost forgot that she will never be here again. I will never hear her laugh, see her face, or be able to kiss her again. I want to go back to the day we met. That way, I can fall in love with her all over again and look forward to all the time we get to spend together.

If I'm fortunate enough, I will meet her again. It'll be someday out of the blue, but maybe we will be at a grocery store in town, or we might pass each other on the street. I will turn around at the same time she turns to look back at me, and I will remember all the days and nights we spent together. She will make me feel young again. I will buy her an ice cream—her favorite is mint chocolate chip—and we can catch up on all the milestones she missed while she was away. I only have to wait fifty more years.

I want to throw up.

Steve jumped on the couch and flung his arm over his eyes to block the living room lamp light that filled the room with a dull yellow glow. I tip-toed out of the room and into my own room. I quickly slipped the Time Machine under the bed. We never check under there, so I knew it would be safe for the time being. I couldn't bring myself to destroy it just yet.