Sky Walker|Sodapop Curtis

JUST FRIENDS

Just friends
(adj.) just friends, nothing more
-

I ignored Soda as he climbed up the money bars, sitting beside me. We sat in complete silence. It wasn't the good silence, the peaceful silence, instead it was awkward. I was ignoring Soda, Soda was ignoring me.

He cleared his throat about to say something but I cut him off, "I don't want to hear it Sodapop Curtis. First you call me a liar and you apologize for that and I believed you! But now, now you have the decency to ask me out only so I could fill the gap where Sandy was. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. I'm not the true liar here, Sodapop you are," I said through gritted teeth. My fingernails dug into my skin, leaving marks and drawing blood.

Soda took a deep breath in and exhaled loudly. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed, "Wow. Ok. I deserved that. I'm a jerk, trust me I know. But I don't know how to feel about you Katy. You're different from Sandy in so many ways. You, you're so much better than her and I don't deserve you. I'm so sorry for making you think I was leading you on."

"Making, making me think? You mean to tell me that you weren't leading me on? That's bull and you know it," I sputtered out flabbergasted.

"No Katy, I wasn't leading you on. I really, really, really, like you ok? You're driving me insane Katy!" He shouted. Soda grabbed fistfuls of his hair and yanked on them, trying to pull them out.

My cheeks turned a fiery red color. Sodapop Curtis likes me, no he really, really, really likes me! We sat in silence for a while, my thoughts getting the best of me. No. Sodapop Curtis doesn't really, really, really like me. He really, really, really likes Sandy and he really, really, really misses her. He's a liar and I am not going to get hurt again, I thought to myself.

"Sodapop, I don't know if I can believe you. I think we're better off as just friends," I said,watching his head hang low.

"Yea, yea, yea, I get it. I'm gonna wait for you Katy," he said jumping down from the monkey bars and sprinting home.

"Goodnight Sodapop," I said quietly but there was no way he heard me. A sense of deja vu washed over me once again and I hopped down from the bars, following Sodapop back home.
***
I got home and saw Sodapop lying on the grass watching the night sky. I chuckled at the sight and layed down next to him. "Hey Sodapop," I said quietly.

"Hey Katy," Soda responded. His voice was a mere whisper and he seemed extremely upset. A wave of regret washed over me knowing I was the reason he was upset.

"The sky looks pretty tonight," I said in attempt to break the awkward silence. He nodded his head in agreement, not saying anything back. "Soda?" I said gaining his attention.

"Yea?" He hummed back.

"Do you always want to work at a gas station? For the rest of your life?" I asked.

Soda sighed and shook his head. He turned to face me, "honestly no. I love working there but I can't do it my whole life. I wanna own a car shop where I can fix cars but I'm too stupid."

I rolled my eyes, "Soda you aren't stupid."

"Yea I am," he retorted, "I'm gonna be working in the gas station my whole life. I'm a good for nothing high school dropout."