another us | sodapop curtis

6. The Stars In Our Eyes

We walked to the truck and Soda helped me hop into the back of it. Soda went into the truck to get a bunch of spare blankets Darry kept in there. He came out and joined me. He laid the blankets down and laid down on them himself. Then he motioned for me to join him. He put his arm out as a pillow for me to rest on.

"Look at the stars... Aren't they beautiful?" I asked, hoping he'd say a cheesy pickup line.

"They sure are.." He whispered looking at the sky.

Nice try Riya...

"Hey look! I see a plane!" I pointed at the fast moving light.

"I don't think that's a plane. I think it's a shooting star! Make a wish!" He exclaimed. I closed my eyes.

I wish Sodapop likes me back. I've looked for love my entire life and I still haven't found it. All I've found is... kind of the opposite. Please just grant me this one wish.

"What'd you wish for?" He asked.

"What'd you wish for?" I replied.

"I can't tell you, it won't come true." He replied.

"Well same to you Soda... How often does a shooting star pass by here?" I asked.

"I don't go to school, how should I know?" He replied.

"Do you ever wish you could go back to school?" I asked.

"No. I mean, sometimes I do but when I see you struggling it reminds me of one of the reasons why I dropped out." He replied.

"So you're saying that dropping out was the only option for you? You couldn't get any help?" I asked.

"I'm just like you, you know? I know you want to drop out. But you can't. And you won't. Why?" He asked.

I thought for a moment... Why don't I dropout? There's nothing stopping me. Except Dally of course, but even he'd accept it after a while. I looked at Soda and then it hit.

"Because of you guys. I want to be able to have enough knowledge to be able to support you guys financially and emotionally. Yeah, Darry and you don't go to school to support your family but that's not what I mean," I started.

"What I mean is that I want to be able to have a nice enough job where one of my pay checks are good enough for a while." I finished.

"That doesn't make any sense. What kind of job could have such a big pay check?" He asked.

"I can't tell you. That's a secret." I replied.

"Well now I need to find out." He pouted.

"Does anyone know?" He asked.

"Nope. Just forget about it and look at the stars." I said changing the subject.

"They're so pretty.." I stared in awe.

"Not as pretty as you." He said.

Did he just... Did he just say the pickup line I was waiting for?!

"D-Did you just..?" I asked blushing.

"Look at the stars." He said changing the subject.

I looked at the stars and grinned. I can't believe he said that.

"You know what Soda?" I asked.

"What?" He asked.

"You're really sweet." I replied.

"You say that a lot." He said looking at me.

"I know," I said looking at him.

"But it's true." I confirmed. He looked at me for a few minutes and didn't say anything.