He Was Mine, I Was His

Just Friends

    On Monday, I sat with Cherry and her friends at lunch. I usually sat with them once or twice a week. They were trying to convince me to try out for the volleyball team and join student council.

    "I'm council president and Marcia is on the volleyball team so either way, you won't be alone. I think you'd have a lot of fun. Plus, we need a lot of help with planning homecoming," Cherry explained. 

    "You guys have homecoming?" I asked. Destin never had a homecoming even though the students always tried to convince the dean to let us. 

    "Oh yes!" Marcia chimed in. "We have a big football game and a dance the night after. It's so fun!"

    "Okay, fine. I'll join student council and I'll think about volleyball," I sighed. I had played volleyball since 9th grade and was really good at it but most of the girls on the team seemed stuck up. I wasn't sure if I wanted to dive deep into Will Rogers sports drama. 

    "Great! Homecoming is next week so we have a lot of work to do," Cherry said. 

    She went on to tell me the list of everything we had to do before next Friday night. Let me tell you, it was a lot. She told me that they had a meeting after school that I should come to. I usually wasn’t super into school pep but I had never planned a dance before. New experiences right? Later in the day, Two-Bit had stopped by my locker so I decided to get his take on the whole dance thing.

    “Oh yeah. Dances are crazy big around here. Especially on our side of town. We all know how to get down.” Two-Bit moved closer to me, swaying his hips and shaking his shoulders. I laughed and pushed him away. 

    “Well do you want to go with me?” I asked.

    “No can do sweetheart. I already got myself a date,” he smirked.

    “Really? Someone was willing to go out with you?”

    “Hey, didn’t you just ask me?”

    “Well that’s because I know what I’m signing up for. You have to have a certain type of tolerance to put up with you for more than half an hour,” I teased. He huffed at me and started to walk away. I grabbed his jacket and pulled him back. “You know I’m kidding. Now who are you going with?”

    “Kathy Reid. I still can’t believe she said yes to me,” he laughed. Kathy was one of the upper middle class kids. Super popular. Two-Bit is a great guy and everything but I had to admit, I was a little surprised she said yes too.

    “Well who am I supposed to go with then?” I asked.

    “Ask Soda. I’m sure he’d love to go with you. You two are cute together,” he started making kissy faces. I punched him in the arm. 

    “Shut up. You know we can’t be a thing. Plus he doesn’t even like me in that way.”

    “So you admit that you like him!”

    “I never said that!”

    “It was implied,” he said, crossing his arms.

    “You’re so dumb Two-Bit. Isn’t there a rule or something that they have to be attending the school to attend school dances?” I asked.

    “Unless someone who does attend the school asks them. That’s how he’s come to the last couple of dances. He’s the life of the party.”

    “You think he’ll say yes?” I wasn’t sure if he’d come with me if he wasn’t over Sandy. 

    “Of course he will say yes. Soda is tuff but he can also be really emotional sometimes. He really likes you Marilyn." 

    I sighed. "Don't say that Two-Bit. I can't stay. I don't want to do that to him." It sucked having feelings, or whatever this was, for him and not knowing how long I would have with him. I had sensed that he had feelings for me too but I never said anything. Two-Bit was the only person I had talked to about it. I talked to Two-Bit about everything. He may be goofy and immature but he was a damn good listener and I knew whatever I told him would stay between us.

    "Look. I have to go skip class but you should still ask him. You guys will have fun."

    I nodded. He gave me one of his silly smirks and ran off. Two-Bit could just look at me a certain way and make me laugh. He was such a gem. There weren't a lot like him. 

    I went to the meeting after school. I couldn't pay attention to what they were talking about because I was wracking my brain about Soda. What if he took me asking him as me making my move? There was nothing I wanted more at that point than to be in his arms. He was the sweetest, cutest, most sensitive guy I knew. I was just scared. Scared to hurt him. Scared to hurt myself. Scared that if something between us started, the next day my mom would call and say it's time to go home. I wish the decision was easy but it was far from it. 

    "Do you think you can handle that?" Cherry asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. 

    "Oh, I'm sorry. What?" 

    "Decorations. Do you think you can take charge of that? Promotion signs, dance decorations. All of that?"

    "Yeah. Definitely."

    "Okay well then our work is done here. We'll have another meeting on Wednesday," Cherry explained, closing her notebook and gathering her things. Cherry was the most put together person I'd seen in a long time. Everything she had was nice and organized. I kind of envied her because of that. 

    That night, homecoming was all I could think about. I was so conflicted. I knew that Two-Bit was right. Soda would say yes and we'd have a good time. I just wished I could get over the anxiety that came with the decision. I wrecked my brain about it all week but ultimately, I knew what I should do to make the both of us happy.

    That Friday night, Soda had invited me to go to the drive-in with Steve and Evie. We didn't pay much attention to the movie that was playing. We ran into some of Steve's friends and talked nearly the whole time. When the movie was ending, Steve and Evie left to do who knows what which left me alone with Sodapop. I had called Evie the night before to see when I should ask him; as she left she gave me a look saying that now was my time. 

    I was so nervous that I waited until the last minute to ask. He parked Darry's truck in front of my house and I knew if I didn't ask now, I never would. 

    "Soda," I said looking into his eyes. This was it. I just had to rip the bandaid off. "Would you want to go to homecoming with me?"

    His lips curled into a smile and he chuckled, "Of course I'll go with you. I've only been waiting a week for you to ask me."

    "What?" I asked, shocked. All this panic and anxiety and he knew! 

    "Two-Bit is good at keeping his mouth shut but not when he wants to play matchmaker," he laughed. 

    "Are you serious?" I exclaimed. I wasn't all terribly upset that he knew. It was kind of helpful in fact. 

    Then it hit me. When he wants to play matchmaker. Oh no no no. Now I had something new to worry about. This wasn't a matchmaker type of deal. No matter how much we might both want it to be, it couldn't. I had to tell him.

    "Sodapop. We are going as friends right?"

    He smiled, "Oh yeah definitely!"

    "Okay, well I'll see you around," I said. He waved goodbye and I walked inside. 

    A wave of relief flew over me. I had a date and it seemed that everything was going to be okay. He didn't seem upset when I said we were going as friends. I was glad but it seemed to be one of those bittersweet deals.

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Hi! I know this chapter was a little, well, all over the place. I hope you're enjoying the story. Let me know your thoughts! Also..... ;) Spoiler Alert: something big is coming up, what do you think it is?