He Was Mine, I Was His

Goodbyes and Lies

    I woke up to Soda playing with my hair. I opened my eyes to see him smiling at me. I couldn't help but do the same. 

    "Two more days," he said. 

    I sighed, "Ugh don't remind me."

    "Why don't we get up and make the most of it?" He smiled. 

    We got up and went downstairs. No one else was up but after the night we had, I wasn't surprised. Soda grabbed two pans out of the cupboard and set them on the stove. 

    "What's on the menu chef?"

    "Your favorite," he smiled, grabbing the eggs and bread. I smiled too. French toast will make anyone smile. 

    I helped Soda make breakfast for everyone. One by one they would all wake up. I assumed today would be a more relaxed day seeing as how many hangovers walked through the door. 

    "You are both saints," Two-Bit said, grabbing a plate.

    "We know," Soda smiled.

    As I watched him stand at the stove, joking around with Two-Bit, I thought more about what he said the night before. I imagined him getting up and making breakfast for our kids. The image it placed in my head was incredible. 

    We spent the next two days at the beach, enjoying each others company and the last of our days in California. It was hard saying goodbye. Goodbye to my new friends. Goodbye to the beach. Goodbye to that fantastic house. It was especially hard saying goodbye to Cindy again. We went out for lunch together on the last day. Just her and I.

    "I wish you could come back with us," I sighed.

    "Oh don't start. You'll make me cry," she said waving her hands by her eyes. "We see each other soon."

    "I know. It just sucks."

    "The endings of vacations always suck. You get thrown right back into reality when you get home. Maybe you and Soda can make this place not just a vacation place one day," she grinned. That thought made me smile.

    "Oh how great that would be."

    "I thought Michael and I were a power couple but you two. You two are perfect for each other. I'm really happy for you Marilyn."

    Her words made me tear up. I was so happy with Soda and it was nice to hear that other people noticed it. "Thank you Cindy. I'll miss you a lot."

    "Don't worry," she smiled. "I'll be calling you as soon as I get home. Bugging you just like always."

    I smiled and we finished our lunch. We both cried as we said goodbye again. Then I went back to the house. Everything was packed in our cars. We had an hour before we had to hit the road.

    We spent it sitting outside together on the back deck. We had our final laughs and said our final goodbyes. Joan was very sad to see us go.

    "You better call," she said as she hugged me. "You're family now. Take good care of my cousins."

    "I will," I smiled. I was happy to be called family.

    I got hugs from Tyler, Sam, and Eddie as well. We made our way to the driveway where I kissed Soda goodbye as we got in separate vehicles. On the road again. Back home. Back to school and work. Back to reality.

    "I will forever miss this place," Evie huffed. "I don't even care if I was the only one that didn't get any action. They had cute clothing stores."

    "What do you mean you were the only one who didn't get any action," I laughed.

    "Donna and Johnny. You and Soda. Steve and I didn't do anything that whole week!"

    "Well Soda and I didn't do anything either," I replied. Donna and Evie both looked at me. They looked confused. "What?"

    "I heard from Steve that you and Soda finally had sex," Evie explained.

    "Yeah," Donna added. "I heard the same from Two-Bit and Johnny."

    I just looked at them both. I was confused but also angry. Did they get that information from Soda or was someone just spreading rumors? "Where did they get that from?"

    Evie gave me a sympathetic look, "Take a guess."

    "No. Soda wouldn't say that. We didn't do anything."

    Donna put her head down. Evie kept that sympathetic look. "I'm sorry Marilyn. You know how boys are."

    I grew angrier. What happened to him respecting me? Yeah some boys are like that but Soda wasn't. He wasn't the type to lie just to fit in or look cool. He could do that without lying. What was going through his head when he told that lie?

    I stayed quiet until we made a pit stop. Evie tried to tell me how to go about the situation but I didn't listen. I knew what I was going to do.

    I got out of the car and walked up to Sodapop. He tried to kiss me but I just grabbed his hand and pulled him to the other side of the van where we could be alone.

    "Are you serious?" I asked in a quiet yell.

    "What? What do you mean?" He asked defensively.

    "You're not stupid Sodapop Curtis. You know what I mean!"

    His face fell as he realised, "Marilyn I'm sorry. I didn't mean any harm by it. They wouldn't get off my back. I knew Two-Bit would give us both shit if I told him what happened."

    "I don't care. That doesn't give you any right to tell a lie like that. You said you wouldn't do anything that I didn't want. I sure as hell didn't want this," I was getting so angry that I knew my face would be red. Soda hugged me to calm me down.

    "Look baby. I'm sorry. I will talk to the guys and I will fix it. I know it was wrong. I'm sorry," he said softly.

    I wanted to stand my ground so bad but I couldn't. I had to forgive him. What he did was dirty but how could I not forgive him? I could tell how bad he felt.

    Everyone started to return to the cars. "Give me a kiss," Soda said. I did. I gave him one and we both went back to our cars.

    "That looked like it went over well," Evie said.

    "Oh shut up," I huffed.

    The ride home seemed longer than the ride there. I guess thats how it always is. We made our way back to reality. The wonderful trip just becoming a memory.