Have A Nice Life

Soda looked down at the ground shaking his head in disbelief as he heard Sandy say words he never expected to hear from her. A whole tear-filled story of how bad she felt that she had done the unthinkable and cheated on him. She was pregnant. She was leaving.

"Who was it?" Soda asked quietly, not looking at her.

Sandy sighed, "It doesn't matter who it was, Soda."

He pulled a cigarette out of the pack in his jacket and lit it. "It matters to me. Who the hell was it, Sandy?"

"Soda…it wasn't anyone you'd know. He lives on the other side of town."

Soda looked incredulously at her. "A Soc?!"

Sandy knew Sodapop would never understand. He wouldn't understand how it felt for a girl like her to have a guy like that handsome, dark-haired boy from a good home and good neighborhood show her attention.

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She hadn't intended for it to go any further than simple flirting when he came into the drug store where she worked every few days. She loved Soda but lately he was getting a little too intense for her. He was too available. He was too doting, almost smothering. He had started talking marriage and she couldn't even conceive of it. He was 16 and worked in a gas station and that was probably all he'd ever do. He'd never get out of Tulsa, never get a better position in life and she wanted more than that for herself.

The though of a classy, rich guy paying her mind was beyond her but here the boy was trying to take her out, showing up every few days buying a pack of cigarettes or gum and standing there chatting with her for longer than he needed to until finally she caved and agreed to go out on a date with him.

She hadn't told any of her friends. The girls were all tight with each other and with the boys they went out with and she didn't want it to get back to Soda. She didn't plan in advance but after their first date Sandy imagined how she would break up with Soda to keep seeing this boy. Unfortunately, every time she thought she would, she just couldn't. He'd be sweet and she couldn't stand to hurt him.

She kept seeing the other boy behind his back until eventually she ended up giving in to his advances and finally having sex with him even though she knew it was wrong. She knew she was being deceitful but she couldn't help herself. This boy had ambitions and plans. He was going somewhere in life. Somewhere she could imagine going herself.

Then she missed a period. Then two. Then she went to the doctor. Finally, she told the boy. He stopped coming around, stopped answering her calls and she gave up on him.

She had to tell her parents who immediately planned to send her to Florida. She knew she'd have to tell Soda. She couldn't just up and leave without a word. That wasn't fair. She knew how much he loved her. It would kill him either way but she figured she'd done this much, she might as well come clean.

Xxx

"Couldn't you just have lied some more and told me it's mine? He doesn't want anything to do with you now. If you woulda told me it's mine…well, I wanted to marry you anyway." Soda dragged on his cigarette and spoke calmly. He didn't want her to see the anger building inside him. He didn't know what he'd do if he let that part of himself out.

Sandy cried harder. "I couldn't do that to you. Lie about something that huge."

Soda started laughing which made her look at him like he was nuts. "You couldn't lie about that but you could let some guy nail you behind my back all this time. You know what? Have a nice fucking life."

Soda left Sandy in the park by herself with her tears. She was leaving in the morning. She made this all happen. In her mind, though, it was almost a relief. As much as she cared for him and didn't want to hurt him she was glad it was over.

Xxx