Promise Forever
Chapter 1- You forgot gas?
Ashley: brown hair/eyes, skinny but strong, well mannered, funny and tough.
"You are unbelievable." I grumbled to my step dad, who was sitting in the drivers seat. "How could you expect to get to Tulsa if you have half a tank of gas?"
Before I go further, I should tell you that my step father is the worst person in the world. Unwilling, abusive, and drunk are good words to describe him. This is the third time we stopped for gas, because Tom doesn't know how to fill a car with gas. He fills it half full every time so we have to stop after about forty-five minutes. " Oh shut your mouth, you're not the one raising to good for nothing kids." said Tom. "You should respect your parents." He said with a nasty grin on his face. Why was he smiling? I questioned; that wasn't exactly a moment to smile.
I snorted, "If the world has come to respecting people like you, the world is in deep trouble."
I don't know why we were moving all the way to Tulsa. Tom can't keep a job to save his life. What, did he think that the bosses down here were different from the ones upstate? He was such a moron. Moron is the nicest word I can use to describe him.
"Besides, you never respect us, so why should we respect you?" I added.
My mom gave me a death glare. "You talk like that to your father again, you'll have a beating you won't forget." I sighed, knowing she meant it. My mom and I used to get along just fine until she married Tom. She started to go right along with Tom when he came home. He would scream at us, she would scream at us. He would hit me, she would hit me. That's just the way things went.
"Whatever." I mumbled.
"Ashwey, when are we gunna be dare?" Sammy asked me. Sammy was my little brother and the meant the world to me. He was the only thing that kept me sane most days. I smiled at him sweetly, "In about an hour…wanna play I Spy to pass the time?" His eyes went wide. "Yes! Me first!"
I chuckled, "Okay bud." As Sammy was looking around for something to spy, I couldn't help but worry about what it was like in Tulsa. Was it all Soc's like Bob, or was there nice Greasers? Whenever Bob came to visit, he would always tell everyone bout the time he jumped a greaser, or when he threw a broken bottle at a Greaser walking home from school. I hated Bob, I don't care if he is my cousin or not. He so cruel and mean to those greasers. He didn't get that they were just normal people like him, except they just didn't have a lot of money. That shouldn't matter anyway, but for people like Bob…they were just raised to hate people who weren't as rich as them
"Is the house we are going to live in close to Bob's?" I asked curiously. There was going to be a ton of fights if we lived right next to those rich, snobby monsters.
Tom looked at me like I was crazy. He laughed then said, "No we live in the same house as them dipshit."
It took me a few minutes to realize he was serious. My jaw dropped."We're gunna live in the same house as that imbosal?!" My mom glared at me," You just earned yourself a beating young lady. You do not talk about those wonderful people like that." She said with a smile on her pale, sunken in face. I always told Sammy; if you don't wanna end up like mom, don't do drugs.
I looked at Sammy and immediately saw fear in his eyes. "But Bob scares me Ashwey!" I hugged him, " I know Sam…don't worry about it though. I'm your Superman, I'll protect you." I joked, smiling down at him. Sammy basically was a little version of me; except more outgoing.
He smiled, showing his missing teeth. "Oh yeah!" he replied happily. The fear was out of his eyes and replaced with excitement.
"But we better get some rest so we can have loads of energy to explore!"
"Okay , I'll sleep extra good so I'll be full of energy!"I smiled as he put his head on his seatbelt.
Maybe I'll get some sleep too, I thought, not looking forward to the beating I was to receive soon. Why couldn't I have nice parents?
That was a question I asked myself many times...
1 hour later...Tulsa, at a DX.:)
"Get out."
I rubbed my eyes tiredly, wondering why I had been ordered to exit the car. Sammy was awake now and sitting up in his seat. "Well if you knew how to fill a car up with gas, we wouldn't have to stop at a DX." I spit back at Tom, the memories of the nearly empty tank coming back to me.
He glared at me, "You're pushing it kid." He grumbled pulling up to the DX. There was a kid about 16 years old standing by the pump with a bored look on his face. He had brown eyes, light brown hair that was greased, and a bird tattoo on his right arm. He looked nice enough to me; then again, Tom seemed nice at first too. My judgment could be very clouded sometimes.
"Evening." He said. His name tag said Steve on it, and I immediately thought of a guy stripped I used to know back at home. Don't ask about that…it's a strange story.
"Hey." Tom said with a annoyed expression on his face. He gets annoyed when people say hi or hello to him; he thinks that they should just keep to their own business. Stupid right? They're just being polite.
Sammy suddenly started tugging on my arm. "Ashwey,I got to go potty."
I sighed "Okay bud, let's go inside and see if they have a bathroom." As I got out of the car, I saw Steve look behind him and wink at someone. I almost started laughing, but then remembered I had only been here for a few minutes and didn't want anyone to think I was insane or something. As we walked into the rusty-old DX, my heart skipped a beat when I connected eyes with a boy.
The most bluest, kindest eyes I've ever seen.
Chapter 2-New here?
Soda's P.O.V
As soon as Steve turned around and gave me that crazy look, I knew a girl had come. Steve always gives me that look when he sees a girl I might like. I prepared myself for a blonde, because that's usually the kind of girl that came in here, looking for a friend-with-benefits. I was shocked when I saw it wasn't a blonde at all.
She wasn't blonde, she wasn't wearing a short skirt or a revealing shirt. She had long, luscious brown hair, and stunning brown eyes. Her waist was tiny, but not like anorexic tiny. And her smile…it almost made my jaw drop wide open.
I snapped out of my trance, when the little boy I didn't notice asked me where the bathroom is.
"Sir? Do you have a bathroom in here?" the little boy looked like the girl except he had piercing blue eyes like me.
I smiled at him."Yes we do little man! Right down that hall there." I said while pointing down the hall. I caught the girl staring at me, so I gave her my winning smile. For the first time in my life, I felt butterflies in my stomach. I was usually the one causing the butterflies; not the other way around.
Thanks." she said with a small smile as they headed to the bathroom. I suddenly thought of Pony boy, and how he compared things to sunsets.
She reminded me of one; bright, sunny, and beautiful.
Slow down Sodapop, I thought to myself. You just met her, I told myself, this is no Romeo and Juliet. I quickly tried to fix my hair and make myself more presentable before she came back out. I had a huge grease stain on my shirt, but that couldn't be fixed. As soon they come out, you start up a conversation, I told myself.
The girl and the little boy walked out.
"So are you guys new in town?" I asked the girl.
Is it that obvious?"
I chuckled, "Well it's a small town, so when I see a face I don't recognize, I get curious."
She reached out her hand and I shook it, noticing how soft and delicate it felt.
"I'm Ashley, but you can call me Ash."
What a nice name, I thought.
This was the start of a beautiful friendship.
~Ashley's P.O.V~
He is extremely handsome! I thought to myself as I observed him. His hair was a darkish brown, slicked back, and his eyes were as bright as the sky. I was starting to like Tulsa already!
He smiled at me." Well it's nice to meet you ,Ash. I'm Sodapop."
I looked at him for a second; did he say Sodapop? I wasn't making fun of it, I just thought it was ...different. But I liked it! It had a certain ring to it.
"I like that name. It's very original." I said with my best smile. His face reminded me of a movie star's…it was flawless. Soda smiled, "Thanks." He was blushing a little and I couldn't stop myself from thinking about how adorable that was.
Suddenly, there was a giggle.
"That's a funny name!"
Honestly, I forgot my little brother was even standing there.
"Sammy, don't be rude." I spoke up. Sammy continued to giggle however, almost uncontrollably.
To my surprise, Sodapop didn't even looked offended. Instead, he smiled and leaned over the counter so he could see Sammy's face.
"Not as funny as yours!" Soda said with a smile. I laughed at Sammy's surprised expression on his little chubby face. No one usually teased him except for me, so I found it pretty hilarious.
I was lost in my own little world as I smiled up at Sodapop.
Of course, someone had to ruin it.
~Soda P.O.V~
"Hey kid, get a few beers!"
The very stoned looking man standing outside yelled to Ashley. Could that possibly be her father? I questioned in my mind, not seeing one thing they had in common. "Is he your dad?" I asked before I could stop myself. I usually didn't ask people about their families, since the stories were usually depressing. But there was something in Ashley's eyes that told me there was something else going on.
Ashley looked at me as he handed me the money.
"Step dad."
"Makes sense."
To my happiness, Ashley smiled at my comment.
"You should meet my cousin, he's even worse than him!"
"Who's your cousin?"
"Bob."
I silently groaned in my head when I heard that name. Bob was the most hated Soc out of any of them. How could someone like Ashley be related to someone like…him? Sammy looked at me with wide eyes." Bob is the meanest bully ever!" he exclaimed, fear in his eyes.
"You got that right." I replied, "Him and a bunch of other Socs jumped my little brothers best friend, Johnny. He's pretty paranoid now."
That was a terrible time, I remember. Johnny was all beaten and bloody, left to die in a field. It still amazed me how cruel people could be.
"I'm sorry," Ash started, shaking her head. "I tried to change him when we were little but his mind was already poisoned with hate." She finished. There was a certain hopelessness in her eyes that I didn't like to see.
"For the record, you are nothing like Bob."
She smiled at me, and was gunna reply but she was interrupted by what must have been her mother screaming at her to hurry up. I looked at Steve and he shrugged and made a "they're crazy" look.
~Ashley P.O.V~
Damn it mom, I thought in my head.
I looked at Soda with an apologetic look on my face. "I'm so sorry but I have to go. It was really nice meeting you!" I said with a weak smile on my face.
He smiled at me, "Nice meeting you too! Hey, are you still in school?" Soda asked me. Oh no, I thought, panicking for a second. What if he thought I was a loser since I dropped out?
"I-I'm a drop out." I said looking at his reaction. To my surprise it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. "Same here! I have to help my older brother Darry, taking care of my younger brother,Ponyboy. Plus I'm too stupid for school." He said the last part looking down.
"I'm sure that isn't true." I said, trying to cheer him up a little.
Sodapop gave me that smile and I felt my heart beating faster than I ever thought possible. " I have to support Sammy because my useless step dad can't keep a job to save his life. We know the owner of the restaurant downtown, so I have to work there as a waitress."
The worry on his face went away followed by relief.
"I'm serious Ashley! Get in the car now!" Tom screamed at me.
"I really got to go now .Nice meeting you again!" I said picking up Sammy and turning away.
"Hey, I'll see you around right ?" Soda called after me.
I smiled."Definitely!"
I turned around after seeing him smile one last time, and walked out to the beer stained car.
For the first time, I got a good feeling about this place.