Second to None
Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders or the U of C. If I did I wouldn't be writing this.
Chapter One: Summer's End
"Wake up!" Darry roared in Soda's ear. Soda yelped and promptly fell off the bed. He sat up and glared at his older brother.
"Glory, Darry, where's the fire?" he demanded. "What gives, waking me up at…" He glanced around for a clock. Not finding one, he settled for: "Waking me up before dawn?"
"College starts again today!" Darry exclaimed gleefully. "C'mon, let's get to the station or I'll miss my train," he said, already tramping out.
Good, Soda thought selfishly. The summer was at an end, and now he would be the only Curtis brother left for a while. Darry was off to his second year of college, and Ponyboy was on a book tour for the second time that year.
Jeez! Soda had thought when he had heard the news from Ponyboy. How can the kid write so much so fast?
Once Darry left, he would be alone again. He didn't want his brother to leave. Not until Ponyboy came back, anyway. Even then, he wanted them both to stay.
But he knew he couldn't do that to them. So he kept his mouth shut and put a winning smile on instead.
Soda, you shoulda been an actor, Soda told himself as he joined Darry for a hurried breakfast. You always been told you got the look, and you're halfway decent at acting. Even better when it comes to lying to your brothers.
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"Got your suitcase?" Soda hollered to Darry over the shrill train whistle.
"Yeah!" Darry bellowed back. "I'll see you Thanksgiving!"
"Don't forget to write home!" Soda reminded him. He put on a good charade, but Darry could see right through it. You couldn't spend twenty-five years with a guy and not know everything about him, especially if he was your brother. Poor Soda could never stand to be by himself. Darry hoped Ponyboy would be home soon and cheer him up.
Just before he got on board, he glanced back one last time to wave to Soda, a forlorn, helpless looking loner on the platform, staring at his shoes with the corners of his mouth turned slightly down.
On an impulse, Darry flung his suitcase in the compartment to save his spot (he thought he heard a muffled "Ow!" but it could have just been his imagination) and leapt off the train, which was slowly chugging out of the station already.
"What the—" Soda gasped as Darry pulled him into a one-armed, rib-cracking hug. Soda hugged him back briefly before shouting, "You're gonna miss your train! Unless you've been hiding the fact that you can fly, Superman!"
Darry laughed and affectionately ruffled his brother's hair one last time before bounding off, managing to disappear inside just before the train pulled out for good.
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Soda heaved a tremendous sigh as the train disappeared from sight. He was the last person on the platform.
I sure am gonna miss you, Darry, he thought regretfully.
He tried to focus on something else. Was he supposed to be at work yet? He and Steve were now co-owners/managers of the DX station. They were the best mechanics around. People came from as far as the West side of town just to get their car repaired at the DX.
He glanced at his watch and got a huge shock. Glory, I'm late for work! Steve's gonna kill me!
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"Mom?" A.J. descended the steps into the kitchen, where she could already smell the makings of a true Indian breakfast, at least at their house: crispy khakra, potent ginger tea and random spices whose names she had no idea though her mother attempted to stuff them into her brain every summer in the hopes that she could one day cook like a true Indian wife.
"Yes, Anjali?" her mother responded in her thick accent, refusing to use A.J.'s preferred nickname. She turned to face her daughter and her expression changed several times before she settled on a poker face. "That is how you are going to college? This would never settle in India! They would kick you out straightaway, coming so dirtily dressed!"
"Mom, it's okay. This is how everybody dresses," A.J. insisted, cringing at the memory of last year. Her mother had forced her into a frilly "frock," as she called them. A.J. had managed to sneak her choice of clothing into her backpack and had changed on the train. She glanced at her watch.
"Ma, I'm going now. I'll see you at Thanksgiving, okay?"
"Wait up, yaar," her mother insisted. "Say goodbye to Daddy, too."
For some reason, A.J.'s parents called each other "Mummy" and "Daddy." They were more like best friends than a married couple.
The said father tromped in just then, in an incredibly bad mood. "Mere joothe kahaan hai?" he demanded in Hindi. "Where are my shoes?"
"In the closet, Daddy," A.J. responded. "I have to go now, though, or I'll miss my train."
"Wait for your breakfast," her mother said with a pained expression on her face. "The train won't leave without you."
"Mom!" A.J. exclaimed, scandalized for some reason. "People here don't run off IST! They don't wait for one girl!"
"IST?" her dad echoed.
"Indian Standard Time," A.J. confirmed. "You know, late? And that's one thing I can't be," she concluded. She grabbed a few khakra, bounding out the door and yelling, "I'll call when I get there!"
She could've sworn she heard her father complain to her mother, "They grow up so fast," but didn't stop running, suitcase banging against her legs as she sprinted to the station that was within walking distance but still pretty far, about a mile down the road.
A.J. caught the train just in time, throwing her ticket at the poor man standing there and leaping on just as it pulled out.
Catching her breath, she flopped into a seat and shut her eyes, relieved that she had made it time.
"Hey, stranger," said a voice that could have been daring or mocking her, depending on how it was interpreted. It was a voice that made A.J.'s eyes fly open and twist in her seat to look to make sure it really was who she thought it was, make sure that she hadn't dreamed it.
She wasn't dreaming. She hadn't seen him all summer, and here he was now, tan and grinning like mad. The entire compartment stared at her as she screamed his name:
"LUCKY!"
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Should I continue or delete it?