Turning the Tables

After Bob died I never thought I would be able to live again. Yet here I am in the back of a 1965 red corvette, with my best friend Victoria and her little brother, on our way to Rusty's. All Soc's hang out at Rusty's. Although I sometimes go to the Dingo, a greaser hangout, when my parents are out of town. I was born a Soc, yes, but I have made friends with the Greasers. Tonight, I'm with Victoria, so we are going to an all out Soc hangout. At least we were supposed to go to Rusty's.

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Victoria exclaimed.

"What? Why did you stop the car?" I asked.

"I didn't stop it, we have a flat tire."

"Lemme' look at it!" Chase, Victoria's little brother, stated as he popped his car door open.

"No, you don't know anything about cars, so just get back in." Victoria stated firmly as she took the keys out of ignition. "We need to call for help."

"Hold on, I think I know someone who can help." I said.

"Who do you know that works on cars, Cherry?" Chase asked.

"Shhhhhh…." I whispered, while lifting my index finger to my lips, "Hey! Yeah it's Cherry! Sorry to bother you, but my friend's got a flat tire, and we need someone to tow us."

"Yeah of course Cherry! After testifying for Pony, we owe you a favor. Besides, you're a friend!" Soda answered over the DX phone.

"Okay, thanks, we're on Maften road, in a red corvette. We are pretty easy to spot." I responded.

"Okay, well Steve can take over here at the DX for a bit, so I'll be there soon." Soda continued.

"Okay, and Soda?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks again."

"Anything for a friend."

"So who was that?" Victoria asked, obviously trying to imply that he was more than just a "friend".

'Well, Vic," I answered with fake-girly tone, in an attempt to squash her thought of romance, "That was Sodapop Curtis, and he is just a friend for two reasons. One, he's not exactly my type, and two, my boyfriend died not even a year ago, and I really did love Bob, even if he showed up in a drunken stupor quite often.

"Ooooh! Soda? The hottie who works at the DX?" She asked.

"The hottie who works at the DX?" Chase added in a mocking tone. I laughed at that.

"Yes, Vic. But like I said, just a friend."

'I've never met him, but I've heard the others on the cheerleading squad giggle and gossip about him." Victoria responded.

"Wait, ain't he the Greaser whose girlfriend got knocked up by some other dude and ran off to Florida?" Chase asked.

"Yeah, but it wasn't his fault, or his kid, plus it's a sore topic so I'd drop it when he gets here." I added as I looked up to see Darry's blue pick-up coming round the curve in Maften road. It skidded to a stop, as I saw Steve hop out with his wrench. As soon as Chase saw Steve instead of Soda, he grabbed his baseball bat from behind his seat and hopped out of the car.

"Whoa, Chase!" I screamed.

"What? This piece of Greaser trash was the one with Dallas Winston when he hit on Lani!" Chase responded.

"Whoa man, hold on, this here is my buddy Steve and we are just here to tow your car." Soda said quickly.

"You said Steve was going to stay at the DX," I added in.

"I wanted to come, besides, our shift was almost over anyway." Steve said, turning to Chase, "And as for you, Dally had no idea that "Lani" had a boyfriend, so I suggest you put the bat down now." Chase seemed to calm himself as Steve explained what happened between Dally and Chase's long time girlfriend, Lani. He then realized that he still held the bat in his arms.

"Sorry," was all Chase responded with.

"Alright, now let's get this beauty to the station so we can get her all fixed up and ready to go." Soda said while pulling the towrope from his car.

"Thanks again." I said, while being poked in the side by an anxious Vic, "Oh yeah! Soda, Steve, this is Victoria, and well I guess you already met Chase over there. Chase is Vic's little brother."

"Pleasure to meet you, Vic," Soda said courteously.

"The pleasure is all mine, Soda," Victoria answered.

~~~~~~Victoria's POV~~~~~~

Once the corvette was towed to the DX, Chase wanted to stay to watch, but Cherry and I didn't, so Soda gave us a ride home. He dropped Cherry off first. As we pulled out of Cherry's driveway, I looked over at Soda. He was so handsome. He had a chiseled face, wild and dancing eyes, and a glorious golden mane of hair. Soda looked over at me, and noticed I had been staring.

"I know, I know, I'm not having the best of hair-days," He said sarcastically as he smiled this huge goofy grin. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Me neither," I responded, laughing. He laughed.

"You're right." He said sarcastically. Wow. Really wasn't ready for that one. I laughed so hard I thought I was going to double over.

"What?" He asked.

''It's just that, most guys would take that as an opportunity to hit on me, but you just joked along."

"Well, everyone needs to joke every now and then." He said. He was right. I guess I don't really joke enough. I'm too serious. I'm co-captain of the cheerleading squad with Cherry. I play softball, volleyball, and lacrosse. I'm always so busy. Whether it was sports, cheerleading, or trying to look perfect at all times, I never had time for fun. I looked over in the mirror, wondering why Soda wasn't trying to hit on me. My hair was cute today. My usually straight, chocolate brown hair was in pretty curls that hung at my shoulders. I didn't have a ton of makeup on, but I didn't think I needed it. Look, I'm a pretty girl; I'm popular, athletic, sweet, funny, and caring. Yet Soda still didn't seem to show any interest. Huh. It's probably because I'm not very humble.

~~~~~~Soda's POV~~~~~~

It was so hard trying not to flirt with Victoria. She was gorgeous. But I had heard about her from Pony. She was captain of the cheerleading squad. She was a popular Soc. That would never work out. The last thing I need is to start another Greaser vs. Soc battle.

At least I intended not to start a battle. But that was last month.