All it took was a single milkshake to bring back my memories.
Johnny loved chocolate milkshakes, and other from his home life, he embraced life. He embraced it in such a way that it made the rest of us aspire to do the same.
"Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold."
Even his last words showed me that. I wanted to live a life full of zest, just like Johnny had.
I wished he was drinking a chocolate milkshake right alongside me. But the man upstairs deemed otherwise, giving Johnny a whole new destiny, of doing who knows what who knows where.
I took off the cherry and bit into it, then, I drank my milkshake.
Memories exploded like fireworks. Johnny was reading Gone With The Wind with me. He was watching the sunset with me. He was walking with me on the sidewalk, headed to the movies on a carefree afternoon.
Despite my vivid memories, it was all in my head.
My thoughts of Johnny had gone away when I heard a voice order next to me.
"I'd like to order a chocolate milkshake, please." The voice was feminine and familiar; it was absolutely beautiful.
I didn't think about it. I didn't want to approach her. It felt wrong and ridiculous; she said a thing about saying hello to her in public. That thing alone made me feel hopeless.
She was a Soc; I was a Greaser. It was always that way. The town wasn't changed any after Bob's death. It didn't change after Johnny and Dallas died, nothing was different either.
That girl was Cherry Valance. I was in love with her. I wasn't her kind, so it didn't matter.
I held my head down as I slurped my milkshake. I knew Soda would understand. He went through the same thing himself; he knew what to do. He always knew what to do.
My heart pounded, and when she said hello to me, I jumped in shock.
"Hello, Cherry... How are you?" I muttered back nervously.
"I'm fine, thank you. How about you?"
Her brown eyes shined and her red hair still flowed down her shoulders. I felt like I was staring at a goddess, a goddess too beautiful for this human world.
"Umm... I guess I'm okay.? I stroked the back of my head, unbeknownst to myself at the time; Soda told me later on that it was a symptom of nervousness.
"Awesome. This year's treated us much better, hasn't it?"
1965 has been better, even with the depression I felt sometimes, knowing that it might have been my own fault that Johnny died. I was getting good grades and I was excelling in track. I barely smoked anymore and was able to catch my breath again. I felt a little better, and I think Cherry saw it. I hope Cherry saw it.
"Yeah." I answered. "I guess so." My milkshake was all gone by then. I paid the cashier a nickel, but I was still there. I was there for one reason, and obviously, it was to speak to Cherry.
Though she was a few years my senior, she was still my dream girl. No fifteen year olds could woo me like her, no matter how hard I tried to like them.
"I hope so, you've been through so much.. You deserve it. You really do."
She put her nickel on the counter. "Do you want to come to my house?"
Startled by her question, I nodded my head yes. To tell you the truth, I couldn't think of anything better I could do that night, other than being a supposed burden to Darry and Soda, like I felt I usually had been.
Before long, we were in her Stingray, making our way to the west side of town.
"Do you know The Beatles, Ponyboy?"
"Does anyone not know The Beatles?" I told her, and laughed while doing it.
"You're right, yeah. Would you mind if I played one of their records when we get there?"
"Nah." I lied, about halfway. I was okay with The Beatles, but not nearly as much as I was with Elvis. Elvis was tough. The Beatles, not so much. But I realized over time that girls liked clean cut boys, not greaser boys.
"Great." She smiled. I smiled back. If she was happy, so was I.
Her house wasn't as big and castle like as I thought it was. It was a new two story house, which was kept up well. It didn't have spires or gargoyles.
I almost didn't learn this until that day, but Socs are not royalty.
She parked her Stingray in the driveway. We walked in the house through the attached garage, which was a marvel in itself for me. It was a like a whole new world. So was the kitchen in the house, with the blue, turquoise appliances and bright, white, shiny cabinets.
The whole house felt modern, but as we headed up the stairs, I felt more at home. The rooms were less modern. Well, you know, the girl's rooms anyway.
Cherry's room was the smaller of the girl's rooms, she said her little sister was spoiled beyond belief. She said when she was born, she had to move to the smaller bedroom so her sister could have a big nursery.
"At least you get to sleep in your own bed." I told her. "Soda and I have to share."
"Well, if anyone can handle dire straits, it's the Curtis boys, I'm totally sure of it." She put a hand on my shoulder; her cheeks were redder than her hair.
"Hold on, Pony, I'll get the record started. It's a new one that just came out. I think you'll like it."
I watched her hustle around her room and get the record from her shelf. She turned on her record player and put the needle on the vinyl.
I was shocked at the sound coming from the record. It was beautiful. I loved it.
Cherry sat on her bed and invited me to sit with her. I accepted her offer.
"I knew you'd like The Beatles, Pony. I knew it."
She blushed and wrapped her arms around me. "I see it in your eyes, you like it, don't you?"
"Yeah, I do." I said to her, almost dreamily, only focused on the record and her. I was falling asleep, in the best dream my brain had ever conjured.
It wasn't a dream. It was real life. Before I knew it, we were about halfway through the album.
"There are places I remember, all my life, though some have changed
I thought about Johnny again. About Dallas again. About the old days, all over again. And about Cherry. Meeting Cherry, and loving Cherry.
"Some have gone and some remain..."
Again, everything came back. Mom and Dad, and everyone else.
"With lovers and friends iI still can recall, some are dead and some are living. In my life, I've loved them all. "
Yes, I knew that was true... I knew more than anything at all.
"In my life, I love you more.."
When that lyric came on, Cherry and I kissed. She was the one who kissed my lips first, and then, I kissed her back.
Again and again and again.
That last lyric want necessarily accurate. I loved her as much as I loved Soda and Darry. Not more than them or more than my parents. I loved them all equally. That were all family.
I feel in love with a Soc. A Soc named Cherry Valance. She fell in love with me. As we grew older, we left Tulsa for a better, brighter world. No matter hoar away we were from home, or how old we grew, this song always played.
In my life, I love Cherry more than I thought I'd ever would. I thought I'd reach a pinnacle, but she'd raise me higher. She is strong and resilient, she made me stronger as a result. We were two halves to a whole. She was the one and only girl for me.
And she still is.