Chapter 1

The day Soda got drafted, was one of the worst days for our gang.

My brother, Sodapop, was a fun loving, crazy, always happy 18 year old… At least, until we got the letter.

He looked at the letter with the official stamp. He frowned. I looked at the letter with the official stamped. I frowned. We both read it. I ran outside. Soda caught me. We both cried. Darry came home. We told him. We all cried.

Crying. That's how that day went. Just sorrow, nothing happy.

Two-Bit found out the next day. He told Steve. Steve was mad that we didn't tell him. Soda and Steve weren't the same that day. Steve was quiet, and so was Soda. They didn't make any eye contact. They greeted each other, and then hugged. That was it. Steve left.

Why does my family get all the bad luck?

XXX

Soda left. He left for war. Vietnam. I hate it. I hate war.

When soda left, I broke down crying. I couldn't stop. Darry hugged me, said it would be alright, that we would make it through this.

I didn't believe him.

XXX

Soda has been gone for three days now. The house feels empty. Darry is here. The gang is here…or what's left of it. Steve is taking this hard. He doesn't hang around us much.

Two-Bit doesn't have his usual attitude. He doesn't make as much jokes as he used to. He hangs around us more, though. He helps out Darry sometimes. Its surprising he helps. He goes to the movies with me, even though he always gets us kicked out of the theatre. He's not as happy as he used to be.

Then again, who is?

XXX

Darry has changed. He's more strict. He works late. He doesn't come home on time. I don't know where he does after work, but something in him changed. He's a lot more harsh with grades. He yells at me more. It scares me when he yells, but I try my best not to show it.

Darry wants everything his way. I know that. He wants me to do the dishes. Usually, we take turns. But now he wants me to do the dishes every night. At first I didn't want to, but then I thought about how he always coming home late, and how I already do that. I dint have a problem with it, so I agreed.

He also wanted me to quit track.

Now that, I did have a problem with.

I refused. He yelled at me. He yelled real loud. I'm sure the neighbors heard him. We argued about this, and Darry won. I begged him to let me stay in track, but he wouldn't hear it.

I hated Darry for that.

Its not Darry's fault though. It's the wars.

XXX

Soda has been gone for two weeks now. My room is empty. My bed is empty.

I have nightmares. Real bad ones. Ones about my parents. Ones about Johnny and Dally. And ones about Soda. I have a lot of dreams about Soda. Ones of him dying. Ones of him going missing. Ones of him crying for help.

I always wake of crying. I don't scream anymore, but I do cry in my sleep. I'll wake up, cry, and wish Soda was home. Those moments are the time where I want soda the most.

On those nights, I cry myself to sleep.

XXX

Nothing has been the same since Soda's been gone.

Everything is empty.

The house is empty. My room is empty. My bed is empty. My life is empty.

Darry is there, but he's changed. He doesn't try to comfort me anymore. I don't know what happened. Maybe he just doesn't know what to say or do. It's a possibility, but I don't believe it. Maybe he just doesn't care about you. I would think, and then kick myself for being such an idiot.

But everything feels empty to me. Sure, I still act pretty much the same, but that doesn't mean I'm still happy. Because I'm not happy. Nobody in the gang is, and I'm sure wherever soda is, that he isn't either.

I'm not happy with the war. They took Soda.

Soda is gone, and it's the wars fault.

Soda is gone, and my heart feels empty.