Disclaimer: All I own are the Sister Sues (how sad is that?).
Soda was still hoping she wouldn't show up, even after Ponyboy had gone to the movies with Darry. But unfortunately, Jasmine-Sue Cade always seemed to be around the Curtis house when Sodapop was there. It almost seemed planned out. But Soda shook off that thought immediately when their door flew open.
Jasmine-Sue Cade stumbled inside and collapsed onto the sofa, nearly landing on Soda's lap. He'd just barely had time to quickly scoot over to the other end. Her enormous brown eyes were wild. They also seemed to drive the neighbourhood greasers wild. "Oh, Sodapop! Thank goodness you left the door unlocked today, so I won't have to spend the night out in that terrible storm!"
"We always leave the door unlocked," Sodapop pointed out. "And what storm? What the—" He looked out the window hurriedly, glad for an excuse to get off that sofa. Somehow, a storm had suddenly blown in. Rain was pouring down, and the wind whipped the tree branches around.
Jasmine jumped up, then winced and took her seat again. "I just got away from my dad," she explained. "But he got to me first."
Soda rolled his eyes. She didn't even have a bruise. Johnny had it way worse than his sister ever had. "Hey—I thought you had a broken leg!" Soda exclaimed, pointing accusingly at her cast-less, perfectly fine legs. "And if you were out in the storm, then why isn't your hair wet?"
"It dries quickly," Jasmine replied, patting her shiny brown mane proudly. She ignored his question about her leg, but when she stood up again and walked into the kitchen, a limp had suddenly developed. "So, do you have any beer? Or did Two-Bit drink it all?"
Soda quickly moved across the living room into the kitchen and slammed the icebox door before she could touch anything. "Jasmine, you're only thirteen years old! And besides," he checked inside, seeing what was in there, "Two-Bit really did drink it all," he informed her, somewhat sheepishly. Jasmine shrugged it off and bounced back with an anxious smile. It was that smile that made Ponyboy and Darry feel so sorry for her all the time. It was an "everyone-feel-sorry-for-poor-little-me" smile and it drove Sodapop nuts. But everyone else thought it was adorable.
"Say, Soda," Jasmine suddenly stepped closer to him, "We're the only ones here…"
"Uh…so?"
"So…everyone else will be stuck out there in the storm," Jasmine continued to move closer and closer, until he stepped back into the icebox. Shit. He was stuck there. "It's just you…and me. And everyone knows you always fall for the girl next door."
Soda's eyes widened as she moved closer still, now taking his hand. "You don't even live next door!" he reminded her. She didn't even seem to hear him. She had him trapped…
"Soda! Where's Baby?"
Jasmine dropped his hand and sprang back. Sodapop leaped away from her and almost ran into Darry, who wore a look of absolute panic on his face.
"How should I know?" Soda answered in disgust, his relief at getting away from Jasmine melting away. "Why don't you ask Steve? She's probably with him somewhere."
Darry's face turned at least three shades paler. "You mean—she's out in that storm somewhere?" he cried. "Out of the way, Soda—I'm calling the police!" he barreled past both his brother and Jasmine, into the kitchen, grabbing the receiver.
"The line's dead!" he announced a moment later. "Soda—get out there and help me look for her."
Soda didn't argue, he knew it would be pointless. Besides, he rather liked his smile and wanted to keep all of his teeth for now. "Can I at least grab my jacket?" he questioned.
Darry shook his head. "There's no time! Babysister is out there and she could be half-dead by now! I never should have let her out of the house…"
"She won't be half-dead," Soda assured him. "And besides, it's hardly raining anymore. Can't we just wait for her and Steve to show up here?"
Darry sat down on his armchair and answered firmly, "No. Baby's hair is probably ruined by now, I don't want her to get any more hurt. Now start searching!"
Soda was halfway out the door when he called back, "Aren't you coming with me?!"
"Someone needs to stay here for when she turns up! I need to make her some soup!" Darry shouted back, and Jasmine gave him a cute little wave before shutting the door in his face.
Grumbling to himself, Soda set out to find his sister and Steve. And Ponyboy. Darry seemed to have just left him at the movies alone in his rush to get home to Baby. Soda looked in all the sensible places—the DX, the Dingo, Jay's, the drive-in theatre, the vacant lot, the place where they always had their rumbles, and the park. Then there was really nowhere else to search (after all, the gang never went anywhere besides these places), so he turned around and went home. By this time, the sun had come back out and people were back to their usual business. A car passed by, just tearing down the road, and as it rolled over a puddle Soda got soaked. A perfect ending to an already wonderful day, he thought with a groan.
Back at home, he staggered (wetly) inside, only to fine the whole gang already there, in a circle surrounding Baby and Jasmine.
"When did y'all get home?" Soda demanded, squeezing some of the water out of his shirt. His feet were freezing! This was when it would've paid to put some shoes on. "I've been looking all over for you!"
Baby looked up in surprise. "Ooh, you're so wet! We've been home for ages! Want some soup?"
"Yes!" he practically screamed at her. "I'm freezing!"
Baby smiled sweetly, then got up to get him a bowl. "Oops! Sorry, Soda," she giggled, "I guess we ate it all! There's none left. But maybe I could make some more." She opened the cupboard, but by this time Darry had jumped out of his chair and into the kitchen.
"Baby, you just sit down there. You must be so tired…" he said sympathetically. Soda was about to nod vigorously, now that someone was finally showing him some concern, but then Darry went on, patting their sister on the shoulder, "…Baby. Get back under those blankets, now."
A cold, wet, exhausted and miserable Soda slumped down into a hard wooden chair, since all his friends occupied the more comfortable ones. Darry whistled as he took out a pan for the soup. Then he went into the cupboard for a can of soup.
"Uh-oh," he said. "Looks like we're fresh out of soup! I'm so sorry, Soda," he said cheerfully. "I guess you'll have to settle for toast."
"I'll take anything!" Soda declared. "Just please, get me some food."
"Well, looks like we're out of bread too. How about some hot coffee?"
"I hate coffee."
"Well, it doesn't really matter anyway. Two-Bit's drinking the last cup, trying to get a little more sobered up. Why didn't you tell me he finished off all the beer?" Darry asked, a bit annoyed.
"I don't know. Maybe because I was out in the storm, trying to find my friends, when really they were back here the whole time," Soda said sarcastically. But it was lost on his older brother.
"Okay. I'll make you some hot chocolate," Darry decided, taking out a mug.
Soda could've cheered. "Sounds great."
"Oh, Darry, did you forget?" Baby called from her spot on the sofa, wrapped in all the blankets in the house. "I said no more chocolate in our house, remember? We don't have any hot chocolate mix left! I got rid of it all this morning."
Darry shut all of the cupboards he'd opened. "Looks like the gang's eaten us out of house and home once again. And the stores are all closed. Since we finished off all the eggs and bread this morning, I think you're going to be stuck hungry until breakfast tomorrow. Sorry about that."
As if on cue, Sodapop's stomach growled. "Fine. I'll survive."
Two-Bit, sitting as close as he could to Baby, asked suddenly, "Are you sure there's no more beer?" his words were a little slurred, even with the coffee he was drinking.
"I guess so. Did you check the cupboard beside the icebox? Sometimes Darry stashes it in there," Soda informed him. "I found that out a few months ago, after that one rumble."
"Nah, I emptied that out last week," Two-Bit waved it off.
"Well, didn't you put some in our closet a few days ago?" Soda asked, moving his chair closer to the group. "It should still be there, right?"
Two-Bit thought for a moment, which seemed to be difficult for him, because his brow furrowed and he just looked more confused. "I think so—wait. No, I got to that already."
"Hmm. I think you pretty much cleaned us out," Soda concluded, unable to think of any other stashes of booze Two-Bit had in the Curtis house.
Two-Bit snapped his fingers. Cocking an eyebrow, he announced proudly, "I remember where I put the last of my stash! I know I still have some hidden in my ultimate secret hiding place—under Darry's bed!"
"Not much of a secret place anymore," Ponyboy pointed out with a snicker.
"Hey! What were you doing under there?" Darry demanded. "You're not getting it now, Two-Bit. You're drunk enough as it is!"
"'Sides," Dally drawled, his arm around his pet Johnny, "I found that last night and it's gone."
Two-Bit cursed and Baby looked scandalized. "Two-Bit Mathews!" That quickly got him to apologize to the "ladies". Jasmine looked unperturbed about the whole thing. Coming from a broken home herself, she'd heard far worse.
"Guys," Jasmine cut into the silence abruptly. "I—I just don't know if I can take this anymore."
"What?" Ponyboy cried immediately. Just as Soda had suspected, he did harbor a bit of a crush on his best friend's younger sister.
Jasmine shivered—for effect, Soda was sure. When she spoke again, it was in a hoarse, tortured whisper. "Life."
Ponyboy, Steve, Dally, Darry, Two-Bit and Johnny all shuddered. Soda just rolled his eyes. Jasmine-Sue Cade had pulled this act a million times before. And it always got this reaction.
"No!" Ponyboy gasped.
"Say it isn't so, Jasmine!" Darry's voice shook.
"Keep holding on!" Steve commanded.
"'Cause we're gonna make it through!" Two-Bit added.
"Just stay strong!" Dallas ordered fiercely, his voice thick with emotion.
"'Cause you know I'm here for you!" Johnny said finally, clutching his sister's hand tightly. "I'll take the beatings for you, Jasmine! Just stay with us!"
Jasmine sighed heavily. "I suppose…I can hold on for a little while longer. But I can't go back there! Not tonight!" she exclaimed dramatically.
"Of course you can't," Soda muttered under his breath.
"Soda Patrick Curtis, if I hear you being rude to the girls one more time tonight, you can just not have anything to eat tonight!" Darry said angrily. He had better hearing than Soda had thought. But not a great memory. Soda wasn't even going to bother to remind him he didn't have anything to eat anyway.
Darry had turned his attention back over to Jasmine anyway, who'd looked faintly irritated at losing her audience. "Jasmine, you are welcome to stay here as long as you need to. You can even take Soda's bed. I'm sure he doesn't mind giving it up."
"In that case, I claim the couch," Steve announced. "By pure coincidence, my father doesn't want me to come home tonight either."
So Sodapop was left with the floor.
"Never mind what I said about the puddle earlier," he grumbled to himself later that night, settling down to attempt to drift off to sleep. "This is just the cherry on the ice cream sundae. Which would taste pretty good right now…" he trailed off, hearing the knock on the door.
"It's open, whoever it is!" he called tiredly. He was exhausted. The door creaked open. Everyone else was in bed already, so the house was dark. Soda wondered sleepily who it could be, but didn't give it much thought. He was already asleep.
…
A flushing sound from the bathroom woke him up. Soda sat up, rubbing his sore neck and cursing whoever stole his pillow during the night. Steve was still fast asleep, snoring like a machine, said pillow tucked under his head. He looked sickeningly comfortable there. Soda was tempted to snatch the pillow out from under him and throw it back in his face, but stopped short of it as someone else entered the room.
"Uh, hi," she said with a smile that could chill the whole room. "I'm Kansas Winston."
Wow. Thanks for all the reviews for chapter one, I hope you liked this one as much as the first chapter. I never realized how hard it is to write a second chapter of a parody. But it is, because you have to try and make it just as funny as the first one, and you have to have new idea to mock, and…I'm rambling. But again, suggestions for clichés would be appreciated, and hopefully I'll have another chapter up soon.