Running with the Wind

Ch. 4: Socs

A/N: I've been doing some revising realizing a lot of grammar mistakes and again trying to fix the speaker tag issue.

One night Shannon was over and I'd been giving her some help on her English paper. Even though she was a few years older then me and grades too, neither of us minded extra opinions. It'd begun to get dark so she decided to head home before her parents freaked, being it was a school night and all.

"I'm sorry, I really have get going," she told Soda as she packed up her paper, "Pony, would you mind looking it over some more and giving it back to me tomorrow at school?" she asked.

"No problem," I replied taking her paper and heading to put it in my room.

Soda smiled and pulled her into a hug saying, "I'll see in the morning or after school, right?"

She nodded and smiled too, "You know it." They kissed lightly and quickly, before Darry would have a chance to walk in and say something. Shannon then left and Soda continued watching a little bit of TV, while I went through checking the rest of her paper.

I was broken out of my thoughts when I heard, "Dude, what happened?" In the living room Soda was sitting on the arm of a chair next to Steve, who had a few cuts on his face and was holding his hand to a bleeding lip.

"Those god damn, no good, Socs; that's what happened!" Steve exclaimed. Darry had come out of his room now and was getting ice or a rag for Steve's lip and cuts.

"How'd they do this?" I asked, "You're pretty tough and can take them most of the time."

"I dunno...ganged up on me in their fancy ole red mustang. I held off pretty good, but one of 'em got me pretty good a couple of times before I got away and packed in a few punches myself."

"Here, take this," Darry said holding out a wet rag, "Clean the cuts out at least." Steve nodded and took it.

"So did Shannon leave?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, just a few minutes ago actually," I told him.

That's when Soda looked kind of like he'd bit his tongue and said, "Oh crap..." She grabbed his shoes and jacket, then headed for the door and began to jog down the sidewalk.

"Where're you going?" Darry called.

"Making sure Shannon's okay!" he yelled back.

XXX

I should've known it wasn't safe for her to be walking by herself at this time of the night, and if there were some drunk Socs out there, it was better to be safe than sorry. I rounded about two blocks before I could see this red mustang in the distance. As I got closer, I realized there were figures all crowded around someone. I picked up the pace and my thought was confirmed to find them all by Shannon; obviously trying to hit on her and get her to come with them.

"Now you can make this easy, or you can make this hard," One of the bolder ones in green told her, "Which will it be?"

"Just leave!" She exclaimed angrily, "And go to your own turf!" When she tried to push past one, one in red grabbed her wrists tightly to hold her still while the boldest one advanced towards her, aiming to strike as she screamed.

"Leave her alone!" I yelled angrily at them and punched the boldest one in the face knocking him to the ground. I then kicked the Soc holding Shannon in the shins, causing him to let go of her and fall, while I kicked him in the sides again. The bolder Soc got up again to punch me back, but he was the one who got the punches. The rest of the Socs finally then helped the two up and retreated back to the car, knowing I meant business.

I then hurried over to Shannon, bending down to help her up and asked, "Shannon, are you alright? Did they do anything else?"

Shakily, she took my hands and shook her head, "I'm o-okay, just pretty shaken is all. The one holding me grabbed my right arm pretty tight when I tried to get away when they first parked, but otherwise they didn't do anything else." I looked to her wrists—where the one Soc in red had been holding her—to see her rubbing them; her body shaking slowly.

"Shannon," I told her quietly pulling her into a tight hug to sooth her, "You're gonna be okay. They aren't gonna hurt you anymore when I'm around."

"I know," she said back drawing in a few breaths to steady herself while leaning on my shoulder. We stayed like that for a few more minutes until she said, "I really need to get home, Soda. My parents were going out tonight, and chances are they've had a few too many to drink and they'll be angrier with me as it is."

"You sure you can't come on back to my house and cool down a little more?" I asked, "If they're gonna be out they might not even notice."

She nodded, "I'm sure, please, I'll be okay."

"Am I allowed to walk you back?" I asked smiling to lighten the mood.

"I guess I can't say no to that," she replied smiling and sniffling a little back. I wrapped my arm around her as we began to walk away.

XXX

When Soda came home that night, Darry asked, "You were gone longer than we thought, is everything alright?"

"Um...yeah, everything's fine. Heading over to Shannon's I found her cornered by the same guys who got Steve," he started to say, "But I managed to scare them off. Her wrists were a little sore from where they tried to grab her, and she's a little shaken, but fine." Soda hopped on the floor next to Steve, who was now drinking a beer.

"Damn Socs...trying to hurt a girl of all people," Steve muttered.

"Glad she's alright though," I said taking a handful of chips out of the bag we had out.

"She could've come back here to cool off," Darry suggested to him as he sat in his armchair.

"I know," Soda replied, "And I offered her too...but her parents had been out and she was afraid that they would've been angry if she came home late, especially if they were drunk. I know that was all the more reason I wanted her to come, but she was pretty set." It was getting kind of late now, so I decided to call it a night, knowing I'd be dead tired in the morning if I didn't get some sleep. Steve left while I was getting ready, and Soda joined me after I had lain down, actually wanting to fall asleep instead of talk like we normally do. The next morning, Soda rolled on top of me, trying to wake me up. I don't know how long he'd been trying to get me up, or if that was his first attempt, but I wished he'd move.

"Soda..." I mumbled, "Get off of me..." I told him sluggishly.

"Rise and shine sunshine!" he exclaimed grinning and putting his face right next to mine.

"Soda..." I protested again.

"I'm not moving until you make an effort to open your eyes and get up," he told me firmly.

"Ugh!" Soda laughed at me and I attempted to swat him and push him off after a few more seconds.

"See, that's all you needed to do," Soda told me as he climbed out of bed and changed into his DX shirt. I rolled out lazily and changed half zombie like. When I managed to make it into the kitchen to eat some breakfast, Soda and Darry were already eating.

"Morning there, Pony," Darry said looking my way, "You sure look awake this morning," he added on sarcastically.

"Thanks to me," Soda said smiling over my way. I rolled my eyes and took a seat while Two-bit and Steve came barging in, helping themselves to any leftovers like all weekday mornings.

"Is Shannon coming to walk with Two-bit and I to school?" I asked Soda as I rounded up my backpack.

"She should be...she usually does...wonder where she is," Soda said curiously. Just before Two-bit and I were going out the door, Shannon knocked and came in after Darry motioned her to. "Hey, there ya are," Soda said going over to greet her, "Was almost worried about ya for a bit there."

"I'm fine, Soda. I promised didn't I?" she asked smiling reassuringly.

"Sorry to break your little reunion, but we've really gotta be getting to school," I told Shannon/Two-bit, "School starts in twenty-five minutes."

"I always see you before dinner," Shannon told Soda, "And if I don't, then you can worry."

Soda nodded, "Okay..."

He was about to kiss her good-bye, but they both kind of blushed and turned away when Two-bit told him, "Plant one on her already!"

"I'll see you later?" he asked blushing a little.

She smiled and nodded back, before heading over to Two-bit and I, and headed out the front door.

Over the next two months, time seemed to fly by so fast. The end of the school year had finished up a few days ago, which was rather early for it being the first week in June. Darry actually got promoted a few weeks ago, and was now the assistant manager for the roofing company that he worked for, earning a few dollars more an hour, and sometimes working less hours. At times it seemed like he didn't know what to do with any extra free time there may be. Two-bit was just plain proud of himself that he'd finally managed to pass his senior year, and was officially a high school graduate, even if it was just barely. Soda and Shannon were still going strong, and I really hadn't seen Soda happier as cheesy at that sounded. Shannon fit right into the gang, and she knew how to get along with everyone in just the right way. It was currently around ten at night, and Soda, Shannon, Steve, Two-bit, and I were all walking back from the DX. Soda and Steve had worked a later shift, so they naturally got out later, and we'd met up with them just afterwards for some Pepsi's and snacks.

"I seriously was the one who won that race!" I protested to Two-bit, "You were at least a few steps behind me!" Two-bit and I had a race from the DX to the first corner street we came to.

"I was not! C'mon Steve, you tell me who won," Two-bit told him.

"Sorry, Two-bit, I'm gonna have to say it's the kid on this one," he replied.

"Ah shoot!" Two-bit said angrily as he pulled five dollars out of his back pocket. Oh yeah, the winner of the race also won five dollars.

"The things you do for money, Two-bit," Shannon told him laughing a bit.

"There's still that thing called a J-O-B," I spelled out for him.

"Hey now, I'm not that stupid that you gotta spell it out for me! I aint working anytime soon, I mean that's what summer's are for, to relax!" Shannon shivered a little and laid her head on Soda's shoulder.

"Are you cold?" Soda asked her as wrapped his arm around her as we continued to walk.

"Only a little," she replied.

Soda smiled and pulled her closer to him, "Well this ought to help now." She smiled back as he did too. I could tell Two-bit and Steve were resisting the urge to say anything to them. I didn't make fun of them like Steve and Two-bit did. For some reason it just didn't seem like the right thing. I'm pretty sure the reason Two-bit does that half the time is because he wouldn't know what to do with himself if he stopped talking.

"Anyone know what time it is?" Steve asked, "I've gotta try and be home before my old man gets back from wherever he's been tonight."

Two-bit looked at his watch and said, "It's about ten-fifteen."

"Eh, I have some time," Steve replied.

"What do y'all wanna do?" I asked.

"I think I'm just gonna head home," Two-bit replied, "My mom's been getting mad at me since I've been spending the night at your house. Might as well try to make her somewhat happy by getting home at a decent hour."

"I'm gonna try and find Evie since I haven't seen her that much this week," Steve said.

Suddenly feeling a little tired myself I said, "I think I'll just head on back home." Soda knew he didn't have to ask to walk me back, since you could pretty much see our house from the lot, and I knew that's where he and Shannon would go.

"Alright I'll catch y'all later," Soda called as he and Shannon headed for the lot.

"Night," I called to them heading in the direction of home.

XXX

At the lot, Shannon plopped down on the ground underneath one of the trees and sprawled out.

"I don't think I can stand anymore, my feet are killing me!" She told me laughing. I laughed and sat down next to her.

"Oh come on, if your feet were actually killing you, you probably wouldn't be conscious," I joked. She then started laughing and let out a yawn. "Tired much?" I asked leaning against the tree.

"Yes, I am actually," she replied leaning back onto him, "I swear to god that Two-bit made us walk four miles across town, just so he could see that blonde he went out with last night."

"Sounds like something Two-bit would do alright. Where's his car at?"

"I think the battery's dead on it again. Said he'd have you and Steve look it at next time you work." I smiled and wrapped my arms around her letting out a yawn too. "You're looking kind of tired yourself," she told me.

"Me? I'm alright," I told her. As Shannon closed her eyes a little I added on, "A few minutes rest won't hurt though."

"Nope," she mumbled back yawning afterwards again. I couldn't help but close my eyes too, since it'd been a long day at work. As soon as it seemed I was just getting to sleep Shannon was shaking me awake.

"Soda, we have to get up," she told me.

"Mmm how come? We were just resting..." I replied opening my eyes.

"I thought the same thing, but it's almost midnight," she told me. I wiped my eyes and stretched, then looked at my watch.

"Aw man, it is," I replied standing up with her, "I'm sorry, I started to fall asleep after you. Want me to walk ya or anything—"

"No, it's fine. Hopefully my parents won't be too mad since they knew where I was going and everything. I'll cut through a few yards on the street behind here to save time," she told me.

"Darry shouldn't be too mad...well at least I hope not," I replied brushing off my jeans, "But tonight was nice," I told her smiling.

She nodded, "It was...I'm sorry, I really need to go..."

I kissed her and said, "Don't let me keep ya." She nodded and quickly headed off, while I began to run back down the street to the house.

Inside, Darry was still watching some TV, with a cup of coffee on the newspaper that was sitting on the table. I couldn't see if Ponyboy was in the living room or not, since I was trying to peer through the screen door. Trying to open it quietly, I walked in and Darry's head turned to see who'd come in.

"Where've you been at?" Darry asked. I wasn't sure if he was mad or just asking, "Did ya know it's almost midnight?"

"Dar look, I was just with Shannon, alright? We were down in the lot and we fell asleep, and when she woke up and looked at the watch, and I headed back here..." I tried to explain quickly.

"Relax," Darry said breaking his glare, "I knew you were there the whole time. Pony went down about half an hour ago to see if you were still there."

"Why didn't he wake us?"

"It's Ponyboy; he couldn't wake up a sheep if he was asked to." I started laughing at this, knowing it was totally true. "Besides, we knew one of you would've woken up eventually."

"Well I'm headin' to bed, I'll catch ya in the morning," I said to Darry, "Night."

"Night little bro," Darry said back.