We pulled up to my house and I got out a little too quickly. I kissed Soda goodbye, and he said he would come by at some point tomorrow if he could get out of work. I really hoped that he did.

I went inside to see my mom and Marty arguing. Great, this was going to be fun.

"It's obvious, Kathy, she shouldn't be living with you!" I heard Marty yell as I ran through the door.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked, shoving him away from my mom, who had tears falling down her face.

"Nothing, I was just leaving," Marty said, quietly.

"Yeah, you were," I said, staring at him as he walked out the door. As soon as he was gone, I turned to my mother.

"What was that all about?" I asked her. She looked down at the ground and mumbled something about her being tired. She got up and went to go back to bed, but I stopped her.

"Sit down and tell me why you and Marty were fighting!" I said, a little too harshly. The truth was, I was scared about the answer. I didn't really want to know, but if Marty was trying to break my mother and I up, I needed to.

"He's filing for custody," she said, quietly.

"…Of who?" I asked, cautiously. I knew what was coming now.

"You. He doesn't want you living with me anymore," she said, and walked off to her room.

I was in shock. No, not shock, this was much worse. Much, much worse. There was no chance that I was going to be able to stay with my mother if the state was going to do an investigation. The worst part wasn't even that I was being taken away from my mother. It wasn't all about her anymore, for once. It was about my relationship with my new friends, but more importantly, Soda. If the state did an investigation, they wouldn't hesitate to put me in the custody of Marty, and he wouldn't hesitate to take me as far away from my mother as he could. My life was doomed.

"Mom?" I asked, walking into her room. She was just sitting on her bed, almost catatonic. This was bad, this was really bad.

"Do you think I'm a bad mother?" She asked me, not turning her head.

"You're not perfect," I admitted, "but who is? You are better than a lot of mothers around here, just because you care about me. The fact that you're upset now proves that."

"But I'm not a good mother," she said, leaving no room for any conversation.

"You are to me," I said, hugging her. It wasn't a lie. I loved her so much, so much more than I let on. Sure, she had her setbacks, but she had never hurt me, and she had always been strict with me. She used to be a great mother, and a part of me wanted to believe that she was still like that somewhere. So many mothers these days don't care about their children, and they hurt them, but my mother thought the world of me. So what? She did some things that she shouldn't be doing, but she would never endanger me with them. Somewhere, she is still the woman that I remember. Loosing her would be impossible, and it might even kill her.

After I let go, I walked back out to the kitchen. I was going to wash dishes, but I couldn't bring myself to do anything right now. I didn't know how much time left I had with the people that I truly cared about. And it scared me.

Knock Knock Knock

I looked at the time on the clock in the living room and realized that it was already noon. I slept through the night and into the next day. Dammit!

"Hello? Is anyone home?" I heard someone yell from outside. It was Soda.

"Uh, one minute!" I said, and ran to check on my mom. She was asleep too. What time had we gone to bed last night?

"Hey," I said, opening the door. I saw Soda take one look at me and shock ran through his face.

"Are you okay?" he asked, taking my head in his hands and looking into my eyes. He was tracing something on my face.

"Yeah, why not?" I asked him.

"You're face is all red and your eyes are swollen," he said, "Were you crying?"

"I really don't want to talk about it," I said, walking back inside. I started washing the dishes that I had failed to do in the wake of last night's event.

"What happened, Andie," Soda said, turning me so I was facing him.

"Nothing, my uncle and I got in a fight, that's all," I said, lying through my teeth.

"You're a terrible liar, Andie," Soda said.

"Okay," I groaned, "I'll tell you, but only because you deserve to know."

"Okay…?" he prodded.

"My uncle is filing for custody of me. He doesn't think that my mother is a suitable guardian, and clearly the social justice system will agree with him. They will conduct an investigation that will lead to a full out trial. If we loose, I will be living with my uncle and I guarantee you I won't be anywhere near here."

Sodapop looked like someone just punched him in the face. Literally, I was pretty sure he stopped breathing.

"You can't leave," he said, "I just found you."

"I know," I said, hugging him. He grabbed me so tight I thought he was going to break me. I didn't really mind.

"Do you know how long?" he asked.

"No, it depends on the lawyers and how much of a fight he puts up. I would say that it would be a month at the least before the trial. Two months before I have to leave."

"Two months," he said, "damn."

"I know, but we don't have to let this ruin us. We have two months at the least, Soda. Let's make it last," I said, trying to be optimistic. Then, he just pulled out a letter, and tears started forming out of his eyes.

"No, Andie, we have two weeks," he said, handing me the letter.

Dear Mr. Sodapop Curtis,

The United States Army regrets to inform you that you have been drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. You will report to basic training on February 15, 1970. It should also be noted that if you do not attend the assigned training and refuse to participate, you will be arrested. On behalf of the United States of America, we hope that you choose to fulfill your duty as an American citizen. Good luck.

Sincerely,

President Richard Nixon

"No fucking way," I said, dropping the letter on the ground. I had been on my own a lot lately, and busy taking care of my family, but I knew about the war. I knew that people died. I knew that people didn't come back. I knew that Soda going there would end in death for him.

I started screaming and throwing things around. I threw the king of temper tantrums. This couldn't be happening to me. Why did God hate me? What did I ever do to him? Eventually, Soda came up and grabbed me, stopping my rant. I punched him in the chest a couple times, but he held on. He wasn't letting me go.

"I know," he whispered in my ear, "I know."

He took the rest of the day off from work. We sat on my couch and just held each other. I cried most of the day, and even Soda shed a few tears. In two weeks it would all be over. I would never see him again. He would be a soldier.

"I will come home, Andie," he said after a little while.

"You don't know that," I said, "people don't come back from Vietnam."

"I will, you know why?" He asked, "I have the prettiest lady at home waiting for me."

I smiled a little bit, and he flashed his grin too.

"I have to go," he said, and tried to stand up, but I wouldn't let him.

"No," I said, "stay. Stay with me."

"I have to go make sure my brothers are all right," he said, trying to pry me off of him.

"You can't leave me," I cried. I wasn't letting him leave me.

"I will be back as soon as I can, Andie, you know I will. I love you so much, and no matter what happens in Vietnam, no matter what people tell you while I'm gone, I will always love you," He said, tears forming in his eyes.

"You don't mean that, we've only known each other for a week, less," I said, wiping the tears out of my eyes.

"Don't you believe in love at first sight? It's our very own Romeo and Juliet story, Andie. You and me. I don't care how long I've known you, but I've been looking for you my whole life. I love you; I wish I didn't have to let you go. You don't know how much I want to stay here with you, get married, have a family…"

"We can do that, we can do all of that," I said, "We can run away together, only us. Forever."

"Andie, I have a family too. They need me just as much as you do."

"Please, don't leave me," I begged one last time.

"I'll be back in the morning, I promise," he said, and kissed me on my forehead before walking out the door.

"I should never have let myself love you, Sodapop Curtis."