I jumped hearing the sudden knock on my door.
"Yeah, come in." I answered, hoping it wasn't Mom again. I hadn't spoken to her since our last conversation. I hadn't spoken to Dad either. I only spoke to Judy at home these days. The last time I tried being nice to Chris, we ended up having a huge argument. He kept on saying horrible things about Soda and all greasers in general, and I finally exploded on him. I tried to apologize to him later on, but he did it before I was able to.
"You don't even remember me anymore." Maureen said walking in, showing fake anger.
"I do, it's you that's been avoiding me." I replied hugging her. I was truly glad to see her. I didn't want to lose all my friends, and family members, even though deep down in my heart I knew it would be worth doing for Soda.
"That's not true; I just thought you'd be busy with your new boyfriend. So…how's everything?" She asked.
"Good." I replied not wanting to get into any details. We talked for a long time, and then went shopping for spring. It felt nice to spend time with my friends again. Maureen had been right when she pointed out I was too busy with Soda.
When I spoke to Soda the next morning, he sounded extremely disappointed. Although I asked him over and over, he kept on insisting it was nothing, and not to worry. But I decided to check on him anyway, and went to his house right after college. When I went in, Soda and Pony were the only ones there. Pony was reading a book as usual. Soda was sitting next to him, staring into space, looking really lost. It was surprising because Soda is barely able to stay still like that, with nothing to do. Just by looking at him, my previous suspicions were confirmed. I knew something was wrong.
I softly knocked on the door to let them know I was here. Pony looked up from his book and grinned. But I could tell Soda's smile was forced.
"Come in, Devon." He said his usually enthusiastic voice now only a soft whisper. He didn't even get up from his seat, while at other times he would run up to me like a child.
I walked over and sat down next to him.
"Do you want to go somewhere for dinner?" I asked.
He shook his head, answering "Not in the mood."
"Come on, please" I tried to make the face that I notice Soda making when he wants to convince someone. I knew it didn't work well, but Soda grinned. He got up to get ready, while I waited. We offered Pony to come along, but he said Darry would want one of them home when he came back from work. I let Soda drive my car, and I sat next to him, looking at his face the whole time, trying to figure out what was wrong. It took a lot to not ask, and to wait till we got to a restaurant and started eating.
After we went into Dingo, and placed our orders, I looked straight into Soda's eyes and asked, "What is it, Soda? You don't seriously think I'm not noticing you act differently, do you?"
Soda looked away from me very quickly. "It's not worth for you to worry about."
"Are you kidding me?" I replied getting angry. "If it's bothering you, how can you say its not worth for me to worry."
There was a long silence after this, and when the waitress brought our food, I told Soda I wouldn't eat or talk to him until he spoke up. He sighed, knowing he would have to give up.
"Look, I don't even know what the matter is yet, so I don't want to worry you. But Lizzie…acts kind of weird. I mean if Darry likes her, then that's all that matter but I don't think she likes me or Pony. She was saying the other day how he has to work so hard for us and all. I mean it is true, but Darry doesn't even shove it up our face like that…" Soda looked sad.
I wasn't really surprised because Lizzie did look like someone who could be really mean. And I suddenly felt angry about it, and wished there was something I could do to help Soda and Pony. Although Darry didn't like me, I really wanted him to be happy also. I knew he deserved someone better than Lizzie.
"I'm so sorry..." I whispered.
Soda smiled quickly, trying to cheer up. "It's ok, Darry's smart, Dev. If she's really the wring person, hopefully he'll find out before it's too late.
"Yeah, I hope so too." I said, "Let's eat now, I'm hungry."
After I went home that night, Chris came into my room. H sat next to on my bed and asked how things were going with Soda. Except he said "that greaser" instead of the name.
I knew it would be worthless talking to Chris, he would never understand.
"He's just fine; now get out of my room." I said, trying to stay calm. There was no point in creating a scene. If my parents were to come in to see what was going on, they would only take his side. After Chris left, I finished my homework and decided to call Cherry. Although I was best friends with Maureen, she was also a pretty close friend, and we started hanging out more, after Bob had died. It was amazing how she had so little resentment against the greasers, compared to the Bob's guy friends. It was as if they were using Bob's death as an excuse to make thing more bitter. Cherry told me that she knew Bob deserved what he got, and although she was upset, she didn't really blame the boy who killed him although she was never able to bring herself to go see the boy while he was in the hospital.
"Hey, Devon…" Cherry said, sounding surprised I called. "It's been a long time…"
"Yeah…I've been a bit busy lately…" I wasn't sure if she knew about me and Soda.
"I know, gossips spread quickly here…." She chuckled. I obviously figured what she was reffering to.
"Well…" I sighed. "I'm glad you already know Cherry…I'm tired of spelling this stpry out to so many people…"
She laughed again, and we talked for a long time, about everything going on in the both of our lives. It was surprising how much more comfortable I felt talking about Soda with Cherry than I felt with Maureen.