Soda: Worrying

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own them.

Thanks to all who reviewed: BLATTY!!! (sorry I broke the chain!! I LOVE YOUR REVIEWS STILL!!), MissLkid, Lynn (Don't worry, Steve won't die.), Usagibuffy, TallemeraRane (You were right), Chase M. Dakota (Sorry, but it's one of them. The next chapter will tell you.), dreaminaboutDal (Thanks a bunch!), Estelle Yavetil, soda's~gurl* (Your wish has come true…Tulsa.), lilramona (I'll take it you're not a Steve fan. Sorry, I can't kill him. People would be after me, but I hope you like the story anyway!)

            The phone rang for me at the DX station the day that Ponyboy, Steve, and Two-bit were coming home. I was alone at the DX because the guy that was supposed to sub for Steve got sick and didn't show up. I was starting to close up, like the boss had told me to, so that I could meet Darry to pick them all up. At this rate, we'd be a little late, but that was okay.

            "Hello? This is the DX," I wheezed, gasping for breath. I really needed to run with Pony more often when he got back.

            "Is this Sodapop Curtis?" a man with a deep voice asked over the phone.

            "Yes, this is he. How can I help you, sir?"

            "Soda, this is Coach Tyson, Ponyboy's track coach."

            "Hi, Coach Tyson, how are you?"

            "Me? I'm fine. But, uh…we have a problem," he sounded really nervous, which was never a good thing, "Today before we left, we gave the kids one last assignment. Apparently, Steve and Ponyboy had a little trouble. They never came back to the site." I felt a chunk of ice fall to the pit of my stomach.

            "W-what?" I asked unwilling to believe it.

            "I'm sorry. We have all the teachers that were on the trip on the look out for them. We've already contacted the police and the National Guard. I escorted the rest of the kids down here at the bus station. Can you please get your older brother and meet us down here? We'll need some information. Do you think it would be wise to inform Mr. and Mrs. Randle of their son's situation?"

            "Wait a minute," I said barely above a whisper, "Steve and Pony never went back to camp? Does that mean they're…?"

            "We don't know, Soda. I'm terribly sorry."

            "It's…it's alright…" Coach Tyson was particularly close with Ponyboy, being his gym coach and his track coach.

            "Now, should I contact Steve's parents?" he knew the hatred Steve had towards his dad. Tyson had the unfortunate experience of an argument between him and his drunken father at an award ceremony for the track team that the gang attended.

            "No, I'll do it, thanks, Coach."

            "Get Darry and meet us here ASAP."

            "Okay, coach. Bye." I hung-up and slowly sank to the floor of the DX, not noticing that my boss had come around the corner. He asked me what I was doing, startling me out of my thoughts. I told him the whole situation in a monotone, not caring what he thought. My boss sympathetically told me to get out and find my brother, that he would close up for me. I thanked him repeatedly before calling Darry, which was something that I dreaded even more than calling Mr. and Mrs. Randle. Shakily, I picked the phone up to call my older brother who I knew would be more than devastated.

            "Hello?" Darry's voice sang through the phone, oblivious to the situation we were faced with and I wished that I could keep it that way.

            "Hey Dar, it's me."

           "Sodapop? I'm on my way, don't worry," he chuckled. When I didn't laugh like I usually did, he became concerned, "Soda? What's wrong?"

            "Darry, Coach Tyson just called. Pony and Steve are…missing…" I told him getting right to the point. I never had been great at breaking things to people gently. There was a silence as I heard Darry breathing hard into the phone.

            "W-what?" he finally said.

            "Pony and Steve are missing," I repeated, faltering slightly a Pony's name.

            "What do you mean?"

            "I don't know. We need to meet their teachers at the school right now."

            "Now?"

            "Now."

            "I'll be right over. Do you have a ride?"

            "I'll walk, it doesn't matter. I have to call Mr. and Mrs. Randle first."

Darry took in a sharp breath, "Okay. I'll see you there." He sounded really worried. I was too, but I tried to keep calm as I dialed Steve's number. I didn't mind his mom so much. She was a real sweetheart and she loved Steve, but his father…now that was a scary man.

            "Hello?" Mrs. Randle's voice rang out over the phone.

            "Hi, Mrs. Randle? It's Soda."

            "Hey Soda! Aren't you going to pick Steve up?" she asked me, confused.

            "Um…Mrs. Randle? About that, well, the teacher just called me and said Pony and Steve are both…missing."

            "What?"

            "Missing, Mrs. Randle."

            "My baby is missing?" I heard her as she sobbed into the phone.

            "Mrs. Randle, I'll be right over to pick you up. We're going to the school right now to see if there's any word."

            "Oh, thank you so much Soda! Steve's father is not going to be pleased."

            "That doesn't matter right now," I assured her, "What matters is Steve gets home alright…and Pony." We hung-up and I raced over to the Randle house. Mrs. Randle and I practically ran all the way to school, which isn't too close to our house, mind you. When we got there, Darry was already a nervous wreck. It was all I could do to keep from breaking right there. But I had to stay strong for everyone else's sanity. I wasn't supposed to cry. Greasers don't cry. That's what I kept telling myself over and over again, but I lost it when Coach Tyson reported them still missing two hours later. It was going to be a long night.

*Sorry that this chappy sucks. I was rushing through it when I realized that I hadn't updated this story is such a long time and that my readers were going to kill me. I'll have the next one up ASAP! SORRY!*