Chapter Six

Two days later my godfather Darrel Curtis called me and told me I could go horseback riding. He worked on a farm and knew I would go every time he said I could, I've always loved horses, rodeos and horseback riding around with no destination.

But my mother wouldn't let me go by myself, so we argued. What was the big deal about it? I just had to take a bus and be back before it was dark. My excuses didn't work, she didn't want me to go alone. Period.

I went anyway. This is me, kind of a rebel, I was then and still am now. Anyway my rebelliousness was not the point; the point was I just couldn't afford to miss an opportunity to go horseback riding.

So there was I, waiting for the bus to come, when I see Sodapop coming, his hair shining brighter than the sunlight. He smiled. He was always smiling for everybody, but it was rare seeing him smiling for me. And then I realized why Lisa, Sandy and a lot of other girls, even the rich ones, were all out of their breath when he passed them by.

Well, I knew how proud and insolent he could be, so I didn't even expected him to talk to me. But he did.

"Hey Susie"

"Hey" I replied. "Are you catching a bus or what?"

"As a matter of fact" oh jeez, he grinned again "I am."

"Where to?" I was getting curious.

"To meet dad at the farm" if I was curious, he was mysterious.

"Do you work on Sundays now?"

"I don't. Its just that I went to your house to talk to you and your mother was really pissed, she said you are such a rebel" he was grinning again "I told her this wasn't news. And don't give me that look, Susan Mary, you won't scary me".

"Well, what else?" I tried to look disinterested.

"She also said you were going to the farm by yourself, which of course is very dangerous for a 12 year old chick"

"I'll be 13 in 6 days, Soda."

"I know, Susie, I know. Just don't interrupt me, ok? Well, then I told her I could keep her little rebel baby company. If the little rebel baby agreed, of course." I had never seen Sodapop talk to me so nicely. Ok, he was always nice and cheerful and happy, but he was never nice to me.

I tried to play proud:

"It's a public bus, you can ride it if you want to"

"Oh yeah? Well then, I think I'll go meet dad on the farm" he said that and sat next to me in the bus.

I was getting a little mixed up. Would it be possible all that was because Mickey Mouse and the stuff I said to him a little while ago? Or it was because he was all too tired to mess with me? I wanted so bad to find out.

"So, you went to my house looking for me, huh? What did you want anyway?"

"Well Susie, I wanted to tell ya..." I realized he didn't really know what to say. "I don't know... well... thanks for everything you've said and done that day."

I didn't answer, so he went on talking:

"I also wanted to say you're not the ugliest chick in the neighborhood."

"Oh thank you very very much Sodapop" I laughed out loud "I guess now I have to say that you're not the most idiot guy in the neighborhood"

It's incredible how I remember all this stuff so clearly. That day, Soda and I spent like 6 or 7 hours horseback riding and watching rodeo practice. Soda could ride practically any horse and I found that amazing. And it was almost time to leave and we decided to make a stop so that our horses could take some rest.

We sat on the lawn, both quiet. Seemed like silence bothered Soda, so he started trying to begin a conversation:

"Did you know Two bit got Phoebe Mills?"

Jesus, I just hated when they used the verb "to get" when referring to girls. It was rude. Two Bit, by the way, loved blondes. He had almost 15 back then and he already chased them. Phoebe Mills was blonde alright and looked like the good girl in the neighborhood but, for Two Bit's luck, she wasn't a good girl at all.

"Do you know her, don't you?" soda asked me

"Yeah."

"You know what, Susie? You're such a weirdo, ya know."

"Are you gonna start to offend me, is that it?"

"No, I didn't mean to. All I meant was... I don't know, you are not like the other girls. Like Phoebe, Sylvia, Evelyn, all of them."

"Oh, big news" I said with a hint of irony in my voice.

"You hardly ever wear make up or nail polish. You don't want to get blonde or have your hair permed. You wont even cut your hair, even everybody saying short hair is fashion. Your clothes are different, too. But the funniest thing is you behave different. You don't speak loud, you don't curse all the time, you don't spend your days and nights flirting with everybody..."

"Now listen to me, Sodapop Curtis" I interrupted angrily. "If you think I'm going to sit here and listen to all this bullshit about you thinking of me as a silly little kid, just forget about it!"

I was almost on my feet, but he grabbed my arm and made me sit again.

"Hey, calm down, I didn't say that"

"What did you want, then, Soda?" I was still yelling. "Did you want me to be like them? Well, I don't wanna be like them at all! And as for me, they can be however they want to, it's not my business, ok? Just because I hang out with them, that doesn't mean I have to look like them or act like them. So what if Evie already sleeps with Steve, or should it be of my concern what a 13 year old like Phoebe does when she's all alone with her guy? I don't care, ok? And if you are interested of knowing why I've never kissed anyone, that's just because I never felt like it! Shit!"

"What did you say?" he asked me in a lower voice

"I said SHIT!"

"No, before that. Did you say you have never kissed a guy?"

"Yes, I did say that. And I'm so not embarrassed, ok? Of course I had all the opportunities I could have had. If you don't believe me, just start to pay attention in the way your buddies Steve and even Dallas look at me. I said I never felt like it and that's the whole truth."

"Never?" now he was almost whispering.

"No, never"

"Are you quite sure?" he stared at me, his hair glowing amazingly.

"No... I mean... yes..." that guy was really confusing me.

"Let me tell you something then" he said.

"Shoot."

"It's a secret, ok?"

"Cut it out, Soda."

"There is a girl I never could kiss." He didn't say "get" and I thought it was much better that way.

"So what" I said, sighing. "When she discovers it, she'll be in your arms in no time, since all of them think you are such a doll."

"I'm afraid she doesn't think I'm any doll. And there's one thing more"

"What is that?"

Then he came real close. Our noses were almost touching and I could feel his breath. All I could think was 'what in the world is this guy doing, is he nuts?' Then he said something that made all my body tremble:

"She never felt like kissing anyone. But I think now she does."

Sodapop gave me my first kiss. It lasted like 15 seconds and I didn't exactly new what to do, other than tremble and sweat. He smiled, and all I could say was "let's go home, it's getting dark."