I woke up almost screaming and in a cold sweat. It was still dark out, and I could hear Soda's light breathing across the room, telling me he was still sleeping. That had been about the worst nightmare I had had since Mom and Dad died. It was so awful, I was hoping that it would be one of the dreams that I couldn't remember, but hope wasn't on my side. I could remember it like it was still happening.
I was in the hospital room with Johnny and Dally. Johnny was dying, and Dally was still sweating and panting from our long run. I was in a daze. Johnny told me to stay gold,. Then, he didn't die. Instead, demonic looking creatures came up out of the floor. They looked indescribably evil. All of them started attacking Johnny. He screamed for me to help him. Gosh, he looked so desperate, but somehow I couldn't move to help him. He grabbed my arm, and I could finally move to help him, but I was too late. Johnny looked gray and dead, and his hand was cold. Then I looked at Dallas. The demonic creatures were attacking him. They slammed him into the wall. Then one came after me. That was when I woke up.
I was so spooked that I wanted to cry like a five year old, but I didn't. Instead, I crawled out of bed, went over to Soda, pulled back the covers, and climbed in next to him. He mumbled something in his sleep and shifted around. I was cold and scared, and I just wished Sodapop would wake up a little and throw his arm across me. I laid there shivering for what seems like hours.
I must have eventually fallen asleep, because the next morning I was woken up by a showered, lively Sodapop who was hunting for his clothes. He was whistling a tune from the radio that was blaring in the kitchen. I moaned and rolled over, wishing I could just sleep forever.
"Hey! Look who's up!" Soda was way too loud in my opinion. "Hmmm," I sleepily sat up, knowing that I wasn't going to get anymore sleep. "You sure slept late," Soda was in a towel fishing around in the closet for some clothes. There was something in his voice that said he was going to try to get something out of me. "What time is it?" I yawned. "Almost ten," came the reply from the closet. "Lordy!" I jumped out of bed and started to throw a T-shirt on, "I'm late for school! Why didn't you wake me up?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Soda took his head out of the closet. "Take a deep breath, will you kid?" I stopped and took a breath. Then I continued putting my shirt on. I didn't have time to take a breath. "Now, do you remember what day it is?" Soda's voice was calm and slow. I stopped my rushing around. "No." I was shaken too quickly from my sleepy state. "Pony, it's Sunday," Soda shook his head back and forth. "Oh," I sat back down on the bed.
Soda found his clothes and started putting them on. I considered laying back down for a little. I knew I'd never fall back to sleep, though, so I forced myself up off the bed and went into the kitchen to hunt for some breakfast. Soda was still whistling that blasted tune, and I considered turning the radio off. I wasn't awake enough to hear whistling.
I found some chocolate cake in the ice box-as always- , so I got a slice and poured myself some chocolate milk. I will always be crazy about chocolate stuff, no matter what people said it would do to me. It did me good, in my mind. I could smell the coffee on the stove from when Darry at breakfast. He was already at work, since he had taken yesterday off.
Soda opened the ice box and got himself some cake. "Want to come with me to work today?" Soda was still worried about me being alone. I thought about it. Sunday's weren't that busy, so I wouldn't have to worry about watching girls flirt with Soda. Maybe he and Steve would even let me work on some cars. "Sure, just let me clean up a little, okay?" I still had to put grease in my hair. It had finally grown back after that bum haircut Johnnycake made me get, and I was proud of it. "Hurry," Soda said between mouthfuls of chocolate cake.
I pushed myself up from the table and plodded to the bathroom. I was still hoping I'd wake up one morning and find a hint of a beard. No such luck today. A shower would have been nice, but Sodapop had said to hurry, and I didn't want to make him late. My shirt was kind of dirty, but it would work for today. Maybe after Soda and I got home from work we could play football. I wanted to do anything to get my mind off that awful dream.
The ride to DX was pretty quiet. For once, Soda didn't feel like blaring the radio. I just stared out the window and tried not to think about the dream. I would have tried not to think at all, but that's nearly impossible for me. The day was bright and sunny, which always puts me in a better mood. The feel of the wind in my hair and on my face took me out of the reality and into the country. I missed the country, and still wished I could live there. I would read under a tree all day. The dreamer in me was still going strong.
The jolt of the Ford brought me back to reality. DX was fairly empty. Steve was already in the shop working on a Chevy Silverado. Man, that was a nice truck. It must have been a real beauty when it was new. Soda punched his time card and went to see what needed done. Having nothing else to do with myself, I followed him. He ended up working on a busted up Escort. It looked like it had been in a rumble or something. Sodapop sure had his work cut out for him.
"Hey, Pony, hand me a ¾ wrench, will ya?" Soda stuck his hand out from under the car. "Here," I handed him the wrench. "Anything I can do to help?" I didn't want to just sit around and watch Soda work. I'm funny like that. Watching people work makes me feel guilty that I'm not helping. "Sure, why don't you take off the right front tire and patch it? That thing is as flat as a frog that got run over by a semi." I had to laugh. Soda could come up with the funniest analogies when he wanted to. I was glad he was cracking jokes. A good laugh was just what I could use on a day like this. Steve heard him and laughed too.
The rest of the morning went really fast. I laughed a lot, and me and Soda almost had that old Escort running. Around one o clock, Soda, Steve, and I took a break for lunch. The first thing I did was have a Pepsi. I swear whoever created Pepsi was the tuffest guy ever. Steve lit up a cigarette, and Soda got a huge sandwich from the deli down the street. I was guessing he planned on sharing it with me, but you never know with Soda. He eats an awful lot.
A car pulled up to pump two just then. There was no one out there, so Soda started to get up, but I beat him to it. "I'll do it," I said as I jogged out the door. I wasn't sure why I wanted to fill someone's gas tank so bad. I mean, it's not all that fun, but I thought Soda should enjoy his lunch uninterrupted. Besides, Steve was starting to treat me like a tagalong and giving me those annoying glares, so I wanted out.
I walked over to the car. "Can I help you?" I asked, then I had to swallow my tongue to keep my mouth from hanging open. The person in the driver's seat was Brie from track, and right next to her, on the passenger side, was the girl Soda and I almost ran into at the meet! "Hey," Brie sounded like she recognized me. "You're Ponyboy Curtis from track, right?" I nodded, trying to act cool, though the sight of the girl made my knees weak. "Yeah, you're a good runner," I said. "Thanks, you're not too bad yourself." I was surprised she knew who I was. I still tend to be real quiet in school. Even if the socs aren't as rough as they used to be, I wouldn't want to get on one's bad side. "So, what do you need?" I walked over to the pump. "Ten dollars of regular."
I pumped the gas and thought. The girl must be Brie's sister, because they look awful similar. Brie was nice, and I hoped her sister was just as nice. I finished pumping and go the money. "See you around," Brie said as she drove off. I stood there dazed for a minute. Why was a girl making me go weak at the knees? I never had felt this way before, and it scared me. It made me feel like I could do something real stupid if I didn't watch out. Nothing really made sense. All I knew was that I wanted to see that girl again.