Chapter 4: Still Going
Years Later…..
Sodapop and Steve were sitting outside of the Curtis on the porch.
"Your parents here?" asked Steve.
"No. They went to a friend's house."
"Will Ponyboy tell?"
"No," said Soda with a confused face. He knew for a fact that his younger brother was no snitch.
Steve then pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and a lighter; he lit it up and put up his accessories.
"You want a smoke?" asked Steve.
"No. I'm okay."
Sodapop didn't smoke unless something was bothering. A lot of people said he looked tough when he smoked though.
"You ready for school tomorrow?" asked Soda.
"I guess. First day of middle school."
"Darry survived. It must not be that bad. Well, he said he wanted to have a talk with me tonight before he went to bed."
"Darry's tough though. He's pretty cool though. He gained those muscles pretty fast."
"He works out with Dad a lot. Me and Pony do it sometimes, but I'd rather run around or something. Oh yeah. Darry said he can take all of us to a rodeo this Saturday."
"A rodeo? That should be fun. Can we bet on some things?"
"No. They we don't have anything to bet. Plus I think they might say we're too young."
"So I guess we're just going to have to watch. Hey. My parents should be home soon. Might want to put it out."
"Okay"
Steve put out his cigarette and decided he would just head home. Sodapop walked in and his parents walked in.
"Do you have everything ready for tomorrow?" asked Mr. Curtis.
"Yes."
"Okay. Make sure Pony is ready. Where is he?"
"He had gone to the movies. Darry went to go pick him up."
"Okay," said Mrs. Curtis. "Did Steve say if he was going to the rodeo with you guys?"
"He said he's coming."
"Okay. It'll be time for bed in a moment."
"Alright."
Sodapop was in his room choosing his clothes for tomorrow. His mom made him do that, to avoid the morning rush. Then someone knocked on his door. He reached over to the door and opened it. Darry stuck his head in.
"Hey, Sodapop."
"Hey Darry. You here for that talk."
"Uh. Yeah. Sit down."
They sat down on the beds. Soda sat on his and Darry sat on Ponyboy's.
"Okay. You know I've been to middle school already."
Soda nodded.
"Well. It's different from your old school. You might be separated."
"Separated? You mean Steve and me might not be friends anymore?"
"No. You and Steve will still be okay. I know that for a fact. It's just that some people that you know from your old school might not want to hang out with you…."
"Good luck," said Mrs. Curtis dropping off her son at his first day at middle school.
"Bye Mom. Bye Pony."
They both said bye and Sodapop saw his best friend in the front. He ran up to him.
"What's up Soda."
"How you doing, Steve."
"What was that talk about?"
"The one Darry told me?"
"Yeah."
"I don't know. Talking about me and you will be in a class and some other people will be in other class."
"Like classrooms?"
"I don't know what he was talking about. Something about grease and shoes."
"I thought your brother was smart?"
"He is. He's just confusing."
Soda and Steve then noticed something when they walked into the school. Some of the people here were dressed up real neatly. Soda and Steve looked at their attire. They were wearing T-shirts and jeans. Steve's jeans had a hole in them.
"Do you notice this?" whispered Steve.
"Y-yeah. Do you think this is what Darry was talking about?"
"Don't know."
They walked on to their classrooms. Luckily, majority of the classes they were in. They only had different Science classes. The neatly dressed people were staring at them. Soda was wondering why they were staring at them. Steve got annoyed by it eventually and gave them mean looks back.
"This is getting annoying," said Steve and Soda as they were leaving their English class.
"I think I might have Darry talk to me again," said Soda.
"Let me be there," said Steve. "I want to know what's going on."