Disclaimer: I do not own Sodapop Curtis or any of the Outsiders. I only own Teresa Macks and Matthew Block. And any other characters I decide to throw in…

Thanks to:

Hahukum Konn

Dreamer for lyf

For reviewing my story! I dedicate this chapter to you two! (yeah, probably not that big of a deal, but hey, what else do you want me to do? ) )

Chapter 4 – Soda's POV

I caught up with Ponyboy and his friends about fifteen minutes later. When I got to the Dingo, they were all standing around inside, ordering drinks. One of Ponyboy's friends bought my Coke for me, and I was grateful. I would have stayed longer, but some of the girls they were with kept staring open-mouthed at me, and it was sort of…well, disturbing, so I decided to shove off and go find something else to do.

Instead, I headed down the street to the DX I worked at. Steve was under a car working on something, and I kicked him on the shin when he didn't notice me standing there.

"Ouch..." He mumbled, rubbing his shin as he scooted out from under the car. He saw me and his whole face lit up. "Oh, hey Sodapop! It's just you! I thought maybe Evie got mad at me and was here for some sort of wicked revenge." He said, flashing me a smile. "Hey, how come you aren't working today? I heard Darry called in and said you were sick," He looked over his shoulder, and so did I, hoping Mr. Meyer wouldn't come out and tell me I had to work if I wasn't sick. He wasn't anywhere in sight, so we kept talking.

"I didn't know he said I was sick, all I knew was that he called in and told Mr. Meyer that I wasn't coming today." I shrugged, still having that feeling that someone was watching me.

"Well, why did he call in the first place?" Steve asked, looking at me. At first I couldn't remember why, but then it hit me about the letter from Sandy. I hadn't really thought about it much today.

"Oh. Because I got a letter back from Sandy." I said, staring down at my feet. I always seemed to do that when I mentioned the letter from Sandy.

"Oh?" He said. It didn't come out as a statement, more as a question edging me on.

"Yeah. Not good. She said she got a new boyfriend. Matthew some-one-or-other. She said next time she comes to visit, she wants me to meet him."

"Matthew? What a prissy-boy name," Steve mumbled. That was part of the reason we were such good friends - we always thought alike.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." I said, shuffling my feet uncomfortably. This was the first time I could ever remember where I had been uncomfortable with Steve. He must have sensed this, because all he said next was,

"That's not tuff man." I shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess not….." It was quiet for a while, and then Steve got back down on his knees and layed on his back.

"I should probably get back to work," He said, picking up his socket wrench. "The girl that dropped this car off said she was gonna be back at 2:30. Got the time?" He asked, looking at his bare arm. I wondered what had happened to his watch, then remembered Mr. Meyer always made us take our watches off when we worked on cars, "just in case."

"Yeah, it's 2:20." I said, glancing down at my wrist. He swore under his breath, then disappeared under the car. I heard him screwing something in place, and decided I would leave. "Well, I'll see ya around, Steve." I said. He moved his foot as if waving bye to me. Most people wouldn't have picked up on that, but me and Steve always would. I smiled, and turned to walk away.

On the way out of the gas station, I walked by a girl. I smiled politely and kept walking, then whirled around. It was the same girl I had run into earlier.

"Teresa! Hi! What are you doing here?" I asked, looking around. She didn't have a car, so she wasn't there for gas. I assumed maybe she was gonna go inside and grab a soda.

"Oh, hi Sodapop." She blushed, and I vaguely wondered why. "I was just here to pick up my car. I left it here earlier. Something wasn't quite right." She said, shuffling her feet like I did when I was uncomfortable. She looked up. Those big blue eyes were awful pretty. "Some guy was gonna work on it for me….something that started with an S….." She said, trying to remember.

"Oh, Steve! Yeah, your car'll be all fixed up for ya. Steve's my best buddy. He's the best guy to get to work on your car." I said, smiling. She smiled back.

"OK, I'll keep that in mind."

"OK."

Long pause. Long awkward pause.

"Well, I should probably get going," She said, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder. "Mom wanted me to get some milk from the store." I wondered why that mattered, but decided to let it go.

"OK, well I'll see ya around!" I said, also turning to leave. As I walked away, I turned around to watch her walk away, but she wasn't walking. She was standing right where I had left her, staring after me. Even from where I stood, I could see her blush furiously, and she turned quickly, and headed toward the garage. I smiled inwardly, thinking, Maybe this won't be such a bad summer after all.

Author's notes: Short chapter, I know. I promise it will get more exciting, and longer chapters. I just don't have a whole lot of time right now. 