Thanks to Degrassichick, EmmaHermione1fan (don't we all wish Soda would kiss us? Lol, I know I really do!) and Tonyboy (don't worry, I won't make the same mistake again once I'm finished reposting this story! I'll make sure to thank everyone with emails or something like that) for reviewing! You guys made my day!

Disclaimer: I only wish I owned the Outsiders…

7 – First Date

Soda and I talked a lot that night. He told me about his family and I told him about mine; I told him about my everyday life and he told me about his.

But he didn't like being serious. He started cracking jokes and I remember never laughing so much before. Probably he was acting like that also to make me forget about that stupid dork that had tried to jump me. Unfortunately, after a couple of hours, I really had to go, because it was getting late.

The following week went by very slowly: I went to see Sodapop every day, at work, and we decided we would go out together on Saturday night, even though he wouldn't tell me where we were going to go. Probably, since it was our first date, he wanted to surprise me, or so I thought. I also talked to his best buddy, Steve, the one who worked at the DX station with him, and found out he wasn't as bad as he looked. He didn't grin as much as Soda, but then again, who did? Sodapop's grin was unique and no one else could ever replace a guy like him.

I hadn't told Sophie about my date with Soda, but I eventually had to, when she asked about going out together somewhere, since Julian was busy.

"Hum…actually…I am going out, tonight…"

"Who with?"

"Soda."

"What? Soda, the Greaser guy? How come?"

"Sophie, he's not the Greaser guy! He's an amazing person, so please don't call him like that. Besides, I'm still mad for the Seth thing."

"Come on, you know how Seth Tucker acts! He found me and wanted to know about you and why you acted like you didn't care about him, since he's so good looking and everything, and-"

"He's not good looking." I interrupted her.

"He is." She insisted.

"Well, Soda's much more handsome than Seth. And who cares, anyways? This is not what we were talking about. The point is…if Seth asks you something about me, Soda, Pony or whoever, just…tell him I don't want him to go around intruding in my life."

We said goodbye and I went home to get ready to go out with Soda. I was really nervous. I had never really gone out with anyone before and Soda was just so special I felt like I didn't deserve to date him.

I finally decided to wear some maroon skirt that reached my knees and a nice blue blouse, along with some jacket. I put some makeup on and waited for my father to make fun of me, since I never dressed that way, but when he looked at me, he just smiled: "You're really beautiful. This guy you're going out with better watch what he does…what's his name again?"

"Sodapop Curtis, it's his real name, so don't make fun of him, okay?"

"I won't! Original name…how old is he again?"

"He's one year older than me."

Dad questioned me for a while, then eventually went away (he would spend most of Saturday evening at his office…lawyers' life wasn't easy) and I waited for Sodapop to come and pick me up. When he arrived and I got into his truck, he grinned hugely: "So…what was today like for you?"

"It was okay, but I wanted to see you so bad." As soon as I had said that, I blushed. Soda, on the other hand, grinned even more. "I wanted to see you too." The traffic lights showed we had to stop, so Soda took advantage of that to kiss me. It didn't last, though, because they honked at us, once the road was clear, and I glared at the car behind us.

Soda wouldn't tell me where we were going, till he parked in this huge parking lot and pointed a small building at me: "That's it!"

I eyed it suspiciously. "It looks deserted…" I said. "How come-"

Soda cut me off. "Come on!" he took my hand and led me towards the building. When we got closer, I noticed a small plate, with the inscription Rome's Reign. I didn't understand. "What…?"

"You'll see." Soda entered and I followed him. As soon as we had stepped into the place, a man who looked about forty something smiled at us and greeted Soda: "Hey, Sodapop! How are you doing, boy?"

"I'm doing great, thanks, Walter! This is Sybil, she's my girlfriend."

I thought I was dreaming. Soda had introduced me as his girlfriend. Someone had to slap me really hard so I could see if everything was real.

"Nice to meet you!" Walter offered me his hand. I shook it. "Nice to meet you too, Mr…hum…"

"Call me Walter! I've known this boy since before he could walk and talk!" both he and Soda grinned. "I guess you want a table for two…over there." He pointed at a table in a corner of the room. Soda thanked him and we headed there.

"I brought you there because this restaurant is great! They cook delicious Italian food, this has always been my favorite place to eat…not with friends, of course, the atmosphere is just too much to handle for them!"

I understood what he meant: the place was really intimate, definitely not a restaurant where you'd go with tons of people to have a blast.

"Besides, I've known Walter and his wife for all my life, because they were friends with my parents." He explained. "This place is theirs'…they work really hard."

I nodded. "I like it. I've never been to such a place before…and Italian food is awesome!"

Soda grinned. "I think I'm going to have some spaghetti. What about you?"

"Oh, let me see…" I quickly scanned the menu. "Everything seems tasty…I'll have some spaghetti, too!" I decided at last. We told Walter about our choices of food for the night and once he left we started chatting. After a while, I thought I could ask Soda if he knew Seth Tucker, since he, Seth, talked like he knew Ponyboy quite well.

"Listen, Soda, I…"

I couldn't finish the sentence because Walter brought us our spaghetti. We thanked him.

"What were you saying?" Soda asked, grinning. He looked gorgeous. He looked happy. I didn't want to ruin the evening, and thought I could as well ask him another day about that. "Nothing…" I smiled.

The rest of the evening flew by. Soda made me laugh all the time, telling me stories of his crazy friends, especially one called Two-Bit, who I had never met.

"It's still early…do you wanna come over at my house for a while?" Sodapop asked me when we were leaving the restaurant. "Well, Darry and probably Pony will be there too, so there won't be much of an atmosphere, but…"

I cut him off. "It's okay, I like your brothers! You know…mine should arrive here in Tulsa anyday now." I had already told Soda about my brother, once we were talking about our families. I hadn't said much, but I had mentioned his "escape" two years before and his letter, which dad and I had received lately.

"Bet you can't wait!"

"Yeah…I wonder how he's changed. Well…should we go?"

Soda nodded and we got into the car. Before turning the engine on, he leaned closer and we kissed for a while. I was always feeling in heaven when I was that close to him.

But that feeling didn't last. When we entered the Curtis' house, we found a very injured Ponyboy lying on the sofa, not even able to stand up. They had beaten him a lot and his right arm fell along his right side, motionless. It was broken.