Faith is Spelled R.I.S.K

Chapter 2

Questions and Answers

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters in The Outsiders. Just Alyssa.

As soon as I yelled, Soda and the girl jumped at least a foot in the air. That did it for me. I started laughing so hard I had to sit down on the floor. I was now rolling around, tears streaming out of my eyes, trying to get a breath in, because it was so funny.

I got a good look at Soda's face. He didn't look mad, but he didn't exactly look impressed either. Although, as I looked at the girl, I could see that she was trying really hard not to laugh, which made me laugh harder. I looked into her eyes, and she looked so familiar. I couldn't figure out where I'd seen her before, but I knew I had.

"Pony! What in the world are you trying to do! Give me a heart attack!" Soda said, staring at me on the floor.

I tried to answer, but I couldn't, because I was laughing so hard.

By this time, Two Bit and Steve were beside me trying to figure out what all the noise was about, and why I was on the floor laughing like a hyena.

"What in the world is the matter with you? You sound like a banshee!" Steve said.

The girl stepped forward, and knelt down beside me.

"This must be Ponyboy. I hardly recognized you, you've grown up so much since I last saw you." She said.

I was very confused. She obviously knew me, but I had no idea who she was. I felt bad, but I seriously didn't know who she was.

Soda came over and pulled me up off my feet.

"Would you care to explain why you're here?" He said.

I remember suddenly, that I had brought his shoes with me. I must have dropped them when I fell over. I looked around me to see if I could find them. I saw them laying about 2 feet away from me. I picked them up.

"Um…you forgot your shoes, so I thought me and Two Bit would bring them to you." I said.

Soda looked over at Two Bit with a very suspicious look on his face. Two Bit put his hands in the air as if to say he had nothing to do with it.

"I'd hate to think that you had anything to do with this, would you T.B?" He said.

Two Bit shook his head. "I had no idea what he was planning. I also had no idea what I'd find down here." He said, and I knew he just said that to make himself look good. He was making me look horrible.

Soda looked back at me. "You mean to tell me, that you came all the way down here, to bring me a pair of shoes, even though I've forgotten them a lot of times before, and you never bothered to bring them down. That's the only reason you're here?" He said, and I could tell he didn't believe me.

I gulped. I couldn't lie to Soda. I just couldn't. Soda's the one person that can see through me like I was transparent. Besides, I loved him too much to lie to him.

"No, that's not the only reason I'm here. I came down here because I wanted to know what you've been doing. I wanted to see why you're being so secretive, and leaving the house all early and everything. I don't know whether it's creeping me out, or if it's driving me crazy. But, I wanted to know anyway."

There was a silence for a few seconds, and finally, Soda sighed, and pulled the girl out in front of them.

"This is my girlfriend, guys. Her name is Alyssa." He said.

Something inside me clicked on. Alyssa. That sounded way too familiar. Steve answered my curiosity, however.

"Wait a minute. Not that Alyssa!" He said, staring at her in disbelief.

Soda nodded. "Remember Alyssa Lowe, Steve?" He asked.

Steve whistled, and took a really good look at her eyes.

"No way! It can't be! We thought you disappeared off the face of the earth! What in the world are you doing back?" He asked

Now, it finally sunk in. All of it. I knew exactly who this girl was now. This was Alyssa Lowe. Soda and Alyssa had more of a history together, than I think, anyone else I knew of. They had met in kindergarten, when they were in the same class. They had been best friends all up through grade school, and even into junior high. The funny part was, that they had also been "dating" since the second grade, cause they both thought it would be funny. Neither of them knew what that meant, until they got to grade seven. They tried dating seriously for a year, but found that they couldn't, so Alyssa broke up with him. Soda went and dated Sandy, and Alyssa dated some guy named Rob. I hadn't heard from her for ever, and now she was back, and dating Soda again.

"Well, when I broke up with Rob, I decided that I should probably get a job, because after I moved out of my dad's house, I moved in with him. I dropped out of school, because I Rob thought I didn't need it, and at that point, I was stupid enough to believe him. But, finally, I realized that I couldn't be with him, so I broke up with him, and moved in with my sister." She said.

There was a silence for a few minutes, and I guess Soda was waiting for someone to say something, but no one did.

Finally, Alyssa spoke up. "Well, I guess that we're all reacquainted, I think it's time we got back to work, or else the boss will fire all of us."

Steve opened the door. "Right, see ya'll later." He said, and went back out to the pumps.

"Soda, can you help me get some of those heavy boxes down?" Alyssa asked.

A small grin came over Soda's face, but he tried to conceal it. I knew why. He knew that helping her get boxes down, meant more sucking face for him. That was my cue to leave, so I grabbed Two Bit and headed out the door.

Me and Two Bit walked in silence for most of the way home. When we got to the end of my street, we started talking.

"Did you know that was Alyssa, T.B?" I asked.

Two Bit shook his head. "Not really. I hadn't seen her for a long time, but there's something about her eyes that made her seem real familiar to me. Shoot, she got pretty. I mean, she was always pretty, even in the first grade. I remember being over at your place with Darry, and Soda brought her home to play. I was three years older than her, but even then, I thought she was cute. But now, man, I just wish I had gotten there first! Soda's one lucky son of a monkey. She's a lot better than the blondes I usually pick up, even Kathy." Two Bit said, referring to his old girlfriend.

I nodded. She was pretty, very pretty. I don't remember a lot about her, because I was always two years younger than them. When they had broke up, Soda had been 13, so that had made me 11. I didn't know much about dating at that point, so it hadn't really registered. But, as I thought about the new developments, my mind wandered to another girl I knew. Cherry Valence. I hadn't talked to her for a long time, but that didn't mean that I didn't want to. I saw her occasionally at school, but that was about it. Other than the occasional "hi" in the hallway, you wouldn't have known she existed.

I liked Cherry. Cherry had been the only girl that I could talk to about sunsets and feelings and crap like that. I could talk to her about the problems me and Darry used to have, or the way I felt when my parents died. I never saw her at all now, so I had no one to talk to, except Soda, and I figured that those conversations might become a little limited.

Soda had once told me that I'd grow out of my girl hating stage, and at the time, I had said he was nuts. But, now I was starting to see where he was coming from. I had started seriously noticing girls about a year ago. Before that, I had no time. But now, I would see them talking to Soda at the DX, and I would get almost jealous, because I wanted that attention. I was moving on to a new chapter in my life, and if nothing else, I knew that I wanted Cherry to be in it.

I couldn't tell that to anyone else, because they'd all think I'm crazy, except for maybe Soda. All the rest would say that I shouldn't date a Soc. Especially Darry. He had dated one once, and she had broken his heart. Not to mention, her dad almost broke his jaw when he found out.

Me and Two Bit walked into the house, and as soon as I stepped inside, I thought I would curl up and die. I had no idea how messy the house had been when I left, and looking at it now, it looked like a tornado had struck it. Funny how it's never messy until T.B or Steve show up.

"Two Bit, we've got to get this place cleaned up before Darry gets home, or he'll have my head on a platter!" I said, scrambling around to pick up clothes and books that were scattered along the floor.

Two Bit looked up at the clock. "Shoot kid, it's not even lunch time, it only 11:30 in the morning. Darry don't get home till four. We've got plenty of time. No need to give yourself an ulcer or anything."

I shoot him a look. "Well, at the rate you clean, it's gonna take us near that long to do it, so lets go!" I said.

Two Bit sighed, and sat down on the couch, and picked up the four things that were sitting around it. He put them, very messily, where they belonged, and then went back to the couch and turned on the TV.

"I'm done!" He called to me.

I groaned, and sensing he'd be no more help to me than a pile of rocks, I went back to work.

I finally got everything done right around three, which gave me time to grab a small bite to eat before Darry got home. As soon as he walked in the door with Soda, he took a look around, than shot me a small smile.

"Thanks for cleaning the house up Pony. It looks good." He said.

Two Bit cocked an eyebrow. "Hey, how come you didn't thank me? I cleaned all day!" he said.

Darry punched his arm. "Cause I know the only thing you helped clean out was my fridge." He said.

Soda laughed, and Two Bit had to as well, as he offered Darry a piece of chocolate cake.

Two Bit left then, and we all sat down to supper. Darry cooked tonight, so everything was normal. As we sat down, Darry started up a conversation.

"So, what all went on today, guys?" He said.

I opened my mouth to answer, but Soda kicked me under the table, as if to tell me not to mention Alyssa. So I didn't.

"Two Bit and me went down to the DX to visit Soda and Steve for a bit, then we came back a cleaned. Other than that, nothing overly exciting happened." I said.

That was the honest truth. I had just left Alyssa out of it. Darry obviously didn't suspect anything, because he went right on eating, and carrying on a completely different conversation with Soda.

That night, after me and Soda went to bed, I rolled over to talk to him.

"Hey Soda, what went through your mind when you saw Alyssa again?" I asked.

Soda rolled over to face me. "Well, I hadn't seen her in such a long time, so I'm amazed that I even recognized her. But, I did. As soon as I looked into her eyes, I knew it was her, and as soon as she walked over to me, and we stared at each other. I knew, right then, that I was going to fall back in love with her. I guess I never really stopped. I always loved her, but after she broke up with me, I never thought I'd love again. When I found Sandy, I thought that she was the one. But, I guess I was wrong. I don't know how I ever survived without Alyssa."

"Do you like her a lot?" I asked, not realizing that the question seemed to have answered itself. I just wanted to know.

"Yeah, I liked her a whole lot Pony." Soda said, rolling back over and yawning.

"Do you think she's pretty?" I asked.

I could hear Soda's sigh from the other side of the bed. "Pony, can't you ask me this in the morning? I'm really tired." He said.

"Ok, sorry." I said, and closed my eyes.

There was a silence for about a minute, then I heard Soda's voice.

"Pony?" He asked.

"I thought you were tired." I said, smiling.

"Alyssa's the most amazingly, beautiful girl I have ever seen." Soda said.

"I do believe that you are falling in love with that girl already, Sodapop." I said.

"Maybe I am, Pony. Maybe I am." Soda said.

I closed my eyes, and I heard Soda's breathing become regular, and he was asleep. I drifted off, and the last thing I remember thinking about was Cherry Valence. Then I thought about how nice it must feel to be in love.

There's chapter two! I finally updated. Please R&R!

Jess