Chapter Eighteen: Soda's Lost His Mind

Blinded by fury, Dally couldn't seem to stop himself. He just kept running, and running, and running, until he ran out of energy.

He had to blow off some steam somehow.

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Suze nearly swallowed her tongue. "S-Sodapop?" she stammered.

"Yes," he replied. He sounded awkward. "Is, uh. Is Ponyboy there?" he asked worriedly.

"No," Suze said slowly. "Why? Is he not there?"

"No!" Soda blurted, nearly crying now. "Darry and Two-Bit and Steve all went out to find him. You were our last chance. We have no idea where he is! The last time he ran off…" he choked on his own words, but Suze knew what he meant. The last time Ponyboy had run off, Johnny and Dally had ended up dead.

"Okay. Calm down. We'll find him," Suze attempted to calm him, but Soda was inconsolable.

"What if he dies out there? What if he never comes back? You're his girl, you oughta know if we don't! Is he okay? What do you think he's doing?"

Clearly Soda was losing his mind.

Someone knocked at the front door. Suze gently lay down the phone and ran to answer the door. He eyes grew wide as they spotted the person standing sheepishly in her doorway.

"Ponyboy!" she fairly screamed. "Do you have any idea how worried your brothers are? I've got a hysterical Soda on the phone now!"

Without waiting for an answer, Suze ran back to the phone and held it to her ear. Ponyboy, who had followed her, leaned in to listen. He smelled like rainwater and grass and smoke. Suze wondered where he had been. Soda was still rambling:

"He could be dead by now! He could—"

"Soda?" Suze said.

"—be mangled, be shot, he could—"

"Soda?"

"He could be in jail, he could—"

"SODA!"

"Whaaaat?" Soda said, clearly annoyed at being interrupted.

"He just walked in the door."

"Hi, Soda," Ponyboy said sheepishly into the receiver. "I'm okay, I just…I don't know what I was thinking. I'm sorry."

Suze handed him the phone and let him talk to Soda. She left the room to give them privacy, and a few minutes later, Ponyboy joined her where she was staring out the window, her forehead against the cool glass.

"I guess I'll go home now," he said quietly.

"Where did you go? Soda was freaking out," Suze replied.

"I know," Ponyboy said. "I guess I forgot to tell him I was going out…I went to the cemetery. To visit everybody…mom, dad, Johnny, Dally." He ran a hand through his hair sheepishly. "Guess I forgot to tell them. Darry's right. I never use my head."

"Well, they know where you are now," Suze said.

"Did you ever find out about Dally?" Ponyboy asked. "You know, what he wrote on the wall?"

"Not exactly," Suze sighed. She told Ponyboy what had happened.

"Wow. Tough luck, Suze," he said sympathetically. "Hope everything's okay."

"Thanks. I just don't know what I'm gonna do."

"It'll be okay," Ponyboy said.

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He didn't really know what he was doing. He didn't know if it would work. But he did it anyway.

Darry was right. He never did use his head.

Ponyboy tentatively put his hand on her shoulder and turned her around. "Wha—?" she started to say, but Ponyboy shut her up with a forefinger on her lips.

His heart was beating out of his chest as he moved closer. What am I supposed to do now? he panicked. Kiss her you dolt! Oh yeah…

He tilted her chin upwards and did so, gently, tenderly. It wasn't like anything he had ever experienced.

Now I know why Soda's so hooked up on girls, he thought.

It might have been a second, or two, or ten years when they finally broke apart. Ponyboy and Suze were both speechless.

"Wow," Suze finally whispered. That was all it took. They broke into breathless laughter.

"I'm surprised Soda hasn't called back by now," Ponyboy chuckled.

"I'm surprised my mom hasn't gotten suspicious by now," Suze replied.

"SUSANNAH!"

"Damn, spoke too soon," Suze hissed. "C'mon!"

They scrambled to the front door. Ponyboy fumbled it open and dove out. Suze slammed it shut and leaned against it innocently just as her sleepy mother stumbled down the stairs and, seeing Suze there, glared at her.

"Who did I hear down here just now?"

Suze fumbled for an excuse. "I, uh, thought I heard a ghost," she lied.

Her mother stared at her suspiciously for a moment, and then staggered back up the stairs, drunk on drowsiness.

Suze exhaled the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. That was a close one, she thought.

What a night. Dally vanishes in a rage, Johnny goes after him, Ponyboy goes missing, shows up and kisses her…for the second time ever…

No. This wasn't about her. She had to focus on getting this mystery solved. But she couldn't get her mind off Ponyboy…

Suze went to bed confused, but very happy.

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"Curly, don't you dare touch my beer."

"Tim, I swear, I won't touch it!"

"That's what you said last time."

"And last time you broke my arm about. Almost. Anyway I ain't that stupid."

"I hope not, anyway."

"Look, I'm going all the way over here. Twenty feet away. I can't get even if I did want it!"

"You had better not."

"I can't, Tim."

"Good."

"So how many people did you jump today, Tim?"

"Five. And—what the—?"

"Tim, I swear I didn't do it! How could have I? You were looking right at me the whole time! Tim? What are you doing? Tim? TIM! Stay away from me! TIM!"

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Watching unseen and unheard, Dally roared with laughter. He felt much better now.

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