Tues. July 4, 1967

It was my first Independence Day celebrated in a long, long time. I guess Kevin celebrated it every year because it was his suggestion to go. The boys were invited too. So we all piled in two cars and drove up to the lake to watch some fireworks. It was pretty spectacular if I say so myself. Kevin said that the loud boom of the fireworks scared Austin, so he hasn't seen fireworks yet.

Sun. Aug. 20, 1967

Travis came for a weekend visit. I bet it was just so Mom could secretly check up on me. But Travis claimed it was all his idea. He came in late afternoon on Saturday and left mid-morning today. I don't know why he had this surprise visit but he said he wanted to see how things were going. He hung out with old friends rather than me and the boys. I guess it was good to see him, though.

Sat. Sept. 2, 1967

I was going out with Kevin tonight. He was taking me to the movies and then out to dinner. At dinner we had a very serious conversation.

"Typhani, I like you a lot, enough to love you. I love you, Typhani. Have you ever considered marriage?" He asked and I could definitely tell he was serious. Yes, I have considered getting married… to Sodapop! I never thought, in a million years that the first guy I might marry would be Kevin. This was great! He continued, "Before I married Robin, we dated for two years and then she got pregnant but what I'm saying is I don't think we need two years to get to know each other or a child but…" Kevin got up from his seat and kneeled down on one knee; he pulled a ring from his pocket and said, "Typhani Taylor, will you marry me?" The people around us awed. I couldn't say no.

"Yes!" I hugged him and the people clapped. Nosey people.

Casey and Cherry were still up when I came home and I walked in screaming with joy. I put my hand out for them to see my new ring.

"Oh, my gosh, you're getting married!" They cheered together. We talked about it all night. We didn't go to bed until midnight.

Sun. Sept. 3, 1967

The next day I went to tell Steve the big news. I found him at Two-Bit's house. Steve had stayed the night there. Two-Bit was still asleep in his room but Steve was in the living room.

"I have the greatest news ever!"

"You and Kevin are getting married?" He said as a question but he knew we were.

"How'd you know?" I was surprised.

"He told us yesterday that he was going to propose to you." Steve wasn't happy, I could tell by his voice.

"What?" There was something wrong with him.

"Look at your other hand. Does that ring mean nothing to you?" Steve said.

"It means… it means I have to break-up with Kevin." I sighed.

"That's the right thing to do. Soda was really upset when Kevin told us because he knew you'd say yes. Soda will always be your number one and he will always love you more than Kevin does." He left me there alone and Two-Bit walked in.

"It's your decision, kiddo." Two-Bit patted my back in his underwear and went to the kitchen but they were both right. I couldn't make a commitment to someone else. I did love Soda. I knew what I had to do.

Mon. Sept 4, 1967

Today I was going to talk to everyone about what I had to do. I went to Kevin's house first. Austin greeted me at the door.

"Hi sweetie, can I talk to your dad?" He led me inside. Austin was the cutest little five-year-old I've ever seen. He was such a gentleman and very funny. "Kevin we need to talk. I made a promise to someone and I really don't want to break it. I'm so sorry."

"It's Soda, right?" He seemed okay, like this didn't bother him.

"Yeah." I nodded. Who else could it be? He knew I've always liked Soda.

"I understand." He was sincere.

"You do?" He showed no disappointment.

"Yes. Two days before my wedding with Robin, I saw my high school sweetheart. I practically fell back in love with her but I didn't do anything about it and that made it harder to say 'I do.' So, I'm happy you told me because I want you to be happy. And not marrying me and getting together with Soda is the best thing to do." Kevin said. I appreciated what he said. Like Soda said before: "It takes the biggest change in your life to know what you really want." Well put Sodapop.

"I want you to be happy too. And I really appreciate you for telling me what you just said. I'm sorry." I kissed his cheek, along with Austin, who looked like he was gonna cry and then I felt bad.

Next to Soda's house. This was the biggest part of my day. Something good or something bad could happen but I was sure that Soda would take me back, why wouldn't he? I smiled for a moment and then wiped the thought away.

I drove up at around lunch time, so the whole gang was probably there. Then again, I forgot that it was Monday and that really no one would be home. Soda, Darry, and Steve would be at work and Pony at school. Two-Bit would be the only one not anywhere but on his butt. I walked in not expecting to find anyone inside. Surprisingly,—though I did have low expectations of finding him there—Two-Bit was sitting on the couch, eating cake, and watching Mickey Mouse cartoons.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Nothing much, what are you doing here?" He stuffed a hand full of cake and crumbs fell onto the couch. I shook my head of shame.

"I'm looking for Soda." I said hoping he might know where he is, though I knew he would be at the gas station work. "Do you know where he is?"

"At work, where else on a Monday?" Two-Bit was getting snippy with me.

"So why are you here?" I asked again. I mean I guess Pony, Soda, and Darry wouldn't mind his being here but he was by himself in someone else's home and he could be at his own house.

"Oh, ya know, hanging. I came here this morning and then they left me after they left for school and work." He continued talking to me with his eyes glued to the television.

"You should be in school. You barely passed high school, much less junior high or grade school." He didn't even realize what I said. I left.

Soda was standing talking to Steve while drinking a Pepsi. He was looking super cute and making me kinda nervous. Now I had to do it in front of Steve… fantastic.

"Hey guys." I stuck my hands in my pockets. They didn't say anything. Soda put his head down and Steve kept working. Ouch, they just ignored me. They both hated me now. I put my hand in front of Soda's face so he could see my ring-less finger. He stared at my hand and then brought it to his lips and kissed my hand. I stared him with shock written all over my face. Then he pulled me in for a hug. I was relieved. Steve smiled at me. I let go of Soda and apologized, "Soda, I'm sorry, I didn't ever mean to hurt you, I just… I just wasn't thinking straight. I do love you Soda and I always will, remember I promised you that." He was laughing and we were leaning up against a car.

"I accept your apology but don't ever do that to me again." He kissed me… on the lips this time!

"Well, I'm not the one who almost got married to someone who cheated on me." I joked.

"Whatever." He looked at Steve. "I'm not the only one to apologize to though."

"Oh, I already told Kevin." I reassured him; though, I don't know why he would remind me of that.

"I was thinking…" He nodded his head toward Steve. Why would I have to apologize to Steve? What did I do to him? I apologized to him anyway.

"Steve, I'm sorry for whatever I did." I said sincerely.

"I watched my best friends almost get married to the wrong person, so, I was hurt too in the process." He put his arms out jokingly, implying he wanted a hug. So that's what I did: I hugged him. I heard Soda laugh from behind. Things were now back to normal because I was with Soda and we were finally together forever.

Fri. Sept. 29, 1967

I didn't do anything for my birthday—which is on the twentieth of September—and Two-Bit insisted that I didn't, which was weird because he was all for parties because it was a reason for him to get drunk. So, nothing happened on my birthday. Darry and Ponyboy invited me over to hang out… odd, normally Soda is the one to invite me over but he wasn't.

I had no idea why Pony and Darry invited me over so I was very suspicious. I opened the gate and saw that the house was quiet and dark. Soda pulled up in his truck just as I did.

"Hey!" He said; Soda seemed very happy to see me.

"Do you know what's going on?" I asked after he kissed my cheek.

"No, my brothers sent me to go the store to buy s'more Coke." He held up a six pack of Coke.

"They invited me over." I said. We walked into together and the lights were off. Then everyone jumped up and shouted, "Surprise!" Soda and I jumped with astonishment. Two-Bit came up a few seconds late and said "Surprise" himself. He obviously was drunk. I was happy to see my friends put an effort into my birthday. It showed that they cared. It was also cool that they combined it with Soda.

Casey and Cherry were there and few other people I didn't know but it was a good time hanging out with people and laughing and watching Two-Bit be his drunk self. Everybody left around midnight but Steve, Two-Bit, and I stayed the night.

Sat. Sept. 30, 1967

Soda and Steve left for work before I woke up. Darry was gone too. I stayed with Two-Bit and Pony at the house. Two-Bit had a hangover so I kinda took care of him. And that consisted of really laying around watching Mickey Mouse cartoons (Two-Bit was a huge Mickey fan, I don't know why).

Sun. Nov. 19, 1967

Today would have been Dallas' twentieth birthday. I sulked all morning about him. I took a trip to his grave. Unfortunately, I was not able to get the memory of his last birthday with him out of my head: the beating. The first and last time I had ever been beaten up. But no matter what had happened between Dallas and me, I still loved him. He was a big part of my life and without him I was completely empty. The same went for poor Johnnycake.

"Dallas, you were one of the greatest friends I've ever had. Losing you made me realize that I love you just as much as Soda but I never gave you the second chance you deserve. I miss you Dallas Winston."

A lady came up from behind me and said, "Someone like Dallas Winston needs someone to love him. He's lucky it was you." I didn't know this lady and I didn't know how she knew me.

"You know who I am?" I asked.

"Who doesn't know you…? Typhani." She smiled and I smiled back.

Casey and Cherry had started college but I dropped-out and Two-Bit and Steve had no intentions of going. I was lucky enough not to get any grief about dropping-out. Pony was still in high school and had almost got jumped at some school party because he turned down Angela Shepard, the Shepard sister of Tim and Curly, but instead the guy that was sent to get Pony, got Mark Jennings. I wasn't close to Mark but I knew that his parents killed each other and that he lived with his best friend Bryon Douglas (I am not too fond of Bryon; he just never seemed to appeal to me).

I don't understand why girls like Angela Shepard would come onto Pony so strong. I mean, there's nothing wrong with Pony, I just don't know why Angela would want such a young kid.

Dallas was in reform school. So that left his girlfriend, Sylvia, unattended. Dallas wasn't much into the idea of love but he really did want his girlfriends to stay true to him while they were dating. The sad thing was, though, Sylvia flirted with every guy she encountered.

When we were all down at the vacant lot just hanging out, Sylvia came out of nowhere and approached Johnny. She started hitting on him. I was so shocked. I would've said something but honestly, Sylvia scares me. I nudged Steve to go do something but he said it was no big deal, she was drunk. But for days, sober or drunk, Sylvia would visit Johnny. After about a week and a half, Steve did start to worry. He said he talked to her and threatened her if she continued her little tricks with Johnny. Then I had to experience "the talk" that Steve gave to Johnny. But I left before he got into details. Two-Bit gave the same talk to Ponyboy when they had picked up some girls downtown. Dallas broke up with her when he found out. Of course, they went together again later.

Was a boyfriend that important that Angela had to pick a fight with them? Geez.