Chapter 10: Crystal

Soda POV

I had every intention of telling her how I felt, but she wasn't home when I got there, but Darry was.

"Hey, Dar."

"Hey."

He was staring at something.

"What's that?"

"The checks came from the farm and business being sold and from what they already had saved."

He handed them to me.

"Glory, Darry..."

"That's a lot of money..."

"I didn't even know that much money existed..."

He looked like he was thinking really hard.

"My boss is trying to sell his business."

"For how much?"

"Not even half of that."

I eyed him carefully.

"I'm gonna buy it. It was Cam's idea. I'd never use this money without asking her anyway."

"Good for you."

"Good for us. We'll never have to worry again, and it's all because of Cam. I'm also gonna get you a truck of your own so you don't have to borrow mine anymore. That was her idea, too. Isn't this great?"

"Yeah, it is..."

I couldn't be mad at her. Not after that. I really couldn't be mad at her when she got home that night. When she walked in with Pony, she completely ignored us and I could tell she'd been crying, but I was still aggravated, so I went back to watching tv. Darry spoke up.

"What's wrong with her, Ponyboy?"

"It's Crystal..."

That got my attention. I turned to look at him.

"What's wrong with Crystal?"

"Colic. They can't get her to walk. She's gonna die..."

I knew what colic was. When I worked at the stables, unless you could get a horse to walk around, it would kill them. Sometimes it would anyway. I sighed.

"Awe, man..."

"We just went to see them since I'd never seen them and we found out... The stable owner told her she'd been looked at by the vet and everything. He was about to call Cam when we showed up. She just held her head until Crystal went to sleep... They said she'll die in the next couple of days, if not sooner..."

I nodded and got up. I didn't need to hear more. I walked to her room and knocked. When there was no answer, I cracked the door.

"Cam...?"

She was lying on her bed facing the other way. I went and sat on the edge of it.

"I'm so sorry..."

She sat up and put her arms around my midsection. I put my arms around her.

"She's all I have left. I can't lose her, Soda. I can't!"

I pushed myself away from her.

"Hey, now. I know this is hard, but she's not all you got left. You've got us, and we're not going anywhere."

She calmed down after a few minutes. Darry poked his head in.

"Supper's ready."

"I'm not hungry. I just wanna go to sleep."

He nodded, and I started to follow him out the door.

"Goodnight."

"Night, Sodapop..."

The next few days went by and she went and saw Crystal everyday. Darry'd bought the business, and his old boss was teaching him how to run it. About five days later, we got the news...

Cam POV

Five days went by, which gave me hope. On that Sunday, I was out with Ryan, Curly, and Mikey when Soda pulled up to Curly's with Steve.

"Hey, Soda."

"Hey, Curly."

He turned to me.

"Darry told me to come get you."

"Why?"

He shrugged.

"No idea."

I said bye to my friends, and we headed towards the house. I didn't say anything while they joked and talked, but I thought I might know why he wanted to talk to me. I was just hoping I was wrong. We walked into the living room, and Darry was in his chair while Pony and Two-bit were on the couch.

"Hey, guys."

"What's going on, Darry?"

"Cam..."

"He called, didn't he..."

I heard my voice crack. Darry looked down.

"I'm sorry, Cam... Crystal died about an hour ago."

I felt myself go limp. Even though I knew it was coming, it hit me hard. I felt myself stumble backwards and Steve stopped me.

"Whoa, are you okay?"

I nodded, even though I wasn't.

"I uh... Think I'm gonna go for a walk."

Soda and Darry exchanged a look. Soda walked up to me.

"Cam, I don't know if that's a good idea..."

Suddenly, I felt crowded. I felt like the walls were closing in. For some reason, I looked at Ponyboy. He jumped up.

"Guys, give her some room."

Everyone looked confused, but backed away. Pony took careful steps towards me holding his hand out.

"Come on."

I took it. He looked at his brothers and they nodded. He led me outside. Once there, away from everyone, he let go of my hand and we just started walking. We walked for a long time, neither saying anything. Somehow, it had gotten pretty dark, and we ended up back at the house. We walked on the porch and Pony handed me a cigarette.

"Feel better?"

"Yeah... How'd you know I needed to get out?"

"That's how I feel when something bad happens. I wanna just get out. I went with you, so you'd end up back here and not lost. That's happened to me before."

We walked in the house. Everyone was in the kitchen eating. I went to my bedroom. A few minutes later, Darry came in.

"Hey, Kiddo. You need to eat something."

"Darry..."

"You've barely eaten in a few days. Just come eat a little bit."

I slowly got up and went to the kitchen. Steve was still there, which meant he was probably crashing here. They were all watching tv. I fixed me a small plate and sat down picking at it.

"Hey."

I looked up to see Soda coming in. He sat down next to me.

"You've gotta eat something..."

I took a bite of the chicken, smiled, then threw the rest away. He sighed.

"Happy now?"

I gave him a look. He nodded. I walked out on the porch and I heard someone following me.

"Soda, not now..."

"Good thing I'm not Soda."

"Steve?"

"Why're you being mean to him? He just wants to help."

I glared at him.

"I don't want any help."

"You wanted it from Ponyboy! Sodapop's just trying to help. He's your brother, and he wants to be there for you."

I looked down. I couldn't help that I'd gotten close to Pony.

"I'll talk to him later. I promise."

After everyone went to bed, I snuck out of my window. I still felt crowded. I didn't know why, but I went to Mikey's. He sat with my for a long time.

"You really loved that horse, huh."

"I did. I've had two other horses before her, but she was special."

"Like you?"

"What?"

I looked at him.

"I've... I've never met a girl like you..."

That made me nervous.

"I need to go home..."

"I'll walk you."

When we got there, he walked around the house with me to my window.

"Thanks..."

"Wait."

He had me against the wall. He started leaning closer.

"Mikey, I..."

He cut me off with a kiss. He pulled away after a minute and smiled.

"See you around."

And with that, he walked away. I was dumbfounded. I finally crawled through my window, when the light came on and scared me half to death.

"Geeze, Soda! What're you doing?!"

"What're you doing?"

I looked down.

"How'd you know I was gone?"

"I didn't. I woke up to pee, and heard talking outside. And saw something else."

My eyes widened.

"It's not what you think..."

"Really, Cam? It's not? Cause it looks like you were sneaking out to be with some white trash bum."

I was shocked that he'd said that.

"Are you serious right now? You're calling him white trash?"

He glared.

"You know they're different than us."

I rolled my eyes.

"They're not so bad! Who are you to say anything?!"

Darry walked in rubbing his eyes.

"What's going on, here?"

Me and Soda were in a glaring match. He spoke up.

"Nothing, Darry. Go back to bed."

"You're yelling at each other. Something's up."

"He just made me mad. I'm sorry, Sodapop."

"It's fine."

Darry looked confused, but nodded.

"Okay, then. Go to bed. Both of you."

He left. I sighed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks for not ratting me out..."

"Yeah, whatever..."

He turned to leave.

"Hey, wait."

He turned back to me. I looked out my window.

"I'm sorry. For earlier. My parents used to get mad at me for that a lot. I tend to push people away when I'm upset. I don't know why."

"It's fine. Just... Just go to bed."

I heard the door close. He didn't sound like he'd accepted my apology...