Chapter 11

Darry was up early as normal when Pony shuffled his way into the kitchen.

"Has Soda come home yet?" Pony whispered, having full desperation in his tone.

"Not yet little man. Eat up; remember I'm dropping you at Sandy's today," Darry answered, giving Pony a friendly reminder.

Pony nodded and took a mouthful of food.

While the brothers were eating breakfast, the screen door swung open and Soda raced in. Pony glanced up in hopes that his brother had the chance to calm down and wasn't going to avoid him however his hopes were soon shattered when Soda rushed straight towards his bedroom.

"Sodapop!" Darry yelled out.

A few minutes later Soda popped his head out through the hall.

"Hey Darry," he greeted with a wide smile while buttoning up his DX shirt.

Darry frowned. "Sodapop, I would like more than a 'hey Darry' from you when you come back from being out all night. Come and have some breakfast," Darry ordered.

"No can do Dar, Steve's waitin' for me outside. I only came in to grab my DX shirt. I'll get some breakfast on the way!" Soda called back.

"Sodapop this is not acceptable, little buddy. You had better be home tonight because we need to have a talk!" Darry yelled.

Soda rushed into the living room and grabbed his shoes.

"Yeah alright Dar; see you after work."

Darry frowned at his kid brother's haste.

"Fine, see you Sodapop."

"Bye Soda!" Pony called out.

Maybe this would at least get Soda to respond to him, seeing as the conversation so far had just been between him and Darry but all Pony was left with was the sound of the slamming screen door.

Pony turned back to his almost empty plate with a sullen look on his face and picked up the last of his eggs slowly.

"I'll have a talk with him tonight Pony," Darry assured.

"You best hurry up and get ready. Grab your letter for Sandy so we can go."

Pony slipped out of the kitchen chair and grabbed his letter to Sandy and waited for Darry at his truck.

Pony daydreamed out the window at all the passing houses and gardens as Darry drove towards Sandy's house.

"Go on Ponyboy," Darry urged as he pulled to a stop outside Sandy's house.

"I'll stay in the truck. Make it quick but don't rush the apology; I want you to make it acceptable and if I see you not doing that I will come out of the truck and come to you," Darry warned.

Pony really didn't want his older brother standing over him while he was doing a task he was already nervous about; he was embarrassed as it was over the whole thing, he did not want his brother making that worse.

Pony stepped out of the truck and slowly made his way towards Sandy's front door remembering just a day ago he had come to this same doorstep for a different reason.

Pony waited only a minute before an elderly lady answered the door and Pony assumed it was Sandy's grandmother.

"May I help you dear?" the elderly lady asked.

"Is Sandy home, ma'am?" Pony whispered.

The women smiled before calling out to her granddaughter.

"Thanks Grandma," Sandy responded, as the elderly lady left Sandy and Pony alone.

"Ponyboy what are you doing here? I already told Soda I don't want any more to do with him."

Pony nervously looked at his shoes. He wasn't sure on how to talk to girls, nor how he was going to explain to Sandy about what had happened.

"Soda didn't send me here; I'm here to apologize," Pony mumbled.

"What do you have to apologize for?" Sandy asked in confusion.

"This," Pony answered and handed Sandy the letter to which Sandy unfolded and read.

Sandy,

I am very sorry for how I have treated you. I also must confess that the letter you received that appeared to be from Soda telling you to break up was not from him at all, but from me. I was jealous of you spending time with Soda and I didn't want Soda taken away from me. I am sorry for all the trouble I caused and for hurting you. Please don't blame Soda; he loves you.

Ponyboy Curtis

Sandy stared at Pony in disbelief; mixed with a sense of anger yet also a sense of relief knowing Soda still loved her. Sandy wanted to slam the door on the guilty teen but seeing Pony shift uncomfortably on her doorstep and the words in his letter gave her a change of heart.

"That was a dirty trick you did Ponyboy and I thought you were better than to stoop to something so low. Soda was always talking about how smart you are and sweet, but the Ponyboy I've met is none of those."

Pony instantly felt his cheeks glow with shame.

"I'm sorry for interfering."

Pony turned and ran back to Darry's truck, having held in tears for he was not going to cry in front of a girl; he was sensitive but not that sensitive.

Sandy shut the door, pondering on what she was going to do: follow her head and stay away or follow her heart and give Soda a second chance.

Darry watched as Pony jumped into the truck and quickly wipe his eyes. Darry clapped Pony on the shoulder.

"You did the right thing Ponyboy and even though that was hard, I'm proud of you for admitting your mistakes."

Pony didn't think so; if admitting your mistakes and apologizing why hadn't Soda given him a second chance? Darry dropped Pony back home and left the young teen to wallow in his own misery while he went off to work.

Soda gave a friendly good by wave and a wide smile at a group of girls that drove away from the DX. Steve came out of the garage smirking.

"They seemed mighty hung up on you."

"Yeah, wish I could say the same for them," Soda replied solemnly.

"Cheer up buddy; you still hung up on Sandy huh?"

"Yeah I never thought losing a girl you loved would be so hard."

Steve slapped his hand on Soda's shoulder.

"It'll get easier; ya still got me and I'll help you find a new girl in no time," Steve announced.

"Thanks Steve, but I don't think I'll move on from Sandy that easily."

Soda walked back into the garage while Steve remained outside having a smoke. In the distance, Steve noticed a car approaching with a recognizable blonde in the passenger seat.

The car pulled up at the DX and Steve stubbed out his cigarette, "What do you want Sandy; haven't you hurt Soda enough?" Steve growled, wanting to protect his buddy.

"Hey you leave Sandy alone; she's feeling mighty hurt too, so why don't you leave us alone," Sandy's friend shot back.

Steve smirked at the young black-haired feisty teen.

"Cool it sweets!" Steve snapped.

"Steve can you please just get Soda? I'm not here to hurt him; I just want to talk," Sandy said softly.

"Soda!" Steve called.

Soda came jogging out from the garage.

"Yeah?" Soda stopped suddenly upon seeing a cream coloured car in which Sandy was situated in the passenger seat.

Sandy stepped out of the car and stared at the teenager she wrongfully hurt.

"I'll leave you two alone," Steve announced.

"See ya later sweets," Steve smirked at the driver of the vehicle.

The black-haired teen rolled her eyes, "In your dreams."

Steve watched the two from the inside of the garage. Soda finally wrapped his arms around Sandy in a hug, resting his hands on her hips and gently kissing her lips.

Steve came back out when Sandy had jumped back into her friend's car and left.

"Take it went well?"

Soda smiled with glee, "Yeah we're back together. She said Pony went to apologize and she apologized for jumping to conclusions. We already made plans to go out to the movies on Friday night, kind of like out first date again."

Steve chuckled, "Make out time!"

Soda frowned and playfully punched his buddy.

"Sandy's not like that; she's a great girl."

That night during dinner it was noticeable to both brothers that Soda was a lot more ecstatic than he had been as of late.

"You're happy tonight Sodapop," Darry commented as he cut into his piece of meat.

"Yeah, Sandy came to see me at the DX today and she apologized for the misunderstanding. We're back on," Soda ended with a smile.

"Well I'm pleased for you Soda, but there still is that little something we need to discuss with your actions towards Ponyboy."

Soda looked at his younger brother quietly eating his food.

"Pony I'm sorry for going off at you before and saying that all you do is get in the way," Soda said with sincerity.

Darry frowned upon hearing Soda's words.

"When did you tell Ponyboy this?" he questioned.

Neither brother said a word so Darry continued.

"Was this the night you stormed into your bedroom upset Ponyboy?"

Pony just shrugged.

"Yeah Darry, it was the night I stayed over at Steve's. I was real mad at Pony and said it before thinking as I went out to Steve's car. You know I don't mean it Pone," Soda apologized again, gently touching his brother's shoulder.

"For what it's worth, I'm really happy for what you said to Sandy today to make her want to be my girl again," Soda said in earnest.

Pony smiled towards his brother, accepting his apology.

"And Ponyboy this time will be different; I'll include you as well and not leave ya out when I hang out, just as long as you don't think I'm forgetting ya if I hang out with Sandy."

"I think that sounds fair, don't you Ponyboy. That's a very nice gesture Sodapop."

Pony nodded, "I'd like that."

"So it's safe to say we're all back on agreeing terms?" Darry inquired.

"Yeah I think we are, hey Pone?" Soda smiled.

"Yeah," Pony concluded, pleased that he had his brother back even if he was with Sandy again; at least it made his brother happy.