Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders, S.E Hinton does. :D

I only created Sara. :)

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Sara's POV.

We arrived at work just on time. Whenever I went with Soda we always had a pretty good chance of being late. That's why sometimes I decided to drive to work myself. But I can't complain because Soda is a great guy. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't of have a job here in the first place.

"Sara, could you come here for a second," Mr. Barnes said from his office. Mr. Barnes was the owner and boss of the DX. I walked in his office door and before I could say anything else he blurted out, "I need you to work over-time tonight."

I guess I didn't really have a choice, so I gave a weak smile and nodded my head. You can't argue with Mr. Barnes. One time he asked Steve if he could work the night shift after working all day and when Steve asked if he had to, he almost fired him. Me, Soda, and Steve all learned our lesson after that one.

By the time I got back out by the counter Soda was leaning against the Pepsi cooler. "Shouldn't you be pumping gas into those cars out there?" I asked him while looking out the window.

"Nah, Steve said he got it covered," Soda responded. I was actually took by surprise when he said that because Soda loves cars. I smiled and went behind the counter by the cash.

"So why are you in here anyways?" I said curiously. Soda rarely came inside the store. He enjoyed working on the cars and talking to all the girls who came by.

"I don't know. I'm not feeling all that great. Its really hot out there." I had to agree with him. It was early June, and summer was only around the corner. But today there was something different about Soda. His arm was pulled across his blue DX uniform, like you would hold it when you ate too much or had a bad stomach. When I asked him was he okay this morning he told me he was fine. But I didn't know if I could believe him yet.

"Are you sure your okay?" I asked with concern.

"I'm fine, Sara. You don't need to worry about me," he smiled and let out a small laugh.

I gave him an unsure look. I hated watching people being sick ever since my Mom died a few years back.

"Well if you need anything I'll be right here," I offered.

He smiled at me and walked back outside to help Steve. By the time he got out there it looked like Steve had everything under control, which was a little unusual. Most of the cars were gone and it wasn't so busy.

That's how it went for most of the afternoon. I was supposed to get off at 4, but Mr. Barnes now wanted me to work until 5. I wasn't so estatic about the whole idea of working over-time, but what could I really do? When I looked out the window once more, I noticed that Steve was gone already. But Soda was still outside pumping gas into a girl's car. When he was finished he once more walked inside the building.

"Mr. Barnes just asked me to work over-time too," he muttered.

"Yeah, he asked me the same thing."

"I thought he would. Steve left just in time. Well he's lucky," Soda said.

I nodded and leaned over the counter.

"Are you getting off at 5 too?" I asked.

He nodded his head and replied, "Yep. Why don't you come over for a bit when you come over to get your truck after work?"

I thought about it for a few seconds. I don't really go to Soda's a lot, even though we are pretty close. I didn't know his two brothers and his friends very well either. I spent more time at Michelle's then I did at his house. But in the end I decided to go over. "Sure," I smiled.

Soda smiled back and kept a close watch out the window for any sign of customers. But it really didn't matter because nobody came by. I think it was because of the weather out there. Soda was right, it was a heat wave. This had to be one of the hottest days ever since the new year started.

Most of the evening also went like this. Me and Soda started talking about random things and he didn't look that well either. I was going to ask if he was okay once more, but decided not to because he kept telling me he was fine.

I never thought I'd be happier when the clock struck 5. The sun was starting to give me a headache and I was sweating like something awful. I got out my key and closed up the shop, while Soda closed up the garage. I decided to sit down on an old tire that was thrown down by the store's door. But before I knew it, Soda came around the corner and asked, "Ready to go? What am I talking about? I know you are!"

I laughed and got up from the tire I was sitting on. Soda's house wasn't that far from the DX. "Where's your truck?" I asked.

"Oh, Steve took it. He needed to go back to his house to get something then he was going to drop it off at my house," Soda explained while starting to walk in the direction of his house.

I didn't say anything, I just followed him. Soda's house wasn't very far from the DX. It was only about a 5 minute walk, and about a minute drive. As soon as we left the DX it was complete silence, but Soda broke the silence by asking me, "So got any plans for the weekend?"

"I think I might go to a movie with Michelle. What about you?"

"Probably just gonna be hanging around the house, like usual," he replied.

I smiled like I always did and continued walking. By now I could see the peak of Soda's house around the corner. I noticed that Soda cringed once more on the walk home, but I still kept quiet. But I suddenly had the fright of my life when Soda tumbled over and fell head first on the ground. He turned over and was silent. "Soda! Are you okay?!" I yelled as I knelt down by him. I got no response. I started to panic and was having trouble breathing myself.

I stood back up and looked around quickly for somebody, anybody. But I had a slight sense of hope when I seen Steve park Soda's truck in front of their house. "STEVE!!" I yelled while running to him.