Rough Edges | The Outsiders

Chapter 4

The hospital hallways gave me shivers,I waited there most of the time. Surprisingly my
Grandpa had survived his heart attack. He had a slight pulse, the luck of the draw, I guess. It was the luck of the draw that Dallas chose me as his friend and that Sodapop is the perfect friend.

"Hey Laura!" I looked up to see Aunt Marie standing in front of Owen and I, we jumped
up and hugged her as tight as possible.
"Watch it! Your Auntie got a kid on the way!" Owen and I froze.
"How does that work? Don't you have a girlfriend?" Owen asked, I glared at him in a way
to tell him to shut up.

"Sperm donor, simple, now I got a baby boy coming"
"Really!" I gushed, glancing over at Owen, he was also overjoyed, we were going to be
Auntie and Uncles again.
"You two went from sad to happy. Where is Dad anyway?"
"He's right in that room. I'm surprised you came, granny hates your guts"
"I was never like your mom, that's why, I've always been a disappointment"
"You sure ain't a disappointment to us" Owen said.

Aunt Marie walked into the room, Owen and I exchanged glances, Mom and Granny
were in there. This wasn't good.
"Granny is gonna be next to have a stroke" Owen said, he always knew how to get a
slight laugh out of me.

Granny and Aunt Marie started screaming and then my mom joined in. The screams
embarrassed me, I couldn't take it. I ran into the room, I just wanted it all to stop. Grandpa was crying, Granny was screaming, Marie was fuming, my mom was crying. It was a mess.
"STOP!" My voice raised louder than I thought it would. "To hell with all of you! Auntie
Marie can love whoever the hell she wants to love without being judged! Maybe if you two were not so self absorbed, this wouldn't have happened!"
"Laura! Go." Mom rebuked, her voice stern and cold. I eyed her, I wasn't gonna budge.
"It's a sin to be a woman and to kiss a woman!" Granny shuttered, almost like the devil
was standing before her.
"Since when?" Owen said, crossing his arms just like mine.

I looked over to my grandpa, his eyes were distant, he was crying, I could tell that. And
that's when he left, his eyes rolled back into his head, his heartbeat stopped, he died. I screamed and started crying, everyone eyed me like I was crazy for screaming about them yelling at each other, but I wasn't, I was screaming because my grandpa is dead.

"Grandpas dead!" I screamed, everyone's attention went to him. They all ran to him as I
fell on the floor crying.

"Hey hey, it's ok" Owen patted my back. He was crying just as much as I was, but he
knew how to support other people over himself.
"Owen, why does life suck"
"It doesn't. Just right now does"
"Like i'll believe you"
"Don't then, but i'm right" We smiled at each other, broken smiles but still smiles.

I sat in my room flipping a pencil around, I couldn't admit that my grandpa had died. It
hurt.
"It's been two days, Laura, I want you to get out of this room and go outside. And change
your clothes, you look like a Greaser, I don't want people to think my child is a greasy bum" Mom scolded.
"Whatever" I said, I got up and got ready, then slammed the front door behind me. I
didn't want to leave, I didn't want to be in that house anymore either.

I found my way up to Sodapop's house, I stood on his doorstep and tried to take a
breath before entering, instead I let out a sob. I rocked back and forth on my heels, before finally knocking. The door opened and out popped Ponyboy, he was taller than me, not by much, but i found it funny that he was.

I dropped my body weight and almost fell on Ponyboy, I didn't care who I was with, as
long as I was with someone I knew.

"What's wrong Laura?" I stood up just enough to fall over onto an armchair.
"My grandpa died and my mom pretty much just kicked me out"
"You poor thing"
"Is soda here?"
"He's in the shower"

I walked over to the bathroom and opened the door, I waited on the ground of the
bathroom for Sodapop. He stepped out of the shower completely naked, I've seen him naked before, it didn't surprise me.
"Didn't know you were going to be here. Like the view?" Sodapop said, I laughed and
blushed a little, him and his stupid persona is what made me happy. I stood up and watched him look at himself in the mirror.
"You look like a teenage girl picking at her pimples"
"So I look like you?"
"Yea"
"What's with the sad face and the sad voice, your grandpa?" His voice was mellow and
soft, it soothed me, all i could get out was a slight mumble and a few tears.

I could feel Sodapop's warm body against mine, he was hugging me and I hugged him
back. I could feel his abs and his jeans, his slightly muscled arms, his breath against my neck. I cried onto his shoulder, how could i live without Sodapop?