another us | sodapop curtis

10. Looking To Belong

"Hey Soda." I yawned.

"What?" He asked rubbing his eyes.

"How much longer?" I asked walking over to him.

"Like 15 more minutes." He sighed.

"We couldn't have come this far into the soc side!" I exclaimed.

"We did go out pretty far. But we're also walking pretty slow." He said.

"I guess you're right." I said.

"Soda, do you think I should leave?" I asked.

"Leave what?" He asked.

"The gang... And you know, start hanging out with girls my age. I don't want to keep you guys from doing stuff." I replied.

"No!" He exclaimed taken back.

"Never. Never in a million years." He sighed. He held my hands and looked me in the eye. Pony and Johnny were walking ahead of us. He stopped and looked at me before speaking.

"You might not realize this but you're the only one keeping us all together. If you leave, everything will fall apart. You're not just apart of our gang, you're apart of our family. And family always sticks together no matter what," He paused.

"There's no way you're leaving." He finished.

"Okay." I nodded my head understanding.

"Why would you even think about leaving?" He asked as we continued walking.

"I just don't think I fit it. I mean, I'm wearing pink and I can't even fight to save my life. There's no way I belong with you guys. That's what I'm trying to do. I'm looking to belong." I explained.

"This is where you belong." He said softly.

"Don't you remember what we said when we were younger?" He asked. Ponyboy and Johnny stopped and walked towards us.

"What are y'all talking about over there?" Johnny asked.

"We grew up on the outside of society." Soda started.

"We weren't looking for a fight." Ponyboy and Johnny said. The guys looked at me.

"We were looking to belong." I said smiling. We continued walking and I was remembering how it came up.

*Important flashback*

*Kindergarten*

"Pony!" Four year old me exclaimed.

"What happened?!" The young Ponyboy asked running over to me.

"That boy hit me!" I exclaimed tearing up.

"Who?!" He asked.

I pointed at the soc boy who was in my class. We never talked to him, in fact no one did. He was always acting rich and snobby.

"What happened Pony?!" Dally asked as he saw me already crying.

"That boy hit her!" Pony exclaimed trying to soothe me.

Dally soon called for backup. His friend Keith and Ponyboy's brother Sodapop and his best friend Steve! I'd never known them very well but by the way Ponyboy talks about them I can tell they're really sweet.

Sodapop heard what had happened and immediately went to his older brother Darry.

"Where's Johnny?" I asked through tears.