june 1965
-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-
sodapop curtis

        wish i had woken up in a more different and better way, instead of two-bit screaming in my ear that darry wanted me awake before the eggs turned cold. the best way to wake up in the curtis' residence is with the peaceful birds lying outside your windows.

"soda, we're gonna be late for the beach!" my best friend, steve groaned.

"dingus, i'm not even ready." i rolled my eyes.

"well then get ready, you bum!" my kid brother, ponyboy rushed.

i threw the pillow over my head to execute all the ruckus that was about to go down, for example, the one where two-bit screams his head off when steve makes him drop his plate of chocolate cake.

"hot broads are going to be there, and i want to be there when they're there." dallas, the delinquent one of our gang said.

"you're gonna need a hot broad, one where you can trust with your life. unlike sandy." steve muttered the last part.

"okay, okay! i'll get dressed, god damn you guys." i get up and shut the door.

        it was a nice warm spring day, the perfect day to get off of work and spend time with friends near the water. my older brother, darry had the day off so he arranged plans to hangout at the beach until dark.

        this was our first time going to the beach after years, those years contained endless memories of my parents taking my brothers and i. it wasn't the same everywhere we went, because everywhere we went was with them.

        i wanted to look at my mom's gorgeous blue eyes one more time, i regretted being upset with her the day she died, i never said goodbye but instead, i made her leave with a i never want to see you again.

        that time i never forgave myself ever, nor did i ever tell anyone else 'til this day. when ponyboy decided to move back into his room after sometime of us sharing one room and one bed, i cried every night silently, shaming myself for saying such hurtful things to my mom before she passed.

        a loud bang snapped me out of my thoughts, i haven't even finished putting on my shirt but i left my room with an unbuttoned flannel.

        "you okay, johnny?" dally kneels down to him.

        "what happened?" i asked, coming out of my room.

        "this wise ass tripped johnny." dally pointed at two.

        "i didn't fucking mean to! it's my fault, alright?" two-bit rolled his eyes.

        darry then enters the living room, "enough of you guys bitching and moaning."

        "pony, i want you in charge of checking every part of the house just in case we forget something. two, i need you to take two people with you, i don't care who it is. dally, make sure you keep your pants on there."

        everyone laughed at the last part, except for dally who was pretty much offended by the joke. darry grabbed the last beer from the fridge and stuffed it into the cooler, pony gave him the all clear signal that the things we needed were packed into the car.

"steve, you okay with going in two-bit's car?" darry asked.

"hell no, he got mad over me knocking over that stupid hawaiian dancing thing he has on his dashboard." steve complained.

"dal, johnny, someone?" darry desperately calls out.

"i'll go." johnny insisted.

"thank you." darry says before carrying the cooler into the car.

                    ❥•°❀°•༢

        the beach was only 30 minutes away from tulsa but the ride there felt like an eternity. ponyboy was playing elvis from the radio as he had shotgun, dally was smoking a cigarette out the window since darry was too busy drumming on the wheel.

        steve's big head kept slumping towards my shoulder, i continuously pushed him off but he's a heavy sleeper, no way he'd feel me aggressively pushing him over and over.

        "we're almost there, they'll most likely have the yellow bathroom building there so if you need to pee then just run there." darry reminded all of us, "dally, you burn out the cigarette right this second and throw it out!"

        "okay," he rolled his eyes, "mom."

        "what was that?" darry stared at him through the rear-view mirror.

        "nothing." dally said.

        we finally made it to the beach where it wasn't busy, except for the girls in bikinis grabbing their surfboards.dally sat upto get a better view of the girls, i slapped him upside the head while he began rubbing the back of his head.

        two-but made it last with johnny who seemed to be in perfect condition after two-bit's driving. i stick my pointer finger in my mouth before sliding it into steve's ear, he jumped as he covered that ear of his.

        "mornin' sleeping beauty." i grinned.

        "shut up." steve rolled his eyes.

        it happened way to fast that i didn't even see him open the door and push me right out of it, i get up and dragged him out. we wrestled on the ground until my eye caught this girl in particular.

        i stopped as steve kept trying to reach for my face, she walked away with her friend by herself and her tote bag hanging down from her shoulder. i watched her rearrange her shades,that was when we made eye contact.

        that girl was the most beautiful girl i've ever seen, almost like sandy couldn't compare. she had on this blue floral bikini top, her shorts covering the bottom. steve made me snap back into reality when he made me tilt towards the ground with a bunch of sand in the cracks, the sand was more than just hot.

        "ow!" i got up, pushing him off of me.

        "c'mon soda, it's not even that hot." steve scoffs.

        "oh yeah?" i rhetorically asked.

        i grabbed his hand and smashed it against the hit sand, he shrieked like a little girl. darry pulled us up but had the both of us separated. dally was carrying the cooler since he was the one who wanted to be the first to the beer.

we placed our belongings down. i remembered darry packed pony and i's swim pants as last time we forgot it and went swimming in jeans, that was the worst feeling ever.

"pony, soda, go change in the boy's room." darr demanded.

we followed and went up into the bathroom where not many guys were in there, the rest were already prepared so they didn't have to worry about anymore strict rules darry had to set out.

i finished before pony so i headed back to our spot, that was when steve threw a football at him. however, i didn't catch it, instead it landed near the girl i was just thinking about.

"soda, go get that please." darry begged.

i nervously walked over to the ball, that was when a hand grabbed the ball. i looked up and there was the girl, she smiled down at me before holding out her hand. i took that hand as it helped me up.

"tell your friend his aim is weak." she giggled.

"will do." i chuckled.

"my name's claire, claire anderson." she introduced herself.

"and i'm sodapop curtis." i simply say.

"i dig the name."