Change of Heart

"C'mon, wake up," Soda's voice urged, shaking my shoulder harshly. "This is like trying to wake the dead."

"Ughhhh..." I whined, slapping his hand away. Then, I opened up an eye and squealed, "It's only eight thirty in the morning! Leave me alone!"

Before I fell asleep again, I heard him mumble, "That's it. Desperate times call for desperate measures."

The door shut, and I was in the blackness again. That was, until my face was covered by something wet.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" I screamed, jumping to my feet and using the collar of my t-shirt to wipe off my face. "What is wrong with you?"

Soda was standing there with a yellow sponge in his hand. It was dripping with water all over the rug, and he was wearing a victorious look on his face.

"Great, now I have to wash my sheets today too. Thanks so friggin' much, Sodapop."

"It's time for breakfast," he announced simply before walking out of the room. Though he was gone and couldn't see me, I gave him the evil-eye. He was such a jerk. After all, he should know better than to do something stupid like that to a person who doesn't like mornings too much, to put it nicely. Muttering to myself, I got changed into some clothes for the day.

When I walked into the kitchen after brushing my teeth, Ponyboy and Darry looked happy as little clams. What is wrong with this family and being cheery this early in the morning?

I immediately sat down at the table and put my face down on the top. Ponyboy slapped me off the top of the head to stay awake.

"I hate you guys. So much," I mumbled, but even I could barely understand what I'd said.

"What?" Darry questioned, leaning toward me. "What was that?"

"Never mind," I snapped. They obviously thought this was funny. It wasn't.

Sodapop put some eggs in front of me, at which I stared blankly. "Soda, why is there jelly on my eggs?"

"Just try it. It's good." He took a bite of his eggs, which also had the sweet purple condiment on it.

Darry gave me a look like, 'Oh, God' before eating his egg sandwich. That looked a lot better than what was sitting in front of me.

But, since Soda asked me to, I took a bite. "This is pretty gross," I told him, but took another bite in spite of myself. "Yup, definitely gross."

"You guys are such losers," Soda mumbled good-naturedly.

With my fork, I scraped all the jelly to the side of the plate and finished my eggs. They still had a slight grape taste to them, but they were edible...ish.

Soon enough, Darry and Soda left for work, and it was just Pony and me. "You inviting Sammy to hang out today?" I questioned.

"Nope. She's hanging out with a few of her friends today."

"Oh, well that's cool."

Pony laughed a little, so I gave him a weird look. "Sorry. I was just remembering about the time that they got kicked out of Macy's."

I raised an eyebrow as he laughed again. "And then, one of the girls stuck a brownie in a vase. A couple months later, they went back, and the brownie was still there."

"Oh, God," I chuckled. "That's so strange."

"They're a strange group. Funny, but strange."

"HEY, Y'ALL!" Two-Bit exclaimed as he walked through the door.

"Hi," Pony and I greeted at the same time.

"Let's go walk around the town instead of sitting inside all day. If you just sit around you'll look like...well, like Sophie."

"Hey!" I exclaimed, laughing a little. Okay, so I was really pale. Sue me.

"It's true," Two-Bit defended, starting to walk out the door. Pony and I exchanged looks for a second before following him out the door.

I almost locked the door behind me when I remembered that the Curtis brothers never locked their house. It made me a little nervous, but also not at the same time because I knew that if anyone did break into the house, Darry would body-slam them and they would die.

"So where are we even going?" I asked Two-Bit, who seemed to look like he knew what he was doing.

"Who said we have to have a place to go? Sometimes, the best part of a journey is getting there."

"But we don't have a place to go..." I trailed off, kind of confused.

Two-Bit turned around and put his hand over my mouth. "Kid, don't ruin my deep moment."

I nodded, laughing, and we started walking again.

As a blonde walked past us, Two-Bit stopped and watched her walk by. Way to be slick...

"Damn, she was hot," Two-Bit grinned, lighting up a cigarette.

Pony gave him a look, since he remembered that I hated smoking, but Two-Bit was oblivious.

"She was ugly," I retorted, wondering where Two-Bit had gotten the idea that she was hot. Then, I leaped forward and tossed away his fresh cigarette.

"What the hell? That's it. You've pissed me off one too many times today."

He flipped out his switchblade and pointed it at me. "I challenge thee to a duel."

Looking around, I found an old pop bottle. I smashed it against the fence next to us so the bottom was jagged and pointed it at Two-Bit. "Bring it."

He laughed and stuck the switchblade back into his pocket. "That was good reaction time. I don't think we gotta worry about you if the Socs jump you."

"Why would they jump me? I don't look like a greaser anyway." I flipped my hair behind my shoulder dramatically and gave them a snobby smile.

"You could if you wore slutty clothes, put some grease in your hair, and swore a lot," Pony offered.

"Um, I think I'll pass on that, actually." I rolled my eyes, and we walked forward more.

As I looked around, I realized that I recognized everything. We were near Buck's house.

My stomach clenched as the memories rushed back. Okay, Sophia. Just calm down. They're not bringing you to Buck's house. You'll just walk past it. Don't let them know that you're freaking out.

It was hard to do that though, since my palms were starting to sweat and I was biting my lip so hard that I was surprised it didn't just fall off into my mouth. Ew...that was a pretty gross thought.

"You alright?" Pony whispered to me. Sometimes, I hated that he was good at reading people.

"Sure," I answered in a tight voice. Oh, good. Very convincing.

"Hey, Two-Bit! Soph and I are gonna go to the DX to visit Soda and Steve. We'll see ya later."

"Alright," Two-Bit nodded. Then, Pony and I turned the other way. As soon as my back was facing the house, I felt a sense of relief.

"You wanna tell me what that was all about?"

"Just remembering the last time I went to Buck's," I muttered, feeling my face redden.

"Wanna tell me about that anyway? What exactly happened?"

"I'll tell you on one condition." I was starting to remember when Darry'd mentioned that Johnny and Dally almost died. That was scary. "You tell me what happened to Johnny and Dally after you and Johnny killed the Soc."

"Deal," Pony nodded without hesitation.

He explained how Johnny had been severely burned in a church fire while he and Pony were saving some kids. Dally had been burned too, but not as badly. After a rumble, Pony and Dally were visiting Johnny, and he passed out, but the machine malfunctioned and showed that his heart stopped beating.

After that, Dally ran out of the room before the nurses came in and apologized, saying that it was just a mistake. So Dally went out and robbed a convenience store and tried to get himself shot by the cops. He lost a lot of blood, since he got shot a few times, and was in critical condition for a couple weeks, but he eventually pulled through.

And though Johnny was supposed to be paralyzed, he worked hard at his physical therapy. After a few months, he started to regain back his ability to walk. It was a slow process, but now, Johnny was like new. A real medical miracle.

"So, now that you know," Pony started. "Tell me what happened to you."

I sighed. It was only fair. So, I told him everything that happened, and his eyes grew like saucers.

"Wow. I gotta say, I'm surprised you did that."

"Oh, me too, kid," I mumbled, putting my hands in the pockets of my jean shorts. Then, we walked into the DX station. What I saw, I didn't really expect, even if I should have.