Change of Heart

"Hey, Johnny!" Pony called out. Johnny started slightly from the sudden noise, but he quickly calmed down when he realized that it was just us.

"Hi, guys," he greeted, smiling a little. "I was just watching the sunset. It's real pretty, like you said Pony. I forgot, after we were at that church in Windrixville."

Ponyboy nodded. "Yeah. I haven't really watched many lately..." He looked off into the distance before shaking off his trance and getting back to the subject at hand. "So you wanna come see that new Paul Newman movie with us?"

Johnny grinned and responded, "Sure! I ain't been to the movies in a long time."

"C'mon then." The three of us walked away from the lot and started toward the Nightly Double. We snuck under the fence instead of paying, even though I didn't want to. It was more about the experience though then breaking the rule. It wasn't like anyone was going to catch us or like anyone even cared.

"It's starting," Pony whispered, even though we could easily see that it was. The beginning song was playing, and the credits were rolling across the screen.

We worked our way over to the seats quietly, being careful not to disturb the other people around us in cars that were trying to watch a movie. Granted, not a lot of people were really trying to watch the movie but...

"Let's sit here," Ponyboy spoke up, sitting down in the front row of the first cluster of seats. I sat down to his left, and Johnny sat down next to me.

After a few minutes, I started to get a little bored and said softly, "I'm gonna go get some popcorn. I'll be back."

"Get me some Pepsi!" Pony called after me. A couple of "shhhh"s chorused at him, and he turned around in his seat.

When I got in line, though it was long, I got to the front pretty quickly. I grabbed a thing of popcorn and a large Pepsi for Ponyboy so that I could steal some if I wanted.

The teenage boy working at the cash register was kind of tall and pimply. After handing him the quarter and nickel, I stepped out of line to walk back to Ponyboy and Johnny.

"Hey, Sophie," a familiar voice greeted. I turned to find Dally leaning against the exit of the concession stand, cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

Struggling to suppress the urge I had to reach forward and snatch the cancer stick from his mouth, I responded, "Hi, Dal'. What are you doin' here?"

"Probably the same as you," he answered, taking the cigarette out of his mouth and crushing it under his shoe. "I got a date."

"Me too," I smiled. "Ponyboy and Johnny."

"You go for younger guys, huh?"

I gave him a brain-dead look. "Oh, yeah, sure, Dally. Not only do I go for younger guys, I also go for family, since Johnny's my cousin and all."

"Oh, yeah," Dally mumbled. "So they're not really dates?"

"No." He looked over his shoulder for a second before standing up straight.

"Well, I gotta get back to Debbie, so I guess I'll talk to you later."

"Yup. Bye." I walked past him to the chairs. Pony snatched his Pepsi out of my hand and took a long sip before letting out a long sigh.

"You're such a freak," I laughed, nudging him with my shoulder.

He shook his head and said, "No, I'm not. Now shut up so I can watch the movie."

It was quiet for a second before Johnny leaned over and whispered in my ear, "How did things go with Dally?"

"How did you even know?" I gasped back. I certainly couldn't see them from where we were. Maybe Johnnycakes had some super vision or something.

"'Cause you guys were standing under a light kind of and I know what y'all look like."

Okay, good job. "It went fine. He just said that he had a date and I said that I was with you two, and then I came back here. Real eventful."

"So what are you gonna do about Darry?"

"What about Darry?" I took a piece of popcorn off the top of the small red-and-white striped bag and tipped it toward Johnny as a silent way to offer him some.

He ignored the gesture. "What do you mean, 'What about Darry'? You know what I mean."

"You're talking about the fact that he likes me, right?" Johnny nodded. "Well, I don't know. Since I broke up with Dally, we haven't really talked a whole lot. I'm not sure what's happening there."

"Maybe you should try talking to him."

I shrugged, not knowing if that was what I wanted to do. Deep down, I felt like I liked him too, but I felt like...I didn't even know what I felt like. Maybe I was just nervous to talk to him.

"Maybe you two should shut up already and watch the movie. Paul Newman's real good in it." Pony took a mouthful of Pepsi at the end of his statement. It was pretty obvious that it was a command more than a suggestion.

So, we sat and finished the movie. It was alright, I guess, but Ponyboy was absolutely in love with it. I think he had a little man-crush on Paul Newman. I had to agree though that he was pretty good in the movie. He wasn't a bad actor, which made the movie more bearable.

"That was such a good movie..." Ponyboy trailed off, shaking his head in pure awe.

"It was pretty good," Johnny agreed lightly. He didn't want to crush Pony's dreams or anything.

We talked about the movie for the rest of the way back to the Curtis house. When we got inside, Soda was sitting on the couch, watching TV blankly. "You're lucky, kid. It's quarter to twelve."

"I told you I'd get back in time," Pony scoffed, rolling his eyes. "The movie was real good, Soda."

Soda looked over saw me subtly shaking my head and mouthing, 'Noooo.'

He smirked and responded, "I'm sure it was. Now you better get ready for bed."

Ponyboy walked upstairs to do as Soda ordered, and Soda turned to Johnny. "You staying here tonight, Johnnycakes?"

"Nah. It's pretty nice tonight. I think I'm gonna go sleep in the lot. I'll see y'all tomorrow." He turned and walked out the door, shutting it behind him.

"So how was the drive-in?" Soda started conversationally as I plopped down on the couch next to him.

I shrugged while saying, "It was cool. The movie was okay, and when I saw Dally, it wasn't awkward."

"You saw Dally?"

"Yeah, after I bought popcorn and Pepsi. He told me he was on a date. I wasn't really surprised."

"Wow...you really don't care, do you?" Soda seemed kind of shocked.

"Nope. I don't think I ever really liked him in the first place, just liked the idea of liking him. You know?"

"Not really, but I'll pretend I do and nod." He nodded enthusiastically with a goofy grin.

Shoving him, I laughed. "I hate you, you know that?"

"Sure I do. It's obvious." He smiled some more.

"So what are you watching?" I asked, looking over at the people moving across the screen.

"It's either a soap opera or a really long commercial..." he debated, tilting his head to the side. "But I'm not sure."

I sighed loudly. "You're strange." It was silent for a second before I cleared my throat. This was going to be awkward to bring up. "So has Darry said anything to you about me recently?"

He shook his head. "Nope. He's been pretty quiet lately."

"I just didn't know if he still liked me. Johnny brought it up today, but I don't know what I'm going to do about it. I was hoping that Darry would say something, but he hasn't."

"I don't know," Soda replied seriously. "Maybe you should talk to him about it."

"I'm not sure I'm brave enough," I admitted. "But I guess I could try."

"That's the spirit!" he pretended to cheer before patting my knee and started toward his room. "'Night!"

"Goodnight," I replied, staring at the people on the TV. After a few minutes, I turned it off and headed for bed. The problem could be revisited in the morning.