Change of Heart

"Finally," I sighed when I stepped off the plane, slinging my light backpack across my shoulders. The little boy named David had puked four times during the plane ride, I'd run out of napkins to clean him up, as well as water to wash out his mouth. His mother, who I'd learned was named Trish, couldn't bring him into the bathroom because it was occupied for the entire plane ride. Now, whether someone was actually using the bathroom for that long, or another little something-something was going on in there, I really didn't want to know.

"SOPHIA!" a strong voice exclaimed. Looking around, I saw a man waving. He was tall, about six feet, two inches, if I had to guess, and muscular. His hair was kind of long and had some grease in it, but not as much as I remember the other boys wearing. When I saw the familiar light blue eyes, I knew right away that it was Darry, changed appearance and all.

"Darry!" I screamed, running up to him. He pulled me into a tight hug.

"Whoa, you've grown up," he grinned, looking at me. "God, eighteen now, right?"

"Yup. I can say the same about you. Twenty-one?"

He nodded. "C'mon, let's grab your luggage and get back to the house. The guys are dying to see you again."

"Oh, I'm psyched to see them too. This is so exciting!"

Darry chuckled lightly as we went over to the suitcase return thingie. "This yours?" he called to me. The question was very sarcastic, considering the fact that there were about ten tags stuck all over the bag with my name on it.

"Gee, I wonder," I rolled my eyes. "Mom decided to go a little crazy."

"I can see that." He picked up the suitcase, and we started to walk out of the airport. "So how's your life been? What are you up to?"

"Well, I graduated from high school about a week and a half ago with high honors, and I start Stanford in the fall."

"Damn! Look at you. All grown up and successful."

"Well, I seem to remember that you had a pretty good brain yourself, along with your greatness playing football. Did you graduate yet? Where did you even go?"

Darry's jaw tensed. "No one told you?"

I pulled open the passenger's side door and got myself into the truck. Darry threw my suitcase and backpack into the bed of the truck and climbed in the driver's side.

"Told me what?" I questioned, pulling my hair out of the ponytail and starting to roll down the window a little bit to get some fresh air.

"Mom and Dad were killed in a car accident a couple years ago."

My throat closed. "What...? Are you kidding?"

"No. It was bad... But, since I was nineteen, I stepped up to take care of Soda and Pony. Figured it was what I had to do."

"That was good of you," I assured him, putting my hand on his arm.

He didn't answer, instead pulling out of the parking lot and onto the street. "Johnny and Pony got into a bit of trouble last year too. They killed a Soc."

"Johnny?!" I shrieked. "As in, my Johnny? Little Johnny that would never hurt a fly?"

"Good to know you have so much faith in Ponyboy," Darry joked, laughing in a breath.

"No, that's not what I meant." I felt my face heat up a little.

"I know what you meant. We all felt the same way. Johnny was the one who actually stabbed the boy though, trying to save Pony."

Darry went into the whole long story. "Wait, wait," I interrupted. "Who the hell is Dally?"

"Oh, that's right," he realized, slapping his left hand to his forehead. "You haven't met Dally yet."

"I guess I'll find out," I mumbled. "Anyway, how are Soda and Pony doing?"

"Pony's real good. He gets good grades in school, and he has a girlfriend. She's real pretty, and she's funny too. They're good together. Soda...well, Soda dropped out of school a couple years ago to help pay for the bills, working at the DX. Last year, after Pony ran away, he got a letter from his girlfriend, Sandy, that she was moving to Florida. She was whorin' it up, as Sammy'd put it. Sammy is Pony's girlfriend. Anyway, Sandy got pregnant with another guy's baby. Soda offered to marry her anyway, take care of it like it was his own, but she rejected him."

"Poor Soda," I breathed, staring off into the distance. "I can't believe that. He finally got the girl that he was crushing on since he was nine, and she cheats on him?"

Darry nodded. "It was sad. He's getting over it though, slowly but surely."

"Good," I smiled.

Soon, we pulled up in front of the Curtis House. "You ready?" Darry asked me, showing off his white teeth.

"More than you can believe," I responded, almost hopping out of the car. This was going to be great.