Take Me Away [Soda//Open]

[Cherry Valence]

Cherry fiddled with the toggle clasp on her thick coat as the lady at the cash register gave her back her change and the bag of buttery popcorn that Cherry'd just bought. She thanked the woman and proceeded to the area outside where the drive-in movie was showing and took long strides towards the seats for people without cars, avoiding the stares of Greasers around her. Normally, she'd just go to the drive-in on the West side of town. The "Soc" one. But, she was escaping. Escaping Bob who'd just drank enough liquor to drown a horse. She rolled her eyes at the thought of him roaming the streets with Randy and the rest of his buddies, drunk and confused and violent; ready to jump some poor unfortunate Greaser. She knew he wouldn't look for her here, on the Greaser side of town, and so here she was: Bag of popcorn in hand, sitting in the worn out seats of the Dingo. She was alone- Marcia had plans, but she hoped that maybe Ponyboy, or Johnny, or even Soda might come find her here. At least it'd be less awkward- then the other Greasers would know that she was with them, and stop staring.

She tossed a piece of popcorn into her mouth and bit down on the puffy popped kernel, waiting for the movie to start.

[Sodapop Curtis]

Sodapop Curtis was pretty tired this day, as he slowly walked along, relieved that his work day was over. Some strange old woman had tackled him after he had tried to stop her dog from eating a bag of food that she hadn't payed for. Now, Soda was quite sure that his muscles would be sore for days, and he had a bruise just below his eye from the lady's handbag. The crazy old bat. She did not know just how hard Soda already worked, he decided, putting a kinder light on the old woman. Soda did that a lot. He never liked thinking that people were all mean. Generally, in his opinion, people become that way because of others. Not this old woman though. Soda caught sight of her walking down the opposite side of the street. The woman turned, as if she had a Sodapop radar, and glared. The lady looked generally frightening, and Soda tried to hurry along. She rushed across the street and began to yell at him, swinging her bag threateningly.

Soda turned right one street, and then left another one, and then hopped the fence he saw there, relieved to know that an old windbag like her would be unable to climb it like he had. And, she most likely would not want to go into a greaser's movie theater. The old woman just seemed too....clean. That was the word. She must be a normal's grandmother. But how the hell she could be described as normal was anybody's guess. Soda glanced around, and sighed. He really hated this place. It had a lot of violence every other day, and the movies were a bunch of crap. Soda walked past the cars, heading towards the chairs. He figured he may as well stay here now that he was, and with no cost as well. What a bargain, Soda thought sarcastically in his mind, as he sat down behind some red-haired girl. For a minute, he simply stared at her firey hair, and then he grinned. "Hey sweet thang, whatcha doin' out here?" Soda questioned softly, smirking as he did so. The girl knew him, so hopefully she wouldn't be too surprised that he spoke this way. It was just how Soda was.

[Cherry Valence]

Cherry continued to eat the popcorn through the commercials that played on the huge screen. They were all about lame movies that weren't released yet, and truthfully, she didn't really care. All she thought of was how mad Bob would be if he saw her here at the Dingo instead of the Way Out, the Soc's drive in. She sighed and crossed her legs, putting the bag of popcorn down on the seat next to her.

The sound of another chair creaking brought her attention to the fact that someone else was there. She could hear their breath behind her and she silently hoped it wasn't Bob. No, it wasn't Bob. It just couldn't be. "Hey sweet thang, whatcha doin' out here?" said the person. That was definitely not Bob's voice. It was softer, and more playful. She turned around with a half smile and rolled her eyes jokingly at Sodapop Curtis. Well, the blunt truth to that question was that she was avoiding her deranged and drunk boyfriend. But, that didn't seem like the best answer to give. She shrugged and simply dropped another popcorn kernel into her mouth. "I dunno, decided to come here for a change of scenery I guess." she answered, trying to sound casual. Oh, that was a terrible lie. No Soc's ever came down here just for a movie. That was what they had The Way Out for. They came out here for a rumble usually, and obviously Cherry wasn't here for that. She was sure he could see right through her little white lie.

And now that Soda was here, Cherry got even more paranoid about Bob. Oh, if he saw her here with Soda, he'd throw a fit and beat the Greaser to almost death. She sighed and looked around for him again. Nope, all clear. Letting out a small breath, she looked back at Soda. "Well, what're you here for then?" she asked smiling, "I'd assume that Sodapop Curtis wouldn't be at the movies without his buddies." she thought for a second. "Or a date for that matter." she jokingly punched him in the arm. It was true though. If there ever was a guy that could flirt with ten girls at once, Cherry definitely thought it would be Soda. That boy could attract girls easier than flies to honey. And she should know. She was one of them. But, Soda didn't know that - no one did. The Soc's would beat her up for liking a Greaser, and probably accuse her for cheatin' on Bob. And the Greasers might do the same. Well, some of 'em anyways. Some of 'em.

She drew her breath back in and picked up the bag of popcorn, and dropping it on the seat next to Soda. Her back was starting to hurt from having to twist around to talk to him, so she climbed over the row of seats and sat down next to him instead. At least it was more comfortable.

[Sodapop Curtis]

Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends.
Get high with a little help from my friends.

Sodapop Curtis stared at the back of Cherry's head, a smile on his handsome face. He loved it when he could talk to her. Soda in fact had a secret crush on her, but since it was dumb and dangerous to show affection for a Soc, Soda had gone with his feelings for Regan more, letting them come to show. He wasn't sure that was the best thing to do, because he wasn't just playing with his own heart, and he could hurt so much more than he could gain. Either way, he grinned when she turned to face him in her chair, and waved flirtatiously, just messing around with her. Listening to her speak, he nodded. Her boyfriend was drunk. Usually, Cherry tried to cover up that stuff with lies, but hello, everyone knew that this place wasn't for any Soc. So for that reason alone, he could justify that Cherry was lying. "Don't be ridiculous Cherry, this ain't no good scenery." Soda had the definite greaser slang, and it showed. His hair was as greased up as usual, and the bruises on his face shown nice and purple.

Soda let her comment on his being alone, a smirk on his face as he thought about it silently. It was true that he attracted way too many female companions. But still, he had not intentionally come here. That dumb old bat had sort of driven him to hop the fence of the movies. Darry would not be too pleased with Soda, but oh well. It's not like he had done this on purpose. "Nah, I was running from an old bat. She was wacking me with her purse." Soda spoke with a grin, and then gestured towards the bruise underneath his eye, shrugging it off. His brown eyes were fixed on Cherry, watching as she moved to sit down next to him. Soda smirked, and then took a handful of her popcorn, grinning like a lunatic.

[Cherry Valence]

Cherry let out a soft huff when Soda let on that he didn't believe her. He had a point though, the Dingo was far from a classy drive-in, with it's busted up seats and beat up projector that made the movie's image all shaky. She pouted at her terrible excuse and rolled her eyes lightly. "Well, I never said it was a good change in scenery. I just said it was a change." she found herself sounding irritable as she said those words and tried to force a smile. The thought of Bob made her a bit miffed, and it probably showed. Cherry hoped that Soda didn't take too much offense to it. She scratched at a mosquito bite on her arm. Those darn things were still around, but they'd at least be gone by winter. Man she hated those insects.

She rolled hey eyes playfully at his explanation of why he was here. She only knew of one lady who would chase some poor teen down the street and beat him up with her bag. That was Mrs. Feldon. She lived down the street from Cherry, always walking her dog and yelling at people to get out of her way. Cherry usually tried to stay clear of the crazy old woman, and couldn't help but laugh at the bruises that were forming under Soda's eyes from being whacked one too many times with a hard old lady purse.

"Oh really? So I guess even the old ladies won't leave you alone?" She joked, then laughed again, brushing her bright red hair out of her face. "Ah, well, at least you'll never be alone. . . " she shrugged.

[Sodapop Curtis]

Soda smiled slightly at her comment, because it was definitely Cherry. But still, it bothered him somewhat that she was coming to this movie drive-in, because it was dangerous. He couldn't count how many times fights had broken out here before for stupid reasons. It was a regular thing at this place, and it worried Soda that Cherry had felt the need to come here to get away. This was pretty bad, seeing as this place was dangerous. Well, at least Soda was there to watch out for her, because otherwise he'd be really pissed, because he would find out from somebody that she had got hurt, because he and the gang all knew Cherry. They would recognize her if she were somewhere on their turf and got hurt. "Well okay. But you're lucky I'm here, cause I have a feeling a fight will break out again sometime soon." Soda watched a few arguing people warily, knowing that it was never good to trust that they would resolve their argument peacefully.

Sodapop smiled as he thought about the old lady, who was definitely insane, but then again, she was probably mad because her grandaughter had a crush on him, like many girls did, and that he never saw affection for her like the old woman thought he ought to. Soda laughed at Cherry's response to it, knowing that was true. All sorts of women loved to be around him. Even adults who knew better than to be charmed by him just were. That was how Soda was, he was the one everyone liked, and some guys, if they were jealous, wanted to be like. "Yeah, even the old ladies. But Cherry, I'm not sure never being alone is always a good thing. Sometimes it gets really annoying." Soda commented, and sighed as he thought, or wondered how it would have been if he really weren't movie star handsome like Ponyboy said he was. But no, it was impossible to picture.

[Cherry Valence]

Cherry chuckled softly. She really was lucky he was here - whether to protect her or not. And truth be told, she liked the fact that he wanted to protect her quite a lot. Not many Greasers exactly wanted to look out for a Soc, but he did. She smiled at that thought, and then looked down, and back up when she saw him eying other arguing couples. She wondered to herself if anyone thought that she and Soda looked like a couple, at a drive in movie theater by themselves, sitting next to each other. But, they were just friends. Friends separated by a social barrier.

"Yea, I guess you're right." she said giggling slightly, something she didn't often do, and threw a piece of popcorn at his face playfully. Then she thought about what he'd said about not being alone ever. It would get annoying, she knew that. Heck, she was trying to get away from Bob right? Yea, being away was a good thing.

For a moment, she forgot her manners, and just stared into his eyes. They were so dark looking in the shadows, that they looked endless, and effortless. She sighed, knowing that it was impossible for them ever to be more than just friends, whether it was secret or not.

There was an awkward silence, one that needed to be filled with something. Anything. And before Cherry could even think about what she was doing, she leaned into him, tilting her head and slowly closing her eyes, pushing her lips against his. She stayed there for a moment before pulling away, and just stared for a while into his eyes again.
Then, reality sunk in. She'd just violated HUNDREDS of unwritten Soc/Greaser code. Being seen together without a rumble going on was bad, and you could get beat up easily for it. But kissing one? She'd practically just sealed her death sentence. There were at least a dozen greasers in the area. Some of em had to have seen that. The panic filled her eyes as she stood up suddenly.

"I should go. . . " she said while turning to leave. Half of her wanted him to stop her, but the other half urged her to go on and escape while she had the chance. Ugh, stupid cupid!

[Sodapop Curtis]

Sodapop eyed a few of the other couples carefully, and laughed in startled surprise as Cherry through popcorn into his face. The handsome boy smiled brightly and smirked, before throwing some back into her face. A look of longing flashed quickly across his face, and was gone so fast, he was pretty sure she probably wouldn't notice, and it was probably a good thing, because Bob could definitely attack Soda and have a liable excuse whenever he wanted. But all of that erased from his mind, as he stared deeply into Cherry's eyes. He watched her, mesmerized, hesitating from breathing, as if that itself was way too loud for this moment the two seemed to be having. He watched her carefully, as she leaned in, his breath returning and becoming faster and faster, until finally, her lips pressed against his. It was like something inside him exploded, and he was kissing her back, and just when he was really ready to show her that he wanted it, she pulled away.

It didn't register for him as to why this was wrong for a few minutes, until he saw the panic in her eyes. Soda's eyes widened as he watched her, begging with his mind that she wouldn't leave. He didn't want her to go. He didn't care what others thought! And suddenly, a roaring flame in him decided that if Bob did happen to find out about this, then all the better, because Soda could finally show that jackass that he didn't deserve Cherry. Soda was going to d**n the consequences, he just wanted to be able to feel how he felt, and actually be with a person he cared about. Was that really so d**n much to ask? "Don't go Cherry." Soda pleaded, grabbing a hold of one of her hands, standing to try to stop her from leaving, though he knew there wasn't too much he could do. There must have been something he could say to make her stay. Not about fights, since she hated those, but maybe to tell her that to him it didn't matter.

"Cherry, don't you leave now. We're already d**ned, why don't we just be happy in hell?" Soda pleaded hopefully, as he put his hand and stroked some of her hair out of her face. It was true, that if anybody had seen this, and felt in a mind to tell Bob, there was already no hope. But they might as well not waste the time they had together before everything became a nightmare. Soda leaned in, and pressed his lips against hers again, his brown eyes lit like a flame, filled with fury and passion, and it was clear that nothing Cherry could say would stop him from doing what he felt was right tonight. Soda pulled away from Cherry, and to try to lighten the mood, he threw some more popcorn at her, and it got stuck in her hair. A grin came on the boy's face as he ran his fingers into her hair, carefully pulling the strands apart to get the popcorn out, every last little piece.

[Cherry Valence]

Cherry found herself taken by surprise at the feeling of his lips pressing back against hers. She hadn't really thought of the possibility that maybe, just maybe, he might've liked her back. And she really didn't want it to end, but she knew in her heart and mind, that it had to. She'd been selfish. She'd wanted her kiss, and she'd gotten it! But the thinking behind that was absent. She hadn't thought about it before, but by leaning in and letting her feelings show, she'd just not only put her own life in danger, but Soda's too. So, so selfish.

Pulling away, she wondered why. Why was it that one small kiss with a Greaser, was life-threatening, while many with Bob was considered okay? Even if she wondered it, she knew that answer: He was a Greaser, and she was a Soc. It was a bit like Romeo and Juliet - forbidden. But that was just her going all mushy and lovey.

Cherry felt Soda grab her hand, and she tried to let go, to leave and just forget about the whole incident. But, she knew she wouldn't. Couldn't. She knew that she could never forget, nor anyone else. Cherry Valence, Soc, cheerleader, girlfriend of Bob Sheldon, everything, had committed social suicide. Wait. Bob. Her face went slack at the thought of Bob. Her boyfriend. Who was drunk. And hated Greasers. Who beat Soda silly if he found out. No, not if. When. There was no doubt about it that Bob would find out. And on another note, Cherry had cheated on him. On Bob. Something she'd never thought she'd do in her entire life.

Cherry felt tears swelling up in her eyes, and they began to water. She fought them back with a gulp, and wiped her face with the sleeve of her sweater - the side that wasn't being held by Soda. What he said was true in a way though. They were already in deep water, so why pretend like nothing happened and just be happy until they got in even more trouble. She smiled through her tears as he stroked the hair out of her wet eyes, and this time, it was him who leaned in. Cherry knew she shouldn't have, but pressed her lips back against his again anyways. It was wrong, but it was right. It was wrong in her mind, but right in her heart. She surprised herself and whimpered lightly as he pulled back. There was no denying it - she wanted more, no matter how much she told herself she didn't.

When he threw the popcorn at her, she couldn't help but chuckle, and she tried to throw them back. And then he just stopped, and ran his hands through her hair. Pulling out every last bit. And she was smiling. A genuine smile of happiness, that she decided she'd enjoy for the night. And then worry about tomorrow.