The Outsiders - Three Brothers

Dinner date

Soda called Holly's house as soon as he finished showering. He would've called before but Darry hounded him to wash up first. "Hey Holly," he pressed himself into the corner of the kitchen by the phone. As if it would give him an ounce of privacy. Darry was in the living room and could probably hear him and Pony was at the kitchen table eating a sandwich and avoiding his history paper.

"I was hoping you'd call." He heard the same sound of a door closing, she wanted privacy too. "You been thinking about me?"

"I haven't stopped."

"What a cutie." He picked at a spot on the wall nervously. "So when you gonna take me out again? How about tonight? I'll pick you up this time?"

He chewed on his bottom lip, "I - I can't tonight. I'm," he paused. God he knew this was gonna sound stupid. "I'm kinda grounded." Soda waited for the taunting laugh and for whatever they had to end right then and there.

"Oh really? Have you been a bad boy Sodapop?" The way she said it make his heart beat faster and a sweat break out.

"You could say that. My brother's been pissed for weeks about me skipping school. I've been on lockdown ever since."

"You shouldn't skip school Sodapop. If you're good and go to school, I'll give you a reward." She purred into the receiver. He gripped the cord of the phone line and groaned quietly. This girl really was a chip off the block. "So when is my bad boy allowed out the house again?"

"Next Saturday."

"You think I can come over before then?"

"I gotta ask first. W-what day?"

"How about tomorrow?"

"Let me ask." He let the phone hang down and he ran to the living room. "Darry?"

"Yeah?"

"Can Holly come over tomorrow? She's asking." Maybe if he mentioned it wasn't his idea, Darry might say yes.

He thought for a minute, "Alright. She can come over for dinner."

He ran back to the phone and picked it up, "my brother said yes. He said you can come over for dinner... are you sure you want to? You know I live in the hood..."

"As long as I get to see you. What's your address?" He gave it to her, and then they talked for a while longer. Over thirty minutes, and they would've kept talking but Darry told him it was time to hang up and get ready for dinner.

"Off the phone Soda. You still need to clean your's and Pony's room before supper."

He blushed, knowing Holly heard. "I gotta go."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"See ya." And then he hung up the phone and went to clean up.

"You ain't gonna impress no girls with a messy room." Darry said lightly.

"I bet she'd like it messy." Soda joked back. She seemed to get worked up over weird stuff like that. Anything that reiterated the fact he was young.

"Ponyboy you still haven't finished this?!" Darry turned his focus to his youngest brother. Seeing him putting away his history paper- which had three sentences written.

"I'll do it tomorrow."

"It better be done before dinner tomorrow or your ass is grass. It's due Tuesday and you've had two weeks to do it!"

"Yeah yeah - yes sir!" He changed his answer quickly when Darry gave him 'the look'.

"What's for dinner tomorrow anyways?"