Infatuation

Chapter 47

Pounding on my bedroom door wakes us up. There is laughing and you can hear the boys shoving eachother. I groan and roll my eyes. Why can't they just let us sleep? Its still dark outside for crying out loud!

I had to lock our bedroom door last night. Sodapop put the dresser in front of it for extra reinforcement.

"Happy Birthday, Roe." Sodapop whispers to me in a sweet voice. I pull him closer to me and sigh into his chest.

"Why can't they leave us alone?" I ask.

"I don't think they know how to." Sodapop laughs. The pounding gets louder.

"Go away!" I yell.

"We have to do this! Its your seventeenth Birthday, after all." I hear Two-Bit say.

"I already told you guys. You are not dumping water on her. You all agreed. Leave her alone." Sodapop tells them.

"But Soda-" Steve starts.

"No. You can do it to Dally in a couple of days." Soda informs them.

"You're no fun." Two-Bit mumbles. I return my head back to Soda's chest.

"Can we stay in here all day?" I ask as I trail my finger down his shoulder.

"That is very tempting." He tells me. I lean back so I can look at him.

"So, can we?" I ask again. I pull my hand to his chest. He flips us over so that he is on top of me, causing me to gasp in surprise.

"Is this what you want to do?" He asks me as he raises an eyebrow.

"Yes," I tell him. My face is hot and the butterflies appear in my stomach. I love that he still causes this. I press my lips to his.

Eventually,  Soda and I have to leave our room. I put on my bra and pick out an outfit. A burnt orange skirt and a navy blue turtneck sweater. When I am decent I turn around. Sodapop is standing in front of me. It shocks me a little, causing me to take a step back. I didn't expect him to be so close.

"I thought I would give you your gift now," he says with a big smile.

"Oh, Soda, you didn't have to." I tell him sincerely.  He just laughs and pulls a small box out of his pocket. I give him a weird look. He hands it to me.

I open the little container. Inside is a beautiful necklace. It has a gold chain and an amethyst stone in a gold bracket. It looks like it belongs in the same set as my Mothers bracelet.

I gasp and clamp my hand over my mouth. Tears spring into my eyes.

"Oh, Soda," I say.

"Do you like it?" He asks.

"I love it! Thank you so much," I fling my arms around him. He stumbles, but hugs me back.

"I love you, Roe. I'm glad you like it." He tells me.

"I love you, too, Soda. Can you help me put it on?" I ask.

"Yes." He takes the box out of my hand and pulls the necklace out of it. It looks even more beautiful. I wipe my tears away.

Soda gently spins me around so that my back is facing him. He clips the chains together.

"Thank you. So much, Soda." I tell him.

"You're welcome." He says as he spins me back around and kisses me.

After I finish brushing my hair, Soda and I leave our room. Sodapop goes first, making sure that none of the boys have a bucket of water waiting for me.

"Awe, you guys!" I hear him yell. I run down the hallway and see Sodapop. He is dripping wet. Two-Bit has a bucket in his hand.

"I thought you were going to be Monroe." He admits.

"I told you guys not to do this." Sodapop says.

"I know, but we couldn't resist." Steve says.

"You guys are the worst." I say with a laugh.

"There you are! We thought you'd never come out." Steve says and he messes up my hair. I desperately flatten it back down.

"How old are you now?" Two-Bit asks.

"She's seventeen." Sodapop responds for me. Ponyboy hands him a towel so he can dry off. He rubs his hair with it.

"Do you feel any different, kid?" Dally asks as he stands next to me.

"Nope," I say.

"Do you wanna see what came in the mail for you?" He asks me. I raise an eyebrow. Something came in the mail? For me?

"It's in the livingroom." Dally tells me. I shift my eyes into the livingroom. On the floor is a big box. I look back over at Dally. He has a big smile on his face. "Go open it," he tells me.

I'm hesitant. The previous Birthday presents he has gotten me has always been something to scare me. When we lived in New York he gave me a box full of spiders. I hate spiders. He apologized later and ended up giving me the real present he got for me.

"It's not a box of spiders, is it?" I ask.

"Why would it be a- oh, that was funny." Dal says as he remembers.

"It was funny to you. I swear if this is a box of spiders I'm going to hurt you." I tell him.

"I promise it isn't a box of spiders. Just open it already." He argues. I sigh and tear a piece of tape off of the closing.

When the box is finally open all is see is fabric. There are a bunch of different patterns. My eyes grow wide when I recognize one of the designs.

"You didn't," I gasp out.

"I did. Soda helped me." He admits. I pull out the soft fabric. It is a cream color with light blue flowers on it. Tears burn my eyes. This was a shirt my Mom made me.

She liked to sew. The amount of clothes I had was ridiculous. It was one of her favorite pastimes. She tried to teach me how to use the sewing machine, but gave up when I accidently made the needle go into my finger.

"How did you get this?" I ask.

"We called a ton of different people. Finally, we came across someone who would send us everything." Sodapop tells me. He kneels down next to me and squeezes my shoulder.

"Theres another box outside." Dally tells me.

I start pulling things out and putting them into piles. There isnt just my stuff in the piles, but my Moms stuff, too. Her clothing, and her shoes. It still smells like her.

I get to the end of the clothing. At the bottom of the box is different jewelry and trinkets my Mom had. The tears finally spill over when I see my paints.

"Thank you guys! So much!" I say. Sodapop pulls me to him and hugs me. I hug him back.

I haven't had a good Birthday in years. My Mom was always at work and my Dad was always drunk. The last decent Birthday I had was the year Dally left home. I was so mad at him for so long after he left me.

I felt abandoned. As I got older, I realized that taking me with him wasn't an option. Little kids are hard work, and Dally was only thirteen when he left. It was hard enough to take care of himself.

The last Birthday I had with Dallas was when I turned eleven. He took me to a restaurant, and then bought me some new shoes. It was one of the best days of my life. He left a week after. Right after his thirteenth Birthday.

I pull away from Soda and kiss his cheek. I am so glad I have people to spend this day with. I am still torn up about my Mother's death, but I can't help feel like it happened for a reason. I would have never met these people without her dying. Maybe things do happen for a reason.