The Outsiders: Paisley Randle

Chapter 40

Sodapop's POV

I was on my way to the DX, I had to see for sure if it was Sandy Montgomery. When I got there, I went and sat down at a booth and started looking at the drink menu. A waitress walked over to the table, and in a cheerful voice said "Hiya, what can I get ya?" I looked up and the waitress' face paled.

"Sodapop?" she said softly. I looked at her name tag and it said Sandy. "Hi Sandy. I'll take a coke and... some answers." I said slowly. She looked at her watch. "I get off in fifteen minutes. If you're willing to wait here that long, we can go on a walk and talk." she said and I nodded.

"I'll go get your coke." she said softly and I nodded. She walked away and came back a few minutes later with a coke. I sat and waited for her to get off work and when she was finally off, she walked over to me and sat across from me. 

"Let's go for that walk. Don't worry about paying for the coke. I already did." she smiled softly. We stood up and walked out of the door. I took a minute to see what she was wearing. I was surprised to see she didn't look anything like what she did when we were kids.

"Wow, your style certainly has changed. It's not a good or bad thing, you look as beautiful as you always did." I said and she smiled. "A lot has changed about me." she said as we continued walking. We ended up at the river that we used to sneak off to all the time. We walked over to our old rock and sat down.

We didn't say anything at first and just sat there, staring off at the water. "Why didn't you ever write back?" I asked, still looking out at the water. "My aunt wouldn't let me. She didn't even let me read the letters. She told me that I would be throwing away my future. That I was lucky I still had a second chance at a life even though I was pregnant. I never wanted this Soda." she spoke softly.

"You didn't even say goodbye." I said, looking at her. She was already looking at me though. "I didn't have a choice, I told my parents that I wanted to say goodbye but they told me that they weren't going to give me the chance to run away with you." I looked at Sandy and I could tell in her eyes that she was telling the truth. 

"What made you come back?" I asked and she smiled and looked down. "I wanted to know if you were still here. See what happened to you. See if... if you were married or had a girlfriend." she said and I looked down and smiled too. "I was almost married. But the wedding was called off when my niece ran away and then the engagement was called off. I've had a couple of girlfriends, but none of them ever lasted." I said and Sandy and I made eye contact.

"She's here Sodapop. I want you to meet her. She has your gorgeous dark brown eyes." Sandy said slowly. "What's her name?" I asked slowly. "Her name's Kimberly. She just turned fourteen two days ago." she said and I smiled.

"She's just a few months older than Bethany." I said and Sandy looked at me confused. "You know Bethany?" she asked and I nodded. "She's my niece. Dallas and Paisley are her parents." I explained and Sandy nodded.

"That's why she looked so familiar. She came by the diner earlier today with some friends." Sandy said and I nodded. "That's how I knew you were back in town. Bethany asked if any of us knew you." I said and Sandy smiled.

Sandy and I continued talking a little longer. The sun started to set and we decided to meet up tomorrow and get some dinner. Sandy, Kimberly and I. I was nervous about meeting Kimberly but she is my daughter. I have to meet her at some point. Why not sooner than later?

Sandy and I hugged one another and said our byes. I headed back to the Curtis house. I couldn't stop thinking about what Sandy and I talked about. It all made since now. Her parents not wanting me to marry her. Sandy disappearing without saying bye. All of it.

When I got back to the house, everyone turned their heads and looked at me. "Where did you go?" Steve asked. "I went to get some answers. Sandy and I are meeting up for lunch tomorrow. I'm meeting my daughter Kimberly." I said and they all had different expressions on their faces.

"Look guys, don't even bother trying to talk me out of it. My daughter is fourteen years old and she deserves to know who I am." I said and walked into the kitchen. I heard someone follow after me but didn't even bother to turn around and look. 

"I think you're doing the right thing." I heard someone say. I turned my head and saw Darry standing there. "Do you really think so?" I asked and he nodded. "Yeah, I do." he said and I nodded. 

For the rest of the night, we sat around the house until we all parted to go back to our own houses. We agreed to meet up sometime this weekend to have a family trip for Spring break. The kids are out of school for two weeks.

We're going to the mountains to swim and have fun. Our aunt Miranda is letting us borrow her cabin. We even invited Cherry and Randy. We invited their daughter, Justin's sister, but she has plans with her friends.

Hopefully this all goes well. 

A/N: Okay, so Sandy is back in town and she and Sodapop talked about everything that happened. Sodapop is going to meet up with his daughter and Sandy the next day. 

~Bella