The Outsider Future: Life After the Experience

Chapter 6

KAT
I know what most of you are thinking: She's such a jerk for flirting with another guy so soon! But, you guys have to give me a break. I was in depression and I needed a major rebound. I didn't jump right into it, though. I actually felt guilty for even talking to Wes at first. So, that's my case, take it or leave it, because it turns out I'm not all that awful as it seems in this story.
So, when Wes turned around Two-Bit looked over at me and smiled. "Already back in business huh sis?" I gave him a confused look even though I knew exactly what he was talking about. "What do you mean?" I questioned. Two-Bit smiled at me all mischievously and said, "Already back in the game with boys. Ya know, it' s only been a couple of hours. You might want to slow your roll." Two-Bit laughed his unforgettable laugh. "Shut up!" I whispered, making sure no one could hear but him. "I'm not that bad of a jerk. I'm not gonna jump right from Soda into another guy's arms! That's just crazy!" You see? I told ya, not that bad. Two-Bit just eyed me and said, "You know, it's not wrong to flirt with other people." "It is too!" I argued. "Unless I knew that Soda was dead, or he wrote me a letter breaking up with me would I ever flirt with another boy!" "And what would you call that?" Two-Bit said pointing to Wes, obviously referring to our conversation earlier. "Whatever. It's nothing," I replied back in an angry tone. As much as I didn't want to admit it, though, I was attracted to this boy, but I couldn't help it. I decided I would keep my promise to Sodapop, but it was mighty hard. Wes came back and handed us our drinks. I then saw the scar on his face. I wasn't flirting, I was just curious. It looked almost exactly the same as Johnny's scar. "Hey Wes," I called. "Yeah dollface?" he replied. "Where did you get that scar?" I asked. Wes sighed as if trying to decide whether to tell me or not. "I got it from some Soc, the one that died about 2 years ago. Bob Sheldon, I think. I heard some kid had the guts to stand up to him and killed him. I wish I would have had those guts. Although, that boy died too didn't he?" I nodded and realized that Wes had took a beating from Bob and his friends too, just like Johnny had. "That was my friend," I said back. "His name was Johnny, and yeah he's dead now. Died from saving some kids from a fire. I was lucky to have him as a friend." Wes smiled at me and said, "I'm sure you were lucky to have him, but I know for a fact that he was just as lucky to have you as one too." I blushed as Wes took Two-Bit's money for the drinks and turned around. "Still not interested?" Two-Bit joked. "Not even a bit," I lied.
We walked out of the Dingo and walked down the dirt road. "Where to now?" I asked Two-Bit. "I guess we could go find Steve and Mack now," he suggested. I nodded and we walked to the one place we knew they would go, the DX. Just as we showed up they were walking out. They both looked incredibly angry, not as us, but rather each other. They were huffing and puffing and walking real fast. We stopped them. "Woah what's the matter with you two?!" Two-Bit poked. "Why don't you ask her?!" Steve said. He walked up on ahead while Two-Bit followed. I stayed back with Mack. "What happened?" I asked. She told me the whole argument in the DX and I told her about my attraction in the bar. "It's like we're total jerks!" Mack said. "We can't go a couple of hours without the people we love without flirting with other guys! What's wrong with us!" I thought about this for a minute when the worst thought I had ever heard popped into my mind. I was completely and utterly horrified at the thought, but maybe just maybe it was true. "Mack, what if we weren't in love with Soda and Pony as much as we thought we were," I said. Mack stopped in her tracks and looked at me real serious like. "Oh my god," she replied. That was all I heard from her the rest of the day and all she heard from me. We just kept walking until we made it back to the Curtis house. When we arrived, Darry was sitting in his recliner looking at bills to pay. I was surprised he was still here after talking about moving to college and all. I didn't say anything to him, nor did Mack that night. We just went to bed. Two-Bit and Steve stayed a little while to talk to Darry, but the college conversation never started up. After a while, they left and everything in the house was quiet. After staying up in bed for a long time, thinking about what I had said earlier that day, I finally drifted off to sleep. What came next was a nightmare, literally.
I was in the Curtis house, and Soda was proposing to me again. Except this time, I already knew Wes and somehow I had a history with him. There were memories of being in a relationship with Wes, but Soda didn't know. When Soda asked me, I said no and then he turned into Wes. He asked me again and I said yes and jumped into his arms. Soda reappeared in the doorway of the house and was just shaking his head. He had a tear rolling down his face, and he walked back outside. I woke up sweating, like I had just broke a fever, and I had tears down my face. This was an awful sign.
The next day I went for a walk by myself, carrying a switchblade of course, towards the Dingo. I didn't plan on going in, just walking around it. I looked around the dirt roads and saw the beautiful summer trees. The wind was blowing and the weather was perfectly warm. It was like a romantic scenery from a movie. It seemed as though I was just waiting for someone to come up to me and kiss me. The weird thing was, someone did. Wes walked up behind me. "Hey Kat!" he called. "What are you doing walking around?" Oh God no! I thought. Doesn't he get that I can't be with him? "Just looking around," I replied. "Beautiful day, huh?" "Sure is," he replied back smiling me. He got really close to me and his bright blue eyes looked into my hazel ones. It seemed as though I'd had this moment before. I had though, except it was with Sodapop. "Almost as beautiful as you," he finished. He leaned in and kissed me, and it was one of the nicest kisses I had ever had in my life. That kiss and the first kiss with Sodapop was in a complete tie. I got into the kiss for a few moments when I realized what I was doing. I pushed Wes back and looked at him bewildered. "This isn't right!" I yelled. "I'm sorry!" he said in a pleading voice. "I just can't stop thinking about you, and I know it was really sudden and soon, but I just had too." I looked at him in pity. He really liked me and I really liked him, but I couldn't accept him, not when I had Sodapop fighting for me in Vietnam. "I'm sorry," I said in complete despair. "I can't." That's all I gave that boy. No explanation or anything. I just ran off back towards home and tried to forget everything that had happened. So, this is what I had done. I left a sweet nice boy behind me here in Oklahoma, and another in Vietnam. Okay, maybe I was as awful as it seems in this story. All I could do was hope to God that I wasn't.