I finished my homework just in time for Soda to tell me to turn out the light. Darry had already gone to bed. Which meant that Soda and I were the only ones who were still up.

"Pony, why exactly did you get in that fight today?" Soda asked as I slid under the covers next to him.

"I don't know." I yawned. "The soc was trying to say it was my fault that he and his friends got stuck with two weeks of Saturday detention and the next thing I knew, I was telling him to meet me at the football field after school."

"You're probably going to have that bruise on your cheek for a while." Soda commented.

"I know." I replied. "My eyes probably don't look so hot either."

Soda looked at me. "They don't look to bad. The ice probably helped."

"Soda?" I asked.

"Yeah?" He mumbled.

"Do you ever regret dropping out of school?"

Soda thought for a minute. I tried to guess his answer by looking at his face, but I couldn't. "I don't regret dropping out, Pony. At least not now. I like having my freedom. Besides, if I were still in school, Darry would probably have to have a third job to keep all the bills paid."

"But, wouldn't you like to do something other than work at a gas station?" I asked. Soda always had more potential than he was aware of and I wanted him to see in himself what I saw in him.

"Pony, I like working on cars." Soda said.

"Okay." I let the subject drop. I don't like talking about Soda being a drop out. Yet, I'm the one who usually brings it up. There's still a small part of me that wishes that he would go back to school.

"Pony?" Soda whispered.

"What?"

"Any possibilities of you having a girlfriend in the near future?" Soda asked.

"I don't think so, Soda." I replied.

"Why not?" Soda asked. "I'd think that girls would be lining up to date you by now."

I laughed softly. Everyone knows that every girl in the state of Oklahoma lines up to see Soda. I didn't think they'd really notice me.

"What's so funny?" Soda demanded.

"Soda, all the girls line up to see you. You're good looking." I replied.

Soda grinned. "And you're not? I hear almost every day that the two of us look alike. There's got to be some girl out there who thinks you're cute."

"I don't know, Soda." I said.

"Trust me, Pony, she's out there." Soda told me before he rolled over and went to sleep.

I laid awake and thought about it for a while. It hadn't been that long ago that I had asked Soda if he loved Sandy. Now, he was asking me about girls. And as far as I knew, no girl was interested in me. Not the way that they were interested in Soda. Eventually, I drifted off to sleep underneath Soda's arm.