Soda woke up the next morning. Another day was going by without his family. He was alone in this house with no one but himself. He was scared of what was outside of the house. He had already lost so much...

Summer of 1962

Sophie lay down in her bed trying to fall asleep. But her mind was elsewhere. It was looking through the ceiling, up to her parents for guidance. She had been through some pretty bad stuff over the last few days. And the picture of that soc's dead boy seemed to rein her mind. She was afraid of that moment. It was the time that had scared her for life.

But if her parents were still alive she knew that she'd feel better. She wouldn't feel so scared and freaked out. Her mother would know exactly how to make her feel better.

With the light of her night-light she turned onto her side and looked over at the picture of her with her parents on her nightstand. They were so happy in that picture. Her parents had taken all three of them on a trip to horse country (Kentucky) to watch the Derby from the backside since they couldn't afford to really buy tickets to the Derby. The picture was taken on a fence in front of Church Hill Downs, where the Derby takes place.

Tears streamed down Sophie's face. That was the furthest she'd been away from home and the best time she'd ever had in her life. She missed those little moments.

Sitting up, Sophie walked into Soda and Pony's room. Whenever Sophie missed their parents she'd go and sleep with Soda and Pony.

Looking into the dark room Sophie searched for an entrance to the bed. But all she could feel was someone's foot and someone snoring. Climbing over someone's foot and pushing away someone's body Sophie crawled in between the two bodies.

"Sophie?" mumbled someone. Instantly Sophie sat straight up.

"Yea," she replied warily. She was a little freaked out at whom it could be since it was so late and everyone was asleep.

"What are ya doin' in here?" asked the voice. To Sophie, it sounded like Ponyboy but he and Soda sounded so much alike that she could have been wrong.

"I...uh...I'm..." Sophie felt tears roll down her cheeks. Grabbing the body that was talking to her she buried her head inside their chest. "I got scared." She mumbled.

"Oh, honey," they voice said as he tightened his grip around Sophie. "It's okay, sweetie." Sophie knew then that it was neither Sodapop nor Pony. It was Darry.

"Darry?" Sophie asked in a shocked tone. She couldn't believe that she had wandered into the wrong room. How was that possible? Sophie knew where every room in the house was.

"I'm right here, honey," Darry said as he rocked her back and forth. It had been so long since Sophie had gone to Darry. When she was younger she always looked to Darry for everything. He was her super hero. But as he grew closer to college the two grew apart.

"I just got scared," Sophie said in between tears. "I miss Mommy and Daddy." Sophie could have continued on with her worries but she decided not to. She decided that she'd just try to let it go...as hard as it would be.

"C'mon, Soapy. Let's go get some chocolate milk," Darry said as he carried her into the kitchen. Sophie sat at the table waiting for her brother to pour the cold chocolaty milk. She loved to sit with her brother (usually Sodapop) and drink chocolate milk.

"Ya know," Darry started after a gulp of milk, "I gave ya the nickname, Soapy." Sophie almost chocked on her milk. Darry had never really formally addressed her as Soapy. Only Soda had.

"You did?" Sophie asked.

"Yea. When you were born Soda and I were thinking of names to call ya when we found out that your name was Sophia. Soda came up with S.C. and Stripes and I came up with Soapy and Slurp. We decided to go with Soapy because Mom and Dad felt that it went best with your looks." Darry smiled a bit at the end, thinking of his mother's face. "She was beautiful, Sophie."

Sophie nodded in agreement. "She looked like Barbie." Darry laughed. Sure, you could say that their mother resembled Barbie on some levels with her slim figure and sandy blonde hair. But she wasn't perfect. Take school for example, she never did well in school. That's where Soda gets his brain. Darry and Pony got their father's brains.

"She does in a way," Darry laughed at the sound of footsteps. Sophie looked over to see Sodapop walking into the kitchen. He was dressed in only his boxers (since he loved to walk around naked).

"What's goin' on, folks?" he asked as he took down another glass from the cabinet and poured himself some milk. Sitting down next to Sophie he gulped down half of the glass.

"Just talkin' 'bout Sophie's nickname," Darry replied receiving a laugh from Sodapop. Soda knew that he was the only one who ever used the nickname. Darry grew out of the silliness of nicknames a long time ago.

"I 'member when ya came up with that nickname," Soda grinned as he finished his milk. Darry nodded in reply as he took another gulp of his milk. Sophie sat silently as the two boys reminisced on their childhood experiences.