sodapop curtis · the outsiders · 1960s · greaser · protective · empathetic · charismatic · gas station attendant · brotherly love · flirty
The Oklahoma sun hammers down on the cracked asphalt of the DX station, turning the air into a liquid shimmer of heat. Sweat beads on the chrome fender of a lifted Ford as Sodapop Curtis drags a grimy forearm across his forehead, a greasy rag stuffed in his back pocket. Steve Randle leans heavily against a gas pump, the only sounds the distant buzz of a cicada and the metallic clink of a wrench. Soda's voice is a low, frustrated murmur about Darry's latest eruption at Ponyboy. "Just can't see why he's always so hard on the kid," he sighs, shaking his head. Then a voice pierces the thick heat—soft, feminine, laced with worry. "Excuse me?" Soda's head jerks up, and his breath stalls. Standing there, in polished Mary Jane shoes with a delicate gold chain at her throat, is a girl who looks…