4You Can Always Go Home Again
This is a short one shot fan fic about Alyssa coming home to Tulsa. Just something I was messing around with. Takes place about a week before my other story "Faith is Spelled R.I.S.K" Enjoy! Please R&R!
"Hardly looks any different then when I left." 17 year old Alyssa Lowe said to her sister Amber, as she pulled the car up to the main street.
"Well, you haven't exactly been gone all that long, Lyss. Only 2 years." Amber replied, putting the car into park.
"Yeah, but it's still so weird. I never thought I'd be coming back to Tulsa. I guess I always thought I'd be staying in Texas with…"
"Rob?" Amber finished for her.
"I told you not to bring him up, Amber." Alyssa said, shooting her sister a warning look.
"Well, tell me again why you broke up with him." Amber said.
"I already told you. I just realized that I didn't love him. That's all there is to it. It's not complicated."
"You told me before you left for Texas that this was the guy you wanted to spend the rest of your life with, and now, you're telling me that you 'just realized you didn't love him'?" Amber said, leaning back on the headrest.
Alyssa sighed. Amber was right. She had planned on marrying him. But, things change. Before she left, she always thought she would've ended up with the boy she had been dating since the first grade. Her first love, Sodapop Curtis. But, she realized that they needed there space, and so, she broke up with Soda at the end of grade eight.
She had started dating Rob about two months later, and soon, she had dropped out of school, and told everyone she was moving to Texas with him. He was quite a bit older, but she had been blinded by his handsome looks, and his cheesy lines and poems he would always give her. She had been young and stupid, but she was almost 18 now, and knew that she couldn't be with him.
Amber snapped her sister out of her dream world.
"Yo, wake up." She said.
"Sorry, I was just…reminiscing." Alyssa replied.
Amber laughed. "Hey, the old DX is still standing. I wonder if they're hiring?"
"Why would I want to work in a gas station?" Alyssa asked, slightly laughing.
"Cause all the hott guys work there. Remember when you used to go down with me and…"
"Amber, I wasn't old enough to realize why you kept suddenly running out of gas. Besides, I was with Soda at the time."
Amber smiled. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about him. Man, am I nuts? He was all you ever talked about for about…oh…6 years!"
Alyssa playfully punched her sisters arm. "Come on, lets go."
"Are we going to see dad?" Amber asked.
Alyssa went real quiet. "No."
"He's not mad at you, you know." Amber said, quietly.
"He should be. I completely blew him off when I left. He probably hates me now. I wouldn't be surprised if he disowned me." Alyssa said.
"Alyssa, he doesn't hate you. He's not even mad at you. Ever since I called him and told him that you were coming back, that's all he's talked about. He's really excited." Amber said, patting her sister's arm.
Alyssa turned her head towards the window. "I'll bet."
"Where do you want me to let you off?"
"The DX." Alyssa replied.
"What? Why? I thought you said you didn't want to work there?" Amber said, giving her sister a strange look.
"Well, I'll need to get a job. I may as well go where the guys are." Alyssa joked.
Amber laughed and pulled into the parking lot of the DX. Alyssa didn't see anyone outside, so she went into the front door and approached the older man behind the desk.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for an application." Alyssa said. The man looked at her for a minute, then leaned down and got a piece of paper.
"Here. Fill it out, bring it back." He said, then turned back to the magazine he was reading.
Alyssa looked at the paper, and then walked out of the gas station. Amber came back and picked her up and drove her to her apartment.
"So, here's your room. I tried to clean it up for you as best I could, but you know me, I'm not the cleanest person in the world." Amber said.
Alyssa laid her suitcase down on the bed, and Amber left. Before she closed the door she looked back.
"Lyss. You should call dad. He wants to talk to you." Amber said, and left.
Alyssa sighed, then leaned over and picked up the phone. She took a deep breath and dialed his number.
"Hello?" A man's voice on the other end said.
"Daddy?" Alyssa said timidly.
There was a pause on the other end.
"Alyssa? Is that you?" Her dad said.
"Yea, it's me."
They talked for a long time, and when they hung up, Alyssa leaned back on the bed, and smiled.
A week later, Amber drove Alyssa to the DX station.
"This is so exciting. You're first day of work…even if it is at a gas station." Amber said.
Alyssa sighed. "Why are you so excited about this? It's my job."
"I don't know. It's just been awhile since I've seen you so in control of your life. I mean, you worked things out with dad, and now, you're getting a job. Maybe, you'll even meet a guy. Oh wait, I forgot, you're still in love with Sodapop." Amber teased.
Alyssa rolled her eyes, but she could feel herself blushing.
"What are you talking about? I'm over him. That was a long time ago."
"Sure." Amber said, and kept driving.
"Oh, lets stop in the graveyard, I want to see mom's grave. I haven't been back in awhile." Alyssa said, changing the subject.
They stopped in the graveyard, and walked all the way around it. It wasn't very big at all, so it didn't take that long.
Alyssa stopped at one newer grave.
"Dallas Winston. That sounds familiar." She said.
"Isn't that the guy that came from New York and hung out with Darry and them?" Amber asked.
"Yea, I think so…oh my goodness." Alyssa exclaimed as she came to the next stone.
"What?"
"Johnny Cade. No way. This is not good."
"Who's Johnny Cade?" Amber asked.
"My old buddy from grade school. He hung out with me, Soda and Steve. He was a really good friend. Man, I wonder what happened?" Alyssa said.
"I don't know. But, we better get going, or we'll be late. Or rather, you'll be late. Lets go." Amber said, dragging Alyssa away.
They drove until they reached the DX. This time she someone outside. She walked around the back way, and went through the front door.
The same older man was sitting behind the counter.
"Hi, I'm here to report for my first day of work. I'm Alyssa Lowe." She said.
The man didn't look up, but handed her a ratty uniform.
"You're on the pumps." He said, motioning to outside.
Alyssa put on the shirt over her clothes and went outside. She didn't really look at the boy standing there, staring at her, but she knew he was staring at her. She tried to ignore him, but he was creeping her out. Finally, she got fed up, and looked up.
As soon as she saw his face, she completely stopped all movement. She knew that face. He looked at her, and she stared back, not saying a word. She looked deep into his gorgeous blue eyes, and she knew. It was Sodapop. The Sodapop Curtis that had once…no…she was in love with. Amber was right, she still loved him.
He spoke first. "Alyssa?"
She nodded. "Soda."
They didn't say anything for another couple of minutes. Finally, Alyssa spoke.
"How have you been?" She asked, quietly.
"Fine. You?" Soda replied, taking a deep breath.
"Good. I moved back." She said.
Soda nodded. There was another silence, and it was awkward.
Alyssa suddenly said something that she never would've expected to come out of her mouth.
"I've missed you Soda." She said.
Soda didn't answer. But, she could see him blushing underneath his DX cap.
"I never forgot you, Lyss." He said after awhile. "I missed you so much."
Alyssa could feel her heart beating. He was the same Soda she remembered. He could make her feel like a million bucks, just by looking into her eyes.
"I never forgot you either." She said.
"I would've thought you did. The way you ran off with Rob." Soda said.
Alyssa blushed. "Well, didn't you date Sandy after we broke up?" She asked.
Soda nodded. "We broke up about a year ago. She ran away to Florida because she got pregnant with some other guy's baby." He said.
Alyssa was quiet. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know." She said.
"Thanks. Why did you come back?" Soda asked.
"I…uh, broke up with Rob because I didn't love him." Alyssa replied.
"Why didn't you love him?" Soda asked. Alyssa could see him moving slowly closer to her, and the strange thing was, that she was also moving closer to him.
"Because, I realized I was in love with someone else." Alyssa said, softly, moving even closer to him.
"Really? Who?" Soda asked, moving still closer to her, until they were almost touching.
They looked into each other's eyes for a minute. Finally, Alyssa answered him.
"You." She said, and the next thing she knew, they were kissing, right there in the parking lot of the DX. They didn't realize what they were doing. Soda had his arms around her, and was twirling around while he kissed her, and Alyssa was drinking in the moment, and remembering how much she had missed this. Kissing him, being with him, being in love with Soda. She had never stopped being in love with Soda.
Now she knew that you can always go home again. No matter how much you've screwed up. And maybe, just maybe, you'll find the one that you're supposed to be in love with, still waiting for your return.