Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders. I also do not own Johnny, Marcia, Cherry, Bob, Paul, or Two-Bit.
A/N: Wow, another new story. Lucky! But really, I told you guys, I'm on the computer all day here. Yes, of course this story has You-Know-Who in it (in case you didn't catch that, Johnny). And, yes, this story has slight JohnnyXMarcia, but it's not that big. Or that relevant. It's more like when you see a cute guy and just get the urge to talk to him or something. Anyway, if you want me to write about another character, let me know and I'll give it a try for you.
P.S. Not only did my other story get reviews from the famous TheNightimeSky, it also got reviews from the famous Lillia-Lillia, something I didn't realize until yesterday, and the famous alsonny. Wow! I guess I really need to check my email more often…
Also, let me know if you guys think I need to get a beta reader.
Cherry Valance stood up from her lunch table, taking her tray with her. Her boyfriend, James, sat in his chair, glaring at her as she left. She knew he thought she was overreacting, but she did not care at all. She had had enough of his cheating behind her back, but to watch him flirt with one of her closest friends right in front of her at the lunch table was just too much.
Marcia stood up from her chair. "Cherry, wait. Calm down—"
"No, Marcia," Cherry exclaimed, "I won't calm down! You saw that, didn't you? You saw him look at her like that? Did you also see the hand he put on her leg underneath the table? I've had it, Marcia, I really have!" She turned and looked straight at James, and then at Lisa. "If you two want each other so badly, you can have each other." Then she said, in a calm voice, "Don't call anytime soon, Jimmy." Turning on her heel, she walked off.
"Wait, Cherry!" Marcia squealed, turning back to grab her lunch as well before following the redhead away. "So, where are we going?" she asked her friend. She was a little out of breath by the time she reached her.
"I don't know," Cherry replied, "I'd rather sit outside than go back to that table." The two walked around for a while, weaving between tables and chairs, before Cherry saw something. There, sitting on the floor in a corner all by himself, was a small boy who looked almost too young to be in high school. He was looking down at his food as he ate it, and he was sitting on a jacket made of denim.
"Marcia," Cherry said. Her friend was distracted with something else. "Hey, Marcia," Cherry said louder, and Marcia looked over. "Look at that boy over there. Doesn't he look lonely?"
"I'm sure David Holden over there is just as lonely," Marcia referred to a jock wearing a school jacket from three years ago even though he was only a freshman. He was surrounded by people laughing loudly with him, and a boy named Bob Sheldon slapped him on the back before leaning on his shoulder.
"No, Marcia, I mean it. Look at him. Sitting over there, all alone, not even at a table… Come on," Cherry urged, "let's at least go say 'hi' to him. Even if he's a total dork, let's just at least say something to him."
"Cherry…" Marcia sighed. But then, she took another look. The boy did look awfully glum, and he was kind of cute. "Fine," she gave in. "Come on, let's go."
The two girls darted between crowds of people. Cherry ignored most of the people who greeted her along the way, but Marcia still managed a few 'hello's and waved a few times. By the time they approached the boy, they had noticed that they were no longer getting greetings. Instead, they were being eyed carefully and glared at. They were now in greaser territory.
None the less, Cherry stood in front of where the boy sat. "Hello there," she said politely.
The boy had barely glanced up at them when he stared back down at his hands, a small blush stretched across his cheeks. "Hi," he whispered.
In his mind, Johnny was panicking. Girls were actually talking to him. Not greasy girls either; these girls were Socs.
"How are you doing down there?" Cherry asked brightly. She smiled, but he still did not look at her. He could not be ignoring her, could he?
"…I'm fine," Johnny whispered. He began twiddling his thumbs, and picking underneath his fingernails.
Marcia had to work hard to hold in her fit of giggles. "May we sit?" she questioned formally. Johnny only nodded and moved over slightly. He moved his jacket out from underneath him so that the girls would have something to sit on besides the floor.
Cherry and Marcia gracefully took their seats on his jacket. "So," Marcia went on, "what's a cutie like you doing sitting here all by yourself? Aren't you lonesome?"
"…My friend isn't here today. And the others have lunch detention," the greaser told them. "I don't have anyone else to sit by."
"Aww," Marcia gushed. "That's sad. Even when one of us isn't here, we still have people to sit by. Right, Cherry?"
"That's right," Cherry answered. "We're never lonely at this school. Why is it that you are?"
"Well… you two are pretty popular, you know? And I'm not." It was a reasonable enough answer, but Johnny felt bad the minute the words came out of his mouth. He did not know how the girls would take it, or if they would be offended or not.
Luckily, when Cherry's face turned a little sour-looking, Marcia laughed and said, "Yeah, Cherry. Everyone here knows who you are. I bet most of them know me, too. But it's the quiet ones you always have to watch for. Isn't that right?" Johnny looked up a little, then nodded.
"Yeah, well, it's still a shame that anyone would be out here all by themselves like this. Did you ever think about just sitting down somewhere and talking to the people that you meet? That's how I met Marcia back in middle school," Cherry told Johnny.
Johnny glanced away as he answered, "Nah, you can't do that here. It's easy for you, everyone likes you. And you're a So— a cheerleader, too. But over here, us greasers, we aren't too friendly with each other. We mainly stick with our own guys, you see, and we make like a pack of wolves or something. We stick real close to each other, but only with each other. It'd be weird for someone to hang out with someone else like that."
Cherry and Marcia listened intently. That was probably the most Johnny had said all week, and it had completely captivated the girls' interest. He looked back down again, wondering why he had told them all of that. They did not need to know that. A boy walked past, tossing something in the garbage cans. He was a middle class boy, and he gave the three of them a look before walking back off. "Hey," Johnny jumped at the chance to change the subject, "was that your boyfriend? I think he's looking for you."
"No," Cherry snapped. Then, more calmly, she added, "No, he's not my boyfriend. I don't have a boyfriend."
"Me neither," put in Marcia. She seemed unaware of Cherry's anger at the thought of her previous boyfriend. He had been Marcia's boyfriend first, but when they broke up, they had stayed friends. It seemed that by the time he had gotten together with Cherry, he was having trouble with keeping only one girl. That's why Marcia was so calm about it; she knew Jimmy pretty well, well enough to know that he was nice, and did not mean to give Cherry so many problems. "Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked Johnny hopefully. Marcia was getting a bit tired of being single.
"No," Johnny answered, a bit more meekly than he had hoped. He had never had a girlfriend. In fact, these were some of the first girls he had ever actually had a real conversation with. That was the answer that Marcia had been expecting.
Cherry had cooled down and was now looking back at her friend. "What time do you want to head out, Marcia?" she asked.
"Oh," Marcia looked up at the clock. "Give me a minute." She reached into the pocket of her sweater. When she found a small scrap of paper, she pulled out a pen and scribbled something on the paper. Then, she folded it up and handed it to Johnny, who slowly accepted, awestruck. "Call me sometime, okay?" she asked. Johnny nodded, remembering to close his mouth.
"O-okay…" he stuttered. Then he watched as they stood up. He realized that he should be a gentleman and help them out. "Do you want me to take your trays for you?" Both girls looked at each other and nodded before setting their trays on top of Johnny's own.
"Why thank you," Marcia said sweetly.
"Thank you," Cherry said, looking off somewhere else for a second. She turned back to Johnny. "Are you going to come with us?"
"I… um…"
"Johnny!" called a voice from farther off in the cafeteria. Johnny turned to see his friend Two-Bit waving him over.
"You're friend?" Marcia asked, to which Johnny just nodded and blushed again when he saw her smile.
"I'd better go," he said, hoping Two-Bit would not come over. For some reason, he did not want these girls to be exposed to him.
Touching his shoulder lightly one last time, Marcia said her goodbyes. Cherry did the same, and then they were off. As Johnny walked over to Two-Bit, stuffing a piece of paper in his pocket and carrying three lunch trays, he wondered if he would actually call Marcia or not.