Road to Recovery (A Working Title)
Rated: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plotlines and any new characters that crop up along the way
A/N: Much like the Five for Fighting, this story is also being reposted for continuity sake. Eventually I really will get a new chapter up too. Reading Five for Fighting before this would be beneficial and pertinent to understanding where this story is going. Hope you enjoy )
PROLOGUE
"Johnny-cake, stop makin' that face or it'll get stuck like that," Steve prophesized whilst fumbling with the TV knobs and trying to hold two cans of beer at the same time.
"Aw clam up will ya, I'm tryin' to work here," he responded staring forlornly at the blank piece of lined paper in front of him. The words 'My Composition' was written on top followed with a 'By: Johnny Cade'
The letters were lopsided and childish, but the pencil strokes were strong and didn't smudge.
'Doesn't look like you got yourself a masterpiece there," Steve commented looking over his shoulder critically.
Johnny allowed his face to contort into an even more unpleasant view and threw his pencil down in frustration.
"I just don't know where to start, I mean I wasn't expecting an assignment like this, the teachers said they'd just pass me on if I did well on my finals, there was nothin' about an essay," he said, his eyebrows, though unseen due to the length of his black shaggy hair, coming close together as he pinched his face tighter in concentration.
"You're just about the ugliest thing I've ever seen right now," Steve said before burping loudly and crunching the beer can he had just emptied.
"Man, don't leave that lying around, the last thing I need is my mom hollering about beer cans in the house,"
Wiping his mouth with the back of his arm, Steve leaned in closer to Johnny, "Listen man, it ain't so hard, the best place to start is the beginning," He said as intelligently as he could.
Johnny looked up at him, his brown eyes shining admiringly, "Yeah, the beginning…now I just need to figure out where the beginning starts," he said scrunching up his face again in a feeble attempt to concentrate.
"I'll tell you where it ends," Steve offered, "With your face stuck like that."
Johnny scowled but did his best to relax his features thereafter and turned to his paper, tuning out Steve to the best of his ability and thinking back before he retrieved his pencil from under the couch and started to write.