Disclaimer- The characters you recognize are not mine, but S.E. Hinton's, those you do not recognize are mine.
"Johnnycakes!" Two-Bit came up behind the younger boy and ruffled his hair.
"Hey, Two-Bit," Johnny said, fixing his hair and trying to get his bangs to move away from his eyes.
"Did I tell you what I'm going to do in Ms. Eckert's class?" Two-Bit asked excitedly.
"No," Johnny replied. Two-Bit's excitement wasn't all that exciting, especially since Johnny hadn't slept more than an hour the night before.
"Well, you'll just have to find out." Two-Bit mimed locking his mouth shut with a key.
"If it involves me, I don't want to know. I'm already failing her class as it is. At this rate, I'll have to take tenth grade again next year," Johnny mumbled.
"Following in my footsteps, Johnnycake? Good for you! I always knew we'd be in school together forever!" Two-Bit put his fists under his chin and failed at attempting a dreamy face.
"If I end up like you I'll jump into the Arkansas river," Johnny said with a smile, waiting for Two-Bit's response.
"Hey! Acting like me, now you're acting like Dally. Gonna have a career on Broadway, John?" Two-Bit replied.
"Nah, I'm going to be the next Frankie Avalon." Johnny looked at Two-Bit seriously before laughing.
"If you say so," Two-Bit said through laughter as the bus pulled into the stop.
To Johnny, the bus looked different. He wondered why as he placed his fare in the box. It usually had the same people sitting in the same spots. Johnny finally noticed the difference. A girl with light brown hair was sitting where Mrs. Henderson usually sat, while Mrs. Henderson was a row back.
"Hey, wake up." Two-Bit snapped his fingers in front of Johnny's face so he would pay attention and follow him to where they usually sat.
"Hey, Two-Bit? Do you know who she is?" Johnny said, discretely nodding to the girl in front of them.
"Nope." Two-Bit stopped and a mischievous grin spread across his face. "Hey!" Two-Bit yelled to her.
"Don't do that!" Johnny said, trying to make Two-Bit shut up. Luckily she didn't hear him.
"Why? I want to know who she is." Two-Bit paused and smiled with realization. "You like her!"
"You're off your rocker. I don't even know who she is." Johnny slumped into his seat and once again went quiet. Johnny couldn't help but look at the new girl.
XXX
Johnny was the first off the bus that day. He decided it would be best to hurry to his locker before any of the people next to him got there. Hands in his pockets, Johnny trudged quickly through the school yard until he made it through the doors of the school to his locker.
"Hey, grease." A smiling dark-haired Soc and a few friends crowded around Johnny and slammed his locker shut.
They waited a moment for Johnny to respond, but he kept his mouth shut tight.
"Why aren't you talking to me...Come on, don't be rude." The Soc pushed Johnny against the lockers and raised his fist.
"Excuse me." The girl from the bus said to the dark-haired Soc. He ignored her and punched Johnny in the stomach. "He-hey! Hey, stop it!" She grabbed the Soc's shoulder in an attempt to pull him away from Johnny, but he didn't like that. The Soc turned around like a bat out of hell and grabbed her wrists. She was paralyzed with fear as he slammed her against the locker.
"Don't worry about him, honey." His laughing echoed in both Johnny and Rebecca's minds as he and his friends walked away.
"Hey, thanks," Johnny rubbed his stomach where he was punched and turned to look at her. When he saw her he stopped cold. She was sitting on the floor, huddled up, clutching her wrists. "Hey, what's the matter?" She tried to respond but she was crying too hard. "Here, uh, come with me." I need to get her out of this hallway. I can just imagine what people're gonna say to her, Johnny thought.
Johnny pulled her up by her hand, careful not to touch her wrist. When she got up, she let go of Johnny's hand right away. He led her out onto the steps of the school. "Did he hurt you?" Johnny asked sitting down.
"No." She sniffed. "He scared me is all." She wiped her eyes on her sweater and tried to smile. "I'm Rebecca Davey, by the way."
"My name is Johnny Cade." Johnny awkwardly paused, trying to think of a segway. "Are y-you ok? You had me real scared."
"I'm fine." Rebecca bit her lip. "Hey, um, Johnny?"
"Yeah?" Johnny tried to look her in the eye, but she kept looking away.
"Why are you being so nice? I mean, you just met me," Rebecca asked.
"You saved me from adding more scars to my face." Johnny pointed out a couple subtle scars around his face. Rebecca shuddered when Johnny pointed out a recent one on his jaw line.
"Where did you get that?" Rebecca asked shocked.
"Oh, um, I fell." Johnny looked down so his bangs would fall in front of his face to hide his lying eyes.
In an attempt to change the subject Johnny said, "Come on. Let's go inside. You don't want to be late for your first day, now do you?"
"Thank you, Johnny," Rebecca said shyly.
"Anytime." Rebecca waved and hurried off to where ever she had to go. That was one face Johnny wanted to see again.
Johnny walked slowly to his locker, taking his time pulling out books when suddenly, like the first time, his locker slammed shut.
"Hey, Johnnycake." Steve slid in front of Johnny's locker. He had a huge grin spread across his face.
"Hey, Steve." Johnny attempted to push past Steve, but he wouldn't budge.
"So, what's her name?" Steve asked casually.
"Who?" Johnny asked knowing full well what Steve meant.
"The broad you were so cozy with on the steps." Steve's grin got bigger.
"Oh. Rebecca." The younger boy paused. "Don't even start; Two-Bit was bugging me earlier."
"So you were with her earlier, huh? Is she your girlfriend?" Steve asked in a mocking tone.
"No," Johnny mumbled.
"Sure…" Steve said sarcastically.
"I barely even know her!" The bell rang and both boys were going to be late.
"Ok, I believe you." Steve turned to walk away. He suddenly turned back and said, "Lover boy." Steve then started down the hall in a fit of laughter.
Author's Note: I'd like to take this part of this page to thank Aerodynamics: my beta, my buddy, and the coolest person ever.