A/N: We're planning to post about once a week from now on, so you won't have to wait too long :)


Chapter 2 – "Are You Gonna Pay for That?"

Johnny and Ponyboy got up early. Pony smiled to himself as they walked to school; it was nice having Johnny sleep over and walk to school with. It was almost like having another brother - same age. Not that they were same age, of course - Johnny was just a year younger than Soda, but they went to the same grade in school and Johnny just seemed younger than he was. In every way.

"Hey, Johnnycake, why don't you come to school more often?"

Johnny shrugged. "I don't like all the Socs… and well," he dropped his head a little, "Sometimes I just don't see the point in going."

"If you just keep your distance they won't bother you. They mostly ignore us greasers and stick to their own kind. It's not like they can get away with beating us up in front of the teachers, anyway."

"Yeah, I know," Johnny said and scratched his head nervously. "I guess I'm just a little tense that's all."

o0o0o

They were only ten minutes into first period when Ponyboy regretted telling Johnny he didn't need to worry about the Socs. The teacher told them to divide into pairs for a group work project. The bad part was that they weren't allowed to pick their own partner and Johnny was paired up with Andy Smith, a really mean and rather dumb Soc.

Pony watched the color drain from Johnny's face as they were all told to go find a quiet corner of the school where they could work on the project.

Johnny sat on his chair as people started to leave the classroom and his eyes followed Pony who turned to send him a worried look. He had to go with his partner. Johnny gulped, getting up and following Andy. Most of all he just wanted to run and hide.

As soon as they had exited the room Andy turned around and sent Johnny a dirty look.

"Too bad you couldn't bring your babysitter," he grinned. "What you gonna do now?"

"Ba...babysitter...?" Johnny asked, hugging his book and papers. This Soc clearly hated greasers. Not a surprise, really. "I can take care of myself," he said and walked past Andy.

A bit further down the corridor they found an empty classroom. Andy went through the door first and stopped abruptly to look around.

Johnny, who hadn't been paying close attention, bumped into him.

Andy whipped around and gave Johnny a hard push in the chest. "What're you playing at, you filthy little shit? Are you blind?" He gave Johnny another push. "Look at me! You've ruined my shirt! It's all greasy now!"

Another push. This time Johnny's back collided with the wall.

"Are you gonna pay for that? It's a real designer shirt! I'm guessing white trash like you ain't got that kind of money. What are you gonna do about that?"

"I-I'm sorry," Johnny stuttered. As his back hit the wall he dropped his books. Scared to even look at the much taller Soc, Johnny turned his head away and he mumbled. "You just stopped suddenly."

It was stupid. He hadn't gotten anything on his shirt at all and even if he had, he could just wash it.

Andy's face turned crimson with rage. "What did you say? What the fuck did you just say to me?"

The kid barely got time to open his mouth before Andy socked him hard in the face. Not a sound escaped him, not even a yelp. Obviously he hadn't hit him hard enough to make an impression, so Andy punched him once more with even more force.

The back of the kid's head hit the wall with a nasty "clunk" and he slid down it into a sitting position, his eyes sort of rolling back in his head.

Andy leaned forward to get a better look. Had he passed out? Suddenly he got scared. Not because he might have hurt the greaser too badly - he couldn't care less - but if he had, he might get in trouble. Everybody knew they had gone off together and even if the kid didn't blabber they would know it was him.

Then the greaser groaned and blinked a couple of times.

Andy sighed with relief. If the kid was conscious it couldn't be that bad. He leaned down and stared him right in the eyes.

"Now, what we're gonna do is you sit here and collect yourself a little, and then when you can stand again you get the hell outta here and head home, okay? Then on the way home some hoods attack you and give you those bruises. At least that's the story you're gonna tell."

He started to leave but turned in the doorway. "And if you tell on me, me and some pals are gonna give you such a working over you'll wish you'd never been born."

When Andy had left, Johnny tried to get up but fell back onto the floor. The entire room was spinning so he just sat there for a while.

A little later he managed to get to his feet and by supporting himself against the wall he made it out the door and down the hallway. His legs felt like lead but he kept going. If he told on the Soc he was in for it.

As he got outside and a little down the street, his vision started to blur and he found it hard to take another step so he stopped, placing a hand on his forehead. As he took one more step everything started spinning and suddenly it went dark.

o0o0o

Pony's study partner was a good student and they finished their task fairly quickly. They returned to the class room and Pony was surprised to find Andy there. Without Johnny.

"Where's Johnny?"

"Oh, that's his name? He split. Said the task was too difficult for him so he might as well go home."

Pony stared disbelievingly at him. That couldn't be right. Something was definitely not right. What had the Soc done to Johnny? Without thinking further about it he grabbed his bag and ran out the door.

Two-Bit came strolling down the hallway when Pony darted out of the classroom and almost ran into him.

"Woooah there, Pony! Where's the fire?"

"Johnny... Soc... went home... go look for him..." was all Pony said as he raced past Two-Bit.

"Pony! Wait up!" yelled Two-Bit and started running after Pony. He caught up with him just as he reached the front door. "Why was Johnny alone with a Soc, man?"

"We had group work - the teacher paired him up with a Soc. They were sent off together," Pony explained quickly. "I couldn't do anything about it! The teacher, he..."

"God dammit!" Two-Bit spat. "How dumb do you have to be to get employed here!" He looked around but couldn't see any sigh of Johnny. "You think he went home?"

"Yeah, I think he went home. Or the lot."

Two-Bit grabbed Pony and dragged him over to his car.

o0o0o

"Stupid fucking Soc... If he hurt the kid I'm gonna kill him!" Two-Bit said as they sped down the street.

They stopped at the lot but seeing that Johnny wasn't there they continued to the DX.

Two-Bit leaned out the window. "Hey, Soda! Steve! You guys seen Johnny?"

Steve and Soda came up to the car, already looking worried. Pony quickly explained what had happened.

"I'll take my lunch break early," said Soda and got in the car. Steve slammed the door shut behind him and said he'd look after the place while Soda was gone.

They cruised the streets, this time slower so they could keep a good lookout. It was Pony who spotted Johnny half-lying half-leaning against a tree, barely conscious.

They all jumped out the car and rushed to him. Pony looked at him in horror. His face was bruised worse than it had been this morning and he looked really sick. Soda and Two-Bit picked him up and put him in the car.

Johnny wasn't sure what was going on when he suddenly got lifted off the ground. For a second he thought the Socs had got him but then he recognized Two-Bit's voice.

"God... That fucking Soc!"

o0o0o

They went straight to the Curtis house and put Johnny on the couch. Soda sat down next to his head and started examining the damages.

Johnny was whimpering and mumbling incoherent things, such as Soc... Pony... sorry... etc. When Soda and Two-Bit started discussing whether to take him to the hospital or not, he got upset.

"I-I don't... need… hospital..." Johnny gasped and tried to sit up but Soda gently pushed him back down.

"Kid, you don't look too good, man," Two-Bit said, looking worried. "Who did this to ya?"

"I..." Johnny started but stopped himself. Thinking about Andy's words made him shiver and he decided to lie.

"Some… random guys... I dunno who..."

"It was that bastard, Andy Smith!" Pony exclaimed. "He's the one Johnny went off with and he came back alone with some stupid lie about Johnny being bored and leaving! You know who he is, don't ya, Two-Bit? He's that big dumb-looking guy who's been held back 2 grades because he's..." Pony was going to say "dumb" but stopped himself as he realized who he was talking to. Johnny, who had been held back one year, Two-Bit 2 years, and Soda who had dropped out (because he was dumb, as he claimed).

"N-no... he didn't do nothing..." Johnny tried to explain. He was breathing rather fast and seemed nervous all of a sudden.

Two-Bit walked off after nodding at Pony's question about Andy Smith. He hated that guy. He had had his run-ins with him a few times. A few moments later he came back with a piece of wet cloth and handed it to Soda. Two-Bit wasn't really that good at taking care of others. He could fight for them but clean them up?

Soda took the cloth and started carefully cleaning Johnny's face, all the while shushing him and telling him it'd all be all right.

"Just wait till Dally hears about this," said Ponyboy quietly.

Two-Bit forced himself to look away from the poor kid on the couch and dragged Ponyboy off to the side.

"Dally's gonna kill that guy, that's for sure." He sighed and sat down. "You sure he's the guy?

Pony nodded.

"Then why does Johnny say it ain't him?"

"Because he's scared," said Pony after thinking a couple of seconds. Of course that was why. He knew Johnny better than any of them. "He probably threatened him. But we can't let him get away with it, can we? I mean, we'll protect Johnny and make sure they don't come after him again, right?"

"Damn straight!" Two-Bit nodded and looked over at Soda and Johnny.

"If we get that guy his friends might come after Johnny. That's what I mean," said Ponyboy. It occurred to him that maybe he shouldn't have told. That he should have kept his mouth shut about who did it. Now that the cat was out of the bag there was no way the others were going to let the Soc go unpunished. Why didn't he use his head? Now it was too late. It would be his fault if anything bad happened because he had named the guy.

o0o0o

Johnny shut his eyes as Soda gently patted the cloth to his face. "Ss... mm..." he emitted a few sounds once in a while.

"I guess the hospital would just tell you it's a concussion and to stay quiet for a few days, so I guess we don't have to go," Soda told Johnny. He knew the kid was really upset about possibly being taken to the hospital. It would mean his parents were going to have to pay - and that would probably mean another concussion, anyway. Johnny would also hate for the Curtis' to pay, because he didn't want to be a burden.

Johnny relax a bit. "Thanks… S-Soda," he said with a shaky breath.

o0o0o

They decided to wait and talk to Darry before they did anything else or involve the others. If they decided on not doing anything about the Soc, Dally and Steve couldn't know about what had happened, because they wouldn't be able to control their anger.


Link to the illustration for this chapter on my profile (or check Zayhad's account on deviantart). :)