Glad you're liking it, swayzestyle713. Here's more. Enjoy!
Ch. 3 - School and Socs
Faith's POVAs soon as Two-Bit disappeared around the corner, I smirked at Johnny and slowly pushed him up against a locker and started making out with him.
He pulled away only to smirk and say, "You're also sneaky, Faith."
We pulled apart only when we heard screaming, signaling the daily beat up of nerdy Socy girls by my girls. They all loved fighting…. I hated it unless I was protecting someone…. Then it became my sole concentration in the moment. Other than those times I just concentrated on the verbal abuse I use on the Socs who think they're the shit.
I groaned inwardly as I rolled my eyes. "I need to go stop that before the fuzz show up," I said, starting to walk away.
He nodded. "Be careful…. Watch out for switches."
I nodded and said, "I will…. See you after school?"
"Only for an hour or two. Dally's taking me and Ponyboy to the Nightly Double later."
I chuckled lightly because Julia, Diane and I also decided to go to the Nightly Double tonight. "Maybe I'll see you guys there…or maybe not…. Depends on whether or not Julia and Chris are back together, 'cause if they are I'm not sticking around to see that slobber fest…unless you and Pony just wanna hang with Dally by yourselves – then that's cool too."
"Nah, if you want you can just pop in on us if you're bored or just wanna…you know…hang out."
"Two-Bit gonna be there?"
"If he's not crocked, he'll show…and the others are busy."
"Oh, okay…. Two-Bit ain't gonna get crocked tonight…. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and he has to take me."
"So we have to sneak around some more," he said, smirking.
I smirked back and nodded. "See ya."
"Later."
I walked down the hall and as I turned the corner, I saw my girls chasing a couple of Socy girls down the hall with switchblades in their hands. I stepped out of the way just in time as one of the Soc girls' heels broke and she fell and slid the rest of the way down the hall. The other one followed soon after, and she wasn't even tripped or anything like that…she just fell. I laughed at them and walked over to my girls.
"Hey," said Natalie, laughing and stowing away her switchblade.
"Hey, Nat, Angel…. Where're Julia and Diane?"
"Not here yet…. Hey! Hey, Socs! Get a load of that! Look at how pathetic your kind are: they can't even stay on their own two feet let alone defend themselves! Ya might as well be dead, ya white trash with money," said Angel to a group of Socs who were helping up the other two and staring daggers at us as Natalie and I laughed at Angel's comments about the Socs.
One of them obviously couldn't take it because she came up to us and said, "You're despicable, hood! Don't you have anything better to do than to cause trouble? Huh?" She was fuming. Her face was about as red as her hair, which was probably another reason people called her 'Cherry' instead of Sherry, her real name. I never liked her too much but I'd never had any trouble with her until now because she knew not to mess with any of my people…. I had heard that she liked to hit people when she was frustrated, but when someone hit her back she played little miss innocent and cried her eyes out until she got what she wanted. "Answer me!" she yelled and tried to push Angel into a locker, but I stopped her before she could even touch her.
I stared her in her green eyes, feeling my own blazing with fire, for a minute before she said, "Let go of me, hood!"
"Fine…but if you go for any of us again…" I gestured to an old, abandoned locker in the corner, dirty and rusty and said, "You see that locker over there? Well, if you try anything again, they'll find you in pieces in there…. Understand?"
She pushed herself roughly off of me and said, "Hood!" She stalked off, looking prissy, toward her friends and her boyfriend, Bob – something, embraced her.
I never had any trouble with him myself but that was the kid who'd jumped Johnny. I knew it because, besides seeing the rings that gave Johnny that tuff scar on his cheek, I also saw that smirk he always had reserved for Johnny every time he saw him. He was also the reason Johnny was considering dropping out and also the reason Soda wanted to come back, but he was the only reason. Soda was willing to go back to school just so he could protect Johnny, but we all knew that if he quit his job at the DX station he, Darry and Ponyboy would be in even deeper financial trouble, so we all (me, my girls, and Ponyboy) promised we'd all stick together at school and everywhere we went it with Johnny. That seemed to calm the gang down…especially Dally, who, though he'd never show it, loved Johnny like he was his brother and he was always looking out for him because while he was around (as he put it) 'no one was ever gonna hurt Johnny again.' Yep, Dally sure loved Johnny.
"Go to hell, bitch!" called Natalie as the Socs walked away and she once again stowed away the switchblade she'd expertly pulled out in the split second of sheer instinct in which she thought Sherry 'Cherry' Valance (a cheerleader) was going to start it with her.
I made sure the Socs were well out of earshot before saying, "What the hell is wrong with you, stupid? Why are you startin' with them? Why are you always startin' fights? Don't you know that those girls hang out with Bob – whoever he is? Don't you know – no – don't you remember what he and his gang did to Johnny?" They were quiet and just listened as I yelled in disgust at them. "What, do you want it to happen again? Do you want them to hurt Johnny again? Or do you want them to hurt you?"
"No!" yelled Angel (smart mouth of my girls), thinking she was going to overpower me this time, but I didn't know why…she never did.
"Then stop pickin' and startin' fights, dumbass! You may think it's okay now but, what about when no one's with you two? What's gonna happen then? "
They opened their mouths to say something but I cut them off.
"You're gonna get jumped, that's what! Look, you two need to stop pickin' fights with the Socs not only because it is despicable, but also because I don't want to see the two of ya get hurt…. I love you guys too much to see you get hurt by the Socs."
They nodded and Nat asked, "How come you don't like to fight, Faith… wait let me rephrase that…how come you don't like to start fights…you know…like us…how come?"
I shrugged. I never really tried to figure out why I, coming from the same family as Two-Bit, never like fighting…. To me it was just always…I don't know…not me…. I dug sunsets, sunrises, poetry, literature and just simplicity…like Ponyboy and the same as Johnny, who liked to listen to stories. I didn't dig cussing, drinking or fighting…too much…. Like I said before, I only fight if it's to defend – not to just start something because I'm bored like Nat and Angel, who still questioned the fact that I was Two-Bit's sister. "I guess I'm just different: …calmer than most people."
"You mean greasers?"
I'd begun walking toward my locker and I turned and said, "…No, I meant people."
Angel, who was in her last year of high school, raised her eyebrow and made an 'okay – crazy' look. She had only one class with us, which was our first period class today.
I smiled as I packed for my first class, remembering that I had that class not only with Angel but also with Julia, Diane, Natalie, Ponyboy and Johnny.
Being a person who hates not talking Nat asked, "So, what'd you do yesterday and this morning? Anything new?"
"Well, yesterday…let's see…yesterday I got my first kiss and this morning me and Johnny decided to go steady," I said, ending really quickly.
"Oh, okay," said Natalie, picking at an old scar on her chin. After a few seconds she said, "Wait…. What? For real? Oh my God, Faith, really? You hooked up with Johnny? Awww, my li'l baby girl is growing up."
Angel just stared in shock for a minute while Natalie hugged me and closed my locker door and then she said, "Oh…how nice…. You and Johnny…yeah…. Finally."
"What's wrong, Angel?" asked Natalie, turning to her in confusion.
Angel shook her head and said, "Nah, nothing's wrong."
I knew what was wrong.
She'd always had this sort of childhood crush on Johnny, even though she's two years older than him, but lately she really hasn't been showing it so I thought she was over him…. I guess I was wrong…. But I didn't feel bad – that was the greaser side of me. If she had a problem with Johnny and I going together then that was her problem, not mine; this is why I wasn't even going to bother with the hour or so of prying to know her problem and then trying to comfort her. Don't get me wrong – I'm not mad that she's jealous or something – I just don't want to deal with it now and ruin my day.
"C'mon, Angel, we know something's bothering you and it's bringing down Faith's high from hooking up with Johnny. So why don't you just tell us what's wrong so we can fix it and get on with a good day: bothering Faith and Johnny 'bout hookin' up," said Nat, smirking.
Angel said nothing, just exhaled deeply and stared at the floor, a look of wanting to burst on her face.
I looked her up and down, ready to slap her and rolled my eyes. "Just drop it, Nat. She doesn't wanna talk about it and I, personally, don't wanna hear it. So, if you don't mind, let's just drop it and go to class." I'd begun to walk away when Angel punched a locker.
"You can never think of anyone but yourself, can you?"
I stopped, turned and said, "What?"
"You can't! All you ever do is think about yourself and how much the gang loves you and you love them…especially Johnny…. Especially Johnny! Johnny: the boy you knew I've loved since forever and the boy you all of a sudden 'hook up' with after he gives you your first kiss! See, Faith, what I can't understand is why you feel the need to steal Johnny from me! Why do you need the boy I love! You have everything else…. Why do you need Johnny?"
"First of all, Angel and I can and do think about everyone but myself and how much the gang loves me and how I love them…especially Johnny. Johnny: the boy who you've had a crush on but never loved like have…or how the gang does. Second of all don't be mad because Johnny's not attracted to sluts but is attracted to me and chose to give me my first kiss and ask me to be his girl when I chose to let him! And last but certainly not least: I didn't steal Johnny from you because you never had him and I don't see why you should…. You'd just treat him like an object instead of the wonderful person he is."
She said nothing, though I could tell she wanted to say something about me calling her a slut.
"And not that it's any of your business, but I don't have everything…. If I did, none of us would have to live this kind of life," I said and waited a few seconds for a reply. But when none came, I walked away to my first class just as the bell rang. Nat and Angel were right behind me, and Julia and Diane showed up a split second before the late bell rang, already half way filled in on the morning's events.
This is gonna be a long day, I thought as I took a seat in the back corner of the room, where Johnny and Ponyboy were.
Johnny's POVFaith sat next to me and behind Ponyboy, looking kind of ticked off, and (don't ask me how because I really don't know how) I just knew that she'd let Nat and Angel in on the fact that we were a couple. She just sat there for a while, drumming her fingers on the desk and staring blankly at the blackboard on which the teacher was now writing notes. Then, as the teacher made his way around the classroom to collect homework, she asked, "Johnny, do you have your switch?"
I nodded, pulled it out of my back pocket, and handed it to her without letting Mr. Connor see us.
"Thanks," she said, giving me a small smile. She opened the switchblade and began scratching something into her desk with it. I couldn't see what she was scratching into the desk just yet because she was blocking it from anyone who'd squeal on her, but when she moved her hands just in time to for Mr. Connor to see it, I saw it too.
"Where's your homework, Faith?" he asked, not yet noticing the desk-graffiti.
She leaned back in her seat and smirked at the look on his face when he saw what she'd written: 'FUCK OFF'.
I choked back laughter as Mr. Connor nearly dropped his papers in a fluster.
"Faith Matthews! What's wrong with you? You never behave like this! What's going on?" He lowered his voice to ask, "Is it PMS?"
She, Ponyboy, Faith's girls (even Angel) and I burst out laughing at this.
"Oh my God! Check out this moron! 'Is it PMS?' What are you? Stupid?" laughed Faith.
Mr. Connor had had enough. "Go to the Dean, Ms. Matthews. Mr. Cade, escort her…now!"
We didn't stop laughing at all as we walked out of the classroom, but the laughter died down as we stepped out into the deserted hallway.
"Faith?"
"Hmm?"
"Did you tell Nat and Angel 'bout us?"
"Yeah…."
"Oh…. So would I be right if I guessed that Angel didn't take it too well?"
She scoffed and said, "Yeah, she kind of flipped when I mentioned it."
"I'm sorry about that," I said, looking at her as she shook her head.
"Don't be…. It's her problem, not ours. I'm not tryin' to be mean or anything, because I can understand that she's had a crush on you forever, but I'm not coddling her for this or for anything else for that matter…. If she needs time to get over it then she can have all the time she needs, but she better not say that stuff she said to me again…. That's something I ain't gonna stand for," she said, her voice cracking in some parts.
I nodded and said, "You're right. It's her problem."
She smiled at me and said, "You feel bad for her don't you?"
"N-no," I said, for some reason feeling that if I said 'yes' I'd get my ass kicked so badly it's not even funny.
She stopped walking and grabbed my shoulders saying," Yes you do, Johnny. You're too good to not feel bad for a girl who's had a crush on you since forever and just found out that one of her best friends is going out with you."
"…. How do you know that?" I asked, grabbing her hands and interlocking them with mine, smiling.
"Your eyes…they give you away, sweetie. They fill up with whatever you're feeling as soon as you feel it."
I smiled at her as she stared into my eyes. I pushed her against a locker and nuzzled her neck saying, "Yeah? So what was I just feeling?"
"Horny…you were horny," she said in my ear softly. "C'mon. Let's go before Connor comes out here."
"Okay…. Race ya," I said, pulling her off the locker.
"On your mark…get set…go!"
We took off and ran to the Dean's office, twisting and swerving and almost running into walls. It was a tie and when I left, Dean Thatcher was hollering her at. I just went back to class and sat through it and the rest of them, bored as hell.
Later That Day
We were at Two-Bit's and Faith's place, explaining why Faith was suspended for a week from school, and Two-Bit was laughing his ass off as we told him this.
"Minnie, you cursed at Connor? Wow! Who did what to piss you off? Hehehehehe!"
Faith laughed and said, "Long story…. I'm just suspended for a week and that's all I know."
"Okay…. So now we have a week to hang with our people. You wanna come with me to the DX station after we come from the Doctor's?"
"Sure, why?"
"'Why' what? Can't a guy just hang out with his little sister once in a while?"
"Yeah…true. But I'm bettin' that this time you just want me to help you hook up with one of the girls for the night, right?"
"No…. Yeah, okay, you're right. Will you?"
"Why me, though?"
"Because they think you're adorable…. So will you?"
"Yeah, always," she said, opening the fridge, pulling out a can of chocolate frosting and eating it just like that with her index finger.
"Thanks…. Gimme some of that," he said, reaching for the can.
"Here, finish it before I eat it all and gain about five pounds just eating that," she said, handing him the can.
"What's with the vanity? You're fine and five pounds won't change much because you'll work it off in a day anyway," Two-Bit said, wolfing down the frosting.
I smiled to myself because of Faith's sudden vanity about her figure. "Faith, you look good all the freakin' time. You really think five pounds will be noticeable? It'll probably go to your ass or chest anyway, so don't worry about it," I said, causing Faith to smirk and blush.
"See, Johnny thinks you always look good, and he's not even your boyfriend so he doesn't have to say it…he just said it because it's true. Right, Johnny?"
"Hell yeah!"
Faith and I laughed at Two-Bit's ignorance.
"See? Don't worry 'bout it," he said, going back to his frosting happily.
"Whatever. Listen, I gotta go meet Julia and Diane to go to the Nightly Double. I'll see you later, Mickey, Johnny," she said, pulling on her jacket.
"Later," said Two-Bit mouth covered in chocolate.
I'll go with you," I said, deciding that if Angel were there with Julia and Diane, I'd straighten things out with her so that no bad blood was left between us or her and Faith. I really didn't want her and Angel's friendship to end because Angel couldn't get over me.
"Okay, c'mon."
We talked about whatever came into our heads as we walked and when we reached Julia's place, I was glad that I came with Faith because Angel was on the couch.
Her eyes were puffy and red from crying and when we walked in, she rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth saying, "Here we go again."
Faith rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth saying, "Jesus Christ, Angel!" Her voice softened as she sat down next to her on the couch. "We need to talk about this."
"Yeah, we do…but I need to talk to Johnny first."
Faith nodded and ushered Julia and Diane, who wanted to stay, out of the living room and into Julia's bedroom.
Oh shit, I'm in trouble, I thought as I sat down next to Angel. "You were expecting to see me here?"
She nodded, drying her eyes. "Julia and Diane told me that Faith was coming and I figured you'd come with her because I found out from Ponyboy that you two was goin' with Dally to the Nightly Double."
"Yeah and we gotta go meet Dally soon so, we need to get this over with."
"O-okay. Listen, I just wanted to say…what I mean is…. Look, Johnny, I just wanna know one thing before I can fully get over you and the fact that you and Faith love each other because I can and could always see you do."
"What is it?"
God, please don't let her bring that up, I thought to myself, remembering the event that caused Angel to 'fall in love' with me.
"Did I mean anything to you? You know, during and after that night? Did I?"
I sighed and said, "Of course, you did, Angel. It's just – it's in the past and you need to stop chasin' it because it's never gonna happen again…. Angel, I know that it's hard gettin' over someone who's way past you but it doesn't mean that you should blow your whole friendship with Faith because of it. You two have been friends since you were three and I know that you're not mad at her for being my girlfriend. You're happy for her because she's happy, and I know you want her to be happy."
"Like you do…. You've always wanted to make her happy, Johnny…even when you were trying to make me happy…."
"How could you tell?"
"You called out her name, Johnny. It's kind of obvious."
We laughed at the memory and I said, "See, you're making fun of me…. You're over me."
"Over a sweet person like you? Not by a long shot…but I'm getting there."
"Keep going because I'm going the other way with Faith."
She nodded, smiled and said, "Yeah, about that…. You hurt her and I swear, Johnny Cade, you'll wish you were never born."
"Yeah, I know…. But don't worry, I'd never do anything to hurt Faith…never," I said, get up and helping her up.
"I know you wouldn't…. You're so good to her…."
"Are you guys done yet?" asked Diane from the doorframe.
"Yeah, we are," said Angel, walking to and into the bedroom and soon after coming back out with Faith, who was cocking an eyebrow (yep – she's Two-Bit's sister alright) and smirking.
"Alright, Angel, we're cool. Listen, we need to get going – it's already after eight and I'm starving," she said, walking up to me and wrapping herself in my arms. "Mmmm…. You want us to wait with you and Pony for Dally?"
"Nah, that's okay. You guys go ahead and go eat something before you pass out," I said, and Faith laughed.
"Okay, let's go," said Julia, opening the door and exiting soon followed by Diane and Angel, who said, "No funny business, ya heard?"
We laughed as they left and Faith lifted her head to kiss me before saying, "Later."
I kissed her back and said, "Ditto."
She smiled and left with the other three.
I went over to Ponyboy's and then we met Dally in front of the Dingo. After that we went over to the Nightly Double around nine thirty and got our seats.