A/N: Now, not much at all to say here unless it's thank you all for the favorites and the reviews! They truly do mean a lot greatly! Keep 'em all comin', please! Enjoy chapter 29, and please review! NO negative reviews, criticism, or flames, for they will be deleted ASAP. Thank you. Now, I hope you guys, and gals, enjoy chapter 29 as much as the first chapters of the whole story! :) :D
Chapter 29
More yelling. More cursing. More throwing things. More fights. Not a surprise, according to Sondra. She was trying her best to tune out her parents recent arguement downstairs that night, as she sat there on her bed in her pajamas, cross-legged with a notebook opened up on her lap, and she was scribbling around on a piece of white paper with just a pencil, actually doodling such an amazing and well-detailed picture.
Sondra was an artist, that's for sure. She colored and doodled, switching over to reading and writing constantly, but both sides of her being artistic and creative. However, no one paid any mind to her artwork, no matter what form it was it. If it was a picture, if it was a poem or a song...it didn't matter. Sondra felt like her writing and whatnot that she created all on her own was worthless...but maybe that's because when her folks ever caught her writing or drawing her own pictures, songs, poems, or anything like that, her father would rip 'em all to shreds, while her mother cursed at her and yelled that her 'work' was a waste of time, just like she was just being herself.
Nevertheless, Sondra wouldn't allow her parents hurtful words and harsh actions towards her artwork to force her to quit. Secretly, Sondra doodled on the walls of her bedroom when she ran out of notebook paper, and she covers up all of the words and pictures with posters, so her parents wouldn't ever spot her talent that they described as 'trash'. Sondra actually believed her artwork was trashy a bit herself, but that's only because no one knows about her art talent except herself and her folks. Iris didn't know about it, and neither did her own mini 'gang'. Sondra just wanted to keep it a secret. Nonetheless...Sondra knew that when the next day arrived, her talent would be out to one more person.
A sharp slap was heard whistling across the air and smacking against the sound of skin, which instantly gave off a loud CLAP sound, and that followed by Spring's ticked off and bitter voice hollering out, "YOU DON'T SMACK ME LIKE THAT, YOU PRICK!"
Sondra closed her eyes gently and took in a deep breath, keeping it held in for about three seconds until releasing it again, both through her nose. She then reopened her pale blue eyes, knowing for a fact that she didn't need to see her parents to know that her father had his hands tightly clenched into trembling fists that were starting to change to pale white from being clenched so tightly.
"WHO YOU CALLING A PRICK, YOU LAZY, UGLY, WORTHLESS PIECE OF-" Dominic went on and on, cursing and spitting at his high wife, his voice completely drunk and full of rage as he called Spring every name in the book.
"SHUT UP!" Spring began crying a bit from being so ticked off, and she kicked a lamp away from its stand that it was resting on, causing it to fly off and smash into tons of sharp and pointy pieces when the moss green-colored glass met the wall.
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Dominic demanded "I'M THE LEADER IN THIS HOUSE! YOU LISTEN TO ME, LADY!"
Sometimes, Sondra couldn't help herself to feel sorry for her mom, and only her mom. That was only because Dominic beat her around with words and physical violence a whole lot when he got rip-roarin' drunk and whatnot from time to time, but for the past few weeks, her parents have been fighting a whole lot more. Even though Dominic was a drunk, and Spring was a drug taker, they never fought like that with each other.
All Sondra did though was keep herself silent, focusing more on getting the picture that she was working on done so she could look even more forward to the next day with her and Johnny having their first ever friends night out all by themselves.
The pencil shaded and lined neatly on the white piece of paper in the notebook that was resting on the oldest female Prescott's lap, as she carefully drew the picture, smiling a bit to herself then after reminding herself what, or who, she was drawing. Still, Sondra didn't see the beauty at all in her own work, but knowing the picture in her head, she loved it deeply.
The clock struck 11:40, and after working on that picture for about an hour or so, Sondra finally was able to rip it out of the notebook, which she did perfectly, right before she hid it under her bed, just in case her parents would come upstairs to see if she and Iris were already in bed. Iris was, that's for sure. She past out in her bed around 9:15.
As Sondra laid out some clothes that she figured were her best ones to wear for the next day, she started thinking heavily about what happened at the Curtis's dinner. The color dyed food by Soda was tasty and great in Sondra's opinion, and she was positive that she'd eat at the Curtis's house again sooner or later, if it was alright with them, of course, but that's not what was suddenly on her mind heavily.
Sondra remembered Dally and Johnny entering through the front door of the Curtis's house, Johnny smiling greatly with Dally proudly smirking a little. She grinned a bit to herself, knowing that they had made up for whatever it was that happened between the two of them in the Curtis's bathroom. They made it just in time for dinner, too. Soda was just about to serve the food, so Johnny and Dally took their seats at the table in the Curtis's kitchen with the rest of the gang, Johnny sitting to the left of Sondra as Dallas sat across from her. Sondra's little smile had vanished from her face when she realized all throughout eating, Dally kept peeking and staring at her with that stare of his. What was he doing? Trying to see through her or something?
Sondra wasn't dumb. She knew that Dally was clearly concerned about something, but she didn't believe it was about her or anything about her life. Maybe it was because Johnny had said something about her that Dallas questioned, or properly Dally was just giving her that look of his to mess with her or something. All Sondra kept telling herself was, there's no way in heck Dally would actually start growing concerned over her...or was he? ...Hm...Gabriel did tell her in her dream/nightmare that people were concerned about her one way or thee other, but Dallas Christopher Winston...he's the top bad boy in all of Tulsa that hated Regulars to death.
"There's no way...no...he hates me...he wouldn't ever care if somethin' happened to me." Sondra muttered to herself under her breath. After laying out her clothes for her to wear the next day, Sondra quietly and carefully cracked her bedroom door open, peeking out into the hallway to see nobody out there, but she could hear her folks still going at it back and forth downstairs.
Sondra rolled her eyes at their bickering, right before she tiptoed out of her bedroom and continued her way across the hallway, grasping Iris's bedroom doors doorknob and quietly twisting it fully around. When Sondra carefully cracked open the wooden door, she peeked in to check on little Iris, who was dressed in a pair of her pajamas and resting peacefully underneath the warm covers of her bed with her long hair shagged up all over her pillows and stuffed animals that laid of her bed with her.
A small grin spread across Sondra's face, and she quietly, but quickly at the same time, tiptoed through Iris's bedroom, the only light being the rose-shaped night-light that was plugged in and turned on by Iris's closet. Sondra continued her way all the way over to Iris's bed, which is where the oldest female Prescott carefully brushed some of her hair out of her face with her fingertips, then she leaned down, caringly and lovingly giving Iris a little family kiss on her forehead, before she tucked the covers around her body a bit better and more warmly.
"I love you." Sondra whispered in the dim bedroom of her kid sister, then tiptoeing back out into the hallway, which is when she quietly closed the door all the way behind her again. After that, Sondra just went back to her bedroom, closing her own door all the way and flicking the lights out, crawling into her bed afterwards. All was on her mind all through as she laid there under the covers was Johnny...and she couldn't wait to see him the next day for their friends night out.
The next day arrived faster before anybody's eyes. Like all teens usually do on weekends, Sondra slept in, being awaken around 10:45 to a beer bottle accidentally falling and hitting the floor, smashing into many different pieces of sharp and pointy bits. Dominic then started grumbling and mumbling every word in the book to himself as he stared at the broken glass on the floor, which he just left alone at the time and pulled out a different bottle of beer from the fridge, instantly popping off the cap and starting to jug it down, while Spring dabbed some white powder on the table, then she started snorting it up her nose through a straw.
Sondra rolled out of bed, quickly remaking it to look good as new before she instantly unbuttoned her pajama shirt, allowing it to fall and drop to the floor before she slipped off her pajama pants, leaving only her bra and underwear left on her bruised and sort of numb and sore body. Sondra was too caught up in thinking about Johnny to even consider the slight pain her body was giving her though.
Sondra couldn't remember the last time she wore a skirt. It's been many years, that's for sure. Nevertheless, that didn't stop Sondra from daring herself to slip on her cotton-candy pink, plaid, knee-length skirt that she found deep in the back of her drawers the night before when she was searching for an outfit to wear. To hide her bruises and other injuries that covered the skin upon her legs though, Sondra wore some white leggings. Sondra hated feeling girly, so to keep a piece of her actual tomboy self with her, she slipped on a pair of worn out, black tennis shoes, right before she slipped on a plain white tank-top that matched her leggings, and to finish her outfit off, she slipped on her favorite jean jacket, along with clipping the necklace around her neck that said Gabriel.
Thinking heavily about how she looked, Sondra gazed at her reflection in her mirror, focusing on every angle and inch that the glass reflected off of her. She truly didn't see the beauty that others claimed she had inside of her at all. That was common among teenage girls. However, Sondra wanted to be her tomboy self without worrying about being judged. Same thing with her being labeled as a Regular, unfortuently.
"I hope Johnny likes the way I look..." Sondra took in a deep, but yet soft at the same time, breath, then let it out, both through her mouth as she gazed at how girly she looked in her mirror, minus her shagged up hair and worn out tennis shoes, which showed off who she actually and truly was. A tomboy.
The movie that Sondra and Johnny were going to go see didn't start until 4:00, so Sondra completely understood that she had six hours to kill. She just simply walked Iris over to Charlie's house, hung out with her mini 'gang' a bit, blushing a bit at their jokes and teases towards her and Johnny going out on a date, which Sondra objected to about it just being a friends night out, and when the clock chimed 3:30, Sondra headed back to her house, ignoring yet another arguement between her parents as she trailed up the carpeted stairs and locked herself in her bedroom, where she would draw for the remaining half an hour.
Meanwhile at the Curtis's house, when the wall clock struck 3:50, Johnny had just slipped on his blue-jeans jacket, right before he gazed at his reflection in the Curtis's small wall mirror, fixing his heavily greased jet-black hair a bit with his fingertips.
"You tryin' to impress Baby on this 'friends night out' between the two of you, huh, Johnnycake?" Ponyboy snickered, smirking up at the oldest Cade from the book that he was reading as he sat there on the couch with Kitten sitting on one side of him, flipping through a magazine, and Two-Bit on his other side, eating a piece of chocolate cake. Steve and Soda were both playing cards with each other, and Cassidy was playing peek-a-boo and other baby games with Jocelyn yet again. Darry was busy fixing up a late lunch for the rest of the gang to eat when Johnny headed out to the movies and the diner with Sondra, and lastly, all Dally was doing was kicking back in the recliner, watching Johnny.
Johnny's eyes widened as his face turned red towards Pony's question, making the rest of the gang, minus Darry and Jocelyn, chuckle along with Ponyboy. Dallas wasn't laughing, but he was trying his best to keep a small grin away from appearing upon his face. Dally still might've not been the biggest fan of Sondra, but he promised Johnny that he'd try to get used to her, and a great beginners step in that was allowing Johnny to head on out for this friends night out with her and only her.
"Aw, hush up!" Johnny ordered, even though his voice was soft, and a small grin was tugging at his lips with his face stained red. "I'm trying to look my best, that's all."
The oldest Cade was dressed in a pair of dark blue, worn out jeans, an ordinary white T-shirt, his old and dirty tennis shoes, and his slightly dirty jean jacket.
"Johnny, it's so obvious you got the hots for Baby." Two-Bit said, making sure he swallowed what of his piece of chocolate cake that was in his mouth before speaking, the icing still on his lips a bit, but he didn't care.
"I do not!" Johnny objected yet again.
"Yes, you do." Sodapop smirked "I still 'member when I got my first ever girlfriend years ago, and man, I acted just like you are acting when Baby is even mentioned to you. I mean, even if we say her name, you blush."
Johnny turned himself around to face everybody, crossing his arms over his chest and shaking his head while he was at it.
"Yawl think what you want to think." Johnny announced "I must be on my way out now though."
"Alright, Romeo! Have a blast with your Juliet!" Steve laughed.
"You better tell us everything when you get back!" Cassidy chuckled at how red her brothers face looked, and at the fact that he was trying not to smile.
"Have fun, Johnny!" Darry called out from the kitchen.
"...But not too much fun." Dally added, his tone filled with some concern, but there was more warning than anything.
Johnny and Dallas had a short stare off then, Johnny taking some time to catch and digest what Dally just told him. Usually, Johnny would tell Dally to shut up with that topic, but he knew that Dallas was only saying that because he worried about him, and he had every right to be worried, considering that they were Greasers and that Mr. and Mrs. Cade were abusive jerks.
"Yeah, yeah, Dally." Johnny couldn't help the smirk from curling up on his lips as his black eyes sparkled off playfulness, and he said good-bye to everyone before he flipped his jean jackets collar the correct way, then headed out the Curtis's door, catching it before it slammed shut behind him. Finally, he headed off to the movie theater, the only thing being on his mind then was none other than Sondra.
The last ten minutes were fast, but not fast enough according to Johnny and Sondra, considering they both couldn't wait to catch the movie and go to the diner for dinner together afterwards. When trotting his way up to the movie theaters enterance, Johnny couldn't help himself to freeze in his tracks when his black eyes met Sondra, who was leaning against the wall of the outside of the movie house.
"...Baby?" Johnny asked, slowly making his way up to the blonde-haired girl.
"...The one and only, right in the flesh, Johnnycake." Sondra smirked playfully as she smiled up from her boots and gazed directly into Johnny's eyes as he stared right back into hers in return.
"Wow..." Johnny took in a deep, but soft, breath through his mouth, then let it out the exact same way, having a big, handsome, rare grin of his spread across his face right after realizing that was Sondra.
"...What is it?" Sondra questioned as she glanced down at herself, wiping her bare hands on her skirt, then she tugged at the bottom of her shirt a bit, hoping to death that there was nothing on her, or Johnny didn't catch any injury of hers. Nonetheless, there wasn't a single speck of anything on Sondra's clothes, except her shoes and jean jacket, but those were her tomboy parts of her outfit, and none of her injuries were showing at all.
"...What's wrong?" Sondra gulped, her eyes growing big like a pleading puppy dogs a bit from growing nervous in if Johnny didn't like the way she looked. He didn't reply to her first question, so Sondra was only nervous at that moment.
"Nothings wrong..." Johnny assured "it's just that...I've never seen you dressed like this before...it's just so different..."
"It's girly...I hate it." Sondra whined, but she was surprised to see Johnny actually still grinning at her. "When you just said it's so different..." Sondra stated, breaking the short pause.
"Yeah?"
"...Did you mean that in a good way, or a bad way?"
Johnny's smile grew more as his face started feeling like it was turning red, and he could've sworn he could feel this sudden warmth starting to glow throughout his entire body, causing him to feel completely fuzzy.
"...An extremely good way." Johnny promised "...but I think you must know...I adore girls who aren't afraid to be themselves."
In other words, Sondra completely understood that Johnny just told her that he digged her being a tomboy, and he knew from inside her to inside himself that she wasn't a girly girl, but a tomboy.
Sondra tried talking, but she was too busy caught up in thinking about what Johnny just said to her. She shrugged one shoulder, attempting to speak again, but instead, all she did was have a cute smile tug its way onto her bright red face. Strangely, Sondra could feel this feeling of hers tugging at her heart, making a certain part of it feel like it was melting, but she figured it didn't mean anything. All she and Johnny did then was smile at each other, gazing right into each others eyes before they had each other in the others arms, holding each other close as they gave each other a friendly embrace. After parting about five seconds later, the two teenagers entered the movie house, Johnny holding the door open for Sondra, and after she entered, he followed her.
Sondra and Johnny didn't bother getting popcorn or drinks since they were going to the diner after the movie to eat dinner. So, all the two teens did was enter the darkness of the movie house, taking two seats right next to each other in the fourth row close to the screen. Not many other people were hardly there at the movies that day. It was as if Sondra and Johnny had the whole movie to themselves.
The strange thing Johnny kept questioning was though that next to Ponyboy and Kitten, he was the best one at being able to focus and zone out on movies without any hesitation. Nonetheless, at that moment, all Johnny could think about was Sondra. Instead of hearing the characters from the movie speak back and forth, all Johnny could hear was how fast his heart was rapidly pounding in his chest with such a warm and tender power that was somehow getting to him. Every couple minutes as well, Johnny couldn't help himself to peek over at Sondra. Secretly, Sondra was going through the exact same things throughout the whole film. Her heart pumping so fast, the strange warmth embracing her insides, and gazing over at Johnny from the corner of her eye a bit. The two might've had their eyes on the film, but their minds were on each other.
Two hours later, as the clock struck 6:00, and the movie wrapped up into its credits, Johnny and Sondra stood up from their seats and stretched, grinning at each other for a moment when their eyes met, and afterwards, they stepped out into the dim evening. Since it was fall, it was obvious that it got darker faster. However, Johnny and Sondra didn't mind walking in the dark. They were being bathed underneath the starlight and moonlight as they walked down the sparkling sidewalk together.
"So...that was some movie. What was your favorite part?" Sondra questioned, trying to get a conversation started. Johnny's eyes grew big as he stared to the opposite side so Sondra couldn't see his face at the time. He had to react quick, but how? He didn't get a chance to focus on a single scene from the whole movie!
"...I can't say. I loved the whole thing." Johnny lied, now looking right at Sondra, who was still gazing at him. "What about you?"
Sondra looked away then, making the same facial expression for a couple of seconds, before she looked back at Johnny and said the exact words, "I loved the entire thing as well. It's such a great movie. I might have to go see it again."
"That makes two of us." Johnny muttered to himself under his breath, and the two arrived to the diner about fifteen minutes later. Sondra and Johnny both sat in a booth that a waitress escourted them over to with a big smile upon her face. Sondra sat on one side as Johnny sat on the opposite one, across from her. The walls in the diner were painted red and white, the floor checkered with the exact same colors, and the booths, chairs, and tables all being white and red as well.
"Care for drinks?" Johnny's and Sondra's waitress, Amy, offered, her smile so beautiful and green eyes so full of life.
"Yes, please." Sondra approved, Johnny just nodding his head with full agreement. "I'll have a Pepsi."
"Alright." Amy nodded, writing that drink down on her little notebook with the pen that she had tucked behind her earring pierced ear. "And what about you, young man?" Amy turned her attention over to Johnny, who was eyeing the marble table as he twirled his thumbs around on his lap.
"A Coke, please." Johnny shyly and quietly responded, hoping that Amy heard what drink he said. He knew that she did when she wrote it down on her notebook, still smiling and starting to nod her head again.
"Okay, I'll fetch you your drinks while I leave you to pick what food you'll like for dinner." Amy said.
"Alright, thank you." Sondra thanked.
Amy grinned again and nodded her head, but as she started walking away, she couldn't help herself to stop and gaze over her shoulder at Johnny and Sondra.
"Excuse me, but I just want to share my opinion on how adorable I think how cute the two of you are together." Amy complimented, making Johnny's eyes widen as he continued to gaze at the table and play around with his thumbs. All Sondra did was turn red, and she glaned over at Amy with a shy look now plastered on her face.
"Um, I'm sorry to inform you, Ma'am, but we're just friends." Sondra informed Amy.
"Oh." Amy shrugged, but her smile still remained fully on her face. "My mistake." Amy walked away to go fetch Sondra's and Johnny's drinks after saying those last two words.
Sondra gazed at Johnny, seeing how red he now looked after taking in what Amy said when mistaking them for a couple. Johnny peeked up at Sondra to see her now glancing at him, and he couldn't help himself to grin a bit. Sondra playfully smirked in return.
"You know you look great tonight, right?" Sondra questioned, wanting to make Johnny feel good about himself. Not only that, but Sondra's been wanting to tell Johnny that ever since he spotted her at the movies, but she wanted to do it when the time felt right to her.
Johnny, who was now flicking at the salt and pepper shakers a bit, focused his black eyes back on Sondra, not being able to help himself to smile widely and cutely after taking in Sondra's compliment.
"...You really think so?" Johnny asked "I just threw a random outfit together."
Sondra knew that he was lying there, but she just smiled and didn't bother to object to that. She knew how low Johnny had with confidence in himself.
"Well, I'm positive." Sondra said.
"...I'm positive that I think you're very pretty...I love when you're bein' yourself as a tomboy, too." Johnny hesitated a bit before sharing what was on his mind there, starting to dig into one of his jean jackets pockets secretly a bit.
"He thinks...I'm...PRETTY?" Sondra asked herself in a surprised manner in her mind, allowing her mouth to twitch into a wide smile as she bit at her bottom lip a bit, and her pale blue eyes shimmered with happiness. That's all Johnny needed for a thanks.
"Can you hold out for hand for me, please?" Johnny asked politely and softly.
Sondra nodded her head and held out one of her hands, palm-side up, but Johnny caringly turned it over the opposite way with his free hand, which sort of confused Sondra on the inside, but she kept her hand that way, gazing at it until...she saw this beautiful golden ring with a diamond shaped like a heart on it being slipped onto her pointer finger.
Sondra's jaw dropped as her mouth gaped open, and her pale blue eyes focused on how beautiful the ring was, until she snapped her attention quickly to the oldest Cade, who was smirking at her as he slid the ring on her finger, releasing it when it was finally all the way on Sondra's finger.
"...What do you think?" Johnny asked when Sondra didn't say anything back right away.
Sondra held her hand that now had the gorgeous ring on her pointer finger close to her chest, her other hand gently pressing on her wrist, and absolute happiness flashed in her eyes as she smiled a full precious and beautiful grin that showed all of her sparkling white teeth.
"Oh my god...Johnnycake, I love it! How'd you get it?" Sondra questioned.
Johnny smiled, playfully rolling his black eyes, then saying the exact words in response to Sondra's question, "Let's just say...Dally gave me a few tips when we made up yesterday."
It was then Sondra's turn to playfully roll her eyes as she continued to grin at Johnny, thanking him greatly over and over again as she shared a couple of glances at the gorgeous ring. However, Sondra's smile fell as plead started filling up her eyes, her mind now on what she actually had for Johnny to give for a gift.
"What's wrong, Baby?" Johnny questioned, a concerned/worried look now on his face with his eyebrow now cocked.
"...Well..." Sondra sighed "...I actually got you something, too...actually, I made somethin' for you...but I don't feel that it's good enough compared to this fabulous ring you actually got for me."
"Aw, Baby, we're friends here." Johnny reminded "I promise you, I bet whatever you made for me, I'll adore 100% for sure. What is it? Let me see it."
Sondra continued to pout a bit, but then sighed after hesitating, finally caving and reaching into her jean jackets pocket, which is when she pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper, handing it over to the eldest Cade from across the table right after getting it out.
"Don't open it now, please. I think it's best if you see it when you're alone." Sondra told Johnny. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he very much wanted to see what was ever on the folded piece of paper that she handed over to him, but Johnny nodded his head, tucking the piece of paper carefully away in his jean jackets pockets.
"I'm lovin' it already, Baby." Johnny smiled, and just saying those five words had Sondra grinning all over again.
When Amy arrived back not long at all after that and served Johnny and Sondra their drinks, she took their dinner orders. Sondra decided to get some chicken with a salad on the side, while Johnny got some roast with mashed potatoes and corn, along with him and Sondra both sharing a dinner basket of fries.
The dinner between both of the teens was certainly one they'd never forget. It was full of laughter, smiles, and different types of chats, both Sondra and Johnny going back and forth, asking each other random questions as they ate their food and drank their different pops. Johnny showed Sondra how he could toss a fry into his mouth by tossing it in the air and catching it perfectly in his mouth. Sondra chuckled at that and clapped each time Johnny did that trick.
"I need to go to the restroom for a moment." Johnny informed Sondra a bit embarrassedly, but he was relieved when Sondra shrugged her shoulders at him, the look on her face giving it away that it was alright.
"Alright, I'll be waiting here when you get back."
Johnny grinned and nodded, before getting up and heading his way off to the boys bathroom, leaving Sondra alone there at the booth, where she sat cross-legged, eating a couple more fries and licking the salt off from her fingers. Suddenly, Sondra heard the bell from above the front glass doors of the diner jingle, and when she turned her attention over to the door, she was shocked to see who it was. Joshua. She was only startled because there her first ever boyfriend was, dressed newly all in high-classed and top clothes with his hair neatly brushed.
"Joshua?!" Sondra gasped, watching the male Soc make his way over to where she was sitting alone in the booth.
"Hiya, Baby." Joshua formed a devious looking smirk, only remembering Sondra's nickname because his friends told him it after he woke up with his major hangover from being extremely drunk.
"What happened to you?!" Sondra demanded.
Joshua placed his hands on his hips, still smirking as he spoke the exact words, "I might as well ask you the same question."
"I asked you first!" Sondra snapped, wanting a true answer from her boyfriend, but all he did was roll his eyes.
"Excuse me, but I'm the man here, meanin' I call the shots." Joshua pointed out. "Now, I think it's best if you tell me right here, right now why you're here."
"I'm here with my friend!" Sondra exclaimed "he's in the restroom!"
Joshua's eyes shot huge, but then narrowed as his teeth clenched together after he took in and digested what Sondra just told him.
"He?" Joshua snarled like a junkyard dog. "You're here with another guy?!"
"Oh, Joshua, grow up!" Sondra bellowed, beginning to get annoyed already from Joshua's so called 'protection' towards 'his gal'.
"Answer me!"
"Yes! I'm here with another guy! But we're just friends! There, ya happy?!"
Joshua instantly flicked up one of his middle fingers, pointing it directly at Sondra with his clenching teeth now showing completely.
"Don't you dare use that tone with me!" Believe it or not, Joshua attempted grabbing Sondra by her shoulders so he could plant one right on her, but she instantly smacked his hands away, pushing him back without any hesitation afterwards.
"Don't you even think about kissin' me!" Sondra smacked Joshua clear across the face, causing the male Soc to instantly fly his hand to his cheek, where it was starting to turn red from such a hard slap. Sondra's been through plenty of abuse at home and was mocked by others a whole lot because she was a Regular to know when something wasn't going to end right. That's why she didn't want anything to do with Joshua any longer with his harsh orders and bad attitude and all.
"We're done!" Sondra bellowed, nearly spitting with her words, but she didn't care when barkin' like that towards Joshua.
"Excuse me?!" Joshua commanded to hear those words again, shooting Sondra such a tough look that was daring her to actually not say something like that again, but to his surprise, which he kept to himself, Sondra wasn't backing down.
"I said we're finished! Get out of here and never come by me again, ya hear?! Scram!" Sondra's voice rose with rage with each word she exclaimed from her lips, flinging her arm in a motioning way over Joshua's shoulder and over to the door, right before she just stomped off, not caring to hear if Joshua would say anything back that time, and she went off to find Amy so she could tell her that she and Johnny could pay the check when he came back from the restroom. However, Joshua wasn't leaving that easy...his ticked off glare upon his beating red face faded, becoming a devious smirk as he released some chuckles to himself, deciding he wanted to see who Sondra was at the diner with.
"Baby, what's wrong?" Johnny could instantly tell that something was bugging Sondra when he first laid his eyes on her after exiting the boys restroom. Sondra's arms were crossed over her chest, and she looked pretty angry, muttering God knows what under her breath.
"Joshua stopped by when you were in the bathroom. Turns out, he was a Soc." Sondra explained. Johnny's black eyes widened as his jaw dropped, saying the exact words "Oh my god...", but Sondra ignored him, going on with what was on her mind to share with Johnny. "He was totally different when we first met in the Dingo. He was properly high or drunk or somethin'. Either way, he turned out to be nothin' but a jerk. I broke up with him."
"You did?!" Johnny was certainly surprised, but yet on the inside, he was overjoyed to hear such news.
Sondra nodded her head. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure that boy never liked me for who I was anyway."
"...Well...if it means anythin'...I like you for who you are." Johnny shared "and besides, Joshua's gone. We can finally finish our food, then hurry on back."
Sondra couldn't help to smile after she heard Johnny tell her that he actually liked her for her, and she nodded her head with full agreement, the two teenagers now sitting back in their assigned booth.
"What exactly did Joshua say?" Johnny questioned after taking down a swig of his third Coke. "If you don't mind me by asking, that is."
"No, no, it's fine." Sondra shook her head, placing another fry in her mouth, chewing it up, then swallowing it before she started talking again. "All he was doing was telling me he was the man in the relationship, what he says goes, and he was getting jealous that-" However, before Sondra could get anymore words out to explain everything that happened between her and Joshua, she felt somebody actually stroke their hair inbetween her legs, kissing her leggings and trailing their lips up to actually try to make it up her skirt. Nonetheless, Sondra instantly leaped up with a squeak, getting out from the booth and completely drawing Johnny's attention.
"What's wrong, Baby?!" Johnny worriedly and nervously questioned, gently grasping Sondra's shoulders right after he got out of the booth himself.
"There's somebody under the table!" Sondra squeaked out with some tears in her eyes, knowing for a fact that she had just been sexually harrassed. "They were placing their head between my legs, trying to get under my skirt!"
Johnny's eyes narrowed sharply, and his face turned a deadly red, as his teeth started gritting together, and without a single moment of hesitation, he and Sondra both flashed their attention over to their booth to witness Joshua crawling his way out from underneath their table with a big and satisfied smirk on his face.
"You son of a-!" Sondra cursed, allowing the few tears that were resting in her pale blue eyes to fall down her cheeks. She knew for a hardcore fact right there and then that she was most likely never going to wear a skirt again in her whole life.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Johnny blustered, clenching his hands tightly into rock-hard fists, but all Joshua did was continue to smirk as he jammed his hands into his pockets.
"So, Baby...you're here with him?" Joshua snickered in a mocking and jocking manner. On the inside, he was truly ticked at the fact that Sondra was actually out at the diner with Johnny.
"Go to hell..." Sondra wiped away some of her falling tears, but to her surprise, before Joshua got any chance to say anything back to her, he was greeted by Johnny's fist, which slammed him across the cheek, causing him to fall flat down on the tile floor. Sondra's tearful eyes widened as her jaw fell, and her mouth gaped open. She seriously couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"That's for messing with my friend!" Johnny bellowed, giving Joshua a couple tough kicks in the ribs and stomach to unleash his rare rage that he hardly got. "Now get the heck out of here! And never bother Baby or myself again!"
Usually, Joshua never backs down from a fight, but as he scowled up at Johnny from the floor after being punched, he witnessed Johnny reach into his back pocket where his switchblade was located. Fighting with a weapon against bare hands wouldn't be such a great fight, so Joshua actually did the smart thing and bash his way out of the diner, leaving Johnny proudly smirking with great satisfaction, and Sondra all surprised in what she just witnessed Johnny do for her.
"Are you alright, Baby?" Johnny question, turning his attention back around to see the oldest female Prescott, who was now having a grin tugging at her lips as the remains of her tears in her eyes dried up completely.
"...I'm fine..." she sniffled a bit, but continued to grin, happily. "Why'd you do that for me?"
"...Maybe because I wanted to show you that I can." Johnny smirked "anywho, I think we ate enough. Ready to head on home?"
Sondra nodded her head, keeping her smile plastered on her face as she and Johnny both laid some of their money on the table, leaving it beside the bill before they both headed out of the diner. Nevertheless, they didn't get that far. Sondra and Johnny both stopped walking down the sidewalk when they heard a couple of honks from a car coming at them on the road. When Sondra first laid her eyes on the red truck, she seriously couldn't believe who was there in the car. Two other members from her mini 'gang', eighteen-year-old Jason, and seventeen-year-old Sean, Jason being the one driving with Sean kicking back with a cigarette in the passengers seat.
"Hey, Baby!" Jason cheered out the window that was now rolled down. All Sean did was smirk and nod his head.
"Jason! Sean!" Sondra's eyes widened with joy and excitement, as her mouth grew into a wide smile that was full of joy.
"You know these guys?" Johnny questioned.
Sondra nodded her head right after she took in Johnny's question. "Yeah, they're members of my mini 'gang'."
"Who's this, Baby? You're boyfriend?" Sean snickered, blowing out a perfect smoke ring from his lips out the window.
Once again, Johnny's eyes grew big as his face changed to the shade to a bright, bright red, and he glanced down at the concrete, starting to kick a pebble a bit back and forth to himself, while Sondra stared at her two male pals, wide-eyed as well, but she shook her head back and forth to answer Sean's question.
"No, he's not my boyfriend. He's just a friend." Sondra gently nudged Johnny to get his attention, which worked. "Johnny, meet my two other friends from my mini 'gang'. The blondie is Sean, and the brunette is Jason. Jason, Sean, meet my new friend, Jonathan, but everyone calls him Johnny for short, or Johnnycake for a nickname."
"Hey, nice to meet ya, Johnnycake." Jason greeted.
"Sup, Johnny." Sean flicked his ashes out the window of Jason's red truck, before he flashed Johnny a peace sign with both of his fingers. Sean was seriously just like Dallas Winston, except he actually liked Sondra. That was the only difference there was in the two of them. As for Jason, he was just like Peter and Two-Bit. Total jokers and goofballs who have a blast with life 24/7, just as long as you don't get on his bad side.
Shyly, Johnny waved at the two older boys in the red truck and forced himself to smile at them, not wanting to be rude. Jason and Sean knew that he was a Greaser just by looking at him, but Jason wasn't the type to judge, and as for Sean, anybody who's a friend of Sondra's and/or Iris's is a friend of his.
"Jason, I thought you were still on your trip in California!" Sondra informed.
"I was. Got back early." Jason simply shrugged his shoulders, flashing his handsome grin while doing so.
"And, Sean..." Sondra began talking, but then shut herself up, cocking an eyebrow. "Where were you exactly?"
"Jail." Sean responded coolly and easily without any trouble or hesitation, taking another drag of his cancer-stick while he was at it.
"...Of course." Sondra playfully rolled her eyes and smiled at Sean, who just smirked back.
"Anyway, Baby, Charlie called me and said that since I was bailing Sean out of jail, if we could pick you up from your night out with this Johnny." Jason explained.
"How was it, Babydoll?" Sean asked, using Sondra's other nickname to address her that time.
"Great fun!" Sondra responded with a great amount of cheer in her voice, as if Joshua didn't even exsist that night. "I hope we can do it again soon, Johnnycake!"
Okay, Johnny certainly wasn't expecting that. He was thinking that Sondra would say that night was a total drag after what happened in the diner with Joshua, but turns out, Sondra actually had great fun, just like Johnny did himself.
"...Me, too." Johnny grinned.
Sean and Jason exchanged smirks, right before they both had their eyes wander to anywhere that wasn't on Sondra and Johnny, because they knew that Sondra understood that she had to head away for the night, and they wanted her to be able to have one final good-bye to Johnny for that night.
"Did you really like our friends night out, Baby?" Johnny questioned so softly so only Sondra could hear him talking.
Sondra instantly nodded her head, smiling greatly, which she was pretty sure Johnny was starting to turn red over for some reason.
"I had such an amazing time today with you...hey, Johnny...can I ask you a question?" Sondra asked.
"Of course. Anythin'."
"...Did you really pay any attention to the movie we saw together today?"
A blank expression formed on Johnny's face. He was now taking a moment to think about her question, hesitating and creating a quiet pause for about eight seconds, but then, the eldest Cade smirked, his black eyes dancing with playfulness.
"Ya want the truth?" Johnny asked.
Sondra nodded with her smile still perfectly straight, saying the exact words to reply to his question, "Yeah, I want the truth."
Johnny then nodded his head, keeping his eyes directly on Sondra the whole time, but he said the single word coolly, "No."
Sondra couldn't help herself to laugh a bit along with Johnny there, and she gave him a playful punch in the arm, which Johnny rubbed, pretending to be hurt, which only made him and Sondra giggle more.
After their laughter died down and faded about ten seconds later, Sondra and Johnny both gazed at each other again, their eyes now suddenly locked, and their faces starting turning to that shade of a bright, bright red. The stars and moon were certainly gorgeous in the nighttime sky that evening, and the gentle breeze was whistling through the air, causing Sondra's golden blonde hair to flow a bit, while Johnny's heavily greased jet-black hair swayed in the musical soft wind that night too. Neither Sondra or Johnny said a single word then to each other, and Jason and Sean were still not looking, keeping their mouths shut themselves so Sondra and Johnny could have their moment still.
"Need I bother to share that I think you're...kind of...actually cute? In my mind, that is..." Sondra shyly grinned, breaking the silence between her and Johnny.
"...Need I bother to share that I think you're beautiful no matter what? In my mind, that is..." Johnny playfully smirked, but he seriously meant it when he thought Sondra was beautiful. Nonetheless, the two compliments that Johnny and Sondra both recieved from each other then, they just thought to themselves that some friends usually gave the others compliments like that, so they really didn't mean anything...or did they?
Quietness met the two teenagers again, and before Sondra or Johnny could see it coming, both of them had their eyes resting shut in dreamy manners, and as the breeze continued to calmly whistle that evening, while the moonlight and starlight danced around, Johnny and Sondra both slowly started leaning into each other...until finally...their lips actually met, smacking together with such a gentle, caring, and soft manner. Both of the teenagers could feel how hot the others face was burning, but they continued to kiss with their eyes remaining shut, and Sondra's arms wrapped around Johnny's back, while Johnny's left hand went around her back, but his right hand stroked her hair.
"Yeah...they're 'friends' alright." Sean snickered, keeping his tone extremely quiet so only the widely grinning Jason could hear his words.
"...They call it puppy love, my criminal friend." Jason chuckled just as quiet and soft, which instantly had him and Sean quietly laughing with each other a bit.
After fifteen seconds straight, Sondra and Johnny both parted from their kiss, staring at each other with slimly wide eyes. Johnny's mouth was now slightly hanging open, and Sondra was beating redder than ever before, but that didn't stop her from having a little grin curl up on her lips. Both of the teens didn't actually know why they just did that with each other.
Johnny had a hard time letting go of Sondra's hand. He had to hold on easy as he released her hand when she walked backwards, not saying anything, and she kept her pale blue eyes on him the entire time, until she had to turn around to open the door of Jason's red truck, and she hopped into the backseat, closing the door behind her and buckling herself up, before she gazed back out the window again at Johnny, who hadn't taken his black eyes off of her.
Sondra grew another small smirk-like look as she placed her right hand flat on the glass of the window. In return, Johnny had rose his own right hand up and placed it on the opposite side of the glass, making it look like his and Sondra's hands were touching through the glass. It was as if the song "Don't You Forget About Me" by Simple Minds was playing in both Sondra's and Johnny's minds, which it was, when the lyrics actually said "don't you...forget about me...", Jason started driving his red truck again, forcing Johnny to take his hand back away from the glass.
Sondra turned around in her seat, looking at Johnny as he continued looking at the red truck until it was fully out of sight. When the red truck was actually out of sight, Johnny, who was left in a breathtaking manner, remembered that Sondra had given him a piece of paper that was neatly folded, and she told him she thought it was best if he looked at it when he was alone.
Without hesitating for another single second, Johnny dug his hand into his pocket, and he carefully pulled out the piece of paper, carefully unfolding it to reveal what was on it...it was actually the picture that Sondra was working on for over an hour the night before...and the picture was actually...a picture of Johnny. Johnny couldn't believe it. He was plain speechless, his eyes now widen with his mouth starting to fall open yet again as he stared at how awesome the picture was. It was so well-detailed and everything, and it was just drawn in pencil.
Sondra got everything right from his decently long, heavily greased hair, to his scar that was just below his right eye a bit. A big, wide smile spread across Johnny's face, and he stared up at the twinkling stars in the dark sky, thinking now about Sondra as he hugged the picture close to his chest for about ten seconds. Then, he folded it back up and slipped it back into his pocket.
It was time to head back to the Curtis's house, and as Johnny walked down the sidewalk with one of his hands jammed in his jean jackets pockets, and his mind completely on Sondra, especially about their kiss that surprised him greatly, Johnny used his other hand to do a fist-pump in the air. That night was certainly one he'd never forget, and same goes for Sondra, but the main question is...what would all happen the next day?
A/N: Cliffhanger! What WILL happen the next day? Will Johnny tell the gang about the kiss? How will they all react if he DOES tell 'em? Will Sondra and Johnny think anything of the kiss? Find out all of these questions and more in upcoming chapters! Please review! Thanks, everyone! :D :D :D :D
