Author's Notes: Sort of short I guess, but I wanted a bit of suspense (I bet people can guess who she goes to anyway..). More teen angst, more fighting the feelings and confusion, with some action thrown in. Enjoy..And don't forget to review and add in what you want to see or what you want more of. I try to cater to everyone's needs. Thank you!
Chapter 36 – Finding Johnny
"You sleep like you're in a damn coma!"
Chantelle opened her eyes to see her best friend leaning over her, shaking her shoulders whilst looking reasonably concerned. Sitting up, she rubbed at her eyes blearily whilst Christy chose to seat herself on the edge of her bed already in the middle of some long-winded explanation of something that had happened.
"Christy…I didn't catch half of that. Will you slow down a little?"
The redhead turned to face Chantelle and sighed, rubbing at her temple as though she was already getting a headache.
"Johnny's gone missing Chantelle, Ricky is in a huge panic about it. Apparently a couple of the other Greasers went to the Tenements early this morning to find the door kicked in and there was a bit of a mess too and Vincent was nowhere to be found. It's not like him to just go and disappear, considering he had some business to sort out…According to Ricky anyway."
It took a few seconds for this information to penetrate through Chantelle's drowsy mind, but as soon as she registered it she became alert and attentive. She pushed the covers off her in haste and tried to get herself out of the bed and on to her feet, only proceeding to tangle herself up in the mess and fall out of bed instead. Christy aided her best friend by dragging aside the sheets, a shadow of a smile playing across her lips, temporarily forgetting about the current situation.
Finally, Chantelle got to her feet and without another second began to change out of her pyjamas and into something a bit more suitable and when she turned to get her jacket she found that Christy was already holding it out for her,
"You left that at the Tenements last night," Christy said as she raised her eyes curiously, "It was next to Jonny's bed apparently…Next to his own jacket, which is even more strange since he never goes anywhere without it."
"We'll talk about this later okay, right now we need to find out what's happened to him." Chantelle muttered, shrugging on her jacket and heading towards the door. Christy simply followed without another word, she was sure that Chantelle would give her the information she was seeking once they found Johnny.
"Ricky's waiting outside, he wants to talk to you." Christy informed as they descended the stairs of the dormitory, "You were the last person to see him Chantelle…"
Chantelle was sure that Ricky and the remainder of the Greasers would love to barrage her with questions and accusations but she didn't have time for that. She had an idea of where to turn to first, but finding the lead would be somewhat difficult. Chantelle had to seek out Gary Smith because her instincts told her that somehow, he was involved and this was where her sense of urgency arose. Gary could have done anything to Johnny…
Exiting through the doors, she saw Ricky's head snap in her direction and as she predicted he began to question her almost immediately, the tone of his voice sinking back into a flurry of undistinguishable words in the stereotypical Greaser's accent. Sighing in exasperation, Chantelle stopped in front of him and cut him off in a hurry,
"I don't know where Johnny is, or where he might be. When I left him he was still in the Tenements and he was perfectly fine. Now I have somewhere to be, and let's just hope that when I get back I know exactly where he is and why he got there in the first place." She interjected in a harsh, clipped tone before turning on her heel and marching off.
"Chantelle!" Christy called out, looking slightly perturbed by her friend's sudden and exceptionally aggressive outburst. She intended to follow her, to try and make some sense and perhaps demand where she was going but Ricky held her back with a shake of his head.
"Let's just see what happens eh? If she's got some sorta lead than she's pretty much our only hope of finding Johnny."
"She's keeping too many secrets for my liking." Christy said quietly, watching as Chantelle took a sharp left turn and moved to exit the campus of Bullworth. Ricky gave his girl a lingering, anxious look but chose not to comment.
Chantelle could only predict where Gary Smith would be hiding, after all he enjoyed seeing the chaos and confusion that his plans and plots enforced upon the people he manipulated or used for his own benefit. She set off at a fast pace, but by the time she reached the wrought iron gates she had begun to jog and then when she reached the bridge it was an all-out sprint.
She turned right after crossing over the bridge, intending to search the entirety of the Greasers hang-out should she have to, but there was no need for that.
Gary Smith stood in the alleyway opposite the dingy motel; his eyes had been searching the area, almost as though he had been waiting for her. That wouldn't surprise Chantelle in the slightest if proven to be true, but when he caught sight of her he moved further into the alley-way. Knowing that he wanted him to follow her, and knowing that she would do so he moved a little quicker so they would be out of both earshot and eye-sight of any passer-by's. Chantelle closed the gap between them quickly,
"What did you do!"
Gary Smith turned around slowly to face an irate Chantelle storming towards him. Her cheeks were flushed pink and her eyes were burning with aggression, but this only made the sociopath smirk with something like satisfaction. Even the appearance of a heavily bruised left eye did not distract Chantelle from the blunt anger she felt for Gary's latest stunt.
"I said, what the hell did you do!" Chantelle repeated in annoyance, but still he remained silent with that smug grin on his face, leaning casually against the brick building. Face contorted with rage, Chantelle pulled back her left hand and slapped Gary across his face with as much force as she could muster. This time Chantelle looked on with satisfaction as his head rocked back and he stumbled slightly, holding his cheek which was already glowing a vicious red against his tanned skin.
Still not feeling fully happy with her work, Chantelle pulled her arm back again ready for a second hit but Gary grabbed her wrist pulled her forward and quickly swapped their positions. He backed her up roughly against the wall, pressing his body against her, his fingers continually growing tighter around her wrist and making her wince.
"Now, now Chantelle, you should really learn to control that temper of yours," Gary murmured into her ear. She struggled against him, but he pushed her shoulder back with her free hand and left it there, so her struggling simply became more futile.
Even though her slap had been incredibly painful and was still glowing on his skin, Gary chose to ignore it, as there were now more pressing and…Entertaining matters at hand. However, Chantelle's face was not full of the usual fear or distress that he had become associated with but her anger would suffice for now.
"You need to learn to keep out of other people's business," Chantelle snapped back, trying to wrench her wrist from his grip. She could feel every finger digging in to her delicate flesh, undoubtedly already causing contusions. With his eyes boring in to hers, Chantelle found herself shifting her gaze away from steel blue depths but being so close to him it was proving to be quite difficult.
"Chantelle, you are my business." He said shortly, causing her constant struggling to seize, if only for a moment.
"Johnny didn't do anything," Chantelle said quickly, trying to cover up the brief moment of confused silence that had formed between them, and Gary only chuckled but it did not quite reach his eyes and the expression flattened almost immediately after.
"You were with him last night Chantelle, he dared put his hands on you…Again. He's crazy…He's mental to even go near you! And we all know where crazy people go…" Gary snarled, his eyes flashing dangerously. She hadn't seen him look this threatening in quite some time, and that old familiar feeling of anguish began to flare up once more. "He had to be dealt with Chantelle; no-one is allowed to have you. Not Jimmy, not Johnny…No-one!"
"That isn't up to you!" Chantelle called out, taking advantage of Gary's irrational thought processes to finally pull her wrist from his slackened grip and shove him away from her. "Johnny doesn't deserve to be fucked about with! He certainly doesn't deserve to be in that place!"
Moving as quickly as she could, she tried to reach the sidewalk so she could be out in the public and away from the dangerous sociopath but of course he was far more agile than she was and he had snatched at her arm before she could go even a couple of steps.
"Just stop!" Chantelle called out, both fear and anger fighting to best the other as she was forced round to face him again. "You do NOT own me, I am NOT yours! Stop fucking with my head Gary!"
Furious tears began to prick in her eyes and she quickly lowered her head, strands of her blonde hair falling into her face. Gary watched her silently, taking note of the glistening eyes and the pink blush creeping up her cheeks, vibrant against the pale porcelain skin. He observed the way she dropped her head to her chest to hide the tears that were threatening to fall, and the way her blonde hair flowed like silk to obscure her face.
Lifting a hand, he pushed the soft strands back away from her face and tucked them gently behind her ear. She cringed away from his touch, turning her head away from him and taking several quick steps back before feeling the solid brick wall once more. He followed her and raised his hand once more but she slapped it away aggressively,
"Don't touch me." Chantelle responded coldly, her head finally lifting so that their eyes met once more, the angry tears now dissipated, but Gary merely shrugged as a smirk spread across his face.
"You didn't mind last time…"
"That was a mistake." She said bluntly, her eyes narrowing dangerously, "You were a mistake and it certainly won't happen again. I'm free to do whatever I want, and see whoever I want Gary. It is not up to you! And now I'm going to get Johnny out of that damn asylum because he doesn't deserve to be there. You do!"
She shoved past Gary and instinctively moved her arms and wrists out of his reach and hurried away from the alleyway, moving fluidly into a quick jog. She could hear him calling out her name as she moved faster, running straight out into the middle of the road.
There was a long, loud drawn out beep that made Chantelle's heart seemed to stop in her chest as she turned towards the source of the noise. The vehicle stopped just inches short of her, and her eyes stared at the windshield as though it was some strange apparition. Her mind had gone completely blank and her brain could not seem to comprehend the mass of shouting and noise that she could hear.
"Chantelle!"
The driver had already started scrambling out of his car, undoubtedly with the intention to give her a lecture on road safety or something else just as ridiculous but before he could round on her, a hand had gently taken her hand and dragged her away from the road and towards the Underpass on the safety of the pavement. Chantelle caught sight of a flash of red as her attention finally moved away from the fact that she could have been seriously injured by that car, to the person who was steering her along.
"Christy?"
Her best friend stopped abruptly and turned on Chantelle, looking flustered and aggressive,
"What the hell are you playing at? Do you want to get killed or something! Why did you just go running out into the road like that? And why were you even in that alleyway in the first place?"
Question after question kept rolling of Christy's lips, some of which she continuously repeated and Chantelle could only assume that her best friend was also in some form of shock, one that just made her seem to run on a loop. Finally Chantelle cleared her throat, cutting through Christy's continuous monotonous monologue,
"I was in a rush, I know where Johnny is and I just…Started running. He's at Happy Volts, Christy. He's at the bloody mental asylum and we need to get him out. That place is enough to make any sane person lose it within a few hours…Well so I've heard."
"Happy Volts?" Christy questioned, temporarily oblivious to the fact that Chantelle had purposely ignored her last question, "But what's he doing there?"
"Someone rang the orderlies obviously. Look we don't have time for this; we need to get Johnny out there right now."
"And how do you propose we do that Chantelle? We can't just go storming in there making demands for his release. It doesn't work like that."
Chantelle stopped for a second to think, something which she had neglected to do since she had come face to face with Gary. Her mind had become a muddled mixture of emotions and broken memories as well as rising temptation and desire and everything logical or rational had decided to erase itself from her mind. But now she was with Christy, things were starting to piece itself back together, and now they needed to formulate some plan to break Johnny out of the asylum.
"We're going to need some help."
"Well I know the Greasers will be up for helping, Johnny is there leader after all…"
"No. Not them…They're too irrational and will probably break straight through the front doors."
"Then…Who?"
"Come on…"
Taking Christy's wrist, Chantelle turned in the opposite direction, heading back up towards Bullworth Academy, having just one person in mind. Ignoring the irate driver who was still yelling words of aggression, they hurried onwards. As they passed the alleyway, her head turned automatically towards it and noted that it was now completely empty. Christy noted this small attentive turn of her best friends head, and noted it in the back of her mind, planning to corner Chantelle and have a serious conversation once this little ordeal was over.