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Ponyboy was coming home from Two-Bit's house and after he made his way up the staircase his brows furrowed as he saw that his bedroom door was shut. His door was never shut and he didn't think anyone else was home because the front door was locked. He walked over and opened the door only to freeze in shock at what he saw next. Johnny was laying in bed with some girl who had her arms wrapped around his neck and was kissing him deeply. And not just any girl. It was Angela Shepard.
"What the-" Pony exclaimed causing the two of them to jump apart.
"Jesus, Pony!" Johnny yelled, now completely embarrassed as they both got to their feet. "I thought you were hanging out with Two-Bit!"
Ponyboy was too shocked to respond as Angela quickly gathered herself.
"I'll see you at school tomorrow Johnny," she said before hurrying out of the room and out of the house. Pony continued to stare at Johnny, his mouth slightly opened.
"What?" Johnny asked, irritated that his brother had ruined the first time he had been with a girl. "This is my room too, you know."
"That was Angela Shepard," Pony finally managed to say.
"So? I can't have a girlfriend?"
"But it's Angela Shepard!"
"She's a nice girl! If you just give her a chance."
Ponyboy cocked his head slightly as he stared at his adopted brother. What was that supposed to mean? He then wondered if Angela had told him that she had actually asked him out back when they were in junior high. Ponyboy flat out said no. He wasn't into girls at the time and he was also told by Darry to stay far away from Angela Shepard. His oldest brother said that she was a hood chick and would cause him nothing but problems.
"How long has this been going on?" Pony then asked.
"Ever since Christmas break ended."
"It's spring break now, Johnny!" Pony exclaimed, now a little hurt that Johnny never told him. "You been seeing her for four months now and never told me!"
"So, I don't got to tell you every little thing."
"This is not a little thing." Pony took a seat on his own bed that was across the room from Johnny's. "So this is why we haven't been hanging out so much lately."
"Yeah," Johnny muttered, "Yeah I guess. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It's just...this is my first girlfriend. All this stuff is pretty new to me."
After that Ponyboy couldn't help but smile when Johnny said the word girlfriend. He was happy that his brother was with someone. Johnny was even shyer than he was and Pony wondered if Johnny would ever get a girlfriend of his own. But then a thought came to mind...Curly. He remembered that not long after Johnny first moved here the two of them got into a brief fistfight. It wasn't that serious but Pony had to know that Johnny couldn't be Curly's favorite person in the world. They went to school with him, on and off again when Curly wasn't in trouble and were in the same grade.
"Johnny," Ponyboy began, "You need to tell Curly that you're dating his sister." The slightly older boy raised his eyebrows as Pony continued. "You don't want him to find out the same way I did, he won't react the same way. He might just try to cut something off."
"Oh, shut up Pony," Johnny responded as he threw a pillow at him.
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Several days later, Johnny was walking Angela back to her house when in the distance he saw her brother Curly leaned up against a car in the driveway. It seemed like he was waiting for someone. Johnny then remembered what Ponyboy said about telling Curly about the relationship he now had with his sister. He sighed, guessing that now was as good as time as any. Curly turned his head in their direction once he sensed someone approaching the house and his brows furrowed.
"What the heck is this?" He asked.
Angela ignored the question as she kissed Johnny on the cheek and said goodbye to him before heading in the house. Johnny then turned his attention to the other boy.
"Hey, Curly," Johnny began awkwardly, "Angela and I are sort of...dating."
"Hmm," Curly simply replied as Johnny waiting for some sort of reaction. He wondered if any punches were going to be thrown and prepared himself for it. Curly then began searching himself for something but came up empty as he looked back at Johnny. "You got a weed?"
"Yeah."
Somewhat surprised by the lack of caring of Curly by the revelation, Johnny took out two cigarettes out of his pocket and handed one to Curly. He lit his own and the two boys began to smoke.
"How come you haven't been to school lately?" Johnny asked, trying to start some sort of conversation.
"Can't be bothered."
Johnny snorted. He guessed he really didn't need to ask.
"And the fuzz is thinking about sending me back to the reformatory anyway."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah," Curly responded as he blew a smoke ring. "I'll probably run into the kid I burnt in there. Won't he be happy to see me?"
Johnny raised his eyebrows in shock.
"Burnt?!"
"Yep. Burnt him with a lit cigarette. Screamed like a little bitch."
"As anyone would."
"I wouldn't," Curly responded matter-off-factly. He then looked Johnny up and down. "No doubt you would."
"I wouldn't," Johnny answered.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. My father once took a two-by-four to my back and I never made a sound," Johnny stated, almost proudly but on the inside he shuttered at the memory. He was so glad to be away from all that now. To now have such a loving and caring family.
Curly now looked a little impressed by Johnny's claim.
"Okay then. How about a game of chicken?" He asked.
Johnny stared at him. He learned from Ponyboy that 'chicken' was a game that the greasers played against each other. You would hold a lit cigarette to your finger until one person couldn't take it anymore and chickened out. Most people placed wagers on it but at the moment it seemed like the two boys just wanted to prove who was tougher between them.
"Alright," Johnny reluctantly agreed. He really didn't want to do this, but the last thing he was is a coward and wouldn't back out.
They both pressed the cigarette butts against their index finger at the same time. Johnny wanted to yelp as soon as the heat hit his body but held it in. He clenched his teeth and could feel his face burning up and sweat start to trickle down the side of his face. He looked over at Curly and saw that he had a simply reaction. They both could smell their flesh burning and it was nauseating. Curly grimaced and buried his head into his free arm for a second.
"Holler!" Curly demanded.
"No way!" Johnny yelled back through the pain. "You holler!"
Because of what they were doing to themselves they didn't hear the sound of the screen door opening and footsteps coming towards them.
"What the hell is going on!" A voice demanded.
It was Tim Shepard, Curly's older brother. Once he saw that they were burning holes into each other's fingers he looked enraged. He grabbed both of them by the collar's of their shirts, pulled them both together before grabbing Johnny and Curly's hair and smashed their heads together. They both yelled out in pain as they dropped their cigarettes.
"If I ever catch you doing something this stupid again, I'll beat you both into a pulp!" Tim yelled. He then turned his attention to Johnny. "You're the Curtis's adopted brother, right?"
"Yeah," Johnny managed as he clutched his poor finger.
"I'd figure that you'd have more sense than this dumbass," Tim growled as he then grabbed his younger brother and pulled him into the house. Johnny then swore as he looked down at his finger. He was going to have a new scar to add to his collection. You'd never think that such a thing as burning cigarettes into your own skin could bring two people closer together, but somehow, someway, it did. Johnny and Curly actually became friends after that, having a newfound respect for one another.
They might have been dumb, but they were sure tough.
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Author's note; I know the whole game of chicken took place between Ponyboy and Curly but I changed it to Johnny cause I thought it'd be a unique way for the two of them to bury the hatchet and become friends.
