[A/N. I am back at Uni next week so I wont be updating all that often because as well as homework I've been writing a novel which is so far up to nearly 38,000 words. Also, this is the last chapter from before the novel; the next one is going to be at the start of the novel, but you might have been able to tell that from this chapter?]
"Johnny's diary."
Dear diary,
It's not night as I write this, but rather the afternoon and I had some spare time on my hands so I thought I might write in here now. Although today was a pretty boring day so there's not a lot to say.
Today I broached the subject of having a diary with Pony as we walked to school, without letting on that I'd started one. He thought about it for a moment before saying "I'd like to have something like that, just to get my thoughts out on paper….but then what's the chances Soda'd find it and give me heaps? Why Johnny? You got a diary?"
I snorted. "Nah, I don't have an interesting enough life to write in one." I replied. "Do you remember all those adventure stories we used to read when we were kids? I wish our life was like that."
Pony nodded as we walked through the school gates. "Yeah, it'd be cool if something exciting happened around here." He agreed. "What are you doing after school?"
"Nothin', just hanging." I said with a shrug as we reached our lockers and pulled out the books we needed. I was standing near mine debating whether to take my history textbook or not (as often as not we didn't use it in class and it was a heavy thing I didn't want to carry if I didn't have to) when a bunch of socs walked past, and one reached over me to slam my locker shut. "Oops, sorry there greaser." He said.
I didn't say anything, just opened my locker and got the book out, but Pony was glaring at their retreating backs. "We shouldn't let them get away with that sort of stuff." He complained.
"Leave it be…there was no damage done was there?" I asked, hoping Pony wouldn't think I was a coward, but of course he didn't.
"They just really annoy me, that's all." Pony said as we now walked to his locker. "So anyway, I'm going to the movies after school, what do you say?"
I thought about it for a moment and then shook my head. "I can't afford it." I said.
"I'll lend you the money." Pony offered.
It was nice of him to offer seeing as how he wasn't really all that more well off than I was, but I still declined. I'm not much into movies, and Pony's the sort of person who sits there and stares at the screen rapt the entire way through. I remember once when Pony and Soda went to the movies, and then Soda snuck me in through the back door, and Soda commented on how unrealistic the movie was, and Pony was disgusted with him. "Your problem is you've got no imagination." He told him after we'd gone back out into the daylight. After that day Pony didn't take Soda to the movies much- he was too restless to sit and watch something for a few hours.
"Darry'll tell me off for goin' alone, but who cares?" Pony said, as we reached his classroom. "Not like I'm going to wait for him to come home and then spend ages trying to convince him to come with me and have him be bored stiff the entire time."
"But you went alone the other day." I said confused.
Pony grinned. "I did, and Darry found out and he was furious. He said things have been too quiet between us and the socs lately and that we don't want to tempt fate."
I laughed. "Trust Darry." I said, shaking my head.
"Yeah, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him. If I go to the movies as soon as I finish school and be home before Darry gets home and he'll be none the wiser." Pony explained with a grin.
A few socs pushed us out of the way to get into the classroom, and I noticed one of them looking at Pony thoughtfully for a moment, but then he saw me looking at him and turned away.
The warning bell rang. "I better get to class." I said, and I hurried off.
The rest of the day was pretty mundane. I got a B+ on my English assignment, which was something of a relief as it made up slightly for the bad mark in history the other week. One of the Sheppard gang got into a fight with a soc in the cafeteria at lunchtime, and came off better until he got hauled into the principal's office where apparently he was told he had used up his last warning and was to be expelled. Of course nothing happened to the soc. I came home to find Dad at work and Mom passed out on the couch. I leant over and removed the half-empty bottle of scotch from her, as well as the burnt out cigarette dangling from her hand. As a kid I always longed for a normal family, like the Curtis's, but now I know that's never going to happen. My best shot at being normal is getting out of here and going away to college.
The sun's finally starting to set as I finish this off and…. Hold on a second, Two-Bit's hollering at my window telling me we're going down the shops to hang out. It's a school night and I probably shouldn't, but I will.
J.C.
