"Johnny" I felt a rough hand grab my shoulder. I groaned.
"Hey Johnnykid... Come on man, lets get going." It was Dallas my eyes opened and I sat up, leaning against my headboard. I actually wasn't sleeping. Well I kind of was, but I woke up a while ago and never fell back asleep completely.
"How'd you get in here, man?" I whispered, hoping my dad wouldn't hear. I looked at the window, remembering my dad had put this thing on the window so no one could get in from the outside, after my mom had caught Sodapop sneaking in. We laugh about it now, but when it happened my mom shoved him back out the window, he almost fell. He looked like he was in cry mode.
"Your folks aint home," He said, standing up and taking a cigarette from my near empty pack on my desk. "Me and Two-Bit just walked in the front door." I looked around my room. No Two-Bit in sight.
"Bit's downstairs looking for some breakfast. Too bad all you got is beer huh?" He laughed.
"Yeah." I said quietly scratching my head. I stood up putting on a clean white tee shirt and my jean jacket.
"We was gonna have a game of football. The Curtis' wanted us to come and see if you wanted to join." He said his voice thicker with the smoke in his lungs.
I nodded and we headed downstairs.
"Hey Johnny...you know it really is too bad that you don't drink. Your house is like happy hour. Except, without the happy." Two-Bit smiled at me and ran towards the door.
"I win!" He yelled slamming his body weight against my door. I didn't even know we were racing, but whatever.
We walked outside and over to the vacant lot. My house was closer to the vacant lot than the Curtis' was. It was only about 3 houses away.
"Hey Johnny!" Sodapop yelled and then threw the football at me. I was getting ready to catch it but Two-Bit did an over exaggerated dive in front of me. The ball hit him in the chest rather than him catching it though and he hit the ground with a thump. Dallas picked up the ball and stepped on Two-bit before walking over to the rest of the gang with me in tow.
"Okay guys...regular teams, Ponyboy, Johnny, Two-Bit and Darry. Soda, Dal, me." Steve said checking over the football. We had a few footballs but some of them had these little holes in them from Two-Bit always throwing them at broken glass or boards with a nail in it or something.
"You know what, no way!" Dally said, pitching away his cigarette butt. We all turned around to look at Dallas. "I'm so sick of them always getting Darryl" Everyone laughed, but Dally wasn't joking.
"Aw, come on Dal, it's just a game." Sodapop laughed and dragged Dallas to the other side to talk about their game plan.
Me and Ponyboy sat on his couch playing cards.
"Ugh." I groaned after Ponyboy had beaten me at this stupid game he made up...again.
"I don't want to play." I said throwing the cards at him.
"Yes you do." He said, picking them up and shuffling them expertly.
"No I don't." I said laughing, pushing the cards away. "Stop forcing me to play cards with you."
Ponyboy glared at me for a second, trying not to grin.
"Fine. I don't need you." He said snatching the cards back from me and started practicing his shuffling. He played way too much cards.
"Hey guys," Two-Bit began from the arm chair by the TV, "Would you guys be my friend if I looked like this?"
I looked over to see Two-Bit with his nose pressed up with his index finger. He always asked those questions 'Would you talk to me if I wore my jeans like this?'
'What if I bought that hat, would you be my friend?'
"No." Steve, Soda and Pony said synchronized, which was mixed with Dallas' "Shut up Two-Bit."
Two-Bit brought his hand down from his nose slowly, with a mock-hurt look on his face. Then he smiled and got up and went into the kitchen.
"Are you coming to church tomorrow?" Ponyboy asked, still shuffling.
"Yeah sure." I said, squeezing into Ponyboy after Two-Bit jumped over the couch and sat almost on top of me.
"Church?" Two-Bit asked. He didn't know me and Pony went to church. He'd probably make some stupid remark about how it was for rich socs. There were a lot of socs there, but they were with their families and never bothered us or anything. I know Ponyboy feels kind of weird being there, but at least he's a little more decent looking than me. I'm probably wearing the same thing every time I go.
"Yeah me and Johnny go to church." Ponyboy said flipping cards at Two-Bit aiming for his nose.
"I want to go to church." Two-Bit said enthusiastically smiling.
"Ha-ha yeah okay Two-Bit we get it." Pony said thinking that he was being sarcastic and making fun of us.
"What time do you guys go?" He asked after taking a nice long swig of his beer.
"8:00." I said quietly.
Two-Bit nodded.
"Eight in the morning." Ponyboy added in leaning up to see Two-Bit.
"I know that." Two-bit said mocking the way Ponyboy had said it. Then he leaned back and gave him a smack to the head.
"Well that's just what time you usually go to bed at on a Saturday night..." Ponyboy said quietly taking out a book.
"Well I won't tonight alright?" Two-Bit laughed knowing Pony told all truth.
"Yeah, okay. You gonna want me to leave out some aspirin for that hangover when you get here at 2:00 tomorrow?" Ponyboy asked widening his eyes and looking back down at his book.
"You think you're real smart don't you?" Two-bit asked raising an eyebrow.
Ponyboy looked over and nodded seriously.
"Well I'm going out. I'll be here at EIGHT O'CLOCK tomorrow!" He yelled looking at Pony while he grabbed his coat.
"8:00?" Steve said looking over at me and Ponyboy on the couch.
"Why the hell would Two-Bit be here at eight?" Sodapop asked. He knew we went to church, I guess he just forgot.
"Church." Ponyboy stated.
"Oh yeah."
"Hey I went to church once." Steve said laughing and throwing one of his cards down.
"No you didn't." Dallas retorted.
"Two-bits gonna go to church?" Sodapop asked.
"He wants to." I said looking back at them.
"Doesn't mean he will though." Ponyboy said turning the dial on the TV set.
"Why don't you come Soda?" Pony asked, flopping back on the couch.
Soda shrugged.
"Will you go Steve?" He asked, those two were like attached at the hip, they wouldn't go anywhere unless the other would go. It actually got annoying sometimes. It's like they were one person or something.
"I guess," Steve said Ponyboy frowned at me; He hadn't wanted Steve going, just Soda.
"Thanks for inviting me guys." Dally said and grunted.
"You can come too Dal." I said to him.
"Naw man, I'm kidding, I'm planning on getting stoned tonight." He said laughing.
"Speaking of that I better get down to the lake," He said, standing up and putting on his jacket.
"Later." He said before walking out and slamming the screen door.
------------------------------------------
Soda woke me up the next morning. I was on the couch and Steve was sleeping in the armchair.
Sodapop jumped on me and rolled over me onto the floor.
"Um ouch." I said yawning looking over to see him shoving his stocking feet into Steve's sleeping face.
"Ha-ha! Look, Steve's smelling my feet!" Sodapop laughed.
"Soda that's gross." Ponyboy snorted. "If Steve was awake he would beat the living crap outta you." Ponyboy said pointing to the unconscious looking Steve.
I got up and walked over to the table where Pony was sitting. I felt drowsy; I should have gone to bed earlier.
"I'm gonna have a shower alright?" I said running my hand through my hair and wiping it on my shirt.
"Yeah sure Johnny...there's some clean towels by the dryer." He said pointing to the messy laundry room.
"Thanks." I said.
"Hurry up though Johnny its already quarter to." He said laughing as Steve woke up to find Soda's foot in his face.
"Ouch!" Was all I heard as I shut the door and got in the shower.
"THAT'S COLD!" I yelled, I stuck my head out the curtains to see Soda combing his hair.
"Did you flush?" I said wiping the shampoo out of my eyes while they stung.
"Oops." He said and walked out.
When I finally got my hair done and had gotten dressed they were all ready to go.
"Where's Two-Bit?" Sodapop yelled from his room while we all hurried in the living room to go.
"Did anyone call him?" Ponyboy asked.
I had a feeling this wouldn't be a good idea. I kept having this vision of us five tall hoods walking in halfway through the sermon. It made me sick.
Two-Bit waltzed in, without a care in the world.
"Hey what are you guys doing? It's 10 to eight." He said.
We all turned and frowned at him at once.
"Waiting for you, doorknob." Steve said and shoved him into the door.
"I sense some anger here." Two-Bit said walking out behind Steve, fixing his leather jacket collar.
When we got there, there were a lot of families talking and laughing outside the doors. Turns out we weren't that late.
"Soda man," Steve said poking Sodapop in the back as we walked in, "Look at those chicks, they're so hot."
"Oh man," Soda said, his jaw dropping. He looked sideways at Steve and smiled, they both started towards the group of girls but Pony grabbed Sodas Tee shirt.
"No. Not here Soda." He said simply.
"Ponyboy don't be such a square all the time." Steve sneered. But we all started into the church anyways.
"Sit here." Pony said trying to shove Soda into the long pew at the very back.
"Hey I want to sit up in that bench!" Two-Bit said pointing at the one only two from the front. Pony and I always sat at the back. We knew we didn't have to, and no one would really think anything of it since its just church, not high school, but we just did.
"Two-Bit." Ponyboy hissed. "Just sit here."
Two-Bit stomped his way over to the seats like a six year old and plopped down beside Soda who was beside Steve. I sat beside Two-Bit and Pony sat on the outside of the pew, beside me.
Everyone was kind of glancing back at us, trying to not let their kids see us. What a shame it would be if they ever turned out like us.
For the first 10 minutes it seemed like they were actually going to be civilized humans. I saw them squirming to try and get comfortable, but they were quiet.
That is until Two-Bit noticed the lady in front of him, who had a feather sticking out the side of her hat.
"Oh my god!" Two-Bit laughed, and reached out to touch the feather. Steve and Sodapop broke into laughter, I looked at them and Soda bit his knuckle to try and stop laughing.
The lady turned around to look at us and Steve pretended to be looking at a hymn book.
"Seriously guys," Pony said leaning in front of me. Its funny, Pony always talks about how Darryl's been so tough on him lately, but in times like these he really reminds me of Darry.
We all heard the loud rip noise suddenly and we turned to see Steve with crumpled papers in his hands. Sodapop burst into a loud laugh that was muffled by his hands and Two-Bits even louder laugh, which he didn't try to muffle filled the quiet atmosphere.
I didn't even look to see who was looking at us, but pretended not to notice and looked down at my shoes instead.
After everyone stopped staring at us and my redness faded, I looked at Pony whose eyes were wide as he stared at Steve, Sodapop and Two-Bit who were just letting their laughter fade.
"Is that from the hymn book?" Ponyboy asked quietly, trying his best to not let anyone hear us.
"Umm..." Steve said laughing looking down at the paper, "No?"
Ponyboy glanced over at me, sighing. They were never coming to church again... ever.
"Hey Johnny," Two-Bit whispered laughing.
"What?" I whispered back tiredly.
"Steve wants you to pass this to Ponyboy," He said, I looked at his hands and he shoved his spit covered finger into my ear.
"Ugh!" I exclaimed a little too loudly. I wiped my ear off and threw a dirty look at Steve, Soda and Two-Bit.
Two-Bit grabbed the book from Steve and ripped out more pages, he shoved them into his mouth and spit them at him.
"Oh my god." Ponyboy said, squeezing his eyes shut and leaning his head back.
"Give me that!" Steve yelled grabbing the book back and crinkling up another piece. He looked over at Soda then threw it up as far as he could. Some people turned around again and I felt like hiding my face or something but I just stared back at the front. Like I hadn't even noticed Steve was acting like this.
Finally Ponyboy reached over and grabbed the book from them and put it back on the shelf.
"You can't just rip this up!" He hissed and then stopped when the lady with the feather turned around.
Steve looked disappointed, and the three of them finally calmed down. I could feel Two-Bit squirming around beside me. They started talking again though.
"Hey!" Steve said and pulled out a few yellow sheets with typewriting on them. He smiled and let his bottom jaw drop.
He made one into a paper airplane which failed to fly more than one row in front of us.
"No Steve, you have to do this thing with the wings," Two-Bit said taking a sheet and making it fly about four rows ahead and out into the aisle.
"Hey that's awesome, where'd you pick that up?" Sodapop asked taking a sheet and trying to make one.
"This guy in detention, like, took a course on it or something," He said, biting his tongue as he made another one.
"That's so cool." Steve said watching his airplane proudly, while it flew and hit some mans bald spot.
"Ha! Did you just knock off that guys toupee?" Sodapop asked straightening up to see over the heads.
"No he wasn't wearing one to start with..." Steve said, with Two-Bit's laughter.
"Hey I'm gonna hit one of those chicks," Steve said, "Bit give me one of your papers."
"No," He said.
"Yes just give it!" Steve said grabbing his wrists to see his hands were empty.
"I'm out." He laughed,
Steve sighed and then stopped, looking at the book on the shelf. He glanced quickly at Ponyboy and they both jumped at the book.
"Steve you can't!" Pony said, with both hands on the book, leaning back while pulling.
"Pony, yes I can!" Steve said and ripped the book from Pony's hands, Two-Bit being the complete moron he is grabbed at the book too, just to part of the action.
BOOM
Everything went perfectly silent, even the priest had stopped talking. Every single head, and I'm not even exaggerating, turned to look at us.
Steve stared at the book which lay open on the floor, absent from his hands.
"Damn." He said after swallowing. Soda was gaping at the crowd, probably liking the attention but not showing it.
"Oops." Two-Bit said quietly, not laughing or grinning, but definitely not being serious.
Ponyboy moaned and rested his face in his hands. I looked at the door to see how clear the opening was for escaping.
And of course, since treating me fairly never has been at the top of life's things to do, who else should be sitting there with her mouth gaped open besides Jackie. Not only Jackie, but Jackie looking stunning in an orange summer dress and her dark curls tamed with a similar orange colored ribbon.
My face burned violently and I turned my head as far away from her as possible.
Two-Bit looked up to see everyone looking at us, grinned widely and waved his arm in the air.
"You can keep going, we're all okay."
Speak for yourself. I think I'm going to drop dead from embarrassment.
I had never heard a room full of people talking about me. Ever. Until now. We all got up, as if having one mind, at the same time and ran for the door.
I hope Ponyboy is thinking exactly what I'm thinking: So much for going to church.
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Thanks a lot for reading this chapter... and if you were waiting for this chapter im mega sorry for the super long wait! Hopefully this is worth it, i always think about this part of the book:D Dont you just love good ol' Two-Bit?! I know i Do. Anyways drop me a line (a.k.a. review:) )
Peace and Love Mercedes x0