Hiya ! I'm sorry this has took a while , but I've been up to my eyeballs in exams and things at the moment . Hopefully this is OK . Reviews would be very much appreciated .

Disclaimer : I regret nothing except the fact that I own none of this .

Chapter 26 - Doubt

Norton's POV

Greasers were fearless , right ? We could easily take on townies , preppies and anyone else who messed with us . We were in the middle of a clique-war with the trust-fund babies , and Johnny (with the help of a certain smart girl and her friends) had even managed to rid himself of his "queen" , a thorn in the side of the greasers since she'd met us .

Or were we all so brave ? You see , after the previous week's confession , my friend had yet to act on what he'd told us . Although to be fair to him , he had tried once .

By the time he got around to it , the last of the snow had began to thaw away . Beatrice wandered into the Auto-shop , her arms filled with glass flasks of suspicious green liquid .
"Do you know where I can store these ? Watts ran out of room . " she said over the smooth fifties music that flowed through the room , several flasks threatening to drop to the floor . Immediately , Johnny grabbed a few from the nerd , exchanging a quick grin with her .
"Will the spare locker do ? " he suggested , gesturing to the battered locker on the far right of the wall . Nodding , the nerd girl lined up the bottles on the bench with the same care she would if she'd been lining up atomic bombs that could have went off and killed us at any moment .
"How did you get away with making all these ? " I asked , incredulous .
"Dr . Watts thought I was Satan , so he told me to take what I wanted and leave him alone . " she replied calmly , fiddling with the lock . "Any ideas of the combination , Johnny ? "
"Well , it was Lola's , so ..."
"One second ... Yep , she uses the same combination for everything . " she smiled triumphantly after the locker swung open with a tiny clicking noise . Her smile was replaced by a serious expression . "By the way - talking of Lola , she was moaning to Zoe last night about how her and Tad have broke up ... I thought I should say something in case she comes over . " she explained , her eyes concerned behind her glasses .
"I didn't know Lola and Zoe were friends . " Johnny commented after a moment of silence .
"Apparently , neither did Zoe . " Beatrice answered with a slight smile .

"Come on man , get on with it !" I ordered mentally .
Having apparently heard me , my friend looked at the girl .
"Beatrice ? " he ventured , looking more jumpy than a first year when Russell walked past .
"Yes ? " the broad replied
"Would ... Would you like to ... "
"Johnny ! "

"Oh this is just perfect ! " I thought as Lola waltzed in , making a beeline for Johnny .
"Hello , Lola . " my friend mumbled , not taking his eyes away from Beatrice .
"Nice to see you too , babe . Listen , there's a film on this evening and I was thinking ... " Lola began , flicking her brown hair about .
"No thanks . "
"Oh come on , babe . Surely you can pull yourself away from your ... " - she grimaced at Beatrice - "acquaintance . " . Noticing the look of annoyance on the nerd girl's face , I stepped forward from the bench .
"He's not interested , broad . Get back to your rich boy ." Peanut ordered ,
"I hope the door whacks you on the way out ." I added silently .
"I wasn't speaking to you , Peanut . " she snapped , before switching back to her sugar-sweet persona as she spoke to my best friend .
"Johnny , Tad was sweet , but everything was so ... innocent . Besides , he could never compare to you ... "
"That's not what you told Zoe at all . " Beatrice muttered , perhaps slightly louder than (or possibly not nearly as loud as) she meant to . Lola's pretty face twisted in anger , creasing her inch-thick make-up .
"What did you say to me ? " she demanded . Obviously having heard Lola's venomous tone , Beatrice stepped back slightly , having enough sense to not utter a word .
"Well , nerd ? What ... did ... you say ... to me ? " Lola interrogated , clenching her fists.
"Leave it , Lola . " I stated warily , eyeing Beatrice's wary expression .
"Well , then ? "
"She can say what she likes , now move . "
"Shut up , Peanut . "
"Please leave him alone . " Beatrice whispered .
"Unless you want to tell me what you said , shut up , Nerd . Why are you even here , anyway ? I didn't know Johnny was slumming it . " she added cruelly , circling Beatrice like a vulture about to rip her to pieces . "You really can pick them , Johnny . It's not like she hasn't got plenty of male friends . Christy said you were hugging Cornelius in the middle of the school the other day . Were you ? " . She said the word "friends" as though it was the most sordid thing in the world . However , judging from the tiny glint of doubt on Johnny's face , it had the desired effect .

"There's a difference between "friends" and "clients" . Don't judge everyone else by your own standards . " Beatrice muttered , glaring from behind her glasses .
"Are you calling me a whore , nerd ? " Lola shouted . The argument about to occur flashing before me , relief oozed into my veins when Johnny stepped in front of Beatrice .
"The door's over there , Lola . " he stated bluntly . Steam practically coming out of her ears , Lola flounced out of the door .

"She's got some nerve . " Beatrice commented five minutes after the trollop left . Despite nodding in response , doubt still flickered over Johnny's face like an old , projected slide . Having somehow squeezed all the flasks into the locker , the nerd girl walked out , leaving deafening silence behind .

"You don't think Beatrice would ... ? " Johnny began .
"No ! " Vance protested . "You know what Lola's like - any excuse to cause problems . "
"Hmm . That said , she was hugging Cornelius ... "
"Girls hug their friends . Beside , I don't think Bea is exactly Cornelius' type , if you catch my drift . "

He didn't . The doubtful expression lasted for about five more minutes before he stood up , fastened his jacket and made his way to the door .
"Johnny , where are you going ? " I asked , wondering if I should go after him .
"I'm gonna go to speak to Hopkins . "

Oh crap .