~V~
The room's dark and cold. Peanut can practically see his breath with every exhale he takes. Johnny's nowhere in the room, and the TV had been replaced with a fish tank, a little seahorse swimming around. Where did his boss go? And what time was it? Reaching over, Peanut pats around the nightstand before he grabs his phone. A frown forms on his face as the screen doesn't turn on when he presses the power button. Guess his phone wasn't as charged as he thought and it had died. Great.
Sitting up, Peanut rubs his face with a sigh. It's still dark, so it's probably early morning. He wishes he knew what time, though. Standing up, Peanut makes his way towards the little seahorse, bending down to admire it. A little white and black spotted creature. How cute. He smiles at it as it swims around. He had never seen one in person before. He liked it. Though, it was a bit unnerving when it turned to fully face him.
"Don't look!" The voice makes him jump back, bumping into a figure behind him.
"Johnny?" He turns around, his breath catching in his throat when he sees the old man wearing the same dirty and torn suit. He doesn't get a chance to say anything else before he's shoved backwards, slamming into the fish tank and breaking it, the water pouring out and onto him.
Peanut wakes up in a cold sweat, throwing himself upright and looking around, breathing heavily. Johnny's up within seconds, laying a hand on his shoulder and making him jump, looking at his boss with a terrified expression.
"Hey, calm down," he speaks softly, "What happened, man? Another bad dream?"
"Yeah… yeah..." He crosses his legs, hanging his head and resting it in his hands. "Sorry I woke you up."
"No worries," Johnny gives him that smile he's grown so used to seeing, and he smiles himself. "You wanna talk about it?"
"Not really. It's stupid," he laughs, shaking his head slightly. He slowly looks around the room, noticing how the TV is still where it was, playing some animated movie on mute. His smile turns to an uncomfortable one. "You uh… you ever think of getting a seahorse?"
"Seahorse?" It's Johnny's turn to let out a laugh, rubbing Peanut's back. "I mean, I've never really given it any thought. Why? You want one?"
"Heh. Maybe."
They stay in bed until the sun comes up, laying there and talking softly. Johnny talks about how he's both excited and nervous to graduate. Excited to leave the academy and work on becoming a mechanic to start on their plan to open their own shop, but nervous because he couldn't be here to watch over the clique and make sure they were okay. Peanut promises to take care of the others when he and Norton left. There's just a soft chuckle and his boss pats his arm.
"That's why you'll be in charge when I graduate," he tells him, "Just… make sure Ricky and Lucky keep up their grades, yeah? I know Lucky's not doing so well in history. Or gym. Or economics..."
"I'll do my best, boss," Peanut turns to look at him, giving him a grin. Johnny matches it, going to give his shoulder a playful punch. After laying there a bit more, Johnny finally gets up, stretching and running his hand through his hair.
"I'm gonna grab a shower," he tells him, getting out of bed. "Ma should be up and making breakfast. I'm sure she'll be more than happy to get you something to eat."
"I hope so," he chuckles, "Your mom makes the best pancakes ever."
"Yeah, she does!" Johnny gets up, grabbing a couple towels and making his way for the door. "You can take a shower after me."
"Sounds good," Peanut watches him leave before reaching over to grab his phone. He lets out a sigh in relief when it turns on, showing the time. 7:15. He yawns softly as he sits up, looking out the window. There a couple clouds in the sky, but other than that the blue is so welcoming. Slowly getting up, he pockets his phone and leaves Johnny's room, the soft sound of plates clanking together making him smile. He walks down the hallway, smiling when he sees his friend's mother flipping a pancake.
"Need some help, Mrs. Vincent?" Peanut asks, making her jump.
"Larry!" She turns around, the surprise on her face soon turning into a smile. "Ha ha! Good morning, sweetie! How are you?"
"I'm fine. Sorry I scared you," He walks forward, leaning against the counter. "How are you this morning?"
"I'm okay," She goes back to cooking. "Oh, it's so good to have both you and Johnny here. You haven't spent the night together in so long!"
"I'm sorry I kinda came unannounced," He reaches up, rubbing the back of his neck. "And without permission… and after curfew."
"Oh, don't worry about it!" she giggles, turning to give him that warm smile. "You're always welcome here, Larry. You're like another son to me! Besides, Johnny always seems a lot more happier with you around."
"I'm glad to hear it, ma'am," She pushes a plate of pancakes over to him, a fork right beside the little stack. "Thank you!"
"Of course!" He starts eating, listening to Mrs. Vincent hum softly. She does make it a point to occasionally say how she wishes Johnny and his father would get along more. Apparently the only time they weren't fighting was when they were working on cars together.
It doesn't take Peanut long to finish his breakfast. He practically scarfs it down. He can't remember the last time he had food that was this good. And when he's done, he washes his plate, earning himself a small "thank you" from Mrs. Vincent. Walking back to his spot, Johnny finally emerges from the bathroom, drying off his hair with a towel. He sends Peanut a smile, gesturing his head to the door.
"And don't lock it this time," he tells the junior as he walks past, "I don't want a repeat of last time."
"Won't happen, boss," he replies, hearing a soft giggle from Mrs. Vincent. He grabs his outfit before going into the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. His skin is looking a bit paler than before. It's no longer vibrant, but rather dull and almost washed out. He needed to get himself some sleep. But, spending the night with Johnny did make him feel better. Despite all of his crazy sightings, he was still himself. He was still the same old Larry "Peanut" Romano, second-in-command of the greaser clique in this hellhole. With a smile, he undresses and makes his way into the shower, turning on the hot water.
His shower it a bit longer than last time, but there's no shadow when he turns to get out. He dries himself off, putting on his clothes and drying his hair as best he could. He takes one last look at himself in the mirror, brown eyes looking a lot more dull than he's used to seeing. With a soft sigh, he leaves the bathroom, heading for Johnny's room. The senior's in there, putting on his signature leather jacket and combing through his hair with his fingers. He gives his friend a smile when he sees him.
"I see your shower wasn't hectic like last time," Johnny chuckles, "You feel any better?"
"Yeah, thanks," They both grab their backpacks, leaving the room, Peanut closing the door behind them. Mrs. Vincent tells them goodbye when they head for the front door, calling out how she loved them and to be safe. Have fun and all that. The two get on Johnny's bike, heading for school. Peanut watches the town pass them by. A couple holding hands, a dog following its owner, one of the students kicking over a sign. Everything seems so natural now. Normal again. He smiles.
They get to school with extra time to spare. Norton's by the auto shop, talking with Hal. They smile when they see the two, waving them over. They talk for a while before the rest join them, Ricky laughing at how a dog chased Lucky on their way to school. Guess he didn't really live up to his name. Vance apologizes for taking up Peanut's bed as well, which he dismisses. Of course he can understand. Besides, it wasn't like he needed his bed anyways, after what had happened the previous night.
The bell's ringing before they know it, and the ones who don't have class leave the auto shop, saying goodbye their friends and splitting up. Peanut doesn't exactly have any classes with any of his friends in his morning or afternoon classes today, and he finds himself practically dragging his feet towards history class. Mr. Wiggins greets him and it's apparent he's excited for today's lesson. Something about the bombing of Hiroshima and how they were supposed to write papers on their views of whether or not it was justified to actually drop an atomic bomb, and what they would think would happen if America had never done it. Peanut didn't really care, honestly. History wasn't to most exciting class in his opinion. But he doesn't completely ignore the video his teacher puts up. It's a documentary of what happened and some people talking about it. He's spaced out for most of it, staring blankly at the screen. He looks down at his paper that's not even halfway done. He just sighs softly before looking around the room. Thad's paying full attention, along with Cornelius. Casey's fallen asleep, and other students around the room are either messing around or just spaced out like him. With a soft sigh, Peanut raises his hand, catching Mr. Wiggins' attention.
"May I go to the bathroom?" he asks. The man just huffs but nods his head.
"At the best part, too," he grumbles, watching the greaser walk out. Of course, he doesn't exactly have to use the bathroom, but he didn't want to hear anymore of the documentary. He slowly walks to the bathroom, making sure to take his sweet time just so he doesn't have to deal with history any longer than he has to. He looks at himself in the mirror, admiring his still palish skin and duller eyes. Luckily no one's questioned him. Or how, for once since becoming a greaser, his hair isn't in the old school pompadour. He simply just slicked it back, the same couple strands falling on his forehead. Of course, he had to continuously push his hair back so it wasn't falling in his face. It was irritating, to say the least.
He looks down at his phone, seeing there's about half an hour left of class. There's also a picture from Lefty in the group chat. Apparently Constantinos had fallen asleep in class and the other students took it upon themselves to draw all over his face. It was entertaining, really, and he smiled. Though it faded when he looked up and in the mirror, that same shadowy figure standing behind him. He jumped and whirled around, expecting it to still be there. But it wasn't. He took a glance back into the mirror, only to see it wasn't there either. A wave of relief washed over him. Maybe he was just hallucinating due to lack of sleep. He just sighs, turning on the tap and splashing water on his face. The cold feels amazing and he lets out a breath. However, he still feels a bit shaky as he stands upright. Drying his hands off on his jeans, he reaches into his back pocket, retrieving his phone. He goes straight to his conversation with Johnny, and with a deep breath, he taps the little message box and stares at the mini keyboard.
Peanut: can we go hang out alone during lunch? Not feeling good…
Johnny: y? What happened?
Peanut: in the bathroom and saw a shadow. Just freaked I guess
Johnny: whats your afternoon class?
Peanut: geography
Johnny: meet by the auto shop after class. we'll see what we can do then
Peanut: thx johnny. Ur the best