AN: Thank you guys for the reviews. It means a lot to me!

~VI~

Peanut stays in the bathroom for a few minutes longer, calming himself and wasting more time before he has to go back. Of course, he eventually gets tired of just standing around. The rest of the clique has gone silent, and Lord knows he's not about to try and strike up conversation just for the hell of entertainment. Besides, it's not like he had anything to talk about and he wasn't going to bring up his sightings to anyone other than Johnny.

He makes his way out and into the history class, students staring at him as he enters and walks back to his seat. There's only a half hour left of class and he rests his head on crossed arms, blankly staring at the screen. His mind wanders as he sits there. From the shadows to his nightmares, to even the asylum patient he and Johnny had read about the previous night. He's so lost in thought he barely notices everyone packing up, getting ready to leave. When the movie shuts off and people start to chatter, he finally realizes. His assignment isn't even fully filled out, but he doesn't exactly care, handing it to the student in front of him so it can be passed up. Stretching a bit and rolling his shoulders, he puts his pencil back in his backpack and moves so his legs are to the side of his chair. And when the bell rings, he stands up and walks out the door, heading for the auto shop. Normally he would go towards he fountain and make a right, but today he decides to go by the parking lot. Of course he loved seeing his friends, but today he didn't feel like telling them the story of why he was skipping the cafeteria to go hang out around shop, especially alone.

It was easy, to his surprise, to get to the back of the auto shop without any other greasers noticing him. However, Neil did step out with a cigarette in his mouth, surprised to see Peanut.

"And what are you doin' over here?" he asks, approaching the short student. "It's lunch. You ain't heard the bell, kid?"

"Skipping lunch today," he replies as he avoids his gaze. "Not that hungry..."

"Humph," He shakes his head as he blows out smoke. "You need to eat, Larry. Even something small. It's not healthy to skip out on eating for so long."

"Yes, sir," His voice is soft and he just wishes the teacher would leave. However, Neil looks him over.

"What's with you?" he questions, "You look horrible! Someone givin' you trouble?"

"Just myself, sir," he chuckles softly, "I haven't been getting much sleep lately. Guess it's finally catching up with me."

"Well, you better get some sleep soon," Finally, the man starts to leave. "Don't need you getting hurt in my class! Plus, you look… weird without your hair all done up."

Peanut just gives another soft chuckle as he watches him leave. Yeah, he had to agree. He wasn't exactly used to having to push his hair out of his face every few seconds. It was tiresome. Though, he smiles as he sees Johnny approaching, the same concerned look plastered on his face. He hated making his boss worry, but then again, he was glad he didn't have to go through this all alone.

"Hey, Peanut," He stops in front of the junior, looking him over before giving him a small smile. "How you doin'?"

"Better," he replies, "I actually saw Neil. He said I looked weird without my hair styled."

"Neil's weird," he tells him, a small laugh escaping. "So, do you wanna talk about what happened earlier in the bathroom or…?"

"I'd rather not," He leans against the wall with a slightly somber look. "I just feel like I'm crazy, you know? It's not normal to see these things and I am. I hate it."

"I know, man," He's right beside him against the wall, wrapping an arm around him. "But you're not crazy, okay? You're just going through a hard time right now. Heh. Maybe I shouldn't have been so harsh on you about school."

"It's not you," He looks up at the senior with a smile. "If anything, you're the only one helping me."

"Well then, I'm glad," He lets go of his friend, before both slowly slide down the wall and sit on the hard cement beneath them. Peanut's legs are up against his chest, arms wrapped around them and Johnny honestly hates seeing him like this. His hair in his face as he stares at the ground blankly. He frowns, looking around. No one's really out, but he does spot a couple bullies in the parking lot. He nudges Peanut's arm, catching his attention.

"I have a date with Lola after school," he starts, and the junior does his best to hide his frown. "But, how about you and I catch a movie tonight? That way it'll give us some time to hang out and get your mind off of things."

"Sure!" His frown is replaced with a childish smile. Spending time out instead of dwelling on his issue was probably what he needed. And when he sees his smile, Johnny returns it. They talk about what to go see and Peanut suggests the new horror movie that recently came out. Of course, the older teen tries to talk him out of it, thinking that a horror movie would only make him panic more, but his friend wasn't budging. He even went so far as to give him those old puppy dog eyes he used to use on him last year to get out of going to class. He finally gives in, of course, laughing as he does so. How could he say no to those eyes?

"I actually thought of going to see that girl in the asylum," Peanut tells him softly, and Johnny looks at him like he's crazy. "I just wanna know what she does whenever she sees anything."

"I don't think it's a good idea," he grumbles softly, "She's in there for a reason, and it even said she can be aggressive. I don't need you coming back to school with scratch marks all over you because some psycho tried taking your eyes out or something."

"She's seeing the same things I'm seeing!" he shoots back, "Johnny, I just want some help. I know you're trying, but you don't know exactly how it feels to be seeing all of these things and wondering if you really are crazy, you know?"

Johnny opens his mouth to say something, but he can't reply. Peanut's right. No matter how much he tried to comfort his friend, he would never know what he went through – never know the fear the junior would feel every time he saw something walking around to coming after him. He could guess, but he could never be spot on because he never went through it. And he just frowns at this point. Johnny was the leader of the clique. He was the one they could all go to for advice on things or for help, but he couldn't really help Peanut in this case. Honestly, he hated that fact. Hated how he couldn't properly help his best friend, because he would agree, it did sound crazy.

"I just want some help," Peanut continues softly, "I know I can't go to anyone else. They'll all say I'm just crazy and send me to Happy Volts. So why not go to someone who's actually going through this?"

Though it still wasn't the best idea the junior ever had, he did have a point. The doctors in Bullworth didn't care, and he knew that Dr. Bambillo wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut about his friend's problem. He would probably just suggest therapy, which he knew Peanut wouldn't be up for, seeing as he didn't even want to talk to him about anything. So, with a small nod, Johnny reaches out to lay a hand on his shoulder.

"You be careful," he tells him, hope-filled brown eyes looking at him. "Don't get too close to her, and you go find one of those orderlies if she tries anything, you hear me?"

"I hear you!" The teen seems happy with his approval, but even then, Johnny could feel something in the pit of his gut. A bad feeling, but he wasn't sure what it was. He didn't know if Peanut would come back feeling worse, or hurt. But, maybe he was just being paranoid. He knew the patients in Happy Volts weren't exactly the friendliest, but maybe he could be lucky.

The bell rings and the two simply move themselves to the garage, since no one really went in there during class. Neither of them wanted to be pestered with questions the greasers might have had about their absence during lunch. Plus, Johnny had agreed to let Peanut skip out on his afternoon class so they could hang out. The senior had math anyways, and he didn't feel like bothering with Hattrick, so he was actually more than happy to spend time with his second-in-command. Peanut was sitting on the table that was set up, slouching forward as he rested his arms on his knees, talking to Johnny with a smile. The senior liked seeing his friend happy. Back when they had met, Peanut was actually 5'1 and often targeted by the bullies, especially seniors who felt like they had nothing to lose. Johnny didn't exactly help, either. He's the one who coined the name after all, but he didn't think the junior knew that. Hopefully he never found out, because it seemed like he hated the nickname with a passion. He didn't know what happened, to be honest. Freshman year, Larry Romano was a short teen, and a couple years later he was standing at 5'8 and sporting a more confident look, rather than the shyer one he had met. He didn't know where those seven inches came from, but he supposed it did his friend some good for his self confidence. He liked seeing him happy, rather than being chased by a couple of bigger kids just because he was too short to defend himself properly. How many fights had he gotten into just to protect him?

They talk about random things, anything to pass the time. Occasionally, Johnny will bring up stories of their past. The people they had met before he had become leader. The other greasers that Peanut were usually too intimidated to talk to unless his friend was around. He commented on how he liked the more confident Peanut better, and honestly, the junior did too. And as the bell rang, Peanut found himself wishing they had more time to talk. Not many knew it, but he loved being around the senior. He felt better about himself. Knowing that he was the king's right-hand man made him feel great about himself and boosted his self confidence. But, he knew Johnny was still hooked to Lola and he wanted to still treat her as his queen. So, they gather their things and head out of the garage. But when they're out, Johnny rests his hands on Peanut's shoulders, staring at him.

"You. Be careful," he tells him, "I don't need you getting hurt."

"I'll be fine, Johnny," he promises, giving him a smile. "What time you wanna go see the movie?"

"How about around nine?" he suggests, "After that, we can go back to my house and hang out."

"Alright! Sounds great!" Johnny releases his hold on his friend, starting to walk off.

"Text me when you're leaving!" he calls, and Peanut just gives him a thumbs up. No longer having Johnny beside him, he feels a lot lonelier. He knew a way to the asylum, but he had never really taken the path, considering none of them ever had a reason to go there. And really, he felt nervous. He didn't know what to expect when he got there, and didn't know what to even say. He just hoped everything would go as smoothly as he wanted.