whoo, and here we are again. i've had a lot of time to plan what im writing thanks to band camp, so...here's chapter nine! thanks to my friend melmo for part of the idea for this chapter...enjoy it everyone!

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I purposely avoided Johnny that Monday at school; it was wrong of me and I knew it, but there was something so weird and strange about knowing that he liked me. We were both hiding our feelings, and I didn't know how much longer either of us could take it.

I needed him more then ever, and yet I was too stubborn to go ask for help. My home life was slowly slipping way – I was grounded from going out to the park anymore because of what happened, and my parents were beating down on me for the smallest things. It was all building up, waiting for the roof to blow and for everything to go to hell.

Thankfully, that happened really quickly. It was that Thursday night, and I had just failed another test in Math; it was never my strong subject. On the walk home from school, it had started to rain, softly at first, but by the time I was inside, it was pouring buckets outside. I was terrified of thunderstorms, and I stayed in the vicinity of my mom, following her around the house if possible.

"So how was school today?" She asked, stiffly, almost as if she had to force it out of here. We had rarely spoken since the Saturday Johnny and I were supposed to go to the movies; just a few words, a hug and a kiss goodnight. She didn't think she could trust me anymore. And she was probably right.

"Good, I guess." I said, stirring the potato's we had on the stove.

"How was your math test?" I didn't want to touch on the subject; I knew how easily my mom could get upset lately, but at that time and moment, I wasn't thinking straight, and blurted out, "I failed it."

"you WHAT?!" she yelled, looking at me with eyes full of disbelief and shame. "You…You should NEVER fail a test. Your going to get punished big time for this, you just wait."

"Mom, its just a stupid-"

"It's not stupid! This is your future were talking about, your education! And instead your…your wasting it away with that dumb greaser boy!"

Everything stopped then. How did she know about Johnny? I had never brought him in the house, or even talked about him, and yet…A million different ideas ran through my head. My mom was never the kind to snoop. Or at least she was…

"Yeah, you thought I didn't notice, didn't you. You thought you could keep on playing this game with me, missy? Well guess again, because you're NEVER seeing that greaser again. Now go up to your room, up…" she said, as she pointed towards the stairs, and again when I didn't budge. It felt like my feet were glued to the floor – I was struck dumb. The rain was still pounding against the roof, harder and harder.

And only a few seconds later, I did what I was best at – running from the problem and not accepting the answer. I flung the front door open and ran out into the pouring rain, getting soaked after only a few seconds.

I could hardly see where I was going – I was so confused I couldn't tell left from right. But I still kept running, just hoping my mom wouldn't come after me, just hoping that nothing else could go wrong so soon…

I didn't realize what I would have to do; After running like this, I couldn't just go back to mommy, crying and sobbing. I had to stay strong; I had to stay away. I knew that would be difficult; I didn't want to wake up in the middle of nowhere after spending a night on the streets.

I had slowed down; I was now walking in the rain, which still hadn't lightened up. Drop after drop hit me, hitting spot after spot on my now drenched clothing. All the stuff I was wearing was probably ruined; My hair was a mess. But appearance didn't matter. Finding a safe place to spend the night did.

I hardly noticed footsteps behind me, and I didn't know who it was when I heard someone say "Hey!" over the pounding rain. Though I should have; because it was Johnny, standing there, his greased hair looking even more…well, greased, thanks to the rain.

"Johnny, what are you…" it was so awkward to speak, I wasn't used to it. And knowing that he liked me, I had no idea how to react, what to say. I just stood there, watching as he came closer.

"Why haven't you talked to me?" He asked, walking closer and closer… "Why haven't I seen you?"

"I've been, I've been busy…"I coughed out. It was hard to hear over the rain hitting the sidewalk, and off our bodies.

"I don't believe you. Why haven't I seen you?" he asked again, and I was beginning to tear up. Whatever happened to nice, normal Johnny? The one who was never assertive, the one who was quiet and would make me get all flustered and mad. "Why haven't I seen you?!" he was yelling at this point, almost inches away from my face.

"Stop it, just…just stop!" I cried out, tears blending in easily with the rain – I wondered if he could tell if I was crying or not. I sure hoped not. I tried to run, and I almost got away, but I felt his arms grab my wrists, pulling me back, slowly, till I was against his chest, his arms over my own, pulling me into him, into a hug…

The rain came down, but I don't think either of us cared. We just stood there like that for a while, and occasionally Johnny would rock both of us back and forth. I think he was trying to calm me down, and it worked – my sobs slowly became quivers, before becoming completely silent. He had worked his magic.

"I think we need to get over to Pony's place…I'm sure they'll have dry clothes." He said, taking my hand, making sure I was alright, before leading the way to the Curtis residence. I was shivering, from the rain and the coldness of September nights. I just hoped that we weren't too far away from their house, and thankfully we weren't; it only took us about 10 minutes to get there. When Muscle Man opened the door, he looked shocked, before quietly saying "Come on in, I'll get Soda to…to help you guys out."

We just stood there, waiting for Sodapop to bring us out some dry clothes; It had been decided I would spend the night, Johnny as well; I didn't tell Johnny the reason why I was away from home, but he seemed to understand.

I was so tired from the whole day, from everything that had happened, that by the time I got changed into the other clothes and I was on the couch, I was falling asleep. Johnny was kneeling next to me, and I slowly closed my eyes, the last thing I saw being Johnny's eyes near my own, watching me as I slowly dropped off into peaceful slumber.

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yay, that chapters over. and its the longest one i've written yet. amazing! r&r, because that makes my day bright. and im being serious, lmfao.
stay gold everyone.