Chapter 31: Holding on to the Shortest Stick
One had to wonder which of the genders really had it worse in Bullworth Academy. It was true that male students were scrutinized with more prejudice, punished with much more malice, and had the worst faculties, but on the other hand, girls had their own problems. There was an expectation that girls are always more proper, more restrained, and more obedient. One could say their own expectations concerning themselves were skewed from the inside out when they were outright coddled by the staff and the unsaid rules.
Occasionally some girls had gotten a rude awakening though. Zoe Taylor, for example. The fiery redhead had gone against Mr. Burton with the full confidence that the other teachers would back her up like they normally did, but had instead found out that her words didn't have any power against a male teacher's word. Her continuous cries for justice had been interpreted as attention-seeking rebellion, a definite no-no for girls, and she had gotten kicked out. It had taken just a few moments of Jimmy Hopkins' time to do something that Zoe had fought months for and failed.
Then again, while boys and girls had it bad, the possibility of existing outside the confines of those two genders wasn't acknowledged at all. That was Bullworth for you; everyone could get the gold medal in the oppression olympics.
In any case, as Johnny and Larry sneaked inside the girls' dorm, they made a deduction that was unfortunately common among Bullworth's male students: girls were spoiled brats. The dormitory, which was incredibly lavish and spaceous compared to the boys' dorm, did nothing to instill a mutual understanding between genders. The luxuriousness of it had been the very reason why Johnny had picked the girls' dorm as the primary target of their vandalism during the complete mayhem the year before. The decision had by no means been affected by the preppies having had a territorial advantage over the greasers in the Harrington house or the black eye Bif had given Johnny for the trouble of popping by.
Upon reaching Mrs. Peabody's door, Johnny gave Larry a meaningful nod as he dug out a couple of improvised tools in order to start working on the lock. Larry nodded back – both boys knew their role. Johnny needed somebody to be on guard so he could concentrate on raking the pins of the lock. So, Larry snooped around a bit, looking and listening for possible movement around the building, before settling for standing in the cross section of the hall where he had a clear view to both ground floor exits. Larry let out a short sigh as he looked over to his very concentrated partner in crime kneeling in front of the lock. What was it about this guy, really? Even after several times of mentally preparing to shoot down any kind of request involving Lola, a little convincing from Johnny had him doing this. And he was nervous and excited too, as if he hadn't done any rule-breaking in ages, which was something most Bullworth students did on regular basis.
It took some time, picking locks always did, but Johnny's deft hands solved the puzzle relatively quickly and the door opened with a click. The clique leader gestured Larry to follow him inside and closed the door behind his old lieutenant, wisely so because almost exactly afterward they heard a couple of giggling girls come inside through the main entry of the dorm. The two boys froze, listening to any hint of Mrs. Peabody returning to her room.
"Check those files on the shelf, I'll check the desk 'n' shit", Johnny said quietly after the noises of the girls faded. Larry nodded and the two started going through the old woman's belongings. Thankfully, the room was very spartan: there wasn't much stuff to inspect. Made the two boys wonder where on earth could Mr. Peabody be or whether he actually existed.
"I think I found it", Johnny soon mused as he flipped through a journal he had found from one of the drawers. Larry halted his search and walked behind the leader of the operation, peering over his shoulder to see meticulously written observations with a lot of dates and names thrown in the mix.
"Jeez, this hag's crazy. How does she know all this stuff?" Johnny pondered as he skimmed through the the girls' personal lives as they had been interpreted by a bitter old woman.
"The preppie princess needs to be escorted to the bathroom at night? Heh, I wonder what kinda splash this lil' thing would make if we took it to the boys' dorm...", Larry sneered as he read on.
"Don't even fuckin' think about it. There's stuff about my woman in here", Johnny snarled, not at all amused by the suggestion. Just to show his disapproval further, he turned so that his shoulders were blocking Larry's sight, which made the ex-greaser roll his eyes and leave him alone.
Johnny returned to the journal and hurried through the rows of text as he looked for a certain piece of information. Larry stood in wait at the door, listening for disturbances. The next sound he heard came from behind him: it was the sound of Mrs. Peabody's drawer closing.
"Okay, let's beat it", Johnny suddenly said and stepped towards the window.
"Huh?"
"I said let's go", he repeated as he flicked the latch of the window and let the cool air come inside. Larry shrugged and followed behind him.
The two boys climbed out of the window to the garbage container and started walking to the direction of the main building. Neither was exactly sure what the time was, but they assumed that the classes had just started.
"So, what didja find out?" Larry coughed.
Johnny stared to the ground ahead of him and knitted his eyebrows.
"She's had her period recently. Means that she don't have a bun in the oven, don'tcha think?" he asked gloomily.
"Well, that's good. Right?" Larry asked, not sure what to make of Johnny's sullen reaction to the news.
"But she's a liar, Larry. She's lyin' to me", the clique leader said, shaking his head.
"You're still surprised by that?"
"If I start expectin' the worst of her, they've won and I've lost", Johnny grumbled.
Oh yes, the collective them. Had you spent any considerable amount of time with Johnny Vincent, you would've known that those mysterious people and their assumed perception of him occupied a large part of his thoughts. They included rich people, politicians, teachers, his legal guardians, and government officials, among others, and Johnny's opinion of them was haphazardly cultivated by his auto shop teacher and father figure Neil, his friends, and his own paranoia.
"Johnny, y'don't hafta expect nothin'. Just face the goddamn facts. She's bullshitting you, and she loves it", Larry growled.
"You don't get it", Johnny said frustratedly and quickened his pace.
"I don't? Do tell me what I don't get", the ex-greaser huffed, surprising his old friend with his angry tone.
"Dude... I know she pushed your buttons. She does that to test people. I know she went too far, but you gotta understand: she's waitin' for me to snap 'n' turn against her, tell her to be a 'proper', obedient little princess. She thinks I'm like everyone else, but I ain't – I refuse to be like that", Johnny explained agitatedly.
Despair tugged at Larry's mind and soul upon hearing those words. He had gotten ballsier during his time away from this madness, but when he saw hardly anything had changed Johnny's devotion to Lola, he started losing his gall. Going against either of them by themselves was already hard because of their individual charisma, but both of them at the same time? Impossible.
Then again, Larry was a stray. He had nothing to lose.
"That's noble 'n' all, but I don't think you know what the hell you're talkin' about. She ain't testin' anyone 'cause she don't trust them. She's, like...", Larry started, then fumbling for words while waving his hand in the air as he tried to find a suitable metaphor. Johnny's patience was obviously wearing thin, so he went with the first thing that came to his mind.
"You remember that guard dog that used to be chained up at the junkyard? Remember how kids used to stand just outside its reach 'n' throw stones at it to see it snap at them? That's what's Lola's doin', Johnny. How many stones does it take until you get it?" he finally said, much to Johnny's ire.
"Shows what you know. You just don't get it – what it does to you when you get used to doubting everything. How much it takes to unlearn it. You at least have enough family to be picky about your friends, me 'n' Lola don't", Johnny said bitterly. But, he was calm, which meant that he felt completely secure about what he was saying.
Larry squeezed his eyes shut for a moment just to let that one sink in. He could have told one hell of a sob story, one about parents who ignore, drink, gamble, berate, and then disown you, but he decided that no, he wasn't up to this after all. He knew enough about Johnny's past to know that this wasn't a contest he wanted to win.
"Whatever, Johnny. Just... Keep this shit away from me. Lola made a clown outta me, I can't stand seeing you be one too", the ex-greaser said tiredly, receiving a disdainful hem from Johnny. This was the extent Larry could do without seriously angering him.
The two had arrived at the base of the stairs leading to the front doors of the main building and Larry decided to scoot past Johnny, leave him behind to his own vices. But, as he reached for the handle of the door, he halted.
"Do me a favor though... Talk to Norton. He's bein' a jerk to the guys because he's pissed off at you. The guys ain't plottin' against you as much as they're scared of both you 'n' him", he said without looking directly at Johnny. It was too bad that, because of that, he didn't see Johnny's sour expression mellow down a bit in relief upon hearing that.
"Hmm. Right. And you, keep an eye on the bulletin boards. I'm gonna go through this little gem and see what kinda funny stories I can salvage before I burn it", the clique leader said with a grin and patted the front of his leather jacket, revealing that something flat and rectangular was stuffed inside it.
Even with all the other things said just moments ago, Larry couldn't help but to chuckle at that.
"Gotcha", he said as he opened the door.
Author's Notes: I'm thankful for all the reviews... I'll try to not let it go to my head :D