Author's Notes: I decided to put a reading aid for my fic in my profile so people can navigate through it more easily! Check it out, unless you don't need any help, of course!

Chapter 35: Fallout

Norton Williams was in pretty high spirits. Another school day had passed and he had just gotten the word that he had gotten the green light to start his demolition worker apprenticeship. He felt like he was finally going to places. So, when he was approached by his old friend Johnny outside his class, he somehow forgot that he was supposed to be angry at him.

"Hey man. We need to talk", the clique leader said with a raspy voice. Norton could tell something was up.

"Yo... Are you okay? You're lookin' kinda... I dunno", the lieutenant commented as he measured Johnny head to toe. The shorter boy nodded apathetically.

"Me 'n' Lola, we're finished for good", he said quietly.

Norton frowned and was about to remind Johnny that he had heard those words before, but then, as Johnny turned to look to the side, he noticed that his earring was gone. He practically never took it off.

"Oh... Seriously?" the black greaser confirmed. Johnny nodded again, his eyes fixed on the floor.

"Well finally", Norton grumbled, but not too meanly. He offered a congratulating, rough nudge on the side of Johnny's arm to perk him up.

"Anyway, let's get going. I need a smoke", Johnny murmured.

When the two reached the old hobo haven and Johnny dug out his smokes, the sulky clique leader opened his mouth once more.

"I know I've been outta whack lately. Sorry man", he apologized. All his laconic underling could offer him was an understanding nod.

"But seriously. Me 'n' Lola are through. She don't want me, I know I can't have her. I shoulda listened to you guys earlier", Johnny mumbled with a cigarette between his lips, fumbling for his lighter.

"So what happened? Is she still... Y'know?" Norton inquired, trying to hide his awkwardness about the issue under his casual tone.

"She was never pregnant. She was pullin' my leg, man. Just pullin' my leg. I tell you what; I'm tired of this bullshit", Johnny responded, sounding a lot more nonchalant about this than his sobby and broken self had been just an hour ago or so.

"Alright. Good. I mean, it's not good she's bullshittin' you, but... Y'know. It's good that you see it now", Norton rambled approvingly.

The two were quiet for a while. Johnny just took calming doses of smoke in his lungs – he wasn't sure how to articulate the next thing he was going to say without sounding really, really strange. Norton, on the other hand, just couldn't think of anything appropriate to say.

"Lola said... I mean, I guess that coulda been another lie, but she said somethin' that's buggin' me. Somethin' about our Peanut bein' queer. Y'know anythin' about that?" the brunette asked, trying to play the question off coolly.

Norton swallowed, hard.

"I, uh..."

"Is it true?" Johnny hastily asked, looking worried.

"Oh man... Yeah, it's true", Norton admitted, shaking his head.

"So you knew!" Johnny yelped, sounding somehow violated. Well, it was a rather big deal, after all.

"I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone, especially you! So there. But, the guys kinda know too... Sorry", Norton sputtered uncharacteristically. He didn't like promise-breaking, not a bit, so he was pretty ashamed that he had spilled the beans to the other greasers.

Johnny's already miserable expression turned all the more miserable. Peanut, Larry, his old confidante and right-hand man, was gay. And he had never noticed.

"So, now do you understand why he cut out?" Norton asked, expecting Johnny to comply.

"No. I don't. Why'd he hafta leave like that? Why the hell didn't he tell me? I mean, did he think I'd kick him out? I didn't kick Vance out!" Johnny raved agitatedly.

"Hoo boy...", Norton sighed. This could be very, very awkward to explain. Lola sure had left him a nice piece of work.

"Well, he... He had a thing for ya, Johnny. He kinda thought you'd mind", he told.

"I- What? I don't mind! Havin' hots for a guy once in a while, that's totally normal", Johnny stated grumpily like it was the most obvious thing in the universe. He then proceeded to take a long drag out of his cigarette.

Meanwhile, Norton's jaw dropped open. What, exactly, could you say to something like that? Sometimes, it was just easy to forget that Johnny had never had anyone to have "the talk" with and that neither Bullworth Academy or its students were a very reliable source of information on this matter. Leaving him to make his own deductions was dangerous, obviously...

"Well, ahem. Whatever. But for your information, boss, it wasn't just about havin' the hots for somebody. I mean, the guy liked you. Like, really, REALLY liked you and, well, stuff", Norton harrumphed.

Johnny cocked his brow at his friend doubtfully, but then hope was drained out of him. Norton's words had been silly, but his stern expression told him the truer tale: this was serious business. And it chilled his spine. Confused, desperate questions started to billow in his mind, but Norton wasn't going to wait for him to make sense of them.

"Y'know, I first found out when he had that thing with Mandy like, what, two years ago? Or, well, when he tried to have that thing with Mandy. You had been with Lola for a while then 'n' all of a sudden, he was really touchy about it. I thought it was 'cause he was jealous and couldn't score with Mandy, thought he was gonna lay his hands on Lola or somethin'. So I went to deal with it, to tell him I'd kick his ass if he tried somethin' funny, y'know?" Norton reminisced gloomily.

"He kept denyin' it and I kept hasslin' him until he just... Lost it", he continued, emphasizing his words with a wave of his hand.

"The guy broke down 'n' started sobbin' about how he had tried to make it work with Mandy but couldn't. He told me there was somethin' wrong with him 'cause he couldn't stop thinkin' about you. And that's it, really, although I didn't believe him at first", he stated, putting a deep frown on Johnny's face.

"I gotta talk to him", the brunette said with a shaky voice, putting out his cigarette.

"No, man, don't. Just don't. He's got his pride, y'know? That, and he really just wanted to get over you 'n' move on. I don't think knowin' that you know is gonna make him feel any better", Norton scolded.

"Yeah? Well, I got my pride too! He's a pal, a bro, I can't let him off thinkin' I don't accept what he is!" Johnny whined.

"But that's just the thing, boss! It's easier for him to not think about it if he thinks you don't approve. In fact, he told me he don't wanna know what you think, whatever you think about it. Just let him have it his way just this one time, okay?" the black youngster persuaded.

As usual, Johnny's childhood friend managed to make annoying amounts of sense.

"... Okay", the clique leader agreed, very grudgingly. He let out a frustrated sigh and started to leave. But then, he halted abruptly.

"Wait. What's happened with the journal thing while I've been with Lola? Are the gates still closed?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh, they haven't found out who did it, but apparently they don't care that much no more. Heard that the preppie bastards whined until Crabblebitch made the janitor go through all the trash cans in case there were any more copies and he found the journal, with pages ripped out 'n' burned to ashes. That's all they cared about, apparently. So, the gates are open 'n' shit too", Norton explained with a snort.

"Whew! Well that's a relief... I guess I'm off the hook", Johnny breathed.

"Wait, was it really you who did it?" his underling questioned.

"Yeah."

"Tough, boss. Tough", Norton complimented.

"I know right?" chuckled Johnny.

With that, things between the two were pretty much okay again.

Author's Notes: The next few bits of the story are still disconnected and in disarray in my workshop, so if you want to have an influence on the poor impressionable me, this is the ideal time to do that with a review!