*Sigh* - Scitah

Sally laughed at the tales from Auto that Peanut just relayed back to her about Johnny being distracted and tired during class, when she felt a shiver climb her spine.

Glancing to her right, she noticed Gary, standing there, smirking at her.

Shivering again, she gave a slight nod, letting him know she'd follow shortly, and watched him walk off to the library.

All she could think was how creepy he was! And it didn't help that it had been two weeks since they made their devilish deal!

"Uh… Johnny? I need to go and talk to some one… I'll catch up with you and the guys later, alright?" she pecked him and didn't wait for a response as she walked to the library.

Johnny blinked watching her go. He bit his lip and waited for her to be gone long enough before he turned to the others and made up some excuse and snuck out. This happened before with Sally leaving abruptly, and he didn't like it. Who was she talking to? He didn't like how suspicious it was.

He followed her to the library and saw her talking to Gary.

"Tomorrow." Gary said firmly.

Sally's face and tone were as blank as ever, she had gotten good at emotionless-ness in front of Gary, "What ever Smith. You're silly little Preps will have joyous fun tomorrow. I still don't understand why you want them? There are Cliques out there who are far better than them!"

She stood stiffly, almost as if on edge and waiting to be pounced by some giant tiger come to claw her apart.

Gary smirked, "Just do what I say." he said firmly.

Johnny stepped up to them, "Fuck's goin' on?!" he yelled.

Sally gasped, staring wide eyed at Johnny, "Shit." she whispered.

"Oh, well if it isn't Romeo, spying on poor little Juliette! Get lost, Grease Ball! This is between me and the Jocky Queen." Gary snarled with that smirk, coy and dangerous.

Johnny glared, "Why the fuck're you two talkin'?!" he yelled- too mad to care about insults or reason.

"Don't you get it, Lover Boy? Or did all that grease get to your brain? Your little girlfriend is another one of my pawns!" Gary shouted, arms wide, then laughed, "Actually, she's more like my Bishop, Knight, or Rook! But let's talk games another day. Right now, Givanno and I have business to attend to, so, if you don't mind?" he waved at Johnny like a fly or annoying child.

Sally had paled and couldn't utter a single syllable. Just stared at Johnny, pupils smaller than usual.

Johnny looked between them, then finally at Sally, eyes narrowed, "You been playin' me?!" he shouted at her. Another woman playing games with him was too much to take!

She vaguely saw the others standing back behind Johnny, under the archway trying to figure out what was going on before the intervened.

"N-no, Johnny. That's not it." She stuttered desperately, ignoring a scoff from Gary, "That's not it at all! I've been trying to protect you from Smith! I did it for you!"

Now, if Sally were to be watching this, rather than living this, she would laugh at the cliché and crazy line, saying it made the female role sound like a psycho! But, now, she understood those movies that got this sappy and strange and heart wrenching.

She understood quite well.

"Protect me?!" he cried, "By talkin' t'this nut?!" he scoffed, rolling his eyes, "Sure! That's a real bad lie, Sally! Worst yet!!"

Sally felt the walls of her world colliding and collapsing around her, leaving her quite lost, "Johnny! I would never do anything to hurt you! You know that!"

"Fuck!" he cried and turned his fist slamming hard into the stone wall- his knuckles slitting and bleeding at the force, "No! That ain't true!" his eyes set on her, "Figures this would happen. Figures. Fuckin' fgures!!" he yelled.

Sally had flinched like a frightened child when Johnny struck the wall, "Please, Johnny? I would never deliberately hurt you! I love you!"

He waved a hand at her, "Lies." he spat, "It's a lie!"

Sally's terrified face turned to one of shock at him calling her a liar.

She walked up to him, "It's not a lie!" she grabbed his shoulders and kissed him hard.

Her heart raced, hoping that this was one of her nightmares! That she would wake up and Johnny would be against her back, hugging her tightly to his chest.

She put all her energy and emotion into that kiss. She hoped against all things that he would stop acting like she was Lola.

One word repeated in her head, "Please, please, please…" over and over again.

Johnny kissed her a second then stopped and pushed her back. Tears were stinging his eyes- he didn't fight them. "I ain't bein' played by no more women." he told her slowly, "I ain't. I ain't!" he repeated.

He took a step back form her, "I hope your fuckin plans work!" and he turned away storming away from them.

Peanut was stammering as he passed: "Johnny! Don't be so STUPID!" he yelled only to have the older boys bruising, almost purple knuckles blast him in the jaw. Peanut crumbled to the ground.

Sally panted slightly, unsure if she was breathing, unsure if her heart was still beating as tears fell from her eyes.

Gary had snuck away, not wanting to deal with a hormonal female, like a coward.

Sally felt numb and slowly walked over to Peanut and fell to her knees next to him.

"Thank you for trying." she said, voice hollow, eyes haunted.

Peanut looked at her and hugged her- arms around her neck and pulling her in close. "Sorry he's so stupid" he mumbled to her- wanting to cry himself.

Sally stared off after Johnny, mouth dry, still crying without really knowing that she was, "No. He's smart. I should have listened to him in the first place." her voice echoed no emotion, still! And, she was so pale, like she lost a lot of blood or died… She looked a mess!

Peanut shook his head, "He is not! He's an idiot!" he exclaimed.

Sally has a semblance of humor and pitty in her eyes as she pulled back from Peanut to look at him, "I'm going to need my things again…"

"SAL!" Shouted Eva as he ran up, a nice new black eye over his right eye, "Oh, my God! Sally, are you alright?! Peanut? What the hell happened?"

"What happend t'you?!" Peanut asked him, eyes wide, he figured Sally should tell him about johnny's outburst.

"I was on my way to drag Sally to my new apartment that I got, since I need my Diva Space when I saw Johnny, cryin' and in a fittin' rage! I asked him why he was upset and where Sally and you boys were and he fuckin' punched me and kept on walkin'!" Eva explained quickly, lightly touching his new shiner.

Sally sighed and shook her head, "You should have stayed in Chicago, Eva."

Eva went wide eyed at Sally, "Sal? You sound dead!"

"...Johnny broke up... he saw her talkin' t'Gary an' took it all wrong." Peanut explained.

Sally slouched a little as Eva sighed, "My God, girlfriend." he crouched down and pulled Sally into his arms, "Don't worry, Baby Doll. He'll be back!"

"No. Eva. No he won't." she said, pulling away from Eva, "I need my things from the Tenements."

Eva frowned, "Bring them to my place… I already got my shit gone." he said, pulling out a lawyer's card Eva got the other day and writing his address on it. "Sally and I will be there."

Peanut took it and nodded, "O- okay" he said, looking up at him, blinking. Then he looked at Sally, "We're gonna knock sense into him!" he told her firmly, "I swear!"

Sally snorted disbelievingly, "Don't bother. He's got it already… I want to sleep, now."

Eva shook his head, "This is depressing. You boys are always welcome over at my place if you get sick of Mr. I-Jump-To-Conclusions!"

Peanut nodded, "I know he's an idiot, but he's got his own excuses."

"Not that we encourage them!" Norton added irritably.

"Maybe I'm meant to be alone?" Sally muttered, mostly to herself. Not really paying any more attention to the guys.

Eva could almost cry, himself, "If you guys do end up knocking some sense into him, give him a good one for me. He messed up my face!"

"Promise!" Vance grinned, flexing his bicep muscle muscularly.

Eva smirked at Vance, "Boyfriend… Don't tease me!"

Vance blushed "Sorry" he mumbled.

Hal punched Vance's arm, "Lover boy" he teased only to have Peanut and Norton glare daggers at them both for acting so calm and light-hearted at a time like this!

Eva nodded at the guys, "See you all later." turning to Sally who was staring at the floor beneath her feet, "Come on, Sally. Let's get you to my new place! I even got a second bedroom and everything!" he tried being cheerful.

Sally nodded, "You'll never live alone, Eva. You don't lie to people."

Eva sighed sadly, "Every one does, Sal."

"Johnny doesn't."

A groan could be heard from Eva as they continued to walk off.

The Greasers got back to the Tenements and Norton effectively near-killed Johnny. As if that mattered to them right now. They gathered up Sally's stuff and headed over to the address Eva had given Peanut. They knocked on the door and waited for it to be opened.

Eva opened it with a smile, "Oh, welcome to my humble abode!" he stepped aside, letting them in to see dark purple rugs and black leather couches, glass, very modern/70's mix.

Sally was no where to be seen.

"Where's Sally?" Peanut asked, holding a box of her stuff.

Norton actually really liked how Eva had decorated it!

"In her room." Eva said, locking the door behind them, "Come with me, Peanut. The rest of you can have a seat on the couches. We'll be back in moments."

Obediently they went to the couch and Peanut nervously followed after him.

Eva lead Peanut down a hallway and stopped at the first door on the left and knocked, "Sal? Th'guys're here!"

"That's nice." Came her response.

Eva glanced back at Peanut, then back at the door, "Peanut and I are coming in to give you your things, alright?"

"That's nice." was, yet again, her response.

Peanut bit his lip, "Oh my god he's an idiot!"

Eva snorted and opened the door, revealing to Peanut that Sally was laid across her bed, arms spread, looking near dead up at the ceiling.

Peanut walked over urgently, "Aw- Sally.. Sally we beat his ass!" he exclaimed, "Are you okay? There anythin' else we can do?"

Sally, at first, didn't respond or even look at him, but then her head turned slowly and she just stared at him, "No."

Eva sighed and crawled onto the bed, pulling Sally to sit up, "Come on, Sal. The guys're here t'see yuh!"

Sally stood slowly, still staring at Peanut. It was as if she were gone from the world… She was just a shell now. There was no pain, no anger, no happiness, no emotions what-so-ever… She wasn't herself.

Peanut wiped his eyes. Stupid Johnny. Stupid Johnny. "Sally, I'm sorry" he said to her, "I'm really, really sorry!"

Finally! An emotion showed up on her face, but it was confusion, "Why would you be sorry?"

"Because I should'a jumped and beat him down when he was throwin' 'is fit!" he explained, "We- we told him we wasn't comin' back. That he over-reacted. We ain't goin' back t'his clique unless he stops being a dick!"

Sally glanced around in thought, which were slow, "Then who is your 'King'? Who will you follow? You cannot follow me, I already have a Clique under my command." She stopped talking and turned, "Are you the new Greaser King? Is there a Clique left to lead?" She sighed.

Eva shook his head, "Sal? Come on? It just happened. Those questions aren't automatically answered…" He blinked, "Nor are they often that easy to answer."

Peanut shook his head, "There isn't a 'king' anymore. We kicked Johnny out- that's what I meant- I guess its Norton. I don't wanna." he told her, blinking. Why'd any of that matter?

Sally nodded and walked to the front room, Eva quick to follow after dragging Peanut with him out into the hallway.

Norton, Hal, Ricky, Vance, Lefty, and Lucky were mumbling together, but stopped when they saw Sally. Hal rushed to her side, "Are you okay?" he gasped.

She smiled at him, "You act as if I was the one who got my ass handed to me? I'll be fine. It just wasn't meant to be. I see that now."

Eva smacked his hand over his face, "That just isn't true."

"Open your eyes, Evan." She used his full name, "I shouldn't have gotten back with him both times… I should have trusted my head rather than my heart." she laughed ruefully.

Norton rubbed the back of his head, "She's right.. she's fuckin' right. You're the only woman ever given two-shits for him and he goes and acts like this!" he said.

Ricky frowned, "Hey... man, he's just stupid.."

"An idiot!" Hal snapped, glaring a bit but not at them.

Lefty jumped up, "Ya'll stupid?! Johnny loved her to death! He thinks he got ripped off! After Lola wouldn't you?!"

"Lefty!" Lucky snapped at him, glaring.

Sally chuckled, clearly amused, "And here I thought it'd be Ricky leaping for joy. After all, he did say he couldn't wait for Johnny to drop me." she said spitefully, but sighed, unable to maintain the proper energy to be angry. "It doesn't matter." She shook her head, "Nothing matters any more. You know. Two weeks ago, Johnny and I thought I was pregnant… I'm quite pleased I wasn't." she admitted.

"....he still loves you." Lefty mumbled and headed for the door, "I like ya' Sally- I do- but I ain't int'rested in Johnny's life- I jus' wanna work on cars." he said grabbing the door knob, "See you cats around." and left.

Lucky rolled his eyes, "Dramatic little--"

Ricky hit him, "SHUT UP!"

Sally sighed and shook her head, "So. About dinner…"

Eva nodded, "I got food enough. Why don't you and Hal hit the kitchen and cook something for the group? Take your mind off things."

She smirked, "My mind is unable to really settle on anything, so there is really no need for that concern, Eva." she then grabbed Hal's wrist and pulled him off to the kitchen where they made home made pizza and lasagna. It was the only thing she could actually focus on, in fact. Cooking. To create something good… For every one.

Hal tried to make conversation but he felt awful. He didn't want it to end like this. He didn't like this.

Norton looked at Eva, "What we gonna do?" he asked.

Eva blinked in thought, "There is nothing we can do. Beating some one up won't do much of anything. Sally's very resistant about Johnny. Her deal with Gary is broken, though I doubt that will stop him from attempting to bother Sal. Johnny's too stubborn to talk to…" He sighed dejectedly. "There is absolutely nothing we can do! And I think they need to solve this one on their own this time."

"But how?" Norton groaned.

Suddenly Peanut started to whimper, "Why's this always gotta happen?!" he nearly shouted and hid his face in his hands. "If Johnny wasn't so dumb we wouldn't be here right now! He's such an idiot!"

"He's wounded and scarred and is trying to look out for himself. Sally tends to change the people she comes in contact with. As I've heard, Before Johnny came to Chicago, he was more independent than when he left Chicago. What happened in Chicago? Johnny met Sally. So then, Johnny holds onto Lola for dear life, and Sally appears again and suddenly, he is his own! He makes his own calls, even if they're really stupid… But once she touched his life, he changed. Often times for the worse… Too dependant to too stubborn. It seems more like he doesn't know what to do with himself with or without her." Eva explained.

Peanut looked up, he wiped his eyes, "I... I guess you're right, Eva. But, there's gotta be a way to fix them! Eva you know they're good for each other!" he gushed.

"Yes, but both need to trust one another enough to let themselves grow into their own. It's like…" He thought a moment, "They become so protective and dependant on one another, that inevitably, they do things that muck up their relationship. Like, a… Uh… Like a compound chemical or recipe! They're still trying to find the right ingredients, or actions, that make a good meal!"

Peanut blinked a little confused but he got the gist of it. Ricky piped in, "So, what? This is it?" he asked.

Eva frowned at Ricky, then sighed, "They can't deny each other for very long."

"Yes we can." Sally said, suddenly. "I won't get back with him. Not a fourth time. I'll die the next time he breaks it off with me. Which is why I won't give him the chance." she said icily.

"B- but..." Peanut tried but Norton covered his mouth. It wasn't the time for an argument.

Sally's iced glare turned to Peanut, "You think it's easy? Getting your heart broken this many times? You think it's just a fuckin' walk in the God damned park?! It hurts! It fuckin' hurts like hell! I won't go through this pain a fourth fuckin' time with the same fuckin' guy! No more! He'll destroy me, and I actually like breathing!" she was angry now. There was the emotion, and it began to sting at her eyes, nose, and throat.

Hal touched her arm, "It's your decision," he told her in a soft voice, "We'll respect it."

Peanut looked down sadly and didn't say a word. Like a child who's mother had yelled at him- he was too afraid of another scolding to argue.

Sally took a second to control herself and looked to Hal, "Thank you." then to Peanut and hugged him, "I know you're just trying to help, Peanut… But, I can't do it. I just can't any more. You guys are like family to me now, but…" She shook her head. "I'm sorry."

Peanut nodded, he hugged her back, "Okay." he managed to spit out.

Hal went to watch the food in the oven.

Pulling away, she smiled sadly at him, "Just promise me you'll do better with your woman when you find her, hm?"

He bobbed his head, "Okay, Sally, I promise." he said.

She nodded slowly and kissed his forehead, "That'a boy." then released him and walked back into the kitchen.

Eva sighed, "At least she isn't emotionless and empty any more."

Peanut sniffed and watched her go. He really liked Sally- oddly enough like a mother, considering Mary was the closest he'd had to one.

Norton nodded, "Yeah..."

Eva waited a moment, then tried to lighten' things up, "You know… If you guys had met her a coupl'a years ago, you'd swear she had a split personality!"

"Yeah?" Norton asked, blinking, "She was even weirder than she is now?" he smiled a bit figuring that might get her riled up again.

"HA!" Came from the kitchen as Eva chuckled and nodded, "She wasn't all that motherly… Uh… More out for fun times. A real prankster with fantastic street smarts. You guys have her all mother hen! In Chicago, she and I looked out for one another because we were all we really had!"

Norton smirked, "At least we don't make stuff boring, right?" he asked.

Eva nodded, "Heh. That's for damn sure! She ever tell you about her past?"

Sally walked in with the lasagna, letting Hal cart in the three pizza's, "Never really got the chance."

"Nope." Hal smirked cutting the pizza's, "I'd like to hear it."

"We got time." Ricky said.

Sally shared a glance with Eva, who got up and went to get a few dishes and forks, leaving Sally to tell her tales. "Well, as some of you may or may not know, I was raised by a money grubbing whore of a woman. She attempted to turn me into her."

"Which didn't work, because Sally is a school and sport oriented woman who values family, honor, and a good time." Eva laughed.

Hal bobbed his head, "Obviously!" he exclaimed, smiling.

"Well- what- were ya' her downfall?" he asked.

"Not in the slightest. Eva was my teacher." Sally smirked.

"She used to be a really secluded girl when I met her." Eva explained.

"I was at a park when this group of real assholes walked in, teenagers when I was no more than 9! And they started picking on every one and I couldn't help but walk over and tell them off!" she said innocently.

"She said, 'hey you mother fuckers! Leave them alone! Who do you think you are?' and they didn't like that at all!" Eva said with a laugh.

Peanut blinked, "Then what happened?" he asked- he loved stories.