A/N: You may have already seen that this story has been renamed. I thought Open Your Heart was a better title since this is more of a Johnny story than a Jalli story. Someone asked me in a review what kind of chances Johnny took just to be with Alli. Hopefully, this chapter will begin to explain the personal risks Johnny takes as he starts to let his guard down.

FYI: In case anyone was wondering, the age of consent in Canada is 16 and the cable channel AMC (American Movie Classics) has been available in Canada since 2006 (both according to Wikipedia).


Chapter 5

Johnny DiMarco's female companions came in two categories First there were friends with benefits who knew how to be discreet. They didn't ask Johnny about his other conquests and he didn't ask them about theirs. They knew their boundaries and never expected more from Johnny than a simple hookup with no strings attached. Megan Rothman was Johnny's first and best friend with benefits. He met her back in grade nine at a party at Nic Rancone's. They started talking, the talking soon gave way to kissing and the kissing gave way to something more. They did it on Nic's parents' bed under a pile of coats. They still got together once in a while.

Then there were the girls who used Johnny to piss off their parents or ex boyfriends or the girls who wanted to live on the edge, They bought into Johnny's bad boy rep and they found it intriguing. These girls were sometimes a hassle. Most of them saw the hookup as a business transaction. Others, however, got way too attached. Like Jenny Douglas back in grade ten. After they hooked up, she thought she was Johnny's girlfriend. She thought they were destined to be together just because they had the same initials and their first names sounded alike. Once, she wrote all over one of her notebooks Jenny D Luv's Jonny D 4 Ever! When she showed it to Johnny, he was not amused.

"That's not how my name's spelled," he told her.

"I know," she giggled. "But it looks better this way." Johnny took the notebook, tore off the cover and ripped the cover into little pieces. He then threw the pieces in her face and walked away. She came after him, finally catching up to him at his locker.

"Why did you do that?" she demanded. Johnny turned around and looked at her like she was crazy. Bruce, Lucas, Nic and Drake were standing right there.

"Who the hell are you?" he yelled at her. "Do I even know you?" His friends started laughing. Embarrassed, Jenny stood there, her eyes welling up with tears.

"Go away, stalker!" he yelled. By that point, everyone in the hallway was watching and they all started laughing. Jenny ran into the girls' bathroom. A week later, she transferred to Bardell.

But this new girl, Alli, didn't fall into either of these categories. Sure, she probably heard of Johnny and his rep though gossip at school like most of his hookups did, but her approach was different. Instead of being up front and flirtatious, she was friendly and chill. Yet Johnny couldn't deny the spark that existed between them.

Initially, they communicated by dropping notes in each other's locker. Alli suggested sending e-mails but Johnny only had internet access at school and didn't want to risk having teachers and other students reading over his shoulder. Two years ago, it wouldn't have been a big deal for them to be together. But Johnny was 17 and he could get in a lot of trouble if people found out he was kicking it with a 14 year old. Even if they weren't having sex, people talk and rumors get spread. Johnny could get arrested just on suspicion. He couldn't afford to go to jail and leave his mom alone.

They arranged meetings in the alley behind school. He would swing his car around and pick her up, both of them looking around nervously to make sure no one saw them. They would find a place to park that was out of the way. They would listen to the radio, talk and make out before Johnny drove Alli to the end of her block.

Johnny could talk to Alli about things he couldn't talk about with anyone else. They both loved to read and he was surprised to find out she liked some of the same authors as he did. They both also liked classic movies as opposed to recent blockbusters. They had both been to the Art House to see old movies many times. Johnny liked gritty dramas like The Hustler and The Man with the Golden Arm whereas Alli loved musicals like Sound of Music and West Side Story. Musicals weren't Johnny's thing but at least she liked the classics and not High School Musical or Hannah Montana.

"I'm 14 not 10!" she snorted when Johnny asked her what she thought of that kiddie fare.

"Good, just checking," he told her. He actually enjoyed the conversation more than the kissing. One Friday, Johnny dropped a note in Alli's locker asking her to call him at home over the weekend and included his number. Lately he had been staying home on the weekends in case his mom needed him but he couldn't bear not hearing Alli's voice for even two days.

She called on Saturday afternoon while Johnny's mom was napping. They talked for two hours about books, movies and music. He was surprised that she like bands like Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for My Valentine and Escape the Fate. While these bands were a little tame for Johnny's taste but they were still cool.

"So watcha doin' at home on a Saturday?" asked Alli. "Got any exciting plans for tonight?"

"Nope," he said. "Gonna watch a movie on AMC." That was one of the few channels Johnny ever watched.

"So, if you have cable, why don't you have internet?" she asked. Everyone she knew had both or neither.

"Too expensive to have both," he explained. The truth was, everyone in the Rows had cable, it was included in their rent. Otherwise, no one would be able to watch TV because the reception was so bad due to interference coming from the train tracks. Plus, Johnny didn't have a computer at home.

Johnny was relieved when Alli accepted that explanation. He didn't want her to know where he lived. He figured that like most kids at Degrassi, the only way for Alli to have even heard of the Rows was on the evening news.

This arrangement seemed to working for Johnny and Alli for a while. Until one day as Johnny stopped at his locker before lunch, Holly J. Sinclair came up to him.

"I hear you and Backwoods Bhandari were an item," she said. He saw Alli standing a few feet away and gave her a dirty look. He denied everything. Holly Jackass Sinclair was one of the last people he wanted prying into his personal life.

Johnny was pissed! Alli had given him her word that she wouldn't tell anyone and now one of his sworn enemies knew their secret. He had no choice but to break it off with her. He knew something like this would happen. He slipped a note in her locker.

"It's over, Backwoods. I told you it wasn't going to work. Don't call me, don't drop notes in my locker, and don't even look at me when you pass me in the halls. I mean it!"

When school let out, Alli followed Johnny out the front door of the school. God, she had suddenly turned into Jenny Douglas! She begged and pleaded for Johnny to take her back but Johnny refused. He explained the reasons why this whole thing was a bad idea. He left Alli standing there alone as he walked out to his car.

The next day, Bruce told Johnny that Alli had started some internet group called "I Hate Holly J" in honor of the previous day's events. Johnny didn't care. That was between Backwoods and Holly Jackass.

Johnny did feel bad for Alli when the group got out of hand and she was forced to shut it down. She had to make a public apology on the video announcements. Johnny's punishments consisted of either sitting in a classroom with some teacher who didn't want to be there any more than he did or doing janitorial work. As much as he hated both, they could give him a mop and bucket any day over making him apologize in front of the entire school. He began to reconsider breaking up with her.

Alli did as Johnny asked. She stopped calling his house on the weekends, she stopped dropping notes in his locker and whenever she passed Johnny in the hallway, she immediately looked away. But she just looked so sad. Her beautiful brown eyes didn't have the sparkle they once had.

She was apparently having some kind of wardrobe crisis one day. He overheard her whining to her friend Clare about how she no longer had anything to wear and she wasn't pretty anymore. She showed up at school wearing a grey hoodie and brown pants. Johnny still thought she was pretty. He decided to mess with her to let her know he was once again keeping tabs on her.

"Love the look, Bhandari," Johnny teased. Alli looked like she wanted to die. But hey, at least he got a reaction. By that afternoon, the Anti Grapevine posted a video of Alli kissing KC, a boy in her class. Johnny decided to track her down and find out if she had indeed moved on.

Alli confessed to Johnny that it was a mistake to kiss KC because he was Clare's boyfriend. She refused to look Johnny in the eye as she told him this.

"Why do you care?" she asked. "You're just glad it wasn't you." Johnny bent down so his eyes could meet Alli's.

"Are you sure about that?" he asked.

"Do you miss hanging out?" she asked.

"It's complicated," he said. She had no idea.

"I'm a bad, bad guy Backwoods," he continued. "You're better off without me." He was giving her a chance to decide if he was worth pursuing again. He hoped to God that she would. He started walking away and then turned back around.

"You know, Alli," he told her. "No matter what you wear, you always look good to me." He turned and walked away. He told her that because it was the truth and because it meant a lot to her.

Now, it was time to drop a note in someone's locker.

Johnny had cooked beef stew for dinner that night. He enjoyed cooking for his mom and she appreciated his efforts, even though all he could really do was heat up the contents of a can. But most of all, he loved spending time with his mom. He tried putting Alli out of his mind but he worried that she didn't get the note or she chose to ignore it.

When he and his mom finished eating, Johnny helped his mom out of her kitchen chair and over to the living room sofa so she could watch TV before going to bed. He went back into the kitchen to clear the table when the phone rang. Johnny answered it on the first ring.

"Yeah?" he said into the receiver.

"Hi Johnny," said a shy female voice on the other end. Alli had gotten the note asking her to call him.

"I'm sorry Backwoods," he said. "I was a douche bag."

"No, I was," she insisted. "I have this bad habit of messing up a good thing."

"You and me both," he chuckled. "Besides, it's hard for me to stay mad at someone as sweet as you."

Now where did that last comment come from? Johnny had never said anything like that to a girl and actually meant it. He could practically hear Alli smiling through the phone.

"We can loosen up a bit, but we still need to be discreet, okay?" he continued. "Because of the age thing and because of my rep. In case you haven't noticed, Alli, I'm not the most well liked guy in school." Johnny didn't doubt that Alli had heard about JT Yoke's death and his involvement in that.

"I know a lot of people don't like you, including my brother," she said. "But I never really understood why. I asked Sav and he wouldn't tell me." Maybe she hadn't heard.

"You never heard about the stabbing last year?" He asked curiously. If she hadn't heard, Johnny wanted her to hear the truth from him.

"I remember seeing something about it on the news and I've heard people talk at school," she said. "But you were found innocent right?"

"Something like that," he said. Johnny was 16 when the case went to trial and Johhny was sentenced to five years' probation. He promised himself he would one day tell Alli the truth about what happened. He didn't trust the news or the Degrassi gossip mill.

"I'm glad you don't hate me anymore, Johnny," she said innocently.

:"I never did hate you Bhandari," he said. They talked a little more before saying good night and hanging up.

As Johnny cleaned up the kitchen, he thought about his involvement with Alli.. Sure, she reminded him of Claudia but the similarities were subtle and very few. More importantly, she reminded him of a simpler time in his life, one that he wished had never ended.

After he finished, he checked on his mom in the living room. She turned around and smiled at him.

"It's getting cold in here," he told his mom. "I'm gonna bump up the heat a little." He adjusted the thermostat accordingly.

"Thank you, baby," she said. Johnny turned off the TV, helped her get upstairs and got her ready for bed.

After kissing his mom good night, Johnny showered and got dressed. Instead of changing into his pajamas, he put on clean socks and underwear plus a clean pair of jeans and a clean t-shirt. He then grabbed his shoes, jacket and hat and went into his mom's bedroom. He set his shoes on the floor next to the bed, hung his jacket and hat on the bed post and lay down on top of the covers next to his mom.

She was fast asleep. But Johnny had to be ready in case something happened to her in the middle of the night and he had to rush her to the hospital.