Johnny

Porsha seemed down. It took me a lot longer to notice than maybe it should have, but I felt safe blaming my dad for that one. I finally noticed when she kept just... doing nothing. She'd sit on the couch and stare at a wall instead of even watching the television that only had four channels. Sometimes she wouldn't even stare; she'd just doze off before waking up in a start. I didn't have to be some sort of a mastermind to realize that meant Porsha wasn't feeling her best. So I turned to the best person I could think of to ask what I could do to cheer her up.

"You've got to buy her something. It's what always makes me happy when I'm feeling a bit down!" In hindsight, asking Nooshy was not my wisest moment. She knew what sort of things girls liked, but she didn't necessarily go straight to the kind of things I could afford.

"Noosh. I have, like, five dollars, mate! You know I can't get her something nice," I replied, already trying to think of what I could manage with five dollars.

"You can buy some nice ish for five dollars. You just aren't looking in the right place."

The right place for Porsha was nowhere in my neighborhood.

"The best thing that ever happened to me was my first concert. It was like entering a whole new world. And look at where it got me! I'm telling you, if you're ever down, you gotta go to a concert. Just find out who her favorite singer is and take her there." I should have known what to expect when I asked Ash for advice, but somehow that still wasn't the answer I was going for.

If there was one thing in life I could not afford, it would be Clay Calloway tickets.

"It's so nice that you're trying to think of ways to help Porsha! It's so good that she has friends who are happy to help her out. I think it's really good when people can get in touch with nature! And it's free so I don't have to think of a way to pay for, like, a thousand tickets at once to get all of the kids in!" I should have known that Rosita was the person to go to if I needed help with something. She was always so nice and she somehow always had a hundred candies in her purse to offer if any of us were sad. I was also just lucky that she didn't tell me to give Porsha a piece of candy.

"Hey Porsha," I started tentatively, trying not to spook her again. "Do you want to maybe do something today?"

"No!" I was pretty sure she replied, though her voice was muffled by the pillow she had buried her face in. "I'm never doing anything ever again."

"...Ok, but if I'm going alone I guess I'll just have to wear my socks with these sandals."

Porsha's face peered up at me while she considered my threat. "You wouldn't!" she protested while I began putting on my socks. "All right fine but you can't make me like it. What sort of lame thing are we even doing?" I ignored her pouting and herded her into the car.

"Where are we going?" Porsha continued to ask, clearly putting a lot of effort into sounding angry. I still hadn't told her just how easy it was to tell when she was acting, the way her syllables all bunched up and she decided awkwardly which sounds to stress. It didn't seem like the time to mention that.

"You'll find out when we get there! Just be a little bit more patient, ok?" I remembered Rosita telling me how to talk to my dad whenever I used my adult voice with Porsha. You have to acknowledge his feelings and what he's done while also making it known what you want. Make sure to be positive and say some nice things. Like asking Porsha to be even more patient, not just telling her to be patient.

"But I don't even want to do this," Porsha awkwardly muttered at me, as if I couldn't see the delight rising in her eyes.

When we pulled in to the park, the first thing I noticed was that it was full of kids. Which should have been something I had planned on, but it wasn't. The second thing I noticed was that none of the kids were occupying the swingset because they were all too busy doing... whatever game it was they were playing. Maybe Rosita would have recognized it, but to me it was nonsense.

"We are playing on the swingset," I told Porsha decisively, already moving toward it. "Because we need to spend more time in the fresh air. Doesn't it feel good? Take a deep breath." I felt like a fake trying to figure out what exactly I meant while I was still saying it, but I knew the idea was there. I just had to figure out how to put it into words. "And the sun! It's out! And it feels so good! And once you really get going you'll get to feel the wind in your hair."

Porsha sat on the swings and looked over at me sheepishly, her head down and her shoulders raised way up. I looked back at her and started swinging while she just sat there, still apparently sad.

"Do you need a push?" I asked, and she looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"Okay, so I don't know how to swing. I don't need anyone to rub it in, either," Porsha snapped at me. I got off my swing and got behind her.

"Oh, it took me forever to learn," I lied, trying to cheer her up. "So here's what you're gonna have to do. When you're going backward, lean forward, with your legs tucked under the swing, ok? And when you're going forward, lean back, with your legs wayyy out in front of you! I'm gonna give you a good push, which is the best part of swinging if I'm being really honest with ya, and then I'll hop on over to my swing so you can mimic me if you want. Ok?"

There was a long silence before Porsha finally mumbled, just loud enough that I even heard it, "Why are you still being nice to me? I've been snapping at you all day."

Responses rushed through my head, the main one being that she wasn't as bad as my dad, but I didn't want to play it off. She was being serious, and it seemed fair that I be serious back. "Because you're worth it. And because I know you're really a good person, you're just stressed right now. And yeah I'll want you to apologize, but I'm willing to wait until you're in a better place and you're really able to think more clearly. But mostly just because I think you deserve a good friend."

Porsha sat and thought for a long time before I finally just moved to give her a push. I hadn't planned on having such a deep talk today, but there was nothing I could do to undo it. I just pulled her back and then pushed her forward almost as hard as I could, watching her fly for a second before I got onto my swing.

"So look, like this. Try and do what I do, ok? Backward so we lean forward, forward so we lean backward. You'll get there. You'll get there."

Hi! Long time no write. To be totally honest I didn't expect this story to take off (and I guess nine follows hardly counts as "taking off," but it's still more than I expected). I'm still around and still writing, but I'll admit it'll take time between updates because I didn't plan this whole story out in advance. I don't even know where the ending is yet lol. But thank you all for reading! It's great to see other fans :)

Also it's come to my attention that ish is not a super common slang term. It's slang for stuff.