Johnny's Secret (The Outsiders)

Ch. 2 page 2

   "Where do you think you were?" Darry yelled.
   "Calm down Darrel the kid is fine, see? Not another scratch," Dally went over to him and squished his face with his fingers.
   "Get off me!" He pushed him away.
  "Oh sure is riled up though!" The whole gang was at the Curtis house now. Ponyboy reading a book on the recliner, Soda passed out on the couch, and Dally, Two-Bit, and Steve were playing a game of cards. The Curtis house was a lot louder at night.
  "Don't worry Darry my parents weren't home, I guess I got a little side tracked and took a little longer. I'm fine though, really."
   "Well don't do that to me again ya hear? I thought you were seriously hurt, you said you'd come right back!"
   "Just leave him alone already Darry!" Ponyboy argued.
  "Oh I've had enough of your shit Pony! Stay out of it!"
  "Impossible to stay out of it when the entire neighborhood can hear you." Darry almost charged at Pony this time.
  "Woah, woah!" Soda barged, standing in between the two. "Let's not start this again. Darry, Johnny is fine, he looks fine and says he fine, alright? Just leave it be and cool down."
  "Of course you'd take Pony's side," Darry huffed and went back to the kitchen.
  "Hey don't worry about it man," Soda pat Johnny's shoulder, "you know how Darrel gets, you're really no trouble at all."
   "Hate to see him get like that cause of me though. I already get yelled at enough at home."
   "The only difference though is that if Darry yells at you it's because he cares and was worried about you."
   "You're right," Johnny smiled. Darry was the closest thing he had to a good brother or father figure. Being the oldest he was the most responsible out of all of them.

   "Excuse me, pardon me," Johnny whispered inching his way between seats and people's legs. The night after the park incident the boys decided to take a trip to a drive-in movie. They didn't really have a car but luckily there were chairs to sit in. He and Ponyboy were enjoying nice, large cups of Coca Cola and the others munched on popcorn and a variety of other snacks. The movie was just about to start when a group of soc's caught Johnny's eye, especially the one with shiny, blonde hair. Jen. He couldn't keep his eyes of the group, Jen was with the same people she was with two days before. Bob, the other soc who attacked Dally, and a girl with long, red hair.
   "It's too bad Diane couldn't make it," the red head said.
   "Maybe next time she'll come," Jen whispered back.
   "That could be months from now, haven't really had any taste for the movies lately."
   "Hey Johnnycake you okay?" Dally whispered, tugging at his jacket. Johnny nodded.
   "Yeah Dal I'm fine," he turned his attention back to the movie.

   The movie wasn't all that good so far, it was pretty boring already and not even close to being finished. At this point Johnny was just daydreaming. He was thinking about Jen, how beautiful she was yet also thought about what she said at the park. He knew that anyone could have rough homes but it was hard for him to comprehend a soc having one. It made him feel sort of arrogant. He looked over at Jen, she was peeking over at him. She nodded towards the direction the parking lot was at.
It must be that time. He set his drink down and stood up.
   "I'm gonna go to the restroom real quick, be back in a bit."
    "Sure you don't need Soda and Pony to help change your diaper?" Dally laughed.
    "Shut up," he made his way over to the fence and fit his way back into the hole that the greasers had made. A minute after he left he saw Jen leave her group of friends and leave through the exit. The met at the center of the parking lot.
   "Hey there," he smiled.
   "Hi! What a coincidence our friends had the same idea!"
   "Yeah too bad the movie isn't very good. Didn't think it'd last this long either, guess it changed our plans a bit."
   "I know. At least we're here together though."
   "Yeah. I probably can't stay long though, wouldn't want to give my friends another heart attack like I did last night."
   "Oh, that was probably my fault-"
   "It wasn't don't worry, I took the blame for it. It was more my fault anyways."
   "Oh. Well thank you."
   "Hope I didn't give your parents a fright though."
   "They didn't really notice, to busy to really do anything else."
    "My parents are too drunk to do anything else besides-" he cut himself off.
   "Besides what?"
   "Nevermind, too much too early. Forget about it." This time Jen stayed quiet. She didn't want to seem rude for trying to get an answer out of him. He seemed upset by the thought of what he was gonna say anyways.
   "Do you think you want to hang out again sometime? Or if it's too much we can wait. Or just not do anything again."
   "Sure but... why do you keep wanting to see me?"
   "Because you're really nice Johnny, I always thought your greasers were horrible and violent, but you're proving that to be wrong. I'm sort of hoping that maybe I can fix the problem between y'all and us."
   "Oh."
  "But I also," Jen paused and stared at the ground, "I sort of... like you... in a way." Johnny's heart did a cartwheel in his chest.
   "You do?"
   "Of course I do." He was still madly confused. He has always been considered trash by everyone in his life except his friends. His family, the soc's, and pretty much the whole world. Greasers were known to be and hang out with delinquents, he had long greasy hair, wore dirty, torn clothes. That didn't matter to Jen though. All she saw when she looked at him was his sweet face and kind heart.
   "I'd love to hang out again. When?" He asked.
   "Maybe Saturday night? I would do tomorrow but y'know, family stuff."
   "I understand, wanna do the park again?"
   "I was thinking maybe we could go to a spot I usually hang out at. Around sundown alright?"
   "Sounds good to me."
   "Great! See you then and be careful okay?" She put her hand on his and he knew she was talking about his family.
   "You don't have to worry about me." With that they parted ways and went back to their separate worlds.