Summer Sun - Johnny Cade

two

Valerie's POV

The light hum of the fan in the Curtis' living room woke me up. I could hear two voices in the kitchen. I looked around and realized that I was in Johnny's arms, him still asleep. I wiggled free of his grasp and walked toward the two voices. When I walked in the kitchen, I saw Soda and Ponyboy making breakfast while trying to not wake anyone else up. "Good morning Val," Soda whispered. "Good morning," I replied with a small smile. "Where is everyone?" I asked. "Dally is at Buck's place, Two-Bit crashed in my bed, Darry is still sleeping, I don't know where Steve is, and I'm sure you know where Johnny is," Ponyboy smirked as he talked. "What?" I asked referring to the smirk still plastered on his face. "I bet you and Johnny will end up together before the summer is over with," Ponyboy exclaimed. "I'll bet you 5 bucks!" Soda said with a toothy grin. "Leave the poor girl alone. It's her second day here and she is already being harassed," Darry said as he walked in the kitchen. "Thank you Darry," I replied. He gave me a small nod then looked in the direction of the living room. I turned to see what he was looking at, and I saw Johnny just waking up. I smiled to myself before making my way over to him. "How did you sleep?" I asked. "Better than usual," Johnny said. "Better than usual because you cuddled Valerie all night long!" Pony shouted from the kitchen. Johnny's face turned a deep shade of red and he looked down. "Don't worry Johnny I slept good too," I replied implying that he was a good cuddler. He looked up at me and smiled. "Breakfast is ready!" Soda said. Damn you Soda for ruining the moment.

We all got our plates made and sat at the table. Johnny sat beside me. Two-Bit rushed out of Pony and Soda's room and into the kitchen. "Hey Two-Bit," I said. He turned around from the kitchen counter where the food was and gave me a look. "Still not much of a morning person I see," I replied to his look. He walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, plopping onto the floor and turning the television on. No surprise that he flipped through the channels until he found Mickey Mouse. "So what is the plan for today?" Darry asked breaking the silence. "Probably not much," Ponyboy said to his older brother. "What about you?" Pony asked Johnny. "Oh, I don't know. Probably nothing," Johnny said. "Why don't we walk around town for a little while, then we can go to the drive in?" I asked. "That sounds like fun," Johnny and Ponyboy said. "I would go with y'all, but I have to go to work soon," Soda said with a defeated look on his face. "Don't worry Sodapop we can all go again on Saturday," Darry said. Soda smiled and soon they both left the table to go get ready for work. "Two-Bit, are you gonna come with us?" Ponyboy asked. "I don't know. I might meet up with y'all later," he replied. "What are you going to do then?" I asked my cousin who was still half asleep while sitting in the floor. "I'm gonna go to Buck's and see what Dal's up to," Two-Bit said. I grabbed my now empty plate and walked to the sink. I picked up the sponge that was sitting on the sink's edge, put dish soap on it, and began to wash the dirty dishes. "Need a hand?" I turned to see who the voice was. It was Johnny. "Yeah, I could use some help," I said with a smile. He placed the other plates in the sink and grabbed a dish towel. He started to dry the dishes that I had already washed and he put them away. "You two don't have to do the dishes ya' know," Darry said as he walked in the kitchen. "I know, but this is my thank you for making breakfast and letting me crash on your couch," I laughed as I talked. "Me too," Johnny said with a smile.

After we finished the dishes, I grabbed a pair of clothes from one of my many bags that never made it to the Mathews' house. I walked to the bathroom and changed very fast. Johnny stayed in the same clothes because he didn't have any there. As I walked out of the bathroom, I saw Ponyboy and Johnny waiting for me beside the front door. Johnny opened the door and motioned for me to walk out. Ponyboy smirked at Johnny and Johnny just rolled his eyes. We began walking down the sidewalk. "Where are we headed to first?" Ponyboy asked. "Not sure," I replied, "We could go shopping!" "No," Pony said plainly. "What do you want to do then?" I asked. "Let's go to the Dingo," Johny said. "But we just ate breakfast," Ponyboy remarked. "So?" I added, "That sounds fun Johnny." "Good because I really want a milkshake," Johnny said smiling. Gosh, I never noticed how adorable his smile is.

We finally reached the Dingo after walking for what felt like forever. "The heat really tires you out, huh?" Johnny asked me while I was sweating. "Yeah, no kidding," I replied. "Hopefully they got the air fixed in here," Pony said jokingly as we walked inside the Dingo. They did in-fact have the air fixed. "Golly, it's cold in here," I said, my sweat turned into ice on my body. "You were just sweating though," Johnny replied as he cocked up an eyebrow. "Yeah I know," I said back to him. We found our way to a booth beside a window that looks right out front of the restaurant. Pony and Johnny sat on one side, as I sat across from them. "Here are your menus," the waitress said as she gave us our menus. "What are y'all going to get?" I asked. "I want a strawberry milkshake," Johnny said licking his lips. "I'll probably get a chocolate," Pony said. "What are you going to get, Val?" Johnny asked me. "Strawberry milkshake," I said. "Last summer you said 'strawberry is the worst flavor of milkshake'. What happened to that?" Johnny asked in a mocking tone. "I learned to love it I guess," I replied to him. The waitress soon came back over to our table and collected our orders. "So, what movie our we going to see?" Ponyboy asked. "Not sure. I don't know what's playing," I responded. "I guess we'll see once we get there," Johnny said jokingly. I turned to my left to look out the window, and saw a blue mustang pull up. "Oh no," Johnny said, "I'll bet they're looking for one of us," He started to bite his nails. "Johnny it's okay, calm down," Pony said reassuringly. Johnny had recently got jumped by a group of socs because he accidentally wandered onto their territory. Boy did they get him good too. He had a large bruise on his left rib and a small cut on his lip. The socs got out of their car and walked into the Dingo. The four soc boys looked around, then they spotted me. "Oh no," I said. "What?" Johnny asked a very worried look on his face. "They are coming this way," I whispered to him. "Y'all know Dallas Winston don't ya'?" one of the socs asked us. "Yeah, so what," Pony said. Johnny just kept his gaze out the window making sure he didn't draw any attention to himself. "Well you better make sure he gets this message," the same soc said as he handed us a piece of paper that read "Stay away from my girlfriend or else." We read the note. "Or else what?" I asked. Johnny nudged me from underneath the table and shot me a look. "Or else I'll beat the shit out of him," the soc spat. I rolled my eyes and they walked away. "Here are your milkshakes," the waitress said as she handed us our drinks. We enjoyed our drinks, payed, and left. "We've got to find Dal and tell him what the socs said or else he will get himself into deep trouble," I said as we opened the door to the Dingo and stepped outside. "Sure, but do ya' know where he is?" Pony added. "Nope," I replied turning my lips into a thin line. "Do you think he would be at your house, Pony?" Johnny asked. "We can go see," Ponyboy said. So we started to walk back to the Curtis' house.

We were about a block away from Pony's house, when the same blue mustang pulled up beside us. "Hey greasers, y'all let your little buddy Dally know what we said earlier?" on of the socs questioned. "Ignore them," Johnny mumbled so only I could hear. "Looks like we are going to have to beat it into their little greaser heads," another soc said. We started to walk a little faster hoping they would get the hint and leave us alone. They sped up. "Where ya' goin' greasers?" one taunted at us. Pony whispered "run" to us as the house came up into view. So we started running like a bunch of idiots. Of course the mustang sped up as well. They were gaining on us. We didn't even bother to open up the gate at the fence of the house, instead we just jumped over it. As we ran onto the porch, there he was, smoking a cigarette, just being so calm. I yanked his arm and pulled him inside. I quickly closed the door behind me. "Dallas what the hell did you do to the socs?" I questioned between breaths. "What do ya' mean man?" Dally said. I handed him the note and he read it. "I don't know what they're talking 'bout," Dally said as if he was trying to convince himself he didn't know. Johnny, Ponyboy, and I gave him a look. "Okay, okay, maybe I talked to his girlfriend once or twice, but she was all over me, man," Dally replied to our look. "Whatever, you just need to solve this problem so we can eat at the Dingo in peace," I said. Johnny and Ponyboy laughed a little. "So, what do ya'll plan on doing today?" Dally asked. "We are going to the drive in later tonight," Ponyboy said smiling. He's always loved watching movies. "You want to come with us?" I asked. "Sure. That is if it fits into my very busy schedule," Dallas joked. He pretended to be thinking and he tapped his finger on his chin. "Yeah, I'm free tonight," he said shrugging his shoulders. We all started to laugh. "So, what do we do now?" Johnny asked. "Just wait I guess," I replied to him.

Authors Note: This literally took a whole week to write because I've been very busy with school and other things so I'm really sorry for that. Also, Google is trying to tell me that 'cuddler' isn't a word. LIKE WHAT?? It most definitely is. I think it is anyway. If it's not then I probably sound really stupid right now but oh well. I hope you enjoyed this very long chapter.