Young Hearts (A LawRusso Story)

Chapter 26 - The stupid idea

Johnny and I spent the rest of the afternoon making out and flipping through old yearbooks. We got barely any actual work done, but neither of us seemed to mind. In that moment, everything felt right and easy. Johnny and me, in our own little world, far away from everything and everyone. We laughed and teased each other, kissed and nudged one another playfully. Not until the janitor returned to release us, was the spell broken and we were forced back to reality. 

Back in the main school, everything felt different. It was like the air was cooler, more grey. As we walked in silence towards the main entrance, memories from the day before flooded my brain. How Dutch had threatened me and punched me in the face, how Johnny had done nothing to stop him. The cold started to creep its way into my veins and a panic started to grow inside me. I wanted nothing less than for the Cobras to be out there waiting for me again. My heart started to beat faster as we got closer to the door, and I could feel pearls of sweat breaking out on my forehead. 

"They won't be here." Johnny mumbled, he must have sensed what I was thinking. 

The janitor was walking only a few steps behind us so he had to keep his voice down, but I got the message. I glanced back at the old man, but he looked as careless as ever.

"How can you be so sure?" I hissed back.

"I told them to stay the hell away from here." Johnny answered in an even lower voice. 

We had reached the door now, and the janitor was making his way past us to unlock it for us. We stepped outside and the door was immediately shut closed behind us, allowing us to speak in our normal voices. The sun was still shining outside and it was actually a very pleasant afternoon.

"What do you mean?" I asked, scanning the parking lot for the cobras simultaneously.

"Hey." Johnny said and took hold of my hand to get my complete attention.

"They're not here." His words were soft and his blue eyes ensuring. "I promise."

The school grounds and parking lot were both pretty empty, except for a group of people carrying very large instruments. It looked like they had just left band practice on the football court. I was not sure how band members were treated on this school, but it was not considered a cool after school activity back in Jersey.  

"If you say so." I mumbled and looked down at our shoes instead.

"Hey." He said again, and gently shook the hand that was still holding mine. 

I looked into his eyes again and I thought I could see a hint of hurt in them, or concern maybe.

"I am so sorry, Daniel." Johnny's voice was calm but sincere. "I won't let them hurt you again, OK?"

I wanted nothing more than to believe him, but those guys were his friends. His gang. I looked down on our combined hands, and Johnny stroke my knuckles with his thumb.

"OK?" He said again and I finally nodded and let out a deep breath. 

"Good." He said and flashed me his most charming smile. 

I wanted to kiss him so bad in that moment. He was the most handsome person I had ever seen, and I was foolishly and completely in love with him.

"Come on." He said on a happier note, and we began to descend the stairs. Our hands were safely put away in our jeans pockets, we could not risk anyone spotting us holding hands out in the open. "Were's your bike, I'll walk you to it?" Johnny said when we reached the bottom.

"Uhm.." I pounded that for a moment. "Crap!" I exclaimed when I remember the long morning walk.  

"What?" Johnny chuckled, amused by my expression.

"I didn't take the bike today." I slapped my hand over my forehead to punish my stupid brain.

"Oh, OK." Johnny did not seemed to chocked about the fact. "Did your mom drive you?"

"No." Now I was the one chuckling. "I walked here."

"You walked here?" Johnny looked at me in disbelief, but joined in my laughter. "From Reseda?"

I heard how crazy I must sound to him and blushed slightly. "Yeah... I mean, I woke up really early and thought it was a good way to kill some time."

"I thought some idiot might had stolen it." Johnny winked.

Then it hit me that I had to walk all the way home again. That fact had completely slipped my mind when I made the excellent decision to leave my bike at home this morning. I groaned loudly and cursed myself for being so unbelievable dumb. The school was locked too, so I could not even use a phone to call my mom and get her to pick me up.

"Come here." Johnny chuckled and began steer me in the opposite direction. "I'll drive home."

"You will?" The relief was immediate. "Thank you so much!"

"Not a problem." Johnny smiled. 

"Were did you park your car?" I asked as we passed the ones closest to us. 

"Oh, I didn't take me car here." Johnny said casually. 

At first I was confused. Didn't he drive here? Or is he Just messing with me? But suddenly I understood what he meant, and stopped dead my tracks. Panic hitting me in full force again.

"You're talking about your motorcycle, aren't you?" My voice was strained and my eyes wide.

"Yeah." Johnny chuckled. He had also stopped walking and had to turn around to face me where I was standing a couple of feet away. "Honestly Daniel, have you ever seen me driving a car before?" He teased.

"Well.. no." That was true, but I did not understand how you could offer someone a ride without having a car to drive them safely in. "But I figured you had one."

"I do." Johnny answered simply. "But the bike is more fun." He winked again and signed at me to follow him. "Come on now."