-ＤＡＵＮＴＬＥＳＳ- 𝑗𝑜ℎ𝑛𝑛𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑤𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒

𝟏𝟐 • 𝐉𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐘, 𝐉𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐘

🅙🅔🅐🅛🅞🅤🅢🅨, 🅙🅔🅐🅛🅞🅤🅢🅨
─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────

"Come on, Johnny!" Dutch urges and the blonde turns to me as the boys joke around in the car. He glances at me and I can't really say anything since he's my only ride home. "You can bring the princess too." Johnny shoots daggers at the boy and he reverts his eyes from us with his hands defensively in the air.

"We'll only drive around for a little then we'll drop you off." He informs me and I reluctantly nod. "Fine, but I'm driving." He responds to Dutch and the boys begin filing out of the silver truck after finding a parking space.

Johnny tells me to take the front seat and I don't reject the idea, knowing that, if anything, I'd rather fly through the windshield at 90mph than sit next to Dutch. "Why does she get shotgun, Johnny?" The hulking boy in the back seat complains, glaring at me through the mirror.

"Because I said so."

"But she-" I eye him with one brow raised, awaiting his insults that were most definitely floating around in his thoughts.

"Shut the fuck up, Dutch." Johnny seethes and continues down the road as the other boy falls back in his seat, muttering things to Tommy next to him.

"Take a left." Dutch states a few minutes later and my eyebrows scrunch together as the red convertible rolls into the Golf 'N Stuff parking lot.

"Shit," I murmur to myself and attempt to cover my face with the length of my sweatshirt as we slow down beside the sidewalk to where Ali and Daniel stand.

"Hey, Ali how's it goin'?" Tommy asks and I give him a weird look.

"Hey, it's goin' good." She wears a light blue headband in her fluffed-up hair when she glances over to Daniel, a subtle worried look in her eyes as they analyze his features, but his focus is on me. I try to avoid eye contact, knowing the disappointed expression he would surely be wearing.

"Want a ride?"

"Maybe some other time." She replies although the tinge of uncertainty in her tone told me that 'some other time' would never happen.

"Are you sure? We'll make room." He insists and I witness the grin creep onto Dutch's lips as he scoots over and pats the space between him and Bobby who's stayed silent this whole time.

"I'll see you later." She replies, but I could tell she didn't want to follow through with that.

"Your little friend can come too if it's okay with his mommy." Johnny comments and I sink into his leather seat. As if on cue, Mrs. Larusso joyfully rolls up beside us in her old, beat-up car. Daniel's expression hardens and he glances over his shoulder to hide his face.

"Hi, kids." She greets, but her smile quickly fades at Dutch's words.

"Hey, Mommy, can Daniel come for a ride?" He chuckles and Johnny, thankfully, pulls out of the parking lot, leaving the couple glaring at the convertible on its way out.

I remain silent, fiddling with the zipper of my zip-up to keep myself distracted and keep calm. I think back to Daniel on his first date with Ali, my two best friends, and now it's ruined because of the same fucking people I'm sitting in the car with.

I replay the clip of Mrs. Larusso's realization of the group making fun of her in my head and I knew I needed to apologize to her for even being in the vicinity of these guys. Our family was never wealthy in Chicago, we were just barely getting by and now suddenly I'm on the other end of the spectrum. Mom got a better-paying job and we're much better off now, but that doesn't change what we went through in Illinois.