cliche {Johnny Cade}

x.

"I would drive, but the brakes went out in my car. Almost killed me and Kathy last night. You ought to meet her brother. Now there's a hood. He's so greasy, he glides when he walks." Two bit flips a car off, "He doesn't go to the barber shop to get a hair cut, he goes to get an oil change." He laughs and I roll my eyes at his joke. He stops laughing and turns when a car pulls up, making me stop walking. It was the people from the park, and I want to tell them off. They pull into parking lot next to us.

"I swear to god, I'm going to show them what they did. If that guy who choked me is there, I'm gonna throw him in the ditch after I beat him up." I start towards the car but Pony grabs me by my shirt, picking me up and carrying me away from them.

"Wait, let's see what they want." Two-Bit says as the car pulls around, Pony closing the door to the place. They get out of the car, walking towards us as we watch them.

"No jazz before the rumble. You know the rules."

"We know, we wanna talk to you." He directs it to Pony, who looks at us with an awkward look. I nod and Two says he'll watch them, Pony leaving and the guy next to us says something.

"About the rumble, pal." I turn to look at him but shrink behind Two-bit, hiding myself from the boy. He was the one who tried to kill me, and I'm gonna get back at him.

"Yeah, hey, pal. You wanna try what you did in the park again?" I say, Two looking at the guy and holding me back. He swallows heavily and backs behind his friends, making me cock an eyebrow up. Two taught me how to do that, and I now use it whenever I can.

"Hey, Violet, look at their pants!" We start laughing and Pony gets in the car.

"You guys waiting for a flood? I heard they stamp your face into Gorilla cookies." The two other greasers by us laugh with us, the Socs rolling their eyes. We make fun of each other as Pony talks to that one guy. They walk away from us and us greasers look at each other with a small look of satisfaction on our faces. I do get a slap in on the guy who choked me, slapping him hard on the back of the head as Pony came back.

"What did Mr. Supersoc say to you?"

"He ain't a soc, just a guy who wanted to talk, that's all." Sometimes I wish I had the mind Pony had. He was smarter than me, and picked out small, beautiful things I would have never noticed if it wasn't for him. I never noticed good in the world till Pony explained it to me a few years back, and now I sorta see how he sees it.

We make our way to the hospital, my heart starting to jump as we get closer. "Hey, uh, guys? Can you sit outside Johnny's room for a second, I uh, need to tell him something." Pony smiles and nods, Two's eyes widening.

"You're finally gonna do it." I nod and we get to Johnny's room. Two and Pony lean against the wall outside, wishing me luck as I walk in.

"Hey, Johnny. How are you?"

"Darling! Hey, I'm great now you're here. How are you?" I sit down next to him and wipe my eyes, trying not to cry at the state of my friend. He hates when I cry, and when he can't comfort me.

"Yeah, it's me. I need to talk to you about something, actually." I look at his face in the mirror they have, smiling when I see his face. Just his face can make me happy.

"What's wrong? Did I do somethin'?"

"This is very cliche, but there's a good chance I'm in love with you." Johnny makes a choking noise as he is cheeks become red.

"W-What?"

"I-I'm sorry. I'll leave. Sorry for bothering you." I get up and run out, Johnny calling for me as I start crying. The boys look at me with confused looks as I walk out, Pony sighing and hugging me.

"What happened?"

"He doesn't feel the same." I cry into Pony's shoulder, Pony smoothing my hair down.

"He does, trust me. Let's go see him." The air was stiff as I walk back in there, Johnny still calling for me.

"I'm here, Johnny. Don't worry." He sticks his hand out and I hold onto it, wiping my tears off with my other hand. My hand was still burnt, but it didn't hurt as much as it did before.

"No, uh, can I talk to her in private please." The boys leave without saying anything. Johnny looks at me before smiling again. "Why didn't you just say something before?"

"I didn't wanna ruin anything. How are you okay with this?"

"Well shoot, I've been feelin' the same way for four years now." A huge smile finds its way on my face rather quickly, my heart swelling.

"Really?" Johnny goes to nod but winces, his thumb running over my burnt hand.

"I've loved you since we were twelve." My face turns red as he continues. "Your hair, your cute little freckles, your eyes that look like the forest, everything. Just everything about you." He winces again as Two and Pony walk in, smiles on their faces.

"Hey Johnny."

"Hey, y'all." Their smiles turn into frowns as they see Johnny, who lets go of my hand.

"Look, uh, you got your picture in the paper. You're a hero."

"Yeah, that's tuff enough, huh?"

"You can look at it later." Two says, my heart aching. I knew Johnny was dying, and Two-bit knew it too, but he acted like he didn't. "Want anything?"

"The book, man." Two-bit and I look at Pony with confusion.

"I think he wants a copy of Gone with the Wind, so I can read it to him.Would you go downstairs and get one?" Two nods and leaves, Johnny watching him in the mirror. "Dal's gonna be okay, me and Darry get along real good now." Johnny started gasping, Pony and I both jumping.

"I'm fine. Just, hurts sometimes. Usually don't, since I can't feel anything below my back. Pretty bad off, ain't I?" With that I start crying, hard this time. Even with my hand over my mouth, you could still hear my sobs. Pony was near tears too, but he hasn't started crying yet like I have.

"You're gonna be alright, Johnny. You gotta be,I couldn't live without you." I started crying out of vain. Johnny was literally my world, I can't even think about living a day without him. I rest my head on Pony's shoulder as I start crying harder, my throat stinging as I try to breath.

"Don't cry, babe. I won't be able to walk again, not even on crutches. Doc says I've busted my back."

"You're gonna be fine." Pony sniffs, wrapping his arm around me. "I know you are."

---

that's such a bad ending but oh well.