✓ | falling ➝ j. cade

xv. meet the gang

❝HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED THAT EVERY HURRICANE GETS ITS NAME FROM A GIRL LIKE THIS?❞
- HUNTER HAYES, STORM WARNING

×

It was the first day of December in 1967 when an idea struck Theodosia Mickelson. Well, it wasn't the first time it had struck the girl, rather the first time she thought to voice it. It seemed to lurk in the back of her mind at all times. So, Theodosia finally decided to put the thought to rest once and for all.

"Hey, Johnny?" The redhead broke the silence as they walked in the direction of her house on that cold winter day.

"Yeah?" Johnny looked at the girl.

"What're your friends like? Like, I know there's Two-Bit, Ponyboy, and Steve, but is it that it?"

"Nah. There's a couple other guys, too."

"Well, what're they like?"

"Uh," Johnny started, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly,"they're hard to explain."

Deep down, Johnny knew this was only half of the truth. Yeah, the gang was difficult to quickly describe due to the different personalities, but he didn't want Theodosia to meet them yet. Johnny had been more than paranoid that she would change her mind about her feelings for him. At any given moment he was scared she'd go for one of her middle class friends, like James or Josiah. Or when Theodosia met the gang, she would go for Steve or Dally because they were tuff. Johnny wasn't. So, yeah, he was paranoid.

But he also knew it would come up eventually, her wanting to meet them. After all, Theodosia had let him into her world, her life without much hesitation. Johnny had met her mother, her boss, and her best friends. Why couldn't he do the same? Oh, yeah, because he's a lowlife hood; his parents are abusive alcoholics; he's dirt-floor poor, not smart, etc. etc.. That was why.

"Y'know, you could always introduce me to them, so you wouldn't have to describe them," Theodosia offered, a small smile grew on the girl's lips as she looked at him.

"Uh, we can if you want," Johnny awkwardly agreed.

Theodosia nodded eagerly, her small grin growing into a genuine smile,"I definitely want to!"

A silence fell on the two. Johnny shoved his hands into the pockets of his jean jacket as the two walked further into the East side. He studied her while she trekked slightly ahead despite not knowing where the two were headed. Theodosia always walked with a confident aura surrounding her. Maybe it was that her chin was always slightly pointed upwards, like she was sizing up an enemy. Or that her shoulders were pushed back, adding to her already adult-like posture. The youngest Mickelson achieved her silliest goal without realizing it. She reminded Johnny of a war general. It may not have been in this life, but in a past one, maybe. Anyone who dared disrespect Theodosia was a damned fool, and Johnny pitied them. Theodosia was wildly, beautifully, and recklessly a force of nature, someone to be reckoned with. It was something Johnny had always admired about the girl, something he was now falling in love with. But he didn't know it yet.

"Theo," Johnny spoke up, causing her to look over at the Greaser.

"Yeah?" Her voice was soft, almost sounding breezy as she looked at the boy over her shoulder.

"When you meet the gang," Johnny unintentionally paused, the silence only lasting a moment's time,"don't take anything they say personally."