de facto 〖 ponyboy curtis 〗

eight.

Ponyboy

"Hey," the quiet voice of Jo-Lynn got Ponyboy's attention and he smiled at her, easily loosening up, "I started reading the book you gave me and I really like it. I appreciate that you even thought to do that for me."

"It was nothing. I'm just happy you like it."

They had been walking towards the doors of the cafeteria where very few people seemed to be which was funny considering it was lunch and that's where the general population met at that time. "Were you going somewhere?"

"Usually my 'friends' are over there but I guess they're... not." Jo giggled at the awkwardness of the boy's presence and he asked her the same question after getting over the initial nerves.

"Nope, I don't really have friends around here."

"Where do you usually eat?"

Jo shrugged. "Classroom, library, bathroom," she joked, giggling at the last answer.

"Oh yeah, you told me that. The U.S. History teacher leaves her door unlocked for you while she's gone for lunch and the next period." He walked beside her just a couple of steps behind but when the time came to get into the lunch line she stood away from it.

"You remembered that?"

"Sure." He stood awkwardly with his food but there was no one behind him so he didn't bother moving. "If you don't wanna eat alone, I could... go to class with you."

Jo-Lynn agreed and the two talked whilst walking to the Advanced U.S. History classroom. Somehow, the walk seemed longer and more agonizing for Ponyboy who felt like they'd taken fifteen minutes to get to a class which was usually only a couple minutes away from the cafeteria. It built up his angst and it felt like a huge relief, sitting in the chair behind the large table.

"Why aren't you eating? Not hungry?"

"Not in the mood."

"What are you in the mood for?"

"Oh," she chuckled, nervously fiddling with her thumbs, "you don't wanna know."

"Yeah, that's why I asked, 'cause I didn't wanna know."

His left hand was unoccupied, tapping on the wooden table while the right played with the food he had yet to start eating. Suddenly, she grabbed his left hand and swiftly interlocked their fingers. She moved the chair closer to his and for some reason, the build-up of Ponyboy's angst was finally able to be released as he inexplicably gained the confidence to kiss the girl.

One of his hands rested on the small of Jo's back and the other untangled with hers. They, then, moved to rest on her hips as she pulled him closer. She stood up from the chair and Ponyboy followed, lightly pushing her against the table. She sat down on the tabletop, her skirt slightly sliding up as he gets closer, to the point where there was almost no air between the two.

Ponyboy's initial worries faded and were replaced by the adrenaline encouraging him to go further until they were both left shirtless and daring to go further. Jo's lips detached from his and while his hands explored her body, her lips moved down: going from his lips to kissing his jaw, then to his neck. As her lips went down, so did his hands until it all abruptly ended.

Ponyboy's eyes sprung open as he lay in bed, heart pounding and breathing heavy. He cursed to himself and shoved a pillow over his face, allowing him to curse more loudly and let his sudden frustration out.

Out of all the girls he'd thought of, Jo-Lynn was the only who he'd never actively seen in a sexual way. His crush had now been slightly tainted, yet heightened, though he knew it'd be hard to look at her without feeling a surge of embarrassment.

He glanced at his clock and saw that it was almost time for Darry to get up and go to work. More often than not, his girlfriend would come over and he wasn't sure why she hadn't just moved in by now but he was up before either of them and decided to make breakfast to avoid sleeping anymore. He put some bacon in the oven and sausage on the stovetop, and took his time on some eggs--sunnyside up for Darry, scrambled for himself, and scrambled egg whites for Darry's girlfriend. He thought, in depth about every step of everything he made, trying his hardest to forget what was really going on.

"Mornin', Ponyboy," Darry greets, obviously happy that he wasn't the one making the breakfast this morning. He sat the plate in front of him, also placing two slices of toast and a glass of milk in front of his older brother.

"Mornin'."

"Hey, Ponyboy, how'd you sleep?" Darry's girl, Iona, asks, earning an immediate, almost defensive, response from Ponyboy.

"Fine. Why?"

"Uh," she chuckles and takes a seat beside Darry, "just wonderin'."

"Here you go," he mumbled, sitting her food and a glass of water in front of her seat. Sodapop walks in followed by Steve and greets everyone. "Hungry, Soda?"

"Nah, I ate. Thanks, though."

"I could eat," Steve intervenes, taking the plate from Ponyboy.

"Hello to you too, Steve."

"Hello, Iona-Jade."

"I'm goin' to my room," Ponyboy announces quietly, making his way into his room, ignoring Steve's, 'what's wrong with him' and Soda's witty response. He sighed and grabbed one of the other books on his shelf: Lord of the Flies. What better distraction than animalistic young boys.

Most of his day was spent reading and listening to the guys (excluding Darry) and Iona, as well as another girlfriend, interact. They invited him to join but after his rigorous no's, they settled with the 'he's a moody teenager' excuse and left him alone. At some point, he really did momentarily forget about what he was hoping to but it was replaced with a longing for someone to talk to. Suddenly he'd missed Johnny again.

Of course, he always missed Johnny but after a year or so it subsided. Moments like these where he couldn't talk about what was he was thinking with his brothers or his friend brought back the wave of loneliness he was afraid of. It was funny, to him, how he went from one feeling to another extreme: apparently 'he's a moody teenager' was the appropriate excuse.

you guys have no idea how uncomfortable i was writing an almost smut type thing. i literally couldn't go any further than that.
it's suuuper late right now and i should be asleep but i was soo in the zone with this chapter, even though it wasn't tooooo great or anything