Johnny's Girl

Fruit Punch

I heard a knock at the door. I had just finished my makeup. Johnny got out of the hospital yesterday, and he is taking me to the Valentine's dance. I shuffled to the door, past my dad who was passed out on the floor, with beer cans and bottles scattered all over the floor. I opened the door, it creaking as I did.

"Hey," Johnny said, smiling. He was wearing a nice white shirt and black jeans.

"Hi," I responded, smiling. I had bought a pink dress that went down to just above my knees.

"You look beautiful," he told me.

"Thanks. You look great. How are you feeling?" I asked.

"Great," Johnny said, smiling, "should we go now?"

"Let's go!" I exclaimed, getting into the car.

Johnny drove us around the corner to the school. There were lots of cars around us, lots of couples making out.

"If this is stupid, we can leave whenever," Johnny said, laughing.

"Okay," I said, looking at Johnny.

"Wait here," he said, getting out of the car. He walked around and opened my door. He grabbed my hand, to help me climb out.

"Thanks, Johnny," I said, walking towards the door.

We walked in to hear Hound Dog by Elvis Presley playing and couples dancing all around us. There was a bubble machine in the back corner, blowing bubbles everywhere. Our gymnasium was really small, so I was really surprised we could fit this many people. We barely could, everyone was shoved together in the middle of the floor. A girl bumped into me, knocking me into Johnny. I looked over at her, it was a Soc giving me a dirty look. "Oops," she said, sarcastically.

I pushed her back, making her spill her fruit punch on herself. "Oops," I said back to her, matching her tone. She gasped, and shook her hands all over. There was a group of boys next to her, laughing. Her girlfriends pushed them and helped her clean up.

I pulled Johnny over to the other side of the gym, away from the girl. "Hey, man!" I heard a voice say. It was Dally. I was surprised he even noticed us, he had his eyes glued on some girl's butt.

"Hey," Johnny said, not trying to make eye contact with Dallas. We didn't want the gang to know about me and Johnny.

"You with (y/n)?" Dally asked, chuckling.

"No. Well, yeah. I mean-- we came together, but we're not--like--" Johnny stuttered.

"Wait..." Dally said, taking his cigarette out of his mouth, "are y'all like... goin' together or something'?"

Me and Johnny looked away from Dally. Dallas laughed, throwing his cigarette on the ground, stomping on it.

"Come on, Dal', don't tell them, man," Johnny said.

"Alright," Dally said, chuckling.

"How'd you get in here, man? You dropped out," Johnny asked Dally.

"Snuck in. You guys pay?" Dallas asked, laughing.

Johnny nodded.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, "you hate dances."

"I'm just here for the chicks," Dallas said, laughing.

I felt something being poured down my back. Something cold. I whipped around to see the girl that I had pushed earlier. She was pouring fruit punch down my back, she dropped the empty cup on the floor. I pushed her onto the floor and tackled her. Soon, I was laying on top of her, pushing her wrists into the ground. She looked up at me, scared. Everyone had cleared the floor, and was standing on the left side of the gym. "Hey," I said, angrily. "You stay away from me. Don't touch me. Don't push me. Don't talk to me. Don't even look at me ever again. And stay away from my boyfriend." I jumped up from her and walked away.

A teacher approached me as I was getting some fruit punch a few moments later. "Violence is not tolerated here at Will Rogers. You must leave immediately." He said, pointing towards the door.

"Okay," I said, turning around to make sure Johnny was still behind me. He was. He was looking at the floor, like he was scared. Johnny doesn't like fights. I walked out and climbed into the car.

"Boyfriend?" Johnny asked.

"What?"

"You told the girl to stay away from your boyfriend. You talkin' about me or is there someone else?" Johnny asked, not making eye contact.

"Oh," I said. "I'm sorry. I mean--if you don't want to be-- you don't have to--"

"No," Johnny blurted, "I want to." Johnny looked up at me, and we made eye contact. That special kind of eye contact that you see in romance movies. We leaned in at the same time. He pushed his lips against mine for a few seconds. He let go, and slumped back into his seat.

"Sorry I got us kicked out of the dance," I said, laughing.

Johnny looked at me and laughed. "That was awesome. When we left, I heard a bunch of guys talking about you. Good stuff--"

I chuckled. My back was freezing, the chick poured a whole cup of punch down my dress.

"Are you cold?"

"Uh... kinda. I'm fine."

Johnny reached into the backseat of the car and grabbed a jean jacket he had sitting on the seat. He wrapped it around my arms. "I put this back there, I know Dal' refuses to put heating in this thing."

"Thanks," I chuckled.

"Oh, hey I got an idea." Johnny turned the key and backed out of the parking lot. He drove to an empty parking lot by an open field. "Sun's about to set."

Me and Johnny watched the sun go down in the car. It was so beautiful. It topped off the perfect night. I got to do all of my favorite things, hang out with Johnny, have an excuse to look nice (I don't get to get dressed up much, so it's fun to put makeup on once in a while). I got to go on a date, watch the sunset, and I got to tackle someone. It was a perfect night.