My One And Only // {Johnnyboy}

Chapter Eighteen: The Rumble

I sighed and closed my sketchbook.  I threw on the only muscle-t I had and walked out.  I was expecting the gang to know full-heartedly about me and Johnny, but to my surprise, nothing seemed different.  The familiar pre-rumble excitement was lingering in the air.  Sodapop and Steve were arm wrestling, while Two-bit was drinking a beer on the couch.  I avoided Soda and stuck close to Darry.  I was still wary about him, considering his mini-outburst that morning, so I wanted to keep my distance. 

"Hey, Pony!  I haven't seen you since, you know, before you killed that guy!  How you doing?" called out Two-bit from the couch.  I nearly jumped out of my skin. You can always count on him to pull something like that. Yell at you from across the room, be the only one talking the moment a room goes silent, etc.

My worries soon went from Two-bit's jump scare to Sodapop. If he didn't know that I was there before, then he definitely knew now. But to my surprise, he didn't lookup. He didn't acknowledge that I was there. He just kept on dealing cards to Steve. Ignoring my existence. I could tell, he was already trying to eliminate me from his life.

"I'm doing good," I said. I didn't know what else to say. I didn't want to tell him the truth. The truth was too complicated. Everything was complicated.

I stood off to the side while I watched everyone socialize. I just wanted the stupid rumble to be over with so I could check on Johnny in the hospital. Hell, maybe even check on Dally. Put it simply, I wanted to get away from there.

I continued to feel disconnected as I watched everyone from a distance. Eventually, nine o'clock hit and we went to go meet up with the Shepard's gang for the rumble. Around ten minutes later, the Socs showed up. We were ready.

Paul Holden, Darry's old buddy-turned-enemy from high school, stepped forward from the Soc's side. Darry stepped forward from our side. You could practically feel the tension between them. I'm not sure what went down between them, but I can't imagine it was anything good.

It looked like they were both waiting for the other person to make a move first, but neither of them did anything. It felt like I was waiting for a bomb to go off.

But just when I thought I might be able to sneak away, I saw a familiar figure running down the road. Then I heard a familiar voice yell, "WAIT!!" It was Dally.

I wanted to know how he managed to get out as early as he did, but before I got any time to think about that, Paul punched Darry square in the face. That caused a very quick ripple effect, and in a matter of seconds, the rumble was going strong. I got knocked to the ground pretty quickly. I don't remember that much about it, it's all a red blur. I threw some punches, received some punches, and just as quickly as it started, it was over.

"We won!" exclaimed Steve, high-fiving Sodapop.

However, the excitement didn't last very long for me. I felt someone tap my shoulder. It was Dally.

"C'mon, we gotta go check up on Johnny," he said, practically dragging me to his car. He barely gave me the chance to buckled my seatbelt before he started going well over the speed limit. We were quiet for the first few minutes.

"You don't think he's gonna die, do ya?" I spoke after a few minutes. I could hear my voice cracking.

"Ah, shit man, I don't know!" he exclaimed. I could hear panic arising in his voice.

"He... he can't die yet... everything was goin' great..." I half spoke, half mumbled.

"He ain't gonna die, Pony! Snap 'outta it!" Dally snapped.

"But what if he does? What's that gonna mean for us... we were gonna grow old together... maybe get a dog or somethin'... " I went on. I was mainly talking to myself rather than Dally.

"Grow old..? Wait, are you two datin' or something?" he asked in the most casual way possible.

"Wha- how'd you know that?" I asked, surprised.

"Pft, it ain't rocket science. It's kinda obvious, actually," he went on.

"And... you don't got a problem with it?" I asked.

Dally paused for a minute. Then, slowly, he said, "Well, if I did, I'd be a bit of a hypocrite."

"Wait, what?" I asked in disbelief.

"Jeez, do I gotta spell it out for ya? I had a boyfriend when I was in New York, alright?"

I looked closely at his hands on the wheel. They were shaking. I also noticed that his breathing had quickened. Then I realized something: Dally just came out to me.

"Jeez, Dal, you're shaking," I said.

"Wow, thanks, I didn't notice," he said sarcastically.

"Sorry. But, man, I was not expecting that. How long've you known?"

"Sheesh, I dunno, it clicked when I was thirteen, maybe fourteen? An' is it really that surprising?"

"You flirt. With women."

"Yeah, 'cause this town's fulla crazy people who hate gays. It's jus' easier this way, I guess."

We finally pulled up to the hospital. We rushed inside. This was it. Johnny was either going to be getting better or getting worse.