Go The F☆ck To Sleep ~ Bedtime Stories for the Outsiders Insomniacs

Date With Johnny ~Part 1~

He was here again. Your hands were mindlessly scanning the groceries in front of you but your eyes were fixed firmly on the boy with the dark hair and jean jacket who was wandering aimlessly at the end of the produce aisle with the friend he always came in with. You could tell he didn't really have a reason to be here. The only people who came in to get groceries at midnight were the drunks and stoners and people who worked odd shifts. Was he high? Or maybe he was just lost, you thought as you watched his eyes. Every now and then they would flit towards you and then look away again nervously. He didn't seem to really have a reason to be here other than the melon he had been holding in his hands for the last twenty minutes. If these guys looked more like the other greasers you'd seen around town you probably would have alerted your manager to the suspicious activity by now. But these guys looked harmless somehow.

His friend was taller and had greased back hair too. You know he was one of the Curtis brothers. Ponyboy you think to yourself. You'd seen him around at school. The two of them were always together and sometimes Pony would wave to you and nudge the quiet one but he'd never so much as look up at you. Right now Ponyboy seemed to be getting annoyed though. He kept shoving at the dark haired boy's elbow and you could read his mouth telling him "go....go...." but neither of them were moving.

You finish bagging the last of the food for the drunk guy in front of you and punch a few keys on the register.

"That's eleven ninety-eight" you tell him, feeling yourself cringe a little at the stare he's giving you. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a wallet "accidentally" letting a condom drop onto the conveyor belt in front of you. You look away, pretending not to notice and you see Ponyboy shoving the quiet kid up towards your line.

"Oh, woops" the old boozer in front of you curls his lip, trying to draw your attention to his mistake. "Forgot I had that in there." He laughs a wave of liquor stained breath into your face and you close your eyes and drop your head for a second. Sometimes you really hate this shift. I mean, really, really hate it. You always get the weirdos.

"Eleven ninety-eight" you repeat with your most forced customer service smile. Pony and the dark haired boy step into your line. You glance over at the one in the jean jacket but he looks away hurriedly. Pony nods a hello to you though. You smile back and turn your attention to the condom that's now being held in your face. The guy stumbles a little and smiles at you.

"Ever seen one of these?" he says with a heavily intoxicated grin. He takes your silence as an answer somehow and leans toward you. "I could show you how they work" he says raising a clumsy eyebrow at you. He cackles a wheezy laugh and the quiet boy's eyes narrow. Pony takes a step forward.

"Hey" he says abruptly. The man with the condom jerks his head towards them, almost losing his balance in the process.

"What?" he sneers. Pony looks back and forth between you and him.

"Watch your mouth."

You glance over at them and notice the boy in the jean jacket staring the guy down too. It's the first time you've seen him look tough and not nervous. His eyes have something different behind them now. He's taken a step forward to be side by side with Pony and you can tell somehow if it came down to it he'd know how to fight. It's kind of hot you think to yourself. You wonder why he doesn't show this side more often.

"Or what?" Drunk guy laughs at them. "You'll tell your mom on me?" The dark haired boy stuffs his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Yeah, man. She's right outside. Why don't we go find her?"

It's the first time you've ever heard him open his mouth and you're almost turned on by his raspy voice. Is that even possible you think to yourself, to be turned on by a voice? Your eyes move back to the guy in front of you as he grumbles something too slurred for you to understand and slips the condom back in to the wallet.