Juliana Cade

"It's different..."

                      ~ Third Person ~

                      ~ One Week Later ~

     Juli had just turned three and a half weeks old. Her cold was gone and she was as healthy as a newborn could be. She even slept a little more through the night than before. Johnny was most grateful for that. Though she still wakes up, it's just not on the hour like it used to be.

But Juli was the least of his problems. He had to worry about different problems now, especially with school, and it's not his grades he's worried about. Rumors had been spread all throughout town. All thanks to his good-for-nothing-scum that are his parents. It all started with one rumor, then it just got worse and worse as it progressed. His parents had said Johnny had slept around and got a random girl pregnant, then paid her to never speak of it and she dumped the baby on him when the baby was born. They said the girl moved away leaving Johnny with a baby he "didn't want" and no one ever heard from her again after that.

It was never mentioned that this baby was his little sister and not some random lady's, never was it said that Johnny's parents dumped the responsibility of a baby on him and not some girl he slept around with, or that he never paid anyone to keep quiet. He didn't have the money to pay for that. And the funny thing was, Johnny was still a virgin.

Johnny always wondered. Why did everyone believe his parents instead of him? Why did his parents do that to him? How could they do that to their own son? Well, that answer was simple. They didn't care enough to think of the consequences.

But Johnny knew he would never get the answer to those questions. His parents don't care at all. They're cruel and heartless monsters and everyone in town knows it. Yet they all still believe 'em...

        ~ Johnny's POV ~

     I woke up to my alarm clock, again. And I had to go to school again. It was a Monday so I had the treat of dealing with the rumors for another week. Let alone school itself. The school work itself wasn't too hard, it was the kids there that was hard. All they ever talked about was what my parents said about me. When I walked down the hallways all I hear is my name.

I mean, ya I was used to it by then. But that was only cause it was how my parents treated me and the reason I always had bruises and cuts all over. Instead, it was all about who the girl I "slept with" was and stuff like that. It got hard, going to school for five days a week just to deal with kids talking about me all of the time. Ugh!

Why can't they just let it go? Why can't they just mind their own business and stay out of mine? Why me?!

******

     I walked down the halls, and as usual all that the kids were talking about was me. Me, me, me, that's all I ever hear now. All I ever heard was "Who do you think she is?" Or "I wonder if he's got daddy issues? His parents beat him so maybe he does" Like come on people, just let it go.

     "Don't let it get to ya, Johnny. They don't know what they're talkin' 'bout." Pony said. I was glad he snapped me out of my thoughts. I didn't need to be thinkin' bout all of it. We were at my locker. Pony, Steve, Two-bit and I, it was after school hours and we decided to wait til the halls weren't as bad to leave.

     I sighed and started rubbing my temples. I had a headache all day and Juli didn't help with it that morning. But I'd never blame her for anything, unlike some people who raised me...

     "Ya I know, Pony. It's just hard. I mean ya we dealt with the whole thing after Bob but, this is different." I sighed at the end before shutting my locker. We started to walk down the halls and out the front doors. After some time we started to walk along the train tracks. We were walking only because Two-Bit's car had finally gave up. That thing was so old we lost count of how many years it ran. Steve's car got totaled because his old man was drunk and decided to take a drive. Ended up demolishing the thing. Now he has to ride with Soda and Darry. I don't think Steve minds though. Him and Soda are best buds so it doesn't seem to faze him a whole lot. The four of us stopped in front of my house.

     "Well, I'll see y'all later. Bye." I waved goodbye and walked into my house. A couple of "Bye Johnny."'s went with me before I shut the front door. I walked into the dining room and set my books on the table. Luckily I had time in school to finish my homework early.

     "Hey, Johnny. Juli's asleep, I fed her about an hour ago and she's napping as we speak." Hailey said. She was the babysitter I was able to find. She watched Juli while I was at school and she said she would watch her any time I needed

     "Thanks Hailey. Here's you pay, I hope ya have a nice day." I said. I was just barely able to get a job at the grocery store with a pretty decent pay; $3.50 and hour for an eight hour shift. Helps out a lot too. One day of work alone gave me $25.00.

     "Alrighty, Johnny, I'll see ya when ya leave for work later." She waved. I waved back.

     "Bye." She walked out of the house. It was me and Juli with the house to ourselves now. I sighed and walked back into the living room. That day had been a pretty long day. I decided to take a nap after I checked on Juli. I did just that.

     There she laid. Her chest softly rose and fell with every breathe she took. I smiled softly. She's the best thing that's happened to me. Kids give ya a chance to be better than ya are, ya dig?

     Even though I was a good person before, it gave me a chance to give Juliana a good childhood where she didn't have to worry about being hit every day. I yawned and closed my eyes, today had been a long day but at least I have her to look forward to...