𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕. ♡ 𝒋𝒐𝒉𝒏𝒏𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒅𝒆.

v

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  the small group of teenage boys were blatantly intoxicated, as several had a bottle in their grasp. some stains were even seen on their bright sweaters. ponyboy and johnny slowly stood up and moved in front of the two girls as the drunkards approached them.

  "jahanna! wake up!" trish worriedly whispered as she pulled on her friend's arm. meanwhile, one of the drunk boys, the one wearing a blue vest, started talking. his speech was slurred—and in both meanings of the word.

  "y-you be careful now, y-you know the new rules a-about folks like them," johnny warned. the boy who had yelled at them prior, who was wearing red and still hiccuping, scoffed.

  "and what?—(hiccup)—weee're nooot touching theeem, who would want tooo—(hiccup)—anyway? well, i guessss youuu can't expect much from—(hiccup)—greasersss though," he commented, his friends laughing with him.

  "can't you just get lost and leave us alone?" ponyboy retorted. they all looked at one another for a moment, until the one wearing red spoke up again,

  "why—(hiccup)—don't weee do you greasersss a favor this time? we'll get theeese minooorities out of your—(hiccup)—siiight, i'd recommend you take a baaath when you—(hiccup)—get hooome though. that isss, if you greasers eeeven own any —(hiccup)—soap for yourselves."

  and from there, the drunkards started launching their empty soda cups, foil wrappers, paper bags, and more at trish and jahanna, who was still drowsy from her short nap but still was fully aware of what was happening to them at that moment.  the two immediately dashed off and out the exit.

  johnny and ponyboy joined them not too long after the incident. a ketchup stain had appeared on trish's white button-up, her yellow skirt having a stipe of spilled cola going down its side. jahanna's treasured leather jacket from her days back in philly now had chocolate smeared on its sleeve, her extremely curly hair having a stray napkin caught in its locks. the boys insisted on walking the girls home. the girls accepted and they made their way through the cool summer night.

you could tell autumn was approaching, as august was coming to an end and by proxy its warm weather. johnny offered his jacket to trish, who didn't have anything unlike jahanna (trish made a mental note to bake something for the boy as a thank you at some point). on the way they began talking.

  "sorry for what happened back there," ponyboy said to the girls when walking down the street.

  "oh, it's alright. it was expected, really. it's normal," trish reassured him. jahanna sneered under her breath as her response.

"who were those people back there, anyway? did you know 'em?" trish asked. jahanna chuckled.

"you moved in a few months back, right?" johnny inquired. trish nodded her head. johnny could see the anticipation she carried waiting for an answer to her question so he decided to be the one to tell her.

"we call them the socs," johnny explained, his hands in his pockets, as always. "they live on the west side of town, big houses, big cars. preppy dinner parties, heirs to large companies. us greasers don't get along with them. and it's been worse since for some reason they're deciding to make their way o'er here when they should be staying on their side," he grumbled by the end of it.

"socs..." trish repeated, trying to learn and accustom her tongue to the new word. "are they always like that? besides the issue they had with jahanna and i, of course."

ponyboy shrugged,

"when they come for us, they usually are."

"ah, i see then," trish nodded understandably.

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soon enough, they appeared at trish's front door. trish fumbled with her house key while jahanna thanked the boys again, while also giving them a message to send dally the next morning: "tell tucker when he gets his hangover that i told him so."

the two boys and the two girls wished each other a goodnight before jahanna closed the door on johnny and pony, trish already inside trying to get the stains out of her and jahanna's clothes.

as the boys headed toward the bus stop, ponyboy suddenly realized something.

"hey johnny, where'd your jacket go?"

johnny looked at himself for a moment, also seeing he wasn't wearing the denim jacket.

"oh. i gave it to trish earlier. guess she forgot to hand it back. y'know what? that's alright, i got a spare in my closet anyway."