Windrix Hall - 4

Fandom: The Outsiders
Pairing: Johnny/Sodapop
Genre: Romance, Drama
Rating: NC-17 (overall)
Disclaimer: Characters and world belong to S.E. Hinton
Authors: Zayhad & M3535


Chapter 4 – Try not to Let 'em Bother Ya

"Hey there, Soda Sugarpop" purred Sandy and dropped down next to Sodapop, who had just finished his lunch. "Where’ve you been? I haven't seen you for ages."

"You saw him in English," Steve pointed out. "Which was like 30 minutes ago."

Sandy sent Steve a glare and then turned back to Soda. "Sodapop... when are you gonna ask me out again? We had fun last time, didn't we?"

"You asked me out," Sodapop corrected her. "And we ain't gonna do that again, 'cause... you and me just wouldn't work."

"Why?" she asked and looked at him, pushing her chest forward so her already exposed breasts became even more noticeable. "I thought we had a lot of fun,” she purred, playing with a lock of Sodapop’s hair. 

o0o0o0o0o0o

Johnny, who couldn’t help sneaking a peak at Sodapop once in a while, saw the girl from math sitting up against him, playing with his hair. So Sodapop had a girlfriend… And it was the girl that had made fun of Johnny. 

Of course he has a girlfriend. And why should I care who he’s dating?

o0o0o0o0o0o

"You're a real sweetheart and all, but there's just no chemistry," said Soda. 

Truth be told he was a little tired of her. He had never been interested and had only said yes to a date because she was Steve’s girlfriend’s (Evie) best friend and she wanted to go on a double date. Soda had kissed her good night and that was it. Oh, he knew very well that wasn't what she had told all her girlfriends. It didn't bother him, though. He didn't care what people thought about him.

Sandy leaned in closer and whispered in his ear, "I can be a bad girl if you want me to…"

She was a bit angry that Sodapop had not wanted to come back to her room after the date. She wanted him so badly. They would be the school’s hottest couple, and all the other girls would wish they were her.

Sodapop did his best not to look down Sandy’s cleavage - which wasn't easy, since she had basically shoved her chest in his face.

"I'm sure you can, but I don't want you to."

He put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back a bit so he could breathe without inhaling perfume. He caught a glimpse of Steve's expression. He knew Steve was very annoyed that he didn’t just tell her to stay the hell away from him. Soda had told her many times - just phrased more politely. Steve said that spoiled girls like Sandy didn't understand 'polite', but Sodapop didn't like hurting people's feelings.

o0o0o0o0o0o

"I… I'm just gonna go get my books for next class. I'll be right back," Johnny said and got up. He couldn't shake the unpleasant feeling he had gotten from seeing that girl all over Sodapop. It was strange, really – he had only just met the guy. 

Johnny got his books out of his locker, locked it, and turned around. He nearly dropped his books in surprise when seeing the boys from earlier standing right in front of him. 

"Hey there, S-S-Stutter," one of them said. “Where’re you off to?"

"Class..." Johnny said in a low voice. 

"We don’t like Southerners here," the black-haired one said. "Maybe you should just go home."

"Look… I-I don't want any t-trouble," Johnny said, trying to keep his voice under control. Why did he always have to stutter when he got nervous?

The guy laughed and with a sudden movement he knocking Johnny's books out of his hand. "Oops."

Johnny pressed himself back against the locker and held his breath. 

"Hey, BOB!"

The black-haired guy turned and spotted Steve and Sodapop standing a bit further down the hall. 

"Don't you have some iron to pump and some steroids to inject?"

“Fuck you, Randle!” replied Bob. For a moment, he looked like he was considering starting an argument, but then seemed to decide not to. “Screw it. We’re gonna be late for class,” he mumbled to his friends, and they headed off. 

Sodapop and Steve walked up to Johnny who was still standing frozen by his locker. Soda squatted and started to gather Johnny's books, which lay scattered on the floor.

"Try not to let 'em bother ya,” he said, looking up at Johnny. “They're just a bunch of idiots who got nothing better to do than bully younger kids." 

He stood up and handed the books to Johnny. Their hands touched for a second. "Or at least don’t let 'em see that it bothers you. Then ya ain’t no fun teasin'," he continued, smiling.

Johnny's face burned red as he took the books from Sodapop. He gave him a small smile and nodded. "I'll try not to bother ‘em. I mean – let them b-bother me... Not that I let ‘em do it on p-purpose... or… anything... ‘cause that would just be… strange... right?"

What the hell am I saying? Shut up, already!

Johnny hugged the books tight to his chest and bit his bottom lip as he looked down at his shoes. 

"Come on, Soda. We got Calculus," said Steve and marched Sodapop off. "That kid is strange," he said as they got a bit away. 

"He's just shy," Sodapop protested. "It ain't easy being the new kid."

o0o0o0o0o0o

A few days later Johnny had to face his first PE class. Ponyboy knew he was very nervous because he wasn't good at sports. Pony hoped Darry hadn't planned on football or another rough sport. Pony wasn't much bigger than Johnny - being younger than the others and even small for his age - but he was fast and fit so he could match the big guys fairly well. Plus - he had a real talent for football as Darry kept reminding him. 

Pony smiled when Darry told them they were playing baseball. That couldn't be so bad, he thought. He turned to Johnny. 

"Baseball ain't that bad, is it?" 

Johnny adjusted his glasses nervously. "I dunno. I haven't actually tried playing it… "

In elementary school, Johnny’s PE teacher had been easy on him and let him just watch the others most of the time, because he was so bad at sports and the others teased him about it. And in Jr. High, PE had not been a mandatory subject. So no, Johnny had never actually played baseball. He watched it on TV sometimes with his uncle, who was a huge baseball fan. Whenever he visited and there was a game on, he would sit Johnny down to watch it with him. Johnny would pretend to enjoy it, although what he mostly enjoyed was just his uncle's company. He was nice to him and when he visited, Johnny’s parents weren’t as abusive as normal.

Ponyboy’s jaw dropped. Johnny had never played baseball? Pony thought every kid in the country knew how to play. Even poor kids had a baseball glove and any vaguely normal father was looking forward to the day their kid was old enough to learn to throw and catch a ball. But maybe Johnny's father wasn't vaguely normal...

Darry started putting students into teams when he spotted his little brother talking to a boy he had not seen before. He walked over to them and stood there for a second until they noticed him.  "What's your name?" he asked the newcomer.

"S-S-Stutter," someone said and the others laughed.

"Be quiet, Jamie!" Darry yelled at the boy and turned back to Johnny.

"Johnny Cade," said Johnny, looking down.

"Oh, there you are," Darry said and crossed Johnny off on the list. "Must have missed the name."

He finished dividing the students into teams and since Pony seemed to like Johnny, Darry put them on the same team.

Ponyboy was a pretty good player. He was a fair batter and, of course, a good runner. When it was his turn, he hit the ball in second attempt. It wasn't a great hit, but he was fast so he made it to second base, getting the thumbs up from one of his teammates. 

Johnny was next up and Pony watched nervously from his base, crossing his fingers.

Johnny could feel his legs shake under him as he stood there. The pitcher looked in his direction. Johnny wasn’t sure if he was looking at him or the guy behind him, but then he suddenly nodded and threw the ball. Johnny froze, trying to decide if he should swing or not and then the ball was past him. 

"STRIKE ONE!"

Johnny took a deep breath as he saw the pitcher nod again and this time he swung the bat blindly as the ball came flying. He was nowhere near hitting it, and the third pitch had the same result. Johnny walked back to the bench, his head bowed in shame, trying to ignore the laughter from the other team and the booing from his own.

When the class was over Johnny hadn't hit a single ball or caught one when in the field, and their team had lost. Not that it was all Johnny's fault, he wasn’t the only bad player, but he was the new kid and it was obvious that he didn't have a clue about how to play. 

"Thanks a lot, moron," said Harry. ”We would have won if it weren't for you!"

"Shut your mouth!" said Darry who happened to hear it. "I didn't see you hit any home runs, Greene."

Harry didn't talk back but he made a face at Darry's back when he turned away. 

Johnny looked close to terrified in the changing rooms when they had to undress for shower. Ponyboy found out why, when he noticed numerous red stripes across his back. Unfortunately, Harry noticed them too. 

"What the hell's with the scars? Did your plantation owner whip you for being a bad boy?" 

The others laughed. 

Harry went on. "Look at him - he's kind of dark skinned. Maybe he's part black. Maybe he does come right from the cotton fields. Did Massa have a little fun with your momma?"

"Slavery was abolished 150 years ago!" Pony cut in, feeling himself get mad. "Didn't you know that? Or did you flunk history again?"

Harry growled at Ponyboy's remark.

"I don’t give a shit when. Who cares about history, anyway, Horseboy? It's just a stupid class about something that happened ages ago."

Johnny didn't say anything but quickly got dressed again and left the room. The others laughed and yelled after him why he wasn’t going to shower.

"Ain’t it enough he looks like a slave?" one said. "Does he have to smell like one as well?"

Johnny just swung his backpack over his shoulder and ran down the hall and out the door. He ran until he almost couldn't breathe anymore and then sank down at the foot of a tree.

He looked up at the few leaves that were still left on the branches, trying desperately to keep himself from crying. But it was no use, the tears had already trickling down his cheeks.

Why was it, that no matter where he went, he was picked on?

o0o0o0o0o0o

Ponyboy finished his shower in a hurry so he could go look for Johnny. He finally found him sitting under a tree, hiding his face. Pony squatted down a few feet from him, not sure what to do or say.

"Johnny..." he started.

Johnny's head snapped up but he seemed to relax a bit when he saw who had spoken. Then he hung his head, his long bangs hiding his face.

"I know I keep saying this, but don't let 'em get to ya." When Johnny didn't answer, Pony continued, "They tease me too, for being poor and my name and all that, and sure it bugs me, but I've gotten better at just shrugging it off."

Johnny just sniffed.

"A lot of Yankees are like that - they look down on Southerners. I ain't sayin' they all do, but it’s pretty common. Most of 'em haven't even been down there and still they think they know everything about it. Soda and I get it too - even though Oklahoma ain’t deep South, like Georgia. They just hear the accent and think we're all trash. Rednecks and hillbillies and cowboys. Soda speaks in an even thicker accent than he normally does, just to provoke them. They don't know what to do then. It ain't funny teasin' him when he just plays along with their jokes or even laughs at them. And if they get real nasty, he and Steve can beat most of 'em up, anyway, and they know that. Steve's from Connecticut, by the way, so like I said, not all Northerners are bad. Two-Bit, too - he's local and he's the best. But he ain't rich, of course."

Johnny smiled for a short second but didn't look at Ponyboy. "It's..." he started. “It ain’t the Southern thing that bothers me the most. It's the things they said... before that..."

Johnny hated that they had seen his back. He was usually able to keep it hidden and it was also the reason he had not showered with the others back in elementary school. Now everyone in class would know, and he would also have to share a room with the guy that found out and made fun of it. And Ponyboy, the only person he trusted, didn't even live at the school, so at night he had no one to stick to.

Pony reckoned Johnny was talking about the stuttering and the scars on his back. He wondered how he had gotten those scars, because it certainly did look like somebody had whipped him. But he didn't want to ask about it and make Johnny more uncomfortable. He figured he would tell him when he was ready.

"You know what?" he said, getting an idea that might cheer Johnny up a bit. "D’ya wanna come with us to town tomorrow? We're allowed to leave the school this weekend. Soda asked me to come with him and Steve. And maybe Two-Bit as well."

Johnny looked at him a little surprised. "You - you sure that’s alright? You don’t think they’ll mind?"

Steve had not seemed to like him very much and Johnny got weird around Sodapop, but if he just kept his mouth shut whenever Soda was around it couldn’t go that wrong, he thought. He would really like to get away from the school for a bit and Ponyboy was fun to spend time with. 

"Sure! It'll be fun. They're always real fun to be around. And I won't have to feel so much like a tag-along when you’re there too. Steve thinks it's annoying when I go with them. Even though it's Soda who brings me."

oOooOo

To be continued...