A/N: Hello, everybody! So here is the next chapter, from a new point of view. By the way, that is Samantha Valance in the media. Also, I just want to let you guys know that I will be using a mix of things from the movie and the book in this story, so bare with me please. Anyways, enjoy!
Samantha's POV:
Why is biology so damn hard? I've been working on this stupid essay for at least an hour. The class is noisy yet I work quietly, alongside Elena who has not said so much as one word to me. She looks like there is something she wants to say, but nothing escapes her lips. My pencil scribbles down more nonsense on the page, but I'm not really paying attention to my work at the moment. It's too loud in here, to be completely honest. I mean, it's really not that loud, but it is too much for me.
After a few more minutes Elena turns her head to look at me and opens her mouth, but then just as quickly she shuts it. I raise my eyebrows at her and she shrugs, rolling her eyes.
"Do you want to come over to my house for dinner tonight? The gang is all coming over and Darry said that I could invite you." Elena asks me, not even bothering to whisper in the noisy classroom.
"Sure, I'd love to," I reply. A thought tugs at my mind. "Um...will Two-bit be there too...?"
"Well he is part of the gang..." Elena retorts, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
I roll my eyes at her and she chuckles.
"Listen, would you mind coming straight from the end of school? You can walk there with me, Ponyboy and Johnny. "
"Sure," I say, smirking at Johnny's name.
"Oh, shut your trap, Sam. I have something else to tell you," she says, her voice quieting slightly.
I raise my eyebrows at her once more, still smirking.
"Me and Johnny are a couple now."
My jaw drops and my pencil clatters to the floor. "What?! When did, how did... What happened?!" I demand.
She laughs lightly, and seems to think something through in her head. After a second she leans in to whisper something in my ear. "Well, last night on my way home from your place...I found him in the lot, crying. I...well...held him for a while and then we ended up kissing. Then he asked me to be his girlfriend."
I'm not exactly sure how to feel about this, so I just ask the first thing that comes to my head. "Why was Johnny crying? Is he alright?" I whisper, concern evident in my voice.
A small frown appears on Elena's freckled face. "It's not exactly something I can tell you. He's staying at my place for a while though, and we need to go get some of his things after school."
"Okay," I reply, nodding. I purse my lips as I think. What happened to Johnny? I really want to find out what happened, but I don't nag on it because I know that that would be very impolite of me. It's obviously something personal and I don't want to invade his privacy.
About twenty minutes later the final bell rings to signal the end of class. I split off from Ponyboy and Elena, going around the corner and too the right instead of left. I place my books in my locker that I don't need, sling my bag over my shoulder, and shut my locker door. I jog back around the corner and catch up with Ponyboy and Elena, just as they are walking out of the door.
We wait patiently for Johnny for a few minutes, before he emerges, and greets us, before looking at the ground as we start walking. He doesn't look too happy, kind of sad and nervous, honestly.
Elena seems to notice Johnny's mood. She grasps Johnny's hand and leans in to whisper something in his ear. He nods and whispers something back to her. Elena shoots him a small smile, and gives his hand a reassuring squeeze, before she leans in and whispers something else to him. Johnny smiles at the ground.
At this point, Ponyboy nudges my arm and starts to talk to me. No doubt, he is trying to strike up a conversation between us to divert my attention away from Elena and Johnny.
A while later, a good looking boy strolls up to us. He falls into step with us and then starts talking to Ponyboy. I quirk my head to one side as I look over at Elena.
"That's Soda," Elena states with a smile.
That's Soda?! She told me about him the other day, while we were still studying. He's so cute, no, handsome. Movie star handsome, actually. But I don't really think much of it, I still like Two-bit.
"Hmm?" Soda turns his head to look at his younger sister after hearing his name.
"Soda, this is Samantha. Samantha Valance. She's a friend of mine." Elena introduces me, her voice crisp and clear.
"So you're Samantha?" Soda asks me with a smile. I nod and smile back shyly. "Valance, huh? Yeah, I know your sister. Soc, right?"
I gulp, but nod, keeping a straight face.
"Yeah, she's a looker. I should have known you two were sisters," he smirks.
I giggle, my face heating up slightly. Elena rolls her eyes at her brother.
"Anyways, hi, Samantha. I'm Sodapop, but you can call me Soda."
"Aw, call me Sam," I say with a grin.
Soda holds out his hand for me to shake. He grins when I shake it firmly. "Sam."
"And that goes for all y'all. Call me Sam." I say, looking around at each of them.
Elena just nods, because she already knows this. Pony also nods in agreement.
"Sam..." Johnny muses. "I like it."
I smile at him and he smiles back shyly. Ponyboy rolls his eyes, but Soda and Elena chuckle at us.
A moment later we arrive at a shabby looking house. Really, the house would be nice if it wasn't for the very unkempt look about it. Trash on the lawn, empty beer bottles, stains on the ground. Wait, is that blood? Why would there be blood...you know what, I probably don't even want to know. Everyone stops and faces Johnny, which causes me to walk straight into Ponyboy's back. "Sorry," I mumble.
I turn to where Elena is discussing something with Johnny.
"No, I think I'm good. I mean, it is my house too..." Johnny mumbles, staring intently at the ground instead of at Elena who appears to have asked him something.
Soda addresses him. "Are you sure, Johnnycakes?"
Johnny looks up at Soda with a nervous look in his eyes. He slaps his pockets as he answers, "Yeah..."
"Alright," Pony says with a sigh. "But if you need help, just holler."
Johnny just nods and starts up the steps into his home, the door shutting behind him.
For a moment I just stand there baffled, wondering why Johnny is nervous to step foot into his own home. I need not to wonder for too long though, because my question is soon answered for me.
No sooner has the door closed, then it re-opens, and Johnny runs from the house. He is chased across the threshold by a wretched looking woman, assumingly his mother, who is hitting him with a broom. The awful woman chases him until he is very close to us, and then cracks the broom over his back. Johnny crumples to the pavement with a yelp of pain, but instantly flips right back over to stare at his poor excuse for a mother. She cackles like a witch, and then cusses him out.
The three Curtis siblings tense, looking ready to attack. However, I just stand there, glued to the spot, shell shocked, and watching this whole, horrifying scene unravel right in front of my very eyes. Judging by the reactions of everyone around me, I'm guessing that this isn't something new. How Johnny can just take this, I have no clue, if it was me, I would be bawling my eyes out. I'm starting to get an idea of why Johnny may have been crying last night though, because I can see the hurt register on his face as his own mother, the one who should care for him, tells him he is worthless. However as soon as it was there, it disappears.
Mrs. Cade tries to strike Johnny again, but it's intercepted.
"Stop!" Elena screams. Elena jumps in front of Johnny, blocking him, but receiving the blow straight across the face. She drops to her knees, cradling her left cheek, and staring at the woman in complete remorse.
"Hey!" Sodapop bellows, he too stepping between the woman and the two kids on the ground. He marches right up to her, ocean blue eyes blazing, and snatches the broom from her grasp. Soda hurtles the thing across the yard, where it hits a pile of bricks, and snaps in half. "Don't you dare hit my little sister! And don't even think about touching Johnny! He is your only son! You and your awful husband make me sick!"
At this point, Ponyboy rushes up to her and fully speaks what is on his mind. "I swear that if you ever touch Johnny or Elena ever again, you will be sorry!"
And with that, Ponyboy storms off into the house, presumably to grab some of Johnny's things for him. Until Ponyboy returns a moment later with a small box, Soda and Elena (who has gotten up off of the ground by this point) stare her down. Mrs. Cade turns her back on them and stalks back into the house, muttering madly to herself and completely forgetting about her broken broom.
Elena rushes back over to where Johnny is laying sprawled out on the ground in pain, as does Soda and Ponyboy. I hesitate for a moment, but decide to jog up to them as well.
I crouch down beside Johnny, and rest my hand on his shoulder. He flinches slightly. "Oh my...Johnny, are you alright?"
His eyes flit up to meet mine, startled. He must of forgotten that I was here.
He opens his mouth to speak, but then bites down on his bottom lip. His soft brown eyes burn with unshed tears of shame and embarrassment. That is clearly not something he wanted me to witness, not that I think anyone would.
A few of the tears escape his eyes and slip down over his tanned cheeks as he stares at the ground once more. I notice that one cheek has a scar, but I decide not to bring that up at the moment.
"Aw, Johnny, it's alright, man," Pony reassures him, kneeling down and giving him a hug.
"Yeah, it's nothing to be ashamed of, Johnny. It's not your fault..." Elena says softly, grabbing his hand, and rubbing her thumb against the back of it soothingly.
"Shoot kid," Soda chimes in. "You sure are tough to put up with this all the time, but you don't deserve it. You didn't do nothing wrong okay?"
Johnny swallows thickly and nods, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand.
"Gee, Johnny. I'm- I'm really sorry that I upset you."
Ponyboy extends a hand to Johnny to help him up. He let's out a shuddering breath and wipes at his eyes some more. "No, I'm sorry, Sam. I-it's just n-not something that I want other people kn-knowing about. Ya dig?"
"Yeah. I dig. I'm still sorry, though." I reply.
He waves it off. "Don't be."
Soda gives him a sympathetic look, but starts to walk back the way we came, to where I am assuming the Curtis house is. Ponyboy slings an arm around Johnny's shoulders and Elena never let's go of Johnny's hand the whole way back to their house.
When we arrive at Elena, Soda, and Ponyboy's house, a man, probably about 20 or so, steps out of the house and walks down the path to meet us. He has dark hair and icey blue-green eyes. He looks rather handsome, if I'm honest, clad in dark coloured jeans and a nice shirt. While I don't find this too out of the ordinary, the other three seem to strongly disagree. They all seem rather shocked at his appearance. I don't really know him, so I just shrug it off.
"Hey, Dar," Elena starts. "This is my friend Samantha Valance. Samantha, this is my oldest brother, Darry."
"Just call me Sam," I add.
"Hello, Sam. I'm Darry," he tells me politely, smiling. Then he turns his attention to the other three. "I'll be back in a while, just going out to um...grab something else for dinner. In the meantime," he glances pointedly at Soda,"try not to break anything."
Soda snickers. "No promises."
Darry rolls his eyes as he unlocks his truck, gets in, and sets off down the road.
"That was-" Pony starts, walking up the path and opening the door into the house.
"Weird..." Elena finishes her twins sentence.
"Yeah..." They both say in unison.
Soda and Johnny just share a weirded out look. I laugh out loud.
"Wonder why he's acting all like that, seems a little off. Like he's hiding something... I wonder what?" Soda wonders aloud, settling himself down in an arm chair in the living room.
"To hell if I know," says Johnny, taking a seat on the couch.
"We'll probably find out sometime later. I have a feeling," Elena inquires, sitting down beside Johnny.
I sit next to her, so she's sandwiched in the middle of us. "So...er, well...what do we do now?"
Ponyboy takes a seat on the floor at my feet, and takes a look up at me. "Well, now my friend, we wait."
A/N: So, yes. I am going to ask. What did you guys think? Did you like this new point of view or not? Let me know, I would really appreciate some feedback from you lovely readers. Oh, and thank you all for all the reads and votes! Please continue to as well, because I'm really glad that you like my story. Next update soon, until next time guys. -Ella :)