Beach Babe | The Outsiders | Johnny Cade

| Future | 48 |

Johnny stayed the night and held me close the whole time. I had nightmare after nightmare after nightmare, but never woke up screaming. I hate waking up screaming but I also hate having four nightmares in one night. Unfortunately Johnny couldn't help me in the nightmares like he had before, he was what I was scared of in them.

They were some of the worst nightmares I've ever had. In one, Jesse had kidnapped me again and when I asked how he knew where I was he opened the door to reveal his 'spy'. It was Johnny, who looked at me with nothing but hatred in his eyes, he said he hated me and our whole relationship was faked so I could let my guard down and he could get me for Jesse.

The second and fourth were pretty much the same. They both went like this ; I wake up screaming, Johnny gets mad cause I woke him, he yells at me, I cry, he leaves me and says some terrible stuff to me. The only difference was the fourth one took place at the Curtis's and it was the whole gang getting mad at me.

The third one I had died and become a ghost. I went to the Curtis's and they didn't know yet. Sometime later my brother called and told Steve when he picked up, then Steve told everyone else. There was a moment of silence then a chorus of 'Good, I was sick of her' and 'Good riddance. She was so dramatic.' 'Glad that drunks gone.' 'I was planning on leaving her anyway.' I was utterly crushed. I ran- or flew I guess, to my house to see no one was affected. August was watching cartoons, Theo was having an arm wrestle with Davey, mom was singing along with the radio in the kitchen. No one cared.

      I jolted awake. Johnny was still holding me close and I had to take a moment to remind myself where I was. I'm with Johnny, he loves me. Jesse isn't here. He won't get that close to me. I'm okay. Calm down Stacy. I knew Johnny would never hurt me but I still had to take a few deep breaths before I truly 'woke up'.

I heard my door creak open "Are we going to school today?" It was Theo.

"Go if you want." I said quietly

He cleared his throat "What about a ride?"

"Walk."

"You really want us to walk with a psycho who's out for you on the loose? Also it's really cold." He's right... aw man I gotta get up.

I let out a long exaggerated sigh then moved out of Johnny's arms carefully as to not wake him, then left to take my brothers to school. August looked terrible, he had a busted lip and black eye and wouldn't look at me or Theo. The whole ride to school was quiet, then they both got out of the truck silently and I drove off.

I got home and crawled back into Johnny's arms "Mornin' beautiful." He says

"Good morning love, did I wake you?" I ask

His eyelids flutter open "No, I've been awake for a few minutes now." He looks at me and smiles, I feel my face flush. He's so prettyyyyyyyyy. "How did you sleep?"

"I slept okay, you?" I don't feel like telling him I had nightmares about him, he'd feel bad and I don't want him to. Today is going to be a good day, I can feel it.

"I slept great. It's always better when I'm with you." My face gets hotter and I can't help but smile. "I've got something planned today, after your work.. wait... are you even going today?"

I shrug "Might as well, I wouldn't want Soda to have to man the place by himself. Or want him to worry."

"Alright, that gives me time to do some runnin' around today." I nod

We settle into a comfortable silence, just staring at each other. I look at every feature on his face, they're all perfect. I love this boy so very much. "Do you ever think about the future?" I blurt out.

"Yeah, all the time actually."

I turn and lay on my back, looking up at my ceiling "What's it look like?" Johnny also moves to lay on his back.

"Well, I don't see myself living here, I live somewhere on the outskirts of a city. A city without Socs and Greasers. My house has got a big ol' yard my two kids play in, with a big tree with a tire swing out front. Inside the house my wife is singing along with an Elvis song on the radio while our cat lays on the windowsill soaking in the sun." I picture the whole thing, it's an adorable little vision.

"That's adorable, what's the cat's name?"

"Biscuit. I don't know why either, I just think that's a perfect name for a cat." He chuckles to himself "What about you, what's your future lookin' like?"

"I can see myself living right on the coast somewhere, with someplace I always have the windows open so the sea breeze can pass through. My husband and daughter build sand castles on the shore while I take a million pictures. Then after a long day me and my husband could go up on the porch and have a little fire with some drinks and stare out at the midnight sea." That truly sounds incredible to me, but so does Johnny's.

"Does the sea really smell good?" Johnny asks

"Kinda? It's hard to describe, it's very salty but also relaxing. You have to be there to really get it."

He looks over at me "Then maybe me and you should go to the beach together one day." He smiles

I look at him "Definitely." I interlace our hands and we once again returned to silence. I hope he's my future.. I can picture myself having a cat named Biscuit, that is a really cute name. I don't know about the two kids part though, one might be enough.

After some time of laying there looking at my ceiling I look over at my clock and see I need to start getting ready. I get up and gather some clothes then change in the bathroom, brush my teeth, brush my hair and put it all in a braid that comes over my left shoulder, and do some light makeup. Why the braid? Jesse could show up at any point of time so I've got to be prepared and a braid is one of the best fighting hairstyles. Harder to grab and hurts less when it is.

When I step back out Johnny isn't in my room anymore, I go downstairs and he's there making us both cereal. We eat on the couch while 'Petticoat Junction' plays on TV. I think I've seen every episode of that show at least three times. After we finish eating I decided to take my truck to work instead of walking, so Johnny gave me a kiss before I left and told me he'd come get me when it's time for our date tonight. I've had butterflies since he said 'date'.

Soda was relived when I showed up, he enveloped me in a big hug and said he was real worried about me because of yesterday. I told him I was sorry for yelling at him and he aggressively explained I didn't need to apologize. I still did though. We talked all day about various things, he went on a date with Sandy to the rodeo, and I told him about Johnny taking me out on a date tonight. He kept pointing out that my face got redder every time I mentioned Johnny, which made me redder. He also pointed out that my black eyes made me look tuff, I just thought it made me look weak, like I couldn't block a bunch to the face or something. They also hurt like hell. I bought some painkillers from the store and took like six, it helped greatly.

    
    When Steve joined us he kept the garage open and we were all talking- er- rather shouting to each other about our days. Steve said the tension between the Socs and Greasers has increased, he said kids are getting jumped left and right. By both sides. Great. Not only do I have to worry about psycho-boy hurting me or my family I also have to worry about Socs doing it too. Steve was also saying some of the biggest ones jumping people are Augusts friends, I don't know what happened to him. With people getting jumped like this it's only a matter of time before someone dies.

It could happen to anyone at anytime.

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I have auditions for a musical in a week and I'm terrified 😭. It's with a whole new company and with people I don't know. I'm so nervous
Thanks for reading!!

Word count : 1500