Chapter Text
They’d bummed yet another cigarette from the homeless man that sat outside the school parking lot. At this point, it was less ‘bumming’ and more of an even trade, considering that Johnny always handed over whatever his mom had packed him for lunch each day in exchange. He didn’t need a turkey sandwich when he had a can of Monster Energy and a cigarette, after all. He didn’t even like turkey anyway.
“You really ought to save something for yourself,” Will said, lighting the cigarette as it hung between Johnny’s lips. “Monster on an empty stomach isn’t great.” As if Monster at all was great.
“I had breakfast,” Johnny rolled his eyes, taking a drag and passing the thin white stick over to his friend as the smoke floated into the air. “Where’s Tun? He was here earlier.”
“He’s still here. He’s trying to get invited to Sadie’s, said he’s eating lunch with the cheerleaders today.”
They walked through the parking lot, back up towards the old, rundown building of Jingletown High School - the only high school in the whole area. Sometimes it felt like they should be lucky that their area even had its own school, considering how little things they had. A 7-Eleven, a Walgreens, a few small stores here and there, a shady park with a haunted-looking playground, and a McDonalds that was far out enough that it just barely could be considered a part of Jingletown. When they were younger, Johnny would joke about how the town should be called Ghosttown instead of Jingletown, because it was accurate and not as stupid of a name. Even now, Will would think back on that and wonder how in the hell their town got its name. Johnny kicked a pebble along the broken concrete, pulling Will’s attention back to the present reality.
Johnny spoke up again, after the cigarette was passed in his direction. “I fuckin’ hate it here,” he sighed out, smoke following his words. He paused long enough to watch the smoke until it had practically disappeared. “And I hate that Tunny’s been fuckin’ saving face around girls. Around the fuckin’ cheerleaders. Of all girls, why them?”
Considering that Will shared nearly the same thoughts, he didn’t have a great answer. He offered a shrug, “I dunno, I guess they’re just the type of girl Tunny’s into.” Johnny didn’t respond, so he decided to keep talking. “Y’know, Tun said he thinks one of them likes me.”
“Who?”
“Uh… I think her name was Hannah?” he muttered, thinking before shaking his head. “No, Heather. A girl named Heather.”
It made Johnny laugh. “Dude, you didn’t already know? She looks at you, like, all the time. Kinda obvious she likes you. Guess it’s good that Tunny’s the one going after girls, since you’re about as aware as a fuckin’ goldfish.”
Will rolled his eyes, despite the grin on his face, and lightly elbowed the other teenager. “Whatever. She’s pretty. I don’t really get why she’d like me though, I can think of one entire time I’ve had an actual conversation with her.”
“Who knows?” Johnny shrugged, blowing smoke into Will’s face as he handed the cigarette to him. “Just don’t pull a Tunny and leave me for a fuckin’ girl. You guys are all I have.”
Sometimes, despite having known him forever, Will felt like Johnny was an enigma. He’d say things that no one would ever see coming. He was spontaneous, in such a way that it was sometimes almost scary. Scary not because Johnny would purposely do anything to harm himself or his friends, but because he didn’t think and either ended up pissing someone else off and starting a fight or ended up not thinking something through and would end up getting himself hurt anyway. Johnny Armstrong was a force to be reckoned with, and sometimes Will and Tunny would have to play mom to get him to calm the fuck down and chill out.
This was one of the times that absolutely nothing could’ve prepared Will for what Johnny said. Don’t leave me for a girl, you’re all I have. It wasn’t entirely true – Will and Tunny were his closest friends, sure, but Johnny practically had a whole sea of followers. The other Jingletown punks within their age bracket seemed to follow him like some kind of disciple, they all called him their Jesus of Suburbia. Will could see how that wasn’t the same, though. He and Tunny treated him like an equal, not like a god. Johnny loved it, being a leader and being looked up to, but he’s also expressed that it gets pretty tiring sometimes too.
“Tunny’s not leaving us, Jesus,” Will assured him. “He’s just trying to get invited to a dance. Remember when he did that last year? He brought us back some of the good rich girl alcohol and we had our own party in my basement the day after.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Johnny mumbled.
The pair finished their trek through the parking lot, stopping at their destination – Tunny’s truck. Usually Tunny was with them, so they’d get inside and roll the windows down and smoke and blare music until either their lunch period was over or a teacher came out and got onto them about the loud music (and, subsequently, the cigarettes). Since Tunny wasn’t there, though, they settled for climbing up into the truck bed instead. There were still blankets back there, from the last time the three had gone out to the even-more-middle-of-nowhere to stargaze, which worked in their favor considering that it was the middle of November.
They passed the cigarette back and forth until it was gone. Johnny drank his Monster. Neither one of them said much of anything, but Will could see the gears turning in Johnny’s head the entire time. “I wouldn’t ever leave you for a girl either, y’know,” he said, assuming that his friend's thoughts were still stuck on that topic.
Johnny shrugged it off, taking another swig of the energy drink. Will hated those things, he didn’t understand how Johnny could drink them. It had an interesting affect on him though – it seemed to almost counteract what it was supposed to do. Johnny always had so much energy, always seemed to be ready to go and bounce off the walls, but for the next hour or so after drinking any kind of energy drink he always seemed oddly subdued.
“I mean it. Even if Heather likes me and I end up going out with her or something, you’ll always come first. I’ve known you longer, you’ll always be more important than some girl.”
Truthfully, Will had no desire to go out with a girl anytime soon, anyway. In fact, he’d be completely fine to spend the rest of his life never getting a girlfriend, spending his days with his two best friends until the day he died. There was no way in hell some blonde cheerleader (or any girl, for that matter) would come in between that.
“Gay,” Johnny commented, with absolutely no ill-intent. Despite the playful and seemingly untactful response, Will could tell that what he’d said meant something to him. Johnny wasn’t necessarily good at words. He was the most expressive out of all three of them, but in a more quiet way – quiet enough that most people wouldn’t recognize it, but as someone who’s been around him since they were tiny, Will recognized everything.
Johnny laid down on his back against the truck bed, and Will followed suit. They ended up tangled together, one of the blankets thrown across the two of them to protect themselves against the chilly air. “We should just skip our last classes,” Johnny said, a yawn following his words. “Stay here and take a nap or somethin’.”
Will absentmindedly trailed a hand through Johnny’s hair. For someone who didn’t shower as often as he should, his hair somehow always seemed to be soft. “Tunny wouldn’t be happy to see that we aren’t in geometry,” he pointed out.
“Yeah, well, we aren’t happy that he ditched us for cheerleaders. I think we can call it even after this. Plus, I’m tired. Mom and Brad were at it all fuckin’ night last night, I hardly got any sleep.”
That was all it took for Will to agree. He, himself, wasn’t tired enough for a nap, but Johnny was definitely deserving of it. Whenever Brad was brought up, it was never anything good. He’d never liked Brad, even back when the old man was nothing but Johnny’s mom’s boyfriend. Brad had gotten worse over time, though – he’d been in their lives since Johnny was barely twelve years old. He was nearly seventeen now, and Will couldn’t understand how Johnny’s mom hadn’t picked up on the fact that Brad wasn’t (and would never be) a good man. Somehow, that relationship was still going ‘strong,’ for the lack of a better word.
Brad seemed to keep Johnny awake in one way or another more often than not. Having sex, playing the TV too loud, yelling, or something else. Once, Johnny told Will that he slept better cramped next to him on the old couch at Will’s house than he ever has in his own bed. That was something that stuck with him. Johnny didn’t like to talk in depth about his struggles and his home life, but it didn’t stop Will from noticing.
It didn’t take long for Johnny to fall asleep. Will just laid there, fingers still combing through his friend’s hair as if on autopilot, his eyes watching the sky above them. The good thing about lying in the truck bed was that if teachers or staff were to glance into the parking lot, they still wouldn’t be seen. It meant that his mom might receive a call saying that he was skipping class, but in the moment, it felt worth it.