#theyd all be in the same grade (or johnny would be one grade lower since he got held back)

[alaskan-wallflower]

a friendship i don’t see people talk about enough is johnny and steve. they’re only a year apart but they have a lot in common. johnny and steve both love cars, and will sit on top of roofs outside the main road and blow spitballs and throw rocks at mustangs passing by together. they watch the fancy cars speeding down the highway and mock the socs for being snobs, they do punch buggy (steve goes a bit lighter on johnny, though). they also both come from horrible homes. johnny will take steve to places he knows won’t guard their dumpsters so he won’t go hungry that night, and steve will offer to let johnny sleep in his car on summer nights. steve probably taught johnny how to blow smoke rings, and johnny teaches steve how to get by on cold nights. they hung out at lunch together outside the gas station, smoking and goofing around. steve brought johnny into the do to show him the tuff cars he was working on. he liked seeing that childlike wonder in johnny’s eyes at the sight of a car that wasn’t darry’s truck or his own beat up ford.

don’t forget steve was the first one who broke down after johnny died.