A Different Perspective, chapter 15
Apparently, while I was asleep, Mike and Tre had walked down to the Rent-A-Center and rented themselves a car, so we wouldn't have to take cabs every where we went. I wasn't complaining, though, as it was nice little BMW, almost like the one Billie had only in red and it fit all of us comfortably. Well, more than the cab did, anyway. I had no idea where we were going, nor did I really care. I was too busy trying to keep myself awake more than anything and every now and then, I felt my head dip low and someone shake me.
"Hayleigh.. Wake up," Billie said, shaking my leg. "We're gonna stop at Starbucks, since you obviously need coffee or something."
"Yeah.. Ahuh.." I muttered, my eyelids slowly drooping shut.
"Hayleigh!" Startled, my head shot upwards and my eyes flung open.
"I'm not sleeping!" I said, defensively. "I'm just resting my eyes.."
"Oh, is that all?" Billie asked, eyebrow raised.
"Yes.." I snuggled closer to the window. I just needed five minutes.. Five minutes and that was all. The car came to an abrupt stop as I felt Billie shake me once more. I looked over to see Tre's face smashed against the window and I let out a tiny yelp. Without hesitation, I climbed out of the car as we all headed into Starbucks. Tre bounced over to the clerk, his eyes practically bulging out of his head as he shouted,
"ORANGE MOCHA FRAPPICHINO!" I smiled a little, but Billie and Mike shook their heads at him - something they always seemed to do because nothing Tre ever did surprised them.
"That's all he'll order," Billie whispered to me. "He says it's his trademark drink. I say that's a load of shit." I smiled quietly as I moved up to order as Tre finally moved out of the way and was focusing his attention on looking at the Green Straws.
"They're just so.. Green," I heard him mutter out of awe. The clerk looked at me, slightly annoyed as I took my time to look over at the menu above her head.
"What'll it be?" She asked, smacking her pen against the counter. I shook my head and looked at her for a second, trying to figure out what she'd just asked. "What do you want?"
"Oh, sorry.." I said, shaking my head again slightly. "Can I get a Vanilla Latte with extra whipped cream?"
"Put a double shot of esspresso in there, too.." Billie added and I looked at him.
"No, it's like 8 o'clock at night," I reminded him and the clerk looked between us, trying to decide which person to follow.
"Just put it in there," Billie said, and I glared at him, getting out of his way so he could order for himself and Mike, who was trying to contain Tre from attacking the straws. I must have been really out of it because the next thing I knew, Billie was shaking me again and handing me my coffee. "Here," he said, shoving into my hand. "This should help."
"Wh-? Oh, thanks.." I managed to say, taking a sip to warm me up. It tasted bitter, probably the after taste of the esspresso kicking in and man - it was nasty. My lip twitched in disgust as I forced myself to drink it, hoping it would help with the jet lag. Oh man, did it ever.. "Billie! Billie! BILLIE!" I said, bouncing around in the back with Tre, sounding like a little kid. "Doyouseeit? Ohmuhgawd,doyouseetheshiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinylights?!"
"Yes, Hayleigh, for the third time, I see the lights.." Billie muttered, and I could tell he was wishing he hadn't of added the double shot. To say I was hyper was an understatement - it was like I had mixed a few energy drinks with speed, or... Just acting like Tre normally did.
"But,they'resoprrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeetttty!" I called, going to take another sip of my coffe, but Billie snatched it away from me, shaking his head. My smile faded into a frown, as I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted. "Heeeeeeeeey."
"No. No more coffee," Billie said, putting the cup in the cupholder in front of him, just out of my reach. I unbuckled my seatbelt and leaned forward, twitching a bit as I attempted to grab it, but Billie smacked my hand away. I threw myself back onto the seat with a huff.
"Duuuude, you're tweaking out," Tre said, beaming a little. I cracked a smile, starting to laugh and Tre soon joined in, our merriment a little too overwhelming for poor Mike and Billie.
"Maybe we should just head back?" Mike asked, flipping the turning signal on the car, but Billie shook his head no.
"I already told them we're coming so we're going to be there," Billie said, slightly annoyed by both Tre and I, one of the many annoyances I'd cause him that night.
- - -
"Billie!" I looked up to see a woman standing in the doorway, and standing there for a few seconds, I "sized her up." She was somewhere near 5'5, which was around Jessica's height, her volumptous body being hugged by a thin black cocktail dress and her mess of auburn curls piled high on top of her head. Her saphire eyes seemed to almost sparkle with amusement as she saw Billie almost.. gawking at her and I stared at him with annoyance. I'll admit, I was a tad bit jealous since I was a mere 5'1, with my naturally brown roots coming through my dyed black hair that hung down freely, dressed.. not so nicely. Damn Billie, I thought, ticked off. If he had told me, I would have worn a dress or at least something nicer than jeans, a Rancid hoodie and a scarf. Hey.. At least I had a scarf. Tre poked Billie and nodded to me, Billie shaking his head as he tried to regain his thoughts and his eyes floated from her to me then back to her.
"Hayleigh," he said, looking back over at me. "This is Felicity. Lis, this is Hayleigh.."
Like always with Billie's friends, I kindly extended my hand and said, "Nice to meet you." And for once, that politeness was matched.
"Nice to meet you aswell," She said, smiling warmly and she shook my hand quickly, before she opened the door wider. "Why are you guys standing out in the hallway? Come in, come in.. It's cold out there.." Billie flashed a quick smile as we went inside, throwing our coats in an empty room and coming back into the living room. Billie was, at best described as, "mingling," with other people, so I just sort of looked around, awkwardly. Felicity had a really nice house, as I studied the pieces of art she had on her wall - a few abstracts around here and there and then one that really caught my eye. Above the fireplace hung a painting of a girl strewn across an inset in a window, gazing out into the gray outside. In closer observation, I could see small shadows rising from the bottom, slowly circling up as if to engulf her and the sanctuary she'd formed against the window.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" I turned to see a man standing next to me, gazing at the painting as well. His voice was oozing that charming british accent that the lead guy in Chick Flicks almost always had.
"Yeah and the blending on it is amazing. It looks like it was a mixture of pastles, paint and.. charcoal for the shadows, which only heightens them.." Haley said, looking back up at it.
"Mmmyes," He hummed, and turned down to look at her. "I'm Manning."
"Manning?" I asked, smiling slightly. "That's a sweet name. I'm Hayleigh." He chuckled a bit at my use of the word, 'Sweet,' and I sort of blushed. I didn't care that I wasn't suppose to speak improperly or what not, I just couldn't help, but blush and that's when I felt an arm slip around my waist. I knew who it was even before he spoke as he pulled my closer to him, almost posessively. I was almost positive that if he were a dog, he would've taken a piss on me to make his mark, but this was the best he could do. Well, the best he could do while holding a beer.
"Hey Manning," Billie Joe said, his voice cooled over with animosity as he took another sip of his beer, his arm firmly around me and his hand resting against my stomach.
"Billie. I didn't know you were here," Manning said, sounding just as hostile.
"Yeah, well, I'm everywhere now-a-days," Billie said, grinning innocently. "I see you've met my girlfriend, Hayleigh.." Manning looked at me, but I was too busy looking away to say anything. Whatever was going on between them, I didn't want to be apart of.
"Girlfriend, hmm?" Manning asked and Billie nodded, resting his head on my shoulder as if to, again, mark his territory. "Weren't you married?"
"I was," Billie said, shrugging slightly. "Now I'm not." There was a riftly silence between us as I just sort of stood there, not wanting to say anything. "Come, Hayleigh, let's go find Tre.." Billie tugged me gently to follow him as we walked in the opposite direction, his arm still on me. I looked up at him, almost glaring. "What?" He asked, looking down.
"What is with you?" I asked, eyebrow raised.
"He was flirting with you and I just thought I should stop it," Billie smiled and nodded to people as we worked our way around the pent house.
"You were acting like you owned me," I corrected. "Or like you didn't trust me. I mean, what was I going to do?"
"I.. don't know. Manning just.." Billie started, trying to explain what was going through my head, but decided to just stop. He leaned down and put his lips against mine, pausing as if asking for my premission to kiss me. I sighed into him and let him kiss me, although I was still annoyed. "Please don't be mad at me," he whispered into my ear and, against my better judgement, I nodded.
"I'm.. not," I said, sighing again and forcing a smile. He returned the smile, brushing the back of his hand against my cheek lightly.
"I'm going to get another beer, but I'll be right back.." Billie promised, heading towards the kitchen. Thinking he'd keep to his word, I stood there for some six minutes before I just gave up and into the need to pee. I found Felicity over by the door and tapped on her shoulder lightly, watching as she spun around.
"Bathroom?" I mouthed and she nodded, sipping down her drink.
"I think someone trashed the one out here, but the one in the spare room should be okay. Go ahead and use that one," She explained, turning back to whomever she was talking to. I made my way through the overcrowded hallway, turning left and into the spare room. "Oh thank God.." I muttered, finding the bathroom free. When I came back out, I found Billie stumbling into the spare room, another beer in his hand.
"Hayleigh.." He said, grinning. "I was just looking for you.." Even as far away as we were, I could smell the liquor on his breath and realized he had a little too much to drink.
"Erm, sorry," I apologized. "I had to use the bathroom."
"Oh," Billie said, cocking his head to the right as though he had to think about it. He shook his head and staggered a few steps forward towards me, dropping his beer to the floor and pulling me down onto the bed.
"Billie, you spilled your beer.." I said, able to see the puddle in the dark, but he was ignoring me as he sat up, looking at me for a second before swinging his leg over me. He was straddling me as he leaned down and kissed me, slowly at first, but slowly picked up to the point where I felt his finger slid up my side and around to the back - he was going to unzip my corsett. I pulled back, looking at him for a second, and shook my head. "No," I said, sternly. His hand whipped backwards as he sat up, straight.
"What? Why?" He asked, obviously confused.
"Because."
"Because why?" He continued to press, his voice whining.
"Because you're drunk, we're in some chick's house who I don't know and.. you're drunk," I explained and he got off of me, his confusion turning into frustration.
"It's because you don't love me, isn't it?" He asked, angerily.
"Billie-"
"No, no Billie-ing me," Billie said, as I scrambled upwards. "Why? What's wrong with me?" I knew it was the booze talking, but it still hurt me. I looked down at my feet, awkwardly.
"Billie, I just.. Don't be mad at me.." I stammered.
"Come on. We're going back to the hotel.." Billie stormed out of the room and I followed after as he grabbed the keys to Tre's rental, not bothering to inform Tre or Mike.
"Billie, you've been drinking, maybe I shou-"
"Let's go, Hayleigh!" He snapped and, no matter how bad my gut feeling was, I followed after him. We walked fast down the stairs and to the street, where I got into the car without hesitation as he started it up and floored it, fuming.
"Billie, please.." I started, but this didn't seem to help anything as he kept his eyes fixated on what was before him, and I realized he was running stop signs and red lights. "Billie.."
"Hayleigh, will you just shut up for once?" Billie asked, turning his head to face me and I could see history repeating itself. Time seemed to slow down as I felt the blow, my head thrashing to the side and my body flinging forward. I felt the blade of the glass pierce my skin and my body hit the solid pavement of the ground, my head bouncing back up a bit from the impact. I could see the pool of blood gathering around me just as I saw Billie running over to me, screaming to me.
"Hayleigh! Hayleigh, please.. Hayleigh, I'm so sorry.. I'm so sorry, Hayleigh, I love you so much. Baby, please.. Please wake up.." Wake up.. It was like running out of breath under water, fighting with all of your strength to break to the surface, but being unable to. Wake up, Hayleigh, before it's too late.. The last thing I heard before I blacked out was the closing in of sirens and Billie whispering a whimper in my ear. "Baby, please.. I love you so much."
"Hayleigh.. Wake up," Billie said, shaking my leg. "We're gonna stop at Starbucks, since you obviously need coffee or something."
"Yeah.. Ahuh.." I muttered, my eyelids slowly drooping shut.
"Hayleigh!" Startled, my head shot upwards and my eyes flung open.
"I'm not sleeping!" I said, defensively. "I'm just resting my eyes.."
"Oh, is that all?" Billie asked, eyebrow raised.
"Yes.." I snuggled closer to the window. I just needed five minutes.. Five minutes and that was all. The car came to an abrupt stop as I felt Billie shake me once more. I looked over to see Tre's face smashed against the window and I let out a tiny yelp. Without hesitation, I climbed out of the car as we all headed into Starbucks. Tre bounced over to the clerk, his eyes practically bulging out of his head as he shouted,
"ORANGE MOCHA FRAPPICHINO!" I smiled a little, but Billie and Mike shook their heads at him - something they always seemed to do because nothing Tre ever did surprised them.
"That's all he'll order," Billie whispered to me. "He says it's his trademark drink. I say that's a load of shit." I smiled quietly as I moved up to order as Tre finally moved out of the way and was focusing his attention on looking at the Green Straws.
"They're just so.. Green," I heard him mutter out of awe. The clerk looked at me, slightly annoyed as I took my time to look over at the menu above her head.
"What'll it be?" She asked, smacking her pen against the counter. I shook my head and looked at her for a second, trying to figure out what she'd just asked. "What do you want?"
"Oh, sorry.." I said, shaking my head again slightly. "Can I get a Vanilla Latte with extra whipped cream?"
"Put a double shot of esspresso in there, too.." Billie added and I looked at him.
"No, it's like 8 o'clock at night," I reminded him and the clerk looked between us, trying to decide which person to follow.
"Just put it in there," Billie said, and I glared at him, getting out of his way so he could order for himself and Mike, who was trying to contain Tre from attacking the straws. I must have been really out of it because the next thing I knew, Billie was shaking me again and handing me my coffee. "Here," he said, shoving into my hand. "This should help."
"Wh-? Oh, thanks.." I managed to say, taking a sip to warm me up. It tasted bitter, probably the after taste of the esspresso kicking in and man - it was nasty. My lip twitched in disgust as I forced myself to drink it, hoping it would help with the jet lag. Oh man, did it ever.. "Billie! Billie! BILLIE!" I said, bouncing around in the back with Tre, sounding like a little kid. "Doyouseeit? Ohmuhgawd,doyouseetheshiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinylights?!"
"Yes, Hayleigh, for the third time, I see the lights.." Billie muttered, and I could tell he was wishing he hadn't of added the double shot. To say I was hyper was an understatement - it was like I had mixed a few energy drinks with speed, or... Just acting like Tre normally did.
"But,they'resoprrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeetttty!" I called, going to take another sip of my coffe, but Billie snatched it away from me, shaking his head. My smile faded into a frown, as I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted. "Heeeeeeeeey."
"No. No more coffee," Billie said, putting the cup in the cupholder in front of him, just out of my reach. I unbuckled my seatbelt and leaned forward, twitching a bit as I attempted to grab it, but Billie smacked my hand away. I threw myself back onto the seat with a huff.
"Duuuude, you're tweaking out," Tre said, beaming a little. I cracked a smile, starting to laugh and Tre soon joined in, our merriment a little too overwhelming for poor Mike and Billie.
"Maybe we should just head back?" Mike asked, flipping the turning signal on the car, but Billie shook his head no.
"I already told them we're coming so we're going to be there," Billie said, slightly annoyed by both Tre and I, one of the many annoyances I'd cause him that night.
- - -
"Billie!" I looked up to see a woman standing in the doorway, and standing there for a few seconds, I "sized her up." She was somewhere near 5'5, which was around Jessica's height, her volumptous body being hugged by a thin black cocktail dress and her mess of auburn curls piled high on top of her head. Her saphire eyes seemed to almost sparkle with amusement as she saw Billie almost.. gawking at her and I stared at him with annoyance. I'll admit, I was a tad bit jealous since I was a mere 5'1, with my naturally brown roots coming through my dyed black hair that hung down freely, dressed.. not so nicely. Damn Billie, I thought, ticked off. If he had told me, I would have worn a dress or at least something nicer than jeans, a Rancid hoodie and a scarf. Hey.. At least I had a scarf. Tre poked Billie and nodded to me, Billie shaking his head as he tried to regain his thoughts and his eyes floated from her to me then back to her.
"Hayleigh," he said, looking back over at me. "This is Felicity. Lis, this is Hayleigh.."
Like always with Billie's friends, I kindly extended my hand and said, "Nice to meet you." And for once, that politeness was matched.
"Nice to meet you aswell," She said, smiling warmly and she shook my hand quickly, before she opened the door wider. "Why are you guys standing out in the hallway? Come in, come in.. It's cold out there.." Billie flashed a quick smile as we went inside, throwing our coats in an empty room and coming back into the living room. Billie was, at best described as, "mingling," with other people, so I just sort of looked around, awkwardly. Felicity had a really nice house, as I studied the pieces of art she had on her wall - a few abstracts around here and there and then one that really caught my eye. Above the fireplace hung a painting of a girl strewn across an inset in a window, gazing out into the gray outside. In closer observation, I could see small shadows rising from the bottom, slowly circling up as if to engulf her and the sanctuary she'd formed against the window.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" I turned to see a man standing next to me, gazing at the painting as well. His voice was oozing that charming british accent that the lead guy in Chick Flicks almost always had.
"Yeah and the blending on it is amazing. It looks like it was a mixture of pastles, paint and.. charcoal for the shadows, which only heightens them.." Haley said, looking back up at it.
"Mmmyes," He hummed, and turned down to look at her. "I'm Manning."
"Manning?" I asked, smiling slightly. "That's a sweet name. I'm Hayleigh." He chuckled a bit at my use of the word, 'Sweet,' and I sort of blushed. I didn't care that I wasn't suppose to speak improperly or what not, I just couldn't help, but blush and that's when I felt an arm slip around my waist. I knew who it was even before he spoke as he pulled my closer to him, almost posessively. I was almost positive that if he were a dog, he would've taken a piss on me to make his mark, but this was the best he could do. Well, the best he could do while holding a beer.
"Hey Manning," Billie Joe said, his voice cooled over with animosity as he took another sip of his beer, his arm firmly around me and his hand resting against my stomach.
"Billie. I didn't know you were here," Manning said, sounding just as hostile.
"Yeah, well, I'm everywhere now-a-days," Billie said, grinning innocently. "I see you've met my girlfriend, Hayleigh.." Manning looked at me, but I was too busy looking away to say anything. Whatever was going on between them, I didn't want to be apart of.
"Girlfriend, hmm?" Manning asked and Billie nodded, resting his head on my shoulder as if to, again, mark his territory. "Weren't you married?"
"I was," Billie said, shrugging slightly. "Now I'm not." There was a riftly silence between us as I just sort of stood there, not wanting to say anything. "Come, Hayleigh, let's go find Tre.." Billie tugged me gently to follow him as we walked in the opposite direction, his arm still on me. I looked up at him, almost glaring. "What?" He asked, looking down.
"What is with you?" I asked, eyebrow raised.
"He was flirting with you and I just thought I should stop it," Billie smiled and nodded to people as we worked our way around the pent house.
"You were acting like you owned me," I corrected. "Or like you didn't trust me. I mean, what was I going to do?"
"I.. don't know. Manning just.." Billie started, trying to explain what was going through my head, but decided to just stop. He leaned down and put his lips against mine, pausing as if asking for my premission to kiss me. I sighed into him and let him kiss me, although I was still annoyed. "Please don't be mad at me," he whispered into my ear and, against my better judgement, I nodded.
"I'm.. not," I said, sighing again and forcing a smile. He returned the smile, brushing the back of his hand against my cheek lightly.
"I'm going to get another beer, but I'll be right back.." Billie promised, heading towards the kitchen. Thinking he'd keep to his word, I stood there for some six minutes before I just gave up and into the need to pee. I found Felicity over by the door and tapped on her shoulder lightly, watching as she spun around.
"Bathroom?" I mouthed and she nodded, sipping down her drink.
"I think someone trashed the one out here, but the one in the spare room should be okay. Go ahead and use that one," She explained, turning back to whomever she was talking to. I made my way through the overcrowded hallway, turning left and into the spare room. "Oh thank God.." I muttered, finding the bathroom free. When I came back out, I found Billie stumbling into the spare room, another beer in his hand.
"Hayleigh.." He said, grinning. "I was just looking for you.." Even as far away as we were, I could smell the liquor on his breath and realized he had a little too much to drink.
"Erm, sorry," I apologized. "I had to use the bathroom."
"Oh," Billie said, cocking his head to the right as though he had to think about it. He shook his head and staggered a few steps forward towards me, dropping his beer to the floor and pulling me down onto the bed.
"Billie, you spilled your beer.." I said, able to see the puddle in the dark, but he was ignoring me as he sat up, looking at me for a second before swinging his leg over me. He was straddling me as he leaned down and kissed me, slowly at first, but slowly picked up to the point where I felt his finger slid up my side and around to the back - he was going to unzip my corsett. I pulled back, looking at him for a second, and shook my head. "No," I said, sternly. His hand whipped backwards as he sat up, straight.
"What? Why?" He asked, obviously confused.
"Because."
"Because why?" He continued to press, his voice whining.
"Because you're drunk, we're in some chick's house who I don't know and.. you're drunk," I explained and he got off of me, his confusion turning into frustration.
"It's because you don't love me, isn't it?" He asked, angerily.
"Billie-"
"No, no Billie-ing me," Billie said, as I scrambled upwards. "Why? What's wrong with me?" I knew it was the booze talking, but it still hurt me. I looked down at my feet, awkwardly.
"Billie, I just.. Don't be mad at me.." I stammered.
"Come on. We're going back to the hotel.." Billie stormed out of the room and I followed after as he grabbed the keys to Tre's rental, not bothering to inform Tre or Mike.
"Billie, you've been drinking, maybe I shou-"
"Let's go, Hayleigh!" He snapped and, no matter how bad my gut feeling was, I followed after him. We walked fast down the stairs and to the street, where I got into the car without hesitation as he started it up and floored it, fuming.
"Billie, please.." I started, but this didn't seem to help anything as he kept his eyes fixated on what was before him, and I realized he was running stop signs and red lights. "Billie.."
"Hayleigh, will you just shut up for once?" Billie asked, turning his head to face me and I could see history repeating itself. Time seemed to slow down as I felt the blow, my head thrashing to the side and my body flinging forward. I felt the blade of the glass pierce my skin and my body hit the solid pavement of the ground, my head bouncing back up a bit from the impact. I could see the pool of blood gathering around me just as I saw Billie running over to me, screaming to me.
"Hayleigh! Hayleigh, please.. Hayleigh, I'm so sorry.. I'm so sorry, Hayleigh, I love you so much. Baby, please.. Please wake up.." Wake up.. It was like running out of breath under water, fighting with all of your strength to break to the surface, but being unable to. Wake up, Hayleigh, before it's too late.. The last thing I heard before I blacked out was the closing in of sirens and Billie whispering a whimper in my ear. "Baby, please.. I love you so much."
