A Different Perspective, chapter 8
When I awoke the next day, I opened my eyes only to find that Billie was in my bed. Now, how that happened will forever be a mystery since he was seriously knocked out the night before, but nevertheless he managed to somehow stumble on up there and lay down next to me, without waking me. So, all in all, I wasn't really complaining. I slowly opened one eye to see Billie staring at me and quickly shut it.
"You're awake," he said, stating the obvious. I shook my head.
"Noooo, you just think I'm awake," I muttered, turning over and putting a pillow over my head.
"You sleep talk, then?" He asked, trying to pry the pillow out of my hands.
"Yush.." I muttered and he finally got the pillow off of me. I slowly began to open my eyes when I felt Billie whack me over the head with the pillow. "Owww.." I rubbed my head and gave him a look.
"Get up.." He was like a fucking little kid.
"No, let me sleeeeeep." He whacked me again. "Stop it."
"No. Get up."
"I'm warning you, Armstrong. Knock it the fuck off."
"Or what?" He was playing with me. I'm surprised he wasn't hunched over, complaining about a hangover.
"Or I'll kick your ass."
"I'd like to see you try." That was it. I leapt up and pushed him down, pinning him to the bed. He was laughing to the point of shaking, which made me laugh and ultimately collapse ontop of him. "Humph.." He said and I poked him, rolling off. "I knew all you wanted was to get on top."
"Pfft.. You wish," but I was still laughing and Billie Joe looked down on me before slowly leaning in. I stopped him. "I have some serious morning breath," I warned, but he shrugged and kissed me anyway. He plopped his head back onto the pillow at stared at the ceiling for a bit, and it was obvious he was in deep thought because the corner of his eye kept twitching. It wasn't really noticeable unless you were looking for it, but it was there.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Hmmm..?" He mused, glancing over at me. "Oh, nothing really. Just.. Stuff."
"Stuff, huh? Sounds amusing," I smiled and he gave a he'sitant nod.
"I was thinking about Alison -" Ouch. Why was he thinking about her? "And you and.. Everything, really."
"Oh." That's all I could think of to say. I mean, I couldn't jump to conclusions and anyway, if I had said anything else, I would have sounded jealous, which I was not. I wasn't jealous. Was I? Okay, maybe I was a little, but I hated myself for it. I mean, we were just friends. Friends. F-R-I-E-N-D-S. So why was I acting like a dog marking his, or rather her territory? If anything, I should be happy that I was simply friends with him, considering people would kill to be in my shoes. Maybe I was jealous because my mind was starting to think about something more than just friendship. Bad Hayleigh, I silently scolded myself.
"Let's go downstairs and see if there's anything to eat, eh?" Billie asked, smiling.
"What are you, Canadian?" I asked, and he nodded, grabbing me hand and leading me out of the room. "Billie, I'm capable of walking on my own.." He kept tugging me down the stairs.
"You're not moving fast enough.." He complained, and continued tugging until we finally reached the bottom. I could see Tre passed out in the corner, snoring loudly as Mike rolled over, slapped Tre to shut him up and rolled back over, covering his head with a pillow. I snorted at the sight, but Billie put a finger to his lips as he led me into the kitchen. I knew it was probably best if we hadn't of awoken Tre, since he was going to be bitchy from the hangover, but I couldn't help it. When we finally got into the kitchen and closed the door, I cracked up. Billie shook his head as he opened the refrigerator.
"What's there to eat?" I asked, trying to calm myself down.
"Abso-fucking-lutely nothing," Billie muttered and slammed the door closed.
"If we get dressed, do you wanna just head on over to a diner or something? I'll pay," I offered, but Billie shook his head.
"You're not going to pay."
"Why? I never pay for anything and it makes me feel bad."
"Because I said so."
"Ah, because that makes sense."
"It does to me."
"You're a strange, strange little man," I muttered, shaking my head as I went upstairs to get dressed.
We snuck out of the house without waking Mike or Tre and I pulled my hoodie over my head as I climbed into the BMW. We'd never really listened to music in the car before, so I hit the ON button on the stereo and began flipping through the channels until I heard the opening chords of, "Wait and Bleed." I stopped and bopped along to it, when I happened to catch sight of Billie, his nose scrunched up in disgust.
"What the hell is this shit?" He asked, disgusted.
"Slipknot," I said, flashing an innocent smile.
"Oh hell no." He shut off the radio almost immediately.
"Why not? They're a good band."
"They sound like they're fucking hacking up a goddamn hairball," he bitched and
I rolled my eyes.
"Do not."
"Do too."
"They do not," I pressed and turned the radio back on. Billie's hand flew out and hit the off button again.
"Stop that," he muttered and I finally relented.
"Fine.." I muttered, turning towards the window and pretending to pout. He poked me, and I poorly held back a smile as we drove into the parking lot of some local place. We got out of the car, Billie slinging his arm around my shoulders as we walked inside and were seated almost immediately since the place was practically empty - except by a few teenage girls that I didn't pay much attention to.
"Thank you," Billie and I both said to the waiter, who handed us our menus and left. I could hear some high pitched giggling going on in the background, but I didn't think much of it. I mean, my friends and I were the same way - loud and laughing, so I didn't bother to turn around and check what was going on. Billie, on the other hand, seemed to be uncomfortable all of the sudden.
"You okay?" I asked, eyebrow raised as I peered from above my menu.
"No.." He muttered, transfixed on his own menu when a girl of about 5'4" came bouncing up to us. My eyes shifted over to her and I instantly saw she was a fangirl, proudly boasting her American Idiot T-shirt over her clearly-a-b-cup-stuffed-into-a-c-cup boobs.
"Hi!" She said, her voice like a dull blade to the bone. "You're like Billie Joel Armstrong, right?" The constant smacking of her gum and twirling of her bleach-blond hair was grinding on my nerves. Again, jealousy was taking over..
"Uh, Billie Joe, yeah.." Billie corrected her, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Right.. Right. Can I like have your autograph?" There was that voice again. It was like put Michael Jackson, Tweety-Bird and the complete cast of Clueless in a blender, swirl it and you had her voice. Ughhh... I thought, shuddering.
"Umm.. Sure.." Billie said, and she handed him and pen, turning around so he could sign her shirt. With one swift motion, Billie signed it and handed her back her pen. She turned to me.
"Are you like his girlfriend or something?" I thought I was going to bitch slap someone right then and there. Oh, how she reminded me of this girl back in school.. I swear to God, if I could of, I would have lodged that friggin piece of gum in her throat. That smacking.. It was driving me up the fucking wall.
"Is that, like, any of your business?" I snapped, mocking her. She put her hands on her hips, still smacking that damn piece of gum. How I yearend for it to get stuck on an accidental swallowing..
"You didn't have to be so rude about it, geez."
"I wasn't rude, m'dear," I simply stated as I looked over my menu.
"Whatever, you were, too.." I stared at her for a few seconds before she finally did what every human being does and asked, "What?"
"Oh, I'm sorry.." I said, shaking me head. "I was distracted by your eyebrows.. How about you come back and talk to me when you have two of them?" She looked at me in pure awe, her hand instinctively going to her eyebrows, as I knew they would. She rushed back over to her table and demanded a mirror from one of her friends and I could help, but let a small smile form. I was pleased with myself in an odd sort of way. Billie just kind of looked at me, I think a tad bit shocked as well when the waiter came. We ordered our food and I acted as though nothing had happened.
"I would have never pictured you ever saying something like that to someone you don't know," Billie said, shaking his head.
"She was bugging. Not my fault, man. I would have thought you would've said something when she called you Billie Joel. Hell, that pissed me off," I said, shrugging.
"I'm used to it by now."
"I'm sorry if I like embarrassed you, or what not." I took a sip of my soda to keep myself from having to look him in the eyes.
"You didn't. I was just sort of amazed when you stood up for yourself."
"I don't take crap from people; it's just not me."
Everything settled back down, but the girls kept firing heated glares until they eventually left and we could eat in peace. Once we were done, Billie and I decided to walk around a bit since I'd never really explored Berkeley before and it's the major spot for Occult shops, one of my biggest interests. I actually had managed to pull him into this small shop of the corner of the street. We walked in to hear the ding of the bell and I looked around at the shelves and shelves of books when it caught my eye. On display was, perhaps, the most beautiful bracelet I think I've ever seen - and coming from me, whose jewelry consisted of a few plastic support bands, it meant something. I walked over to it and studied it, making a mental picture of how the light gleamed off of the sapphire stone that was placed in the middle of a pentagram.
"Do you like it?" Billie's voice brought me back to reality.
"Huh? What? Oh, yeah. I was just looking at it.." I said, shaking me head. "We can go now. I just wanted to look around."
"You want to wait for me outside? I'm gonna see if they have a bathroom.." He muttered and I nodded, hearing the ding of the doorbell as I left the store. A good five minutes had passed and I was sort of starting to get a bit worried when Billie walked out of the shop, a bag in his hand. I looked at him suspiciously.
"I thought you had to go to the bathroom?" I asked, eyebrow raised.
"I, uh, did.. But, then I passed this and knew I had to get it for you," he said and he opened the bag, handing me that same bracelet I had been gawking over at the store. My eyes went wide.
"Billie!" I said, and he carefully put it on my wrist. I hugged him. "Thank you so much! You didn't have to buy it."
"I know I didn't have to, I wanted to," he said, smiling and I kissed him right then and there. I was so ecstatically happy that nothing could bring me down.. Or so I thought.
"Billie! Oh my God, what are the chances of running into you today? I was just thinking about you, too.." That voice - like nails on a chalkboard. It was back from the night before.. And I could feel my blood begin to boil.
"You're awake," he said, stating the obvious. I shook my head.
"Noooo, you just think I'm awake," I muttered, turning over and putting a pillow over my head.
"You sleep talk, then?" He asked, trying to pry the pillow out of my hands.
"Yush.." I muttered and he finally got the pillow off of me. I slowly began to open my eyes when I felt Billie whack me over the head with the pillow. "Owww.." I rubbed my head and gave him a look.
"Get up.." He was like a fucking little kid.
"No, let me sleeeeeep." He whacked me again. "Stop it."
"No. Get up."
"I'm warning you, Armstrong. Knock it the fuck off."
"Or what?" He was playing with me. I'm surprised he wasn't hunched over, complaining about a hangover.
"Or I'll kick your ass."
"I'd like to see you try." That was it. I leapt up and pushed him down, pinning him to the bed. He was laughing to the point of shaking, which made me laugh and ultimately collapse ontop of him. "Humph.." He said and I poked him, rolling off. "I knew all you wanted was to get on top."
"Pfft.. You wish," but I was still laughing and Billie Joe looked down on me before slowly leaning in. I stopped him. "I have some serious morning breath," I warned, but he shrugged and kissed me anyway. He plopped his head back onto the pillow at stared at the ceiling for a bit, and it was obvious he was in deep thought because the corner of his eye kept twitching. It wasn't really noticeable unless you were looking for it, but it was there.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Hmmm..?" He mused, glancing over at me. "Oh, nothing really. Just.. Stuff."
"Stuff, huh? Sounds amusing," I smiled and he gave a he'sitant nod.
"I was thinking about Alison -" Ouch. Why was he thinking about her? "And you and.. Everything, really."
"Oh." That's all I could think of to say. I mean, I couldn't jump to conclusions and anyway, if I had said anything else, I would have sounded jealous, which I was not. I wasn't jealous. Was I? Okay, maybe I was a little, but I hated myself for it. I mean, we were just friends. Friends. F-R-I-E-N-D-S. So why was I acting like a dog marking his, or rather her territory? If anything, I should be happy that I was simply friends with him, considering people would kill to be in my shoes. Maybe I was jealous because my mind was starting to think about something more than just friendship. Bad Hayleigh, I silently scolded myself.
"Let's go downstairs and see if there's anything to eat, eh?" Billie asked, smiling.
"What are you, Canadian?" I asked, and he nodded, grabbing me hand and leading me out of the room. "Billie, I'm capable of walking on my own.." He kept tugging me down the stairs.
"You're not moving fast enough.." He complained, and continued tugging until we finally reached the bottom. I could see Tre passed out in the corner, snoring loudly as Mike rolled over, slapped Tre to shut him up and rolled back over, covering his head with a pillow. I snorted at the sight, but Billie put a finger to his lips as he led me into the kitchen. I knew it was probably best if we hadn't of awoken Tre, since he was going to be bitchy from the hangover, but I couldn't help it. When we finally got into the kitchen and closed the door, I cracked up. Billie shook his head as he opened the refrigerator.
"What's there to eat?" I asked, trying to calm myself down.
"Abso-fucking-lutely nothing," Billie muttered and slammed the door closed.
"If we get dressed, do you wanna just head on over to a diner or something? I'll pay," I offered, but Billie shook his head.
"You're not going to pay."
"Why? I never pay for anything and it makes me feel bad."
"Because I said so."
"Ah, because that makes sense."
"It does to me."
"You're a strange, strange little man," I muttered, shaking my head as I went upstairs to get dressed.
We snuck out of the house without waking Mike or Tre and I pulled my hoodie over my head as I climbed into the BMW. We'd never really listened to music in the car before, so I hit the ON button on the stereo and began flipping through the channels until I heard the opening chords of, "Wait and Bleed." I stopped and bopped along to it, when I happened to catch sight of Billie, his nose scrunched up in disgust.
"What the hell is this shit?" He asked, disgusted.
"Slipknot," I said, flashing an innocent smile.
"Oh hell no." He shut off the radio almost immediately.
"Why not? They're a good band."
"They sound like they're fucking hacking up a goddamn hairball," he bitched and
I rolled my eyes.
"Do not."
"Do too."
"They do not," I pressed and turned the radio back on. Billie's hand flew out and hit the off button again.
"Stop that," he muttered and I finally relented.
"Fine.." I muttered, turning towards the window and pretending to pout. He poked me, and I poorly held back a smile as we drove into the parking lot of some local place. We got out of the car, Billie slinging his arm around my shoulders as we walked inside and were seated almost immediately since the place was practically empty - except by a few teenage girls that I didn't pay much attention to.
"Thank you," Billie and I both said to the waiter, who handed us our menus and left. I could hear some high pitched giggling going on in the background, but I didn't think much of it. I mean, my friends and I were the same way - loud and laughing, so I didn't bother to turn around and check what was going on. Billie, on the other hand, seemed to be uncomfortable all of the sudden.
"You okay?" I asked, eyebrow raised as I peered from above my menu.
"No.." He muttered, transfixed on his own menu when a girl of about 5'4" came bouncing up to us. My eyes shifted over to her and I instantly saw she was a fangirl, proudly boasting her American Idiot T-shirt over her clearly-a-b-cup-stuffed-into-a-c-cup boobs.
"Hi!" She said, her voice like a dull blade to the bone. "You're like Billie Joel Armstrong, right?" The constant smacking of her gum and twirling of her bleach-blond hair was grinding on my nerves. Again, jealousy was taking over..
"Uh, Billie Joe, yeah.." Billie corrected her, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Right.. Right. Can I like have your autograph?" There was that voice again. It was like put Michael Jackson, Tweety-Bird and the complete cast of Clueless in a blender, swirl it and you had her voice. Ughhh... I thought, shuddering.
"Umm.. Sure.." Billie said, and she handed him and pen, turning around so he could sign her shirt. With one swift motion, Billie signed it and handed her back her pen. She turned to me.
"Are you like his girlfriend or something?" I thought I was going to bitch slap someone right then and there. Oh, how she reminded me of this girl back in school.. I swear to God, if I could of, I would have lodged that friggin piece of gum in her throat. That smacking.. It was driving me up the fucking wall.
"Is that, like, any of your business?" I snapped, mocking her. She put her hands on her hips, still smacking that damn piece of gum. How I yearend for it to get stuck on an accidental swallowing..
"You didn't have to be so rude about it, geez."
"I wasn't rude, m'dear," I simply stated as I looked over my menu.
"Whatever, you were, too.." I stared at her for a few seconds before she finally did what every human being does and asked, "What?"
"Oh, I'm sorry.." I said, shaking me head. "I was distracted by your eyebrows.. How about you come back and talk to me when you have two of them?" She looked at me in pure awe, her hand instinctively going to her eyebrows, as I knew they would. She rushed back over to her table and demanded a mirror from one of her friends and I could help, but let a small smile form. I was pleased with myself in an odd sort of way. Billie just kind of looked at me, I think a tad bit shocked as well when the waiter came. We ordered our food and I acted as though nothing had happened.
"I would have never pictured you ever saying something like that to someone you don't know," Billie said, shaking his head.
"She was bugging. Not my fault, man. I would have thought you would've said something when she called you Billie Joel. Hell, that pissed me off," I said, shrugging.
"I'm used to it by now."
"I'm sorry if I like embarrassed you, or what not." I took a sip of my soda to keep myself from having to look him in the eyes.
"You didn't. I was just sort of amazed when you stood up for yourself."
"I don't take crap from people; it's just not me."
Everything settled back down, but the girls kept firing heated glares until they eventually left and we could eat in peace. Once we were done, Billie and I decided to walk around a bit since I'd never really explored Berkeley before and it's the major spot for Occult shops, one of my biggest interests. I actually had managed to pull him into this small shop of the corner of the street. We walked in to hear the ding of the bell and I looked around at the shelves and shelves of books when it caught my eye. On display was, perhaps, the most beautiful bracelet I think I've ever seen - and coming from me, whose jewelry consisted of a few plastic support bands, it meant something. I walked over to it and studied it, making a mental picture of how the light gleamed off of the sapphire stone that was placed in the middle of a pentagram.
"Do you like it?" Billie's voice brought me back to reality.
"Huh? What? Oh, yeah. I was just looking at it.." I said, shaking me head. "We can go now. I just wanted to look around."
"You want to wait for me outside? I'm gonna see if they have a bathroom.." He muttered and I nodded, hearing the ding of the doorbell as I left the store. A good five minutes had passed and I was sort of starting to get a bit worried when Billie walked out of the shop, a bag in his hand. I looked at him suspiciously.
"I thought you had to go to the bathroom?" I asked, eyebrow raised.
"I, uh, did.. But, then I passed this and knew I had to get it for you," he said and he opened the bag, handing me that same bracelet I had been gawking over at the store. My eyes went wide.
"Billie!" I said, and he carefully put it on my wrist. I hugged him. "Thank you so much! You didn't have to buy it."
"I know I didn't have to, I wanted to," he said, smiling and I kissed him right then and there. I was so ecstatically happy that nothing could bring me down.. Or so I thought.
"Billie! Oh my God, what are the chances of running into you today? I was just thinking about you, too.." That voice - like nails on a chalkboard. It was back from the night before.. And I could feel my blood begin to boil.
