Wake Me Up When the Sun Rises, chapter 4
It took me a full twenty-five minutes just to pick myself up from the doorway after my dad walked away. I winced in pain with each step I took to my room. I looked in the mirror when I did finally make it to assess the damage. A small trickle of blood was running from my nose and mingling with the tears that were streaming down my face. I got a wash clothe, wet it, and started gingerly wiping off my face. I could tell I would have a black eye the next day and my stomach burned, hating my father.
I threw the wash clothe away angrily and hit the play button on my stereo. I replayed the morning I had just had in my head while listening to the guys I had just met. I felt something digging into my hip and pulled out the slip of paper that Billie Joe had written their number on. Gazing at it, I dimly thought about Joey and how I'd probably never see him again anyway. I fell asleep at 2 o'clock and slept the entire night through, still holding on to the paper.
** THE NEXT DAY
The door bell rang at two, startling me from sleep and causing me to fall out of bed in a tangle of navy bed-sheets. I dislodged myself quickly and ran to get the door before my father woke up and got mad. I felt my jaw drop and my eyes widen as I opened the door to Joey standing on my porch.
"Hey!" I said, suddenly very self-conscious of my bed-head. "Oh...uh come on in. But please be quiet my dad's sleeping." I said stepping aside and raking my hands through my hair when he turned his back to me.
"How are you?" He asked and then he got a good look at my face. His amazing green eyes widened and I tried to cover my own puffy black and blue eye.
"Tori." He said quietly, grabbing my hand away.
"Are you alright?" I nodded and smiled.
I heard dad moving around upstairs and snapped back to reality.
"Listen, I need you to wait outside for like, three minutes. If my dad finds you here! I don't wanna think about it! I'll be down as soon as I get dressed." I finished pushing him gently towards the door.
"That's fine." He said and I closed the door quietly after him. I damn near sprinted, quietly though, back up the stairs and into my room. Throwing on a clean pair of blue jeans and a nightmare before christmas tee. I did a quick make-up check and threw on some more eyeliner. I finished by brushing my hair, throwing on my chucks and grabbing the ten dollars that I took yesterday.
I crept down the hall past my dad's room and locked the door behind me. My eyes were met by bright sunlight. I shielded them and met Joey at the end of my driveway. We started walking with no destination in particular. "So what are you doing around here?" I asked curiously, fiddling with the hem of my shirt.
"Duh, I came to see you!" He said nudging me and I felt myself blush. "I figured maybe you'd like to get breakfast with me and we could talk. We really never got a chance to do that yesterday."
"True, but where are we going to go to grab a bite to eat?" I asked thinking uncertainly of the town I lived in. Surely he wouldn't find anything quality here!
"Denny's sounds pretty decent to me." I looked at him.
"You eat at Denny's?" I asked, surprised. He smiled coyly
"Come on! I can't live on lobster and caviar alone!" He joked. I laughed nerviously and blushed again.
"Yeah. Um Denny's...that's just around the next block." We walked in silence for a few moments. He cleared his throat and turned to me.
"How's your eye?" he asked. I felt my hand unconsciously trail to my face. Thinking of my dad made me furious.
"It's fine." I said a little harshly. He turned quickly away and I saw his face flush pink. I softened my tone a bit. "Thank you for asking. So, your dad is Billie Joe Armstrong; front man of the legendary Green Day. What's it like?" I asked, steering the conversation away from the subject of my abuse. He sighed deeply and scratched his head.
"Not all it's cracked up to be. Sure it's nice having the money, having everyone know you for your dad and his band. But I'd like someone, just once, to know me for me, not the band. Girls take advantage of it and so do guys and it's like every time we're out in public, tons of fans are hanging on us. There's absolutely no privacy cos of the media, you know. But there's never a dull moment, not with Tre anyways." He said laughing lightly. I looked at him, not even beginning to comprehend what he must go through. "I.." He stopped. "It's just hard. My dad's rarely around because of his latest album and that leaves me to watch over Jakey and help mom out around the house. Pile schoolwork and every day life onto that! It's hard. It's exhausting."
I let him think for a while and kept my mouth shut, thinking about how beautiful his eyes were.
*AT DENNY'S*
"Ha HA! Get out! Seriously?"
"Bambi IS a good movie." I argued. I scooped some whipped cream off of my cappuccino and licked it off of the spoon.
"Fair enough." he said, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye. "Favorite ice cream?" He asked. We had been seated in ten minutes and, after the waitress brought our drinks, started a game of 20 questions to pass time. He swiped his finger through my whipped cream and stuck it in his mouth.
"HEY, that was mine!" he smiled coyly at me. "mint chocolate chip."
"Rocky Road. That whipped cream is good!" he said reaching for it again. I pulled it away, swiped my finger through it and plopped it on the tip of his nose in one fluid movement. I laughed as he wiped it away with a mock scandalized look on his face. "How dare you!" he said and started laughing. I giggled and our laughter combined beautifully, although quite a few older couples were staring at us.
"Ok, ok um..favorite color?" I asked after I stopped laughing.
"Green, like my eyes."
"Navy, like my eyes." I repeated like he did. His eyes locked on mine.
"I've never seen dark blue eyes on anyone!" he said as if just realizing it. "They're unique. They're beautiful. You're beautiful." My cheeks flushed crimson and I felt like I was about to melt right into the seat. I was spared a response as the waitress came with our food.
I pushed my scrambled eggs around with my fork as I thought of another question to ask him as he poured syrup over his pancakes. I gawked as he continued pouring syrup over his sausage, bacon and..eww..eggs. As if he felt me staring, he looked up and blushed.
"I like syrup." He mumbled, shoving pancakes into his mouth.
"I couldn't tell!" I said sarcastically. He laughed and we were quiet for a couple of minutes. When I was done I pushed my plate away and sat back, waiting for him to finish. He did so and pushed his plate back with a grimace.
"I am so fucking stuffed!" he said thickly.
"Im stuffed just from watching! No wonder kids in Africa are going hungry Joey!" I teased. "Ready to go?" He nodded and we both got up, tossing a few bucks down on the table as tip. When we got to the register, I pulled out my ten only to have it taken away and shoved down the front of my shirt.
"I'm paying." Joey said stubbornly and I reached down my shirt to recover the bill. I opened my mouth to argue and he clamped one of his hands over it. He said thanks to the clerk and practically ushered me once again into the overly bright afternoon sun.
"I could've paid! I'm not poor you know!" I said in mock anger.
"I know," he said cheerily. "but breakfast was my idea and I didn't want you to pay." I smiled to myself as we began walking again. He shoved his hands in his pockets. "So you don't go to school?"
"How'd you know that?" I asked.
"I never see you in the hall, and I doubt I would miss someone as pretty as you." he said. I blushed again and searched his face to see if he was joking. I blushed even harder when I saw he wasn't. "Wanna chill at my place? Or are you afraid my dad might interrogate you some more about your home life?" he asked, a slight air of hope in his voice.
"That'd be great!" I said enthusiastically. He hooked his arm through mine and veered left to cross the street. I laughed as an angry mother honked the horn at us. I laughed when Joey flipped her the bird and even harder when she flipped him off back. Safely on the other side of the road, our game of 20 questions picked up again.
"Favorite candy bar?" He asked, his arm still linked in mine.
"Reese's, you?"
"M&M's, favorite tv show?"
"Hey it was my turn!" I said whinily. he laughed.
"Sorry you're right, go."
"Favorite tv show!"
"Not fair you took mine! Wildboyz."
"Baby, Viva la Bam." I stuck my tongue out at him and laughed. He smiled.
"Do you play an instrument?"
"Yes, bass. Do you play one?"
"Yep, I play guitar, like my dad. He taught me actually. Do you have a boyfriend?"
"N..WHA!?" I said stopping. I felt myself blush yet again, (he had an unatural talent for making me do that!) and looked at him. "Why do you want to know?" I asked, hands on hips. He looked unconfortable and I noticed his cheeks had a slightly pink tinge.
"Just a question. I guess..maybe not the best one, huh? Sorry curiousity got the better of me." We started walking again both of us not looking at each other. I don't know what he had been looking at but I was staring at his hand.
It was swinging limply at his side, begging for me to take it and lace my fingers through his. Whether it was impulse or not, I'm not sure, but my hand reached slowly out to his and hooked around it. His hand was warm and I felt a shiver run up his arm as I touched his hand. He stopped looking at me, eyes widening a little. Turning my body towards him, I looked into his face. His entire body was outlined in a glow, like some god, from the sun shining behind him. I smiled at him. "The answer is maybe."
"How can you 'maybe' have a boyfriend?" he asked taking my other hand in his. I just kept smiled and leaned towards him, his face disappearing for a moment in a glare of sunlight and then I kissed him, lightly and long, it felt like it lasted forever.
"Maybe I do. But that depends on you. Now doesn't it?"
I threw the wash clothe away angrily and hit the play button on my stereo. I replayed the morning I had just had in my head while listening to the guys I had just met. I felt something digging into my hip and pulled out the slip of paper that Billie Joe had written their number on. Gazing at it, I dimly thought about Joey and how I'd probably never see him again anyway. I fell asleep at 2 o'clock and slept the entire night through, still holding on to the paper.
** THE NEXT DAY
The door bell rang at two, startling me from sleep and causing me to fall out of bed in a tangle of navy bed-sheets. I dislodged myself quickly and ran to get the door before my father woke up and got mad. I felt my jaw drop and my eyes widen as I opened the door to Joey standing on my porch.
"Hey!" I said, suddenly very self-conscious of my bed-head. "Oh...uh come on in. But please be quiet my dad's sleeping." I said stepping aside and raking my hands through my hair when he turned his back to me.
"How are you?" He asked and then he got a good look at my face. His amazing green eyes widened and I tried to cover my own puffy black and blue eye.
"Tori." He said quietly, grabbing my hand away.
"Are you alright?" I nodded and smiled.
I heard dad moving around upstairs and snapped back to reality.
"Listen, I need you to wait outside for like, three minutes. If my dad finds you here! I don't wanna think about it! I'll be down as soon as I get dressed." I finished pushing him gently towards the door.
"That's fine." He said and I closed the door quietly after him. I damn near sprinted, quietly though, back up the stairs and into my room. Throwing on a clean pair of blue jeans and a nightmare before christmas tee. I did a quick make-up check and threw on some more eyeliner. I finished by brushing my hair, throwing on my chucks and grabbing the ten dollars that I took yesterday.
I crept down the hall past my dad's room and locked the door behind me. My eyes were met by bright sunlight. I shielded them and met Joey at the end of my driveway. We started walking with no destination in particular. "So what are you doing around here?" I asked curiously, fiddling with the hem of my shirt.
"Duh, I came to see you!" He said nudging me and I felt myself blush. "I figured maybe you'd like to get breakfast with me and we could talk. We really never got a chance to do that yesterday."
"True, but where are we going to go to grab a bite to eat?" I asked thinking uncertainly of the town I lived in. Surely he wouldn't find anything quality here!
"Denny's sounds pretty decent to me." I looked at him.
"You eat at Denny's?" I asked, surprised. He smiled coyly
"Come on! I can't live on lobster and caviar alone!" He joked. I laughed nerviously and blushed again.
"Yeah. Um Denny's...that's just around the next block." We walked in silence for a few moments. He cleared his throat and turned to me.
"How's your eye?" he asked. I felt my hand unconsciously trail to my face. Thinking of my dad made me furious.
"It's fine." I said a little harshly. He turned quickly away and I saw his face flush pink. I softened my tone a bit. "Thank you for asking. So, your dad is Billie Joe Armstrong; front man of the legendary Green Day. What's it like?" I asked, steering the conversation away from the subject of my abuse. He sighed deeply and scratched his head.
"Not all it's cracked up to be. Sure it's nice having the money, having everyone know you for your dad and his band. But I'd like someone, just once, to know me for me, not the band. Girls take advantage of it and so do guys and it's like every time we're out in public, tons of fans are hanging on us. There's absolutely no privacy cos of the media, you know. But there's never a dull moment, not with Tre anyways." He said laughing lightly. I looked at him, not even beginning to comprehend what he must go through. "I.." He stopped. "It's just hard. My dad's rarely around because of his latest album and that leaves me to watch over Jakey and help mom out around the house. Pile schoolwork and every day life onto that! It's hard. It's exhausting."
I let him think for a while and kept my mouth shut, thinking about how beautiful his eyes were.
*AT DENNY'S*
"Ha HA! Get out! Seriously?"
"Bambi IS a good movie." I argued. I scooped some whipped cream off of my cappuccino and licked it off of the spoon.
"Fair enough." he said, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye. "Favorite ice cream?" He asked. We had been seated in ten minutes and, after the waitress brought our drinks, started a game of 20 questions to pass time. He swiped his finger through my whipped cream and stuck it in his mouth.
"HEY, that was mine!" he smiled coyly at me. "mint chocolate chip."
"Rocky Road. That whipped cream is good!" he said reaching for it again. I pulled it away, swiped my finger through it and plopped it on the tip of his nose in one fluid movement. I laughed as he wiped it away with a mock scandalized look on his face. "How dare you!" he said and started laughing. I giggled and our laughter combined beautifully, although quite a few older couples were staring at us.
"Ok, ok um..favorite color?" I asked after I stopped laughing.
"Green, like my eyes."
"Navy, like my eyes." I repeated like he did. His eyes locked on mine.
"I've never seen dark blue eyes on anyone!" he said as if just realizing it. "They're unique. They're beautiful. You're beautiful." My cheeks flushed crimson and I felt like I was about to melt right into the seat. I was spared a response as the waitress came with our food.
I pushed my scrambled eggs around with my fork as I thought of another question to ask him as he poured syrup over his pancakes. I gawked as he continued pouring syrup over his sausage, bacon and..eww..eggs. As if he felt me staring, he looked up and blushed.
"I like syrup." He mumbled, shoving pancakes into his mouth.
"I couldn't tell!" I said sarcastically. He laughed and we were quiet for a couple of minutes. When I was done I pushed my plate away and sat back, waiting for him to finish. He did so and pushed his plate back with a grimace.
"I am so fucking stuffed!" he said thickly.
"Im stuffed just from watching! No wonder kids in Africa are going hungry Joey!" I teased. "Ready to go?" He nodded and we both got up, tossing a few bucks down on the table as tip. When we got to the register, I pulled out my ten only to have it taken away and shoved down the front of my shirt.
"I'm paying." Joey said stubbornly and I reached down my shirt to recover the bill. I opened my mouth to argue and he clamped one of his hands over it. He said thanks to the clerk and practically ushered me once again into the overly bright afternoon sun.
"I could've paid! I'm not poor you know!" I said in mock anger.
"I know," he said cheerily. "but breakfast was my idea and I didn't want you to pay." I smiled to myself as we began walking again. He shoved his hands in his pockets. "So you don't go to school?"
"How'd you know that?" I asked.
"I never see you in the hall, and I doubt I would miss someone as pretty as you." he said. I blushed again and searched his face to see if he was joking. I blushed even harder when I saw he wasn't. "Wanna chill at my place? Or are you afraid my dad might interrogate you some more about your home life?" he asked, a slight air of hope in his voice.
"That'd be great!" I said enthusiastically. He hooked his arm through mine and veered left to cross the street. I laughed as an angry mother honked the horn at us. I laughed when Joey flipped her the bird and even harder when she flipped him off back. Safely on the other side of the road, our game of 20 questions picked up again.
"Favorite candy bar?" He asked, his arm still linked in mine.
"Reese's, you?"
"M&M's, favorite tv show?"
"Hey it was my turn!" I said whinily. he laughed.
"Sorry you're right, go."
"Favorite tv show!"
"Not fair you took mine! Wildboyz."
"Baby, Viva la Bam." I stuck my tongue out at him and laughed. He smiled.
"Do you play an instrument?"
"Yes, bass. Do you play one?"
"Yep, I play guitar, like my dad. He taught me actually. Do you have a boyfriend?"
"N..WHA!?" I said stopping. I felt myself blush yet again, (he had an unatural talent for making me do that!) and looked at him. "Why do you want to know?" I asked, hands on hips. He looked unconfortable and I noticed his cheeks had a slightly pink tinge.
"Just a question. I guess..maybe not the best one, huh? Sorry curiousity got the better of me." We started walking again both of us not looking at each other. I don't know what he had been looking at but I was staring at his hand.
It was swinging limply at his side, begging for me to take it and lace my fingers through his. Whether it was impulse or not, I'm not sure, but my hand reached slowly out to his and hooked around it. His hand was warm and I felt a shiver run up his arm as I touched his hand. He stopped looking at me, eyes widening a little. Turning my body towards him, I looked into his face. His entire body was outlined in a glow, like some god, from the sun shining behind him. I smiled at him. "The answer is maybe."
"How can you 'maybe' have a boyfriend?" he asked taking my other hand in his. I just kept smiled and leaned towards him, his face disappearing for a moment in a glare of sunlight and then I kissed him, lightly and long, it felt like it lasted forever.
"Maybe I do. But that depends on you. Now doesn't it?"
