Life Changes, chapter 7

We pulled into the parking lot. I was on the verge of tears as Mike put his arm around me and I hugged him. I cried into his shoulder.

I hated Stan right now. Acctually, I've always hated him. He always beats me and curses at me. Did I mention that he rapes me? Well, he does. He's been doing this ever since my mom met him. Before they even started dating.

Before they started getting serious, Stan "babysat" me. He was one of my mom's co-workers. He charmed her.

He never called me by my real name. He always called me "girl" or "whore" or even "slut." With my mom, it was always the same shit. They poked at me together. I said that he was nice around mom because, well, I wasn't ready to let it out just yet.

Mom. She never liked me. Well, maybe that isn't true, but, ever since her and dad split up, it's been non-stop torment.

I never see my real dad much. I talk to him on the phone sometimes, but, not face-to-face. I love him so much. He's not like mom or Stan. He's seeing people. He's not serious about any of them though. He's a swinger I guess you could say. I'm fine with it. As long as he doesn't get married again.

By now I bet you're wondering, How the fuck did your mom and Stan get custody of you? It's complicated. They basically bribed the judge for me and my brother.

I love my brother. Isador. But, everyone calls him Izzy. Isadore just doesn't fit his personality. He hangs out with me, Billie, and Mike alot. Well, not since John started. He didn't like John, either. They had a huge fight. A fist fight. Over me.

You see, John and I had just come home from a date and I was pissed. I'm not really sure why at the moment. Fuzzy memory. Anyway, all I can remember is John pushing me off the stoop of my house and me falling hard in the ground. Izzy ran out and punched John in the face. John sprang up and ran for the car, got in, and pulled away. That was the last I had seen of John. Well, until he joined the band.

Back to the story.

Mike let go of me and we got out of the car. We walked in. Tears were still streaming down my face. People were staring at me as we walked to the front desk.

"Can I help you?" the lady behind the counter asked. "Yes," Mike said, speaking up for me,"We need to see a patient. I'm not sure if he's made it in yet, though." "Name?" she asked. "Billie Joe Armstrong," I answered, as Mike's mouth was beginning to open. "Hang on, let me check," she said. She typed on the computer sitting in front of her. "Yes," she finally spoke up,"He's just made it in. But, you can only visit him for a while. He's going to need surgery on his leg it seems." "Alright," Mike said, grabbing my hand. She directed us to where Billie's room was. "Here it is," she said,"And son," she grabbed Mike's arm,"You have beautiful eyes." "Whatever," Mike said as he pulled away. His eyes were red. I guess he was crying as we were driving here. Why hadn't I heard him?

We walked through the door into the cold, well-lighted room. There lay Billie on the bed. There was a tube in his arm. I put my hand over my mouth as I rushed to him. I kneeled down as tears flowed down my cheeks. He was asleep. Or unconcious. It's a little hard to tell when you're in a hospital.

"Chassy," Mike put his hand on my shoulder,"I sound like a five-year-old, but, I need a hug." I smirked as I stood up. I wrapped my arms around him tight. He did the same. We stood there for a while. He's way taller than me so my head was basically on top of his heart. I stood there, listening to it beat. It was calm. I smiled as I remembered the rythm of Billie's step when he was pacing the garage. The way he began singing. The way he laughed as he wrote down the lyrics. The way he looked as he layed in that puddle of blood on the floor. The way he looked now, helpless in a hospital bed. I felt tears coming on again as Mike tightened his grip.

"Okay, lovebirds," I heard from behind me,"Break it up." Billie was awake. "Billie!" I yelled as I opened my eyes to see him laying back in bed with a devilish smirk on his face. "What the hell are you smiling about?" Mike said as he let go of me. "Just getting sweet, sweet revenge," he said, still smiling. "For what?" Mike blurted back. "You thought that I had forgotten that whole 'me and Chassy going out together' thing, didn't you," he said. Mike smirked as he walked over to the bed with his hands in his pockets. I unzipped my Ramones hoodie and took it off, revealing my darkgreen shirt under it.

I walked over to Billie's side. He looked up at me. I'd never noticed it before, but, his eyes were beautiful. Deep. Better than Mike. I guess I was staring a little too long. "CHASSY!" Billie bellowed. I woke up. "Huh? What?" I said. "You keep doing that to us," Mike said, looking at me.
"Doing what?"
"That."
"What's that?"
"That staring thing you do."
"Oh, right. Sorry."

There was a knock on the door. We all turned our attention to it to see a docter and some murses (No, I don't mean "nurses". I mean "male nurse.") come in with a rolling bed. "Sorry to break this up," the doctor said,"But, it's time for surgery." "Shit," I heard Billie say under his breath. The picked him up (he was wincing terribly in pain) and put him on the platform. They rolled him away and shut the door, leaving me, Mike, and the doctor alone in the room.

"We've notified his parents," he said, flipping through papers on a clipboard,"They're on their way." "Great," I said, forcing a smile. "May I aske you," he said, sitting in a chair,"What exactly happened?" I didn't want to say. I didn't want to spill my guts out to a total stranger. Well, I guess I already have, anyway. Here it goes...

He sat back, speechelss. "Your... stepfather shot him?" he asked. "Mhmm," I said, fighting back the tears,"Billie was... trying to... protect me."
"He's your boyfriend?"
"Hell no! Sorry."
"It's alright. Then, why was he protecting you?"

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out. Why was he trying to protect me? Could it be that- no. It couldn't be.

Could it?