State of Mind, chapter 5
I finished off my toast and cleaned up the dishes. I thought I should, well Ollie is letting me live in their house with their family. I wiped the plates and cutlery dry and put them away where they belong. That took me a while, as I had no clue where anything went. I went over to my jar of Vegemite and put it in the fridge.
I went back to my room and sorted out my belongings and put them into random draws. I went back to the kitchen and found Ollie.
"Hey Ollie, good morning" I said
"Well good morning, ready to go to work?" she asked.
"Ohh yes, just let me grab my things," I said as I went back to my room and zipped up my guitar and slid it under my bed. I grabbed my wallet and left the room. I walked back into the Kitchen where I saw Ollie with a set of house keys. She waved her arms to follow her outside the house. She locked the door and we left.
We walked across a few streets and made it into the Café. I grabbed an apron as she suggested and started cleaning the walls and windows. I kept myself occupied and busy. I think I had done a great job. I did my best. I didn't want to be slacking off; we had a good deal going on. I stay at Ollie's house in return for working at her shop. It seemed that I was ripping her off. I didn't like intruding in other people houses.
Finally it was lunch break. I made myself a sandwich and sat myself down next to Ollie. I opened my mouth and took a bite out of the bread.
"So you seem to have a lot it common with Billie?" Ollie asked
"Ohh yeah, he's a really nice guy. But there's only one thing that we don't have in common. He doesn't like Vegemite" I stated laughing a bit.
"Really, did he try some?" Ollie asked confused.
"Ohh I brought some over from Australia and he wanted to know what it tasted like, so I gave him some on toast and he spat it out. He obviously didn't like it." I sat explaining the story. All Ollie could do was laugh.
"Well it's nice to know that you have made a friend," she said.
"Yeah. I can tell were gonna be mates" I said happily.
After lunch was over I finished washing dishes and sweeping the floor. I found other tasks that I needed to do.
Once the day was over we packed up the store and walked back to Ollie's house. I walked up the front steps and into the house. I walked in; I felt like I needed a shower, I was hot and bothered.
"Ollie, would it be ok if I had a shower" I asked Ollie.
"No of course not!" she replied sarcastically. I just laughed and went to my room and grabbed a change of clothes.
I hopped in the shower and ran the water down my body. I washed my hair and then rinsed it. I got out of the shower and dried myself. I put on some clothes and wrapped a towel around my hair. I say that I was in there for about 5 minutes. I came out and walked over to my room.
"Geez you had a quick shower" came a voice down the corridor. It was Billie; he had come back from school.
"Ohh yeah, well how long did you expect me to take?" I said sarcastically.
"Maybe at least 20 minutes" he said.
"Are you serious?" I said.
"Well, yeah" he said curiously.
"Ok then, don't you guys have water restrictions over here or something?" I asked as I tried to dry my hair with a towel.
"Nope" was all Billie could say.
"You guys are lucky; in Australia we couldn't have a shower longer than 4 minutes, friggin' water restrictions. I guess that's just how it worked and that's how they tried to save water," I said
"Haha, well now you can do things differently" Billie said enthusiastically.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I will be in here for 20 minutes, what the hell do you do in a shower for 20 minutes?" I asked.
"Ooh, I can name a few things" Billie said
"Dude you so wrong" I said as I burst into a fit of laughter
"Don't worry I know, wait until you meet my friends, then see who's wrong" Billie explained.
"Ohh yeah are you still having band practice this arvo?" I asked.
"Ha, 'arvo'" Billie imitated.
"Shut up" I said as I slapped him on the arm.
"Ok, um yeah we are. Do you think you can be ready in about half an hour or so?" he asked curiously.
"Umm yeah, unless I cant get my bloody hair to dry." I said angrily shaking my hair in all directions.
"Ohh, it can't be too hard, can it?" he asked looking over at my now long tangled wet hair.
"Trust me, its going to take a cyclone to dry this head of hair" I said still shaking my hair.
"You know what'll work?" He said.
"What?" I asked
"A windmill" he said sarcastically.
"Ohh and where am I gonna find one of those?" I asked hoping for an answer.
"I have no clue," he said in a fit of laughter.
A few minutes later I was still shaking my head furiously, trying to dry my hair. It wasn't drying. Stupid hair I said to myself.
"Look if it makes it any easier ill help" Billie said as he watched helplessly. He grabbed another towel and rubbed it all over my head. In another 5 minutes we were finally done, my hair was dry and I had brushed it and put it up in a ponytail.
"Are you ready yet, we going to be late" Billie said as he walked up and down the corridor.
"Sorry man, I'm ready now," I said as he grabbed my arm and he raced for the door and yelled,
"Hey mom, I'm going to Mike's" but before Ollie could answer, we had gone. We walked for about fifteen minutes and we finally came into a smaller street.
"Hey Billie are we there yet?" I asked as I was getting tired.
"Almost, we are only a few houses away actually. Sorry we couldn't get here any faster, I usually ride my bike and I only have one bike and I thought it wouldn't be fair if I rode my bike here and you walked" he said walking a bit faster.
"Ohh, ok I see," I said as we came across a small house. Instead of walking over to the front door we walked up to the garage door and knocked on it. At first we heard nothing, but then we heard some footsteps and then some laughing and weird noises.
"Hey Mike it's me, open up" Billie yelled furiously.
"Ok, give me a sec" he said
"What the hell are you doing in there?" Billie asked curiously.
"Ohh, never mind" mike said in a worried voice.
"Ok, but if you don't hurry up I'm gonna open this door" Billie yelled
"Ok, ok I'm coming" Mike said. I had a blank expression on my face. 'What the hell are they doing back there, actually on second thoughts I don't want to know'.
The garage door opened.
"What the hell was that all about?" asked Ollie
"Never mind" A blonde headed boy said to Billie.
He shook my hand,
"So you must be Isabel? Billie has told me heaps about you. Well hi, I'm Mike" He patted me on the shoulder and went into the other room. I suddenly heard another voice. What the hell were they up to, maybe I was just paranoid. All of a sudden another guy came into the garage and waves at Billie.
"So Billie is this the Isabel girl from Australia that you were talking about?" he asked
"Ohh yes, how could I forget, Isabel this is Trè. Trè this is Isabel" Billie introduced us as I shook Très hand.
"Geez Mike, your right, she is hot" Trè butted in, embarrassing Mike in the process. Mike ran at Trè and then tackled him to the ground. I just burst into a fit of laughter.
"Ohh, you should be careful of Trè, he's not your average teen. He's a bit disturbed" Billie said sarcastically.
"C'mon, I'm not that bad." Trè said raising his eyebrow at me. I laughed even harder.
"Yeah, you're only a little bit horny, you give people the wrong first impressions" Mile said looking over at Trè.
"Ohh well I can't help it, I do have the sexiest body in the whole of Berkley" Trè said while puffing up his hair and rubbing his chest. By this time I could be seen rolling on the floor laughing. I could tell Mike, Billie and Trè thought there was something wrong with me.
"What's wrong Isabel?" Tre said as he came over to me.
"Your right Billie, some of your friends are wrong!" I said gaining my balance. He was coming closer and closer to me. He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into him.
"C'mon Isabel, you know you want me" Trè said rubbing his chest even harder. By this time I managed to wriggle out of his grasp and lie on the couch. Everyone was in fits of laughter.
"Ok Trè, leave Isabel alone before you scare her away and make her go back to Australia" Billie said.
"Ok, I will. But if she comes onto me, that's her own problem, I can't help being too damn sexy!" Trè stated
"Since when did I say I thought you were sexy?" I said still laughing.
"C'mon, you're telling me that you don't find me sexy?" Trè asked raising an eyebrow.
"Dude I like your t-shirt" I said.
"Ooh, your changing the subject" Trè said.
"OK then, your pretty sexy" I answered. Everyone burst into fits of laughter, then we all cooled down and got to business.
* Isabel's P.O.V. *
I guess this guy was ok. And he had those eyes that could melt you inside, crystal blue. I got lost in them. 'Shit Isabel, calm down. This guy is only mucking around. He doesn't like you like that'.
All the boys got into their positions and started playing a song.
"Ok this one is called Knowledge, it's an Operation Ivy cover" Billie said into the microphone. After they finished the song, I was gob smacked. Not only could Billie play guitar but he could also sing. That was pretty cool.
"Hey Billie, you never told me that you could sing?" I said curiously.
"Ohh. It's nothing really," he said trying not to flatter himself.
"No, you were great" I said complimenting him.
"Ohh thanks" Billie said.
"So tell me again, how long have you been playing guitar for?" he asked.
"Since I was 6, so that's 7 years" I said proudly.
"Well come over here, and try this one" Billie said.
"Ohh no I cant" I said
"Ohh don't be silly, of course you can" he took my arm and led me over to his guitar.
"No I'm serious, I cant," I said, making them look at me confusingly.
"Why not?" Billie asked thinking there was something wrong.
"Well I'm left-handed, those guitars are back to front," I said
"Well now that makes sense," Billie said laughing a bit.
"So are you gonna be the next Hendrix?" Mike said
"If I'm the next Hendrix, then your Elvis," I said sarcastically.
"Why thank-you very much" Trè said impersonating the old man. Now everyone was just cracking themselves all over the floor.
"Ok this next song is called 1000 hours" Billie said in the microphone. They ripped into another song and stuffed up along the way, but they found themselves and continued again.
"That was great," I said while clapping my hands
"Why thank-you very much" Trè reminded us again. We were set off again.
We calmed down and got some drinks.
After they had finished band practice they went outside to get some fresh air. We walked down to the mall and walked around for a bit. Billie, Mike and Trè showed me some cool places that I had never seen before. They took me into this one shop, they had heaps of band t-shirts and CD's. I had definitely made a mental note of coming back again. It was getting late so we decided to go home. We walked back to Mike's house and dropped him off with Trè. As they walked in Trè blew us a good night kiss.
"Good night Mike and Trè" I said while laughing.
"Good night" they both replied.
"They are weird friends," I said to Billie sarcastically.
"Especially Trè. I seriously don't know what happened to him" Billie replied laughing.
I went back to my room and sorted out my belongings and put them into random draws. I went back to the kitchen and found Ollie.
"Hey Ollie, good morning" I said
"Well good morning, ready to go to work?" she asked.
"Ohh yes, just let me grab my things," I said as I went back to my room and zipped up my guitar and slid it under my bed. I grabbed my wallet and left the room. I walked back into the Kitchen where I saw Ollie with a set of house keys. She waved her arms to follow her outside the house. She locked the door and we left.
We walked across a few streets and made it into the Café. I grabbed an apron as she suggested and started cleaning the walls and windows. I kept myself occupied and busy. I think I had done a great job. I did my best. I didn't want to be slacking off; we had a good deal going on. I stay at Ollie's house in return for working at her shop. It seemed that I was ripping her off. I didn't like intruding in other people houses.
Finally it was lunch break. I made myself a sandwich and sat myself down next to Ollie. I opened my mouth and took a bite out of the bread.
"So you seem to have a lot it common with Billie?" Ollie asked
"Ohh yeah, he's a really nice guy. But there's only one thing that we don't have in common. He doesn't like Vegemite" I stated laughing a bit.
"Really, did he try some?" Ollie asked confused.
"Ohh I brought some over from Australia and he wanted to know what it tasted like, so I gave him some on toast and he spat it out. He obviously didn't like it." I sat explaining the story. All Ollie could do was laugh.
"Well it's nice to know that you have made a friend," she said.
"Yeah. I can tell were gonna be mates" I said happily.
After lunch was over I finished washing dishes and sweeping the floor. I found other tasks that I needed to do.
Once the day was over we packed up the store and walked back to Ollie's house. I walked up the front steps and into the house. I walked in; I felt like I needed a shower, I was hot and bothered.
"Ollie, would it be ok if I had a shower" I asked Ollie.
"No of course not!" she replied sarcastically. I just laughed and went to my room and grabbed a change of clothes.
I hopped in the shower and ran the water down my body. I washed my hair and then rinsed it. I got out of the shower and dried myself. I put on some clothes and wrapped a towel around my hair. I say that I was in there for about 5 minutes. I came out and walked over to my room.
"Geez you had a quick shower" came a voice down the corridor. It was Billie; he had come back from school.
"Ohh yeah, well how long did you expect me to take?" I said sarcastically.
"Maybe at least 20 minutes" he said.
"Are you serious?" I said.
"Well, yeah" he said curiously.
"Ok then, don't you guys have water restrictions over here or something?" I asked as I tried to dry my hair with a towel.
"Nope" was all Billie could say.
"You guys are lucky; in Australia we couldn't have a shower longer than 4 minutes, friggin' water restrictions. I guess that's just how it worked and that's how they tried to save water," I said
"Haha, well now you can do things differently" Billie said enthusiastically.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I will be in here for 20 minutes, what the hell do you do in a shower for 20 minutes?" I asked.
"Ooh, I can name a few things" Billie said
"Dude you so wrong" I said as I burst into a fit of laughter
"Don't worry I know, wait until you meet my friends, then see who's wrong" Billie explained.
"Ohh yeah are you still having band practice this arvo?" I asked.
"Ha, 'arvo'" Billie imitated.
"Shut up" I said as I slapped him on the arm.
"Ok, um yeah we are. Do you think you can be ready in about half an hour or so?" he asked curiously.
"Umm yeah, unless I cant get my bloody hair to dry." I said angrily shaking my hair in all directions.
"Ohh, it can't be too hard, can it?" he asked looking over at my now long tangled wet hair.
"Trust me, its going to take a cyclone to dry this head of hair" I said still shaking my hair.
"You know what'll work?" He said.
"What?" I asked
"A windmill" he said sarcastically.
"Ohh and where am I gonna find one of those?" I asked hoping for an answer.
"I have no clue," he said in a fit of laughter.
A few minutes later I was still shaking my head furiously, trying to dry my hair. It wasn't drying. Stupid hair I said to myself.
"Look if it makes it any easier ill help" Billie said as he watched helplessly. He grabbed another towel and rubbed it all over my head. In another 5 minutes we were finally done, my hair was dry and I had brushed it and put it up in a ponytail.
"Are you ready yet, we going to be late" Billie said as he walked up and down the corridor.
"Sorry man, I'm ready now," I said as he grabbed my arm and he raced for the door and yelled,
"Hey mom, I'm going to Mike's" but before Ollie could answer, we had gone. We walked for about fifteen minutes and we finally came into a smaller street.
"Hey Billie are we there yet?" I asked as I was getting tired.
"Almost, we are only a few houses away actually. Sorry we couldn't get here any faster, I usually ride my bike and I only have one bike and I thought it wouldn't be fair if I rode my bike here and you walked" he said walking a bit faster.
"Ohh, ok I see," I said as we came across a small house. Instead of walking over to the front door we walked up to the garage door and knocked on it. At first we heard nothing, but then we heard some footsteps and then some laughing and weird noises.
"Hey Mike it's me, open up" Billie yelled furiously.
"Ok, give me a sec" he said
"What the hell are you doing in there?" Billie asked curiously.
"Ohh, never mind" mike said in a worried voice.
"Ok, but if you don't hurry up I'm gonna open this door" Billie yelled
"Ok, ok I'm coming" Mike said. I had a blank expression on my face. 'What the hell are they doing back there, actually on second thoughts I don't want to know'.
The garage door opened.
"What the hell was that all about?" asked Ollie
"Never mind" A blonde headed boy said to Billie.
He shook my hand,
"So you must be Isabel? Billie has told me heaps about you. Well hi, I'm Mike" He patted me on the shoulder and went into the other room. I suddenly heard another voice. What the hell were they up to, maybe I was just paranoid. All of a sudden another guy came into the garage and waves at Billie.
"So Billie is this the Isabel girl from Australia that you were talking about?" he asked
"Ohh yes, how could I forget, Isabel this is Trè. Trè this is Isabel" Billie introduced us as I shook Très hand.
"Geez Mike, your right, she is hot" Trè butted in, embarrassing Mike in the process. Mike ran at Trè and then tackled him to the ground. I just burst into a fit of laughter.
"Ohh, you should be careful of Trè, he's not your average teen. He's a bit disturbed" Billie said sarcastically.
"C'mon, I'm not that bad." Trè said raising his eyebrow at me. I laughed even harder.
"Yeah, you're only a little bit horny, you give people the wrong first impressions" Mile said looking over at Trè.
"Ohh well I can't help it, I do have the sexiest body in the whole of Berkley" Trè said while puffing up his hair and rubbing his chest. By this time I could be seen rolling on the floor laughing. I could tell Mike, Billie and Trè thought there was something wrong with me.
"What's wrong Isabel?" Tre said as he came over to me.
"Your right Billie, some of your friends are wrong!" I said gaining my balance. He was coming closer and closer to me. He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into him.
"C'mon Isabel, you know you want me" Trè said rubbing his chest even harder. By this time I managed to wriggle out of his grasp and lie on the couch. Everyone was in fits of laughter.
"Ok Trè, leave Isabel alone before you scare her away and make her go back to Australia" Billie said.
"Ok, I will. But if she comes onto me, that's her own problem, I can't help being too damn sexy!" Trè stated
"Since when did I say I thought you were sexy?" I said still laughing.
"C'mon, you're telling me that you don't find me sexy?" Trè asked raising an eyebrow.
"Dude I like your t-shirt" I said.
"Ooh, your changing the subject" Trè said.
"OK then, your pretty sexy" I answered. Everyone burst into fits of laughter, then we all cooled down and got to business.
* Isabel's P.O.V. *
I guess this guy was ok. And he had those eyes that could melt you inside, crystal blue. I got lost in them. 'Shit Isabel, calm down. This guy is only mucking around. He doesn't like you like that'.
All the boys got into their positions and started playing a song.
"Ok this one is called Knowledge, it's an Operation Ivy cover" Billie said into the microphone. After they finished the song, I was gob smacked. Not only could Billie play guitar but he could also sing. That was pretty cool.
"Hey Billie, you never told me that you could sing?" I said curiously.
"Ohh. It's nothing really," he said trying not to flatter himself.
"No, you were great" I said complimenting him.
"Ohh thanks" Billie said.
"So tell me again, how long have you been playing guitar for?" he asked.
"Since I was 6, so that's 7 years" I said proudly.
"Well come over here, and try this one" Billie said.
"Ohh no I cant" I said
"Ohh don't be silly, of course you can" he took my arm and led me over to his guitar.
"No I'm serious, I cant," I said, making them look at me confusingly.
"Why not?" Billie asked thinking there was something wrong.
"Well I'm left-handed, those guitars are back to front," I said
"Well now that makes sense," Billie said laughing a bit.
"So are you gonna be the next Hendrix?" Mike said
"If I'm the next Hendrix, then your Elvis," I said sarcastically.
"Why thank-you very much" Trè said impersonating the old man. Now everyone was just cracking themselves all over the floor.
"Ok this next song is called 1000 hours" Billie said in the microphone. They ripped into another song and stuffed up along the way, but they found themselves and continued again.
"That was great," I said while clapping my hands
"Why thank-you very much" Trè reminded us again. We were set off again.
We calmed down and got some drinks.
After they had finished band practice they went outside to get some fresh air. We walked down to the mall and walked around for a bit. Billie, Mike and Trè showed me some cool places that I had never seen before. They took me into this one shop, they had heaps of band t-shirts and CD's. I had definitely made a mental note of coming back again. It was getting late so we decided to go home. We walked back to Mike's house and dropped him off with Trè. As they walked in Trè blew us a good night kiss.
"Good night Mike and Trè" I said while laughing.
"Good night" they both replied.
"They are weird friends," I said to Billie sarcastically.
"Especially Trè. I seriously don't know what happened to him" Billie replied laughing.
