Fight for your Right, chapter 6
The next day I went to school, a little happier then the day before. I walked up to my locker and undid the lock and Tiff ran up beside me.
"Ok Melissa, I understand that you dont like him, but why would you do that?" she said shutting my locker right after I opened it.
"What do you mean?"
"Why would you shoot him? I mean, you could always just TP his house or something, I mean god!" she whispered, holding her hand on my locker so I couldn't open it.
"What?! I didn't shoot him!!"
"Great, because that's the rumor."
***
"How would I even get a gun?!! I mean come on!! And me? Shoot somebody? Oh my god!!!" I said in shock as I ate with my aunt again. Tiffany had to finish something in Art, and Mrs. Meyer would let us eat in there.
"I can't believe that May. I know you didn't shoot him. I'm sure Ollie knows you didn't shoot him. For Christ's sake, you saved him!!! Who do they think called the ambulance?!" she said as amazed as I was.
"Yeah, and if I shot him, I sure wouldn't be here!! I'd be in some detention center!"
She just leaned back in her chair, "Yeah, maybe people will get that through their heads and decided that it wasn't you."
"No, our schools too stupid to figure that out," I said messing with my bag of chips I had grabbed for lunch.
We sat there for a minute, trying to figure out how things could get any worse. "Well, you should probably eat. You've got ten minutes left maybe," she replied quietly.
"It's alright, I'm not hungry," I muttered getting up.
"No, you sit down and eat. You didn't eat lunch last time. Sit, now!" she practically yelled. She was so much like a mom to me. Somedays I thought she was, I saw her more then I ever saw my mom. And she cared about me more it seemed.
I just stared at her for a moment, then sat back down, "Fine."
I ate my chips, brownie, and Hawaiian Punch in silence. Neither of us spoke the last ten minutes. The bell rang and I got up, and started to walk out the door.
"Good luck Melissa. I'm not sure what else to say. But I hope everything turns out for the best. I'll call you tonight," she said walking with me down the hallway.
"Alright, thanks," I replied throwing my stuff away and heading towards my locker. Everyone kept throwing me mean looks. I just threw them back.
I sat through four more classes, being pissed and sad at the same time. I grabbed my bag and started walking home. Then someone stopped me, and spun me around against the wall of a store.
It was one of Billie's friends. "Heard you shot Billie."
"You heard wrong."
"Oh yeah? Then who was it?" he said standing right in front of me so I couldnt go anywhere. I looked over his shoulder and saw a few more of Billies friends including Mike.
"I don't know, I dont really get to chatty with killers and drug dealers. Not one of my everyday tasks, which I'm assuming is why I dont talk to you much...."
"Well, apparently if you think that, you might not want to get to mouthy now would ya," he said with an evil grin across his face.
"Actually, right now life's pretty shitty and I wouldn't mind you killing me right now," I said tilting my head a little bit.
He frowned, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife and held it to my throat. "So I could kill you right now and you wouldn't care."
"Well, first, thats a stupid question, because if I'm dead, I dont think I would be alive to care even if I did. And secondly, to answer your question: take your best shot." I looked up to give him a nice clean shot for my throat, just to prove I didnt care.
He just stared at me for a minute. Then folded it up and put it back in his pocket. "What do you know about the accident then."
"You just threatened to kill me, now you want me to do you a favor?" I asked in disbelief, just to irritate him.
"Just talk lady."
"Oooo, now who's the mouthy one."
"Shut up the both of you!!" Mike yelled shoving his annoying friend aside. "You know Billie's a good friend of ours, especially mine. We just want to know what happened."
"Well, just to be difficult, I don't feel like being questioned. So I'll tell you, then you can go tell you're friends." He looked at me with the straightest face. I could tell he was irritated.
"Fine. Go home guys, I'll tell you tomorrow," Mike said waving his friends aside.
"No, she can stand there and tell us, just as much as she can tell you," a short, black haired kid said.
"Or, I can walk home, and completely shun you, and think about what I'm gonna eat for dinner. Lifes full of choices you see...."
"Kyle, shut up, and go home!" Mike yelled, yet again.
His Kyle friend just glared, "You tell us first thing in the morning," he practically hissed.
"Yes, dear," Mike sang while rolling his eyes. Then the group walked off in different directions.
After his friends walked away, he turned back towards me. He was about to say something, probably to the means of 'What happened?', but I got there first.
"Talking to me now, are we?"
"I figured it happened along time ago. I still won't talk to Tiffany, but you're not a stretch."
"Hmm, I guess you can look at it that way."
"Alright, so what happened?" he said pleading.
"I walked out of my house, and saw a group of high school lookin' people. They were gathered around telling him to pay up. Except they thought he was someone named Thomas. They were outside Josh Thomas's house. He was probably buying drugs from them again. But Billie told them that he wasn't Thomas, and that he didn't owe them anything."
"Right. Everyone knows Josh is a stoner," he said, hanging on to every word.
"Correct, anyways. He said that a few times, that he wasn't Thomas and he didn't have to pay. Until finally he tried to get them away. He started shoving them, and one pulled out a gun. They shot him, looked at his notebook, saw it wasn't Josh, and ran away."
Mike leaned up against the wall and slid down. I could tell he was frustrated. I sat down next to him.
"Ya know, he's gonna be okay. I mean, I know it hurt, but he didnt die or anything."
We both just sat there in silence. Until he got up. "Thanks for the information."
"Yeah, no problem. But tell your friends that I'm not answering any questions tomorrow. You know what I'm telling. I already got questioned by the cops.I'm done."
"Yeah.....yeah its fine, see you at school," he muttered walking away.
***
That night, when I got home. It was the same as usual. I got home, with no one in the house. Erin at grandma's, mom at work. It was around 4 when I arrived, and I grabbed a pen and paper, and a bottle of water.
I plopped down on the couch and grabbed Remo and turned on the tv. It was already on the news. "14 year old, Josh Thomas was shot and killed, early this morning at 2 am. Police are thinking it was possiblely linked to the Armstrong case. "
"Pshht, there goes Josh," I muttered changing channels. I knew it would happen someday, and I didn't like Josh. So it wasn't a big surprise, or loss.
F list was on, so I changed it to that, and grabbed the pen. 'Alright. Billie's in the hospital. Perfect moment to get the guitar. I'll have to think of neighbors, mom, and if anyone's in Billies house.' I thought, jotting down the list. My mom didn't stay up very late, but anything was possible. And our neighbor was an old lady, she went to bed between eight to eight thirty. Billie's neighbor was a college student. So I might have to be careful about that. So around midnight, I could get my guitarcase, take it over to Billies, crawl through his window, get his guitar, and come back.
*Midnight that night. Or the next morning if you wanna be technical*
I opened my door a crack. It was all dark in our house. Mom was in bed. I closed the door silently, and grabbed my guitarcase.
I pryed open the window, and sat the case on the ground. I jumped out, and looked at the windows across the street. They were all dark. Perfect. I ran across the street to the back of the house, where there were two windows. I knew that he was on the main floor, from when we were little. I peeked into one room, which was neat and tidy. The bed was made and there was a dresser with a few pictures. "Definetely, not Billie," I whispered walking to the next window. I looked in that one, and saw clothes thrown everywhere, and Blue sitting on a stand in the corner. "Thats more like it."
I pushed up on the window, which opened with ease. He never locked it. Ok, it wouldn't lock. I opened my guitar case and left it on the ground, jumped in, grabbed the guitar, and ran back out. It was so simple! Billie and his family were all at the hospital, and Billie would never guess that I came anywhere close to his stuff.
I put the guitar in my case, and ran back across the street.
"Ok Melissa, I understand that you dont like him, but why would you do that?" she said shutting my locker right after I opened it.
"What do you mean?"
"Why would you shoot him? I mean, you could always just TP his house or something, I mean god!" she whispered, holding her hand on my locker so I couldn't open it.
"What?! I didn't shoot him!!"
"Great, because that's the rumor."
***
"How would I even get a gun?!! I mean come on!! And me? Shoot somebody? Oh my god!!!" I said in shock as I ate with my aunt again. Tiffany had to finish something in Art, and Mrs. Meyer would let us eat in there.
"I can't believe that May. I know you didn't shoot him. I'm sure Ollie knows you didn't shoot him. For Christ's sake, you saved him!!! Who do they think called the ambulance?!" she said as amazed as I was.
"Yeah, and if I shot him, I sure wouldn't be here!! I'd be in some detention center!"
She just leaned back in her chair, "Yeah, maybe people will get that through their heads and decided that it wasn't you."
"No, our schools too stupid to figure that out," I said messing with my bag of chips I had grabbed for lunch.
We sat there for a minute, trying to figure out how things could get any worse. "Well, you should probably eat. You've got ten minutes left maybe," she replied quietly.
"It's alright, I'm not hungry," I muttered getting up.
"No, you sit down and eat. You didn't eat lunch last time. Sit, now!" she practically yelled. She was so much like a mom to me. Somedays I thought she was, I saw her more then I ever saw my mom. And she cared about me more it seemed.
I just stared at her for a moment, then sat back down, "Fine."
I ate my chips, brownie, and Hawaiian Punch in silence. Neither of us spoke the last ten minutes. The bell rang and I got up, and started to walk out the door.
"Good luck Melissa. I'm not sure what else to say. But I hope everything turns out for the best. I'll call you tonight," she said walking with me down the hallway.
"Alright, thanks," I replied throwing my stuff away and heading towards my locker. Everyone kept throwing me mean looks. I just threw them back.
I sat through four more classes, being pissed and sad at the same time. I grabbed my bag and started walking home. Then someone stopped me, and spun me around against the wall of a store.
It was one of Billie's friends. "Heard you shot Billie."
"You heard wrong."
"Oh yeah? Then who was it?" he said standing right in front of me so I couldnt go anywhere. I looked over his shoulder and saw a few more of Billies friends including Mike.
"I don't know, I dont really get to chatty with killers and drug dealers. Not one of my everyday tasks, which I'm assuming is why I dont talk to you much...."
"Well, apparently if you think that, you might not want to get to mouthy now would ya," he said with an evil grin across his face.
"Actually, right now life's pretty shitty and I wouldn't mind you killing me right now," I said tilting my head a little bit.
He frowned, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife and held it to my throat. "So I could kill you right now and you wouldn't care."
"Well, first, thats a stupid question, because if I'm dead, I dont think I would be alive to care even if I did. And secondly, to answer your question: take your best shot." I looked up to give him a nice clean shot for my throat, just to prove I didnt care.
He just stared at me for a minute. Then folded it up and put it back in his pocket. "What do you know about the accident then."
"You just threatened to kill me, now you want me to do you a favor?" I asked in disbelief, just to irritate him.
"Just talk lady."
"Oooo, now who's the mouthy one."
"Shut up the both of you!!" Mike yelled shoving his annoying friend aside. "You know Billie's a good friend of ours, especially mine. We just want to know what happened."
"Well, just to be difficult, I don't feel like being questioned. So I'll tell you, then you can go tell you're friends." He looked at me with the straightest face. I could tell he was irritated.
"Fine. Go home guys, I'll tell you tomorrow," Mike said waving his friends aside.
"No, she can stand there and tell us, just as much as she can tell you," a short, black haired kid said.
"Or, I can walk home, and completely shun you, and think about what I'm gonna eat for dinner. Lifes full of choices you see...."
"Kyle, shut up, and go home!" Mike yelled, yet again.
His Kyle friend just glared, "You tell us first thing in the morning," he practically hissed.
"Yes, dear," Mike sang while rolling his eyes. Then the group walked off in different directions.
After his friends walked away, he turned back towards me. He was about to say something, probably to the means of 'What happened?', but I got there first.
"Talking to me now, are we?"
"I figured it happened along time ago. I still won't talk to Tiffany, but you're not a stretch."
"Hmm, I guess you can look at it that way."
"Alright, so what happened?" he said pleading.
"I walked out of my house, and saw a group of high school lookin' people. They were gathered around telling him to pay up. Except they thought he was someone named Thomas. They were outside Josh Thomas's house. He was probably buying drugs from them again. But Billie told them that he wasn't Thomas, and that he didn't owe them anything."
"Right. Everyone knows Josh is a stoner," he said, hanging on to every word.
"Correct, anyways. He said that a few times, that he wasn't Thomas and he didn't have to pay. Until finally he tried to get them away. He started shoving them, and one pulled out a gun. They shot him, looked at his notebook, saw it wasn't Josh, and ran away."
Mike leaned up against the wall and slid down. I could tell he was frustrated. I sat down next to him.
"Ya know, he's gonna be okay. I mean, I know it hurt, but he didnt die or anything."
We both just sat there in silence. Until he got up. "Thanks for the information."
"Yeah, no problem. But tell your friends that I'm not answering any questions tomorrow. You know what I'm telling. I already got questioned by the cops.I'm done."
"Yeah.....yeah its fine, see you at school," he muttered walking away.
***
That night, when I got home. It was the same as usual. I got home, with no one in the house. Erin at grandma's, mom at work. It was around 4 when I arrived, and I grabbed a pen and paper, and a bottle of water.
I plopped down on the couch and grabbed Remo and turned on the tv. It was already on the news. "14 year old, Josh Thomas was shot and killed, early this morning at 2 am. Police are thinking it was possiblely linked to the Armstrong case. "
"Pshht, there goes Josh," I muttered changing channels. I knew it would happen someday, and I didn't like Josh. So it wasn't a big surprise, or loss.
F list was on, so I changed it to that, and grabbed the pen. 'Alright. Billie's in the hospital. Perfect moment to get the guitar. I'll have to think of neighbors, mom, and if anyone's in Billies house.' I thought, jotting down the list. My mom didn't stay up very late, but anything was possible. And our neighbor was an old lady, she went to bed between eight to eight thirty. Billie's neighbor was a college student. So I might have to be careful about that. So around midnight, I could get my guitarcase, take it over to Billies, crawl through his window, get his guitar, and come back.
*Midnight that night. Or the next morning if you wanna be technical*
I opened my door a crack. It was all dark in our house. Mom was in bed. I closed the door silently, and grabbed my guitarcase.
I pryed open the window, and sat the case on the ground. I jumped out, and looked at the windows across the street. They were all dark. Perfect. I ran across the street to the back of the house, where there were two windows. I knew that he was on the main floor, from when we were little. I peeked into one room, which was neat and tidy. The bed was made and there was a dresser with a few pictures. "Definetely, not Billie," I whispered walking to the next window. I looked in that one, and saw clothes thrown everywhere, and Blue sitting on a stand in the corner. "Thats more like it."
I pushed up on the window, which opened with ease. He never locked it. Ok, it wouldn't lock. I opened my guitar case and left it on the ground, jumped in, grabbed the guitar, and ran back out. It was so simple! Billie and his family were all at the hospital, and Billie would never guess that I came anywhere close to his stuff.
I put the guitar in my case, and ran back across the street.
