It Seems I'm Too Far Gone

"Don't pick out the bananas, I like the bananas!" Adie screamed and slapped Billie Joe's hand away from the pile. They'd just bought a box of Runts and were fighting over the remains while Adie worked on her Calculus homework.
"Ugh," Billie Joe leaned back in his seat and let his neck fall on the back of the chair. "You're never going to need that shit," he said, balancing a lime runt between his eyes.
"Just shut up, ok?" she said, looking up at him and shaking her head. "The sooner I finish this, the sooner we can go get some food."
"Fine. As long as we leave before your parents get back," he said, taking note once more of the fact that he was in Adrienne's dining room. She'd sworn a million times to him that it was safe and that the rest of her family had gone out to eat- some place nice with a good three courses- and wouldn't be back for some time.
"Yah, yah. Just tell me when I should call Juliette. I she wanted to come too. And her douchebag of a boyfriend," he said, frowning at the mention of "Adam." It had been a little over a month since Juliette had confided in Adie, and the three of them had made a pretty good team. Trouble was, there was a fourth one that threw the team off: Juliette's boyfriend, Adam. He was the same guy that bruised her a month prior. In all honesty, he hadn't laid a hand on her since- they interrogated her periodically, but he was still a douchebag.
"Ok, Billie Joe, but you have to promise me not to start anything. You and I both dislike the guy equally, but we also care about Juliette. Just disregard him completely if you have to, but please behave. A fight between the two of you will only upset her," she said, going intently back to her work.
"Whatever. I don't get why she doesn't just dump him..." he said, now changing the lime runt with a banana.
"Me either Billie, but that's not our business. Just please promise me?" she looked up at him and snatched the banana off his forehead. He sat up and scowled. Her face looked just desperate enough, and he softened.
"Fine. I promise," he said, but not without lunging for his prized banana back. She quickly popped it in her mouth. His jaw dropped, and then he smirked.
"Looks like I'm gonna have to come get that back," he said and started to lean out of his chair, right for her. Adie laughed and started to push him back, tell him she had to do homework.
"I told you not to mess with my runts, 80. Now you must pay!" he said and was almost just where he needed to be to kiss her, when something entirely unplanned for happened: the door opened.
"Just go upstairs Mare, Missy will get you something cool to put on your head. Missy?" Adie's mom walked in the front door, her hand on Adie's older sister Maradith, who looked unbelievably pale. Missy rushed around her side, straight into the kitchen. Maradith was too out of it to notice the couple in the dining room right in front of them, and headed upstairs. Mr. and Mrs. Raleigh were very much distracted by Billie Joe immediately sitting back down in his seat once they entered and the guilty look on Adrienne's face. Mr. Raleigh was the first to speak, hoping to stem the coming anger his wife was about to unleash in front of a guest, no matter who that guest might be.
"Adrienne, who's this young man?" he asked as politely as the situation allowed.
"Uh-" Adie started, but Billie Joe beat her to it.
"I'm Billie Joe, sir. Nice to meet you," he said, his heart still beating horribly fast. This was his only chance at a good impression though, so he decided to wing it.
"Mrs. Raleigh, nice to meet you," he said, reaching out to shake her hand after Adie's father's. The look on her face was priceless, but she was never one to forget her manners, and was not about to be made a fool of in her own home, and by this particular young man. She stiffly stuck out her hand to shake his.
Adie sat back in the kitchen, crimson red from the situation. She didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing that Billie Joe had made himself so eager to shake their hands. Sure, it was very polite and displayed good manners, but just the sight of him was laughable. He wore an old pair of jeans, thankfully not as torn as they could be, and a white Clash T-shirt, both paired with his black Chucks. That and his hair... It was just as long as it had been when they met, but he'd started a few dreadlocks in various places.
He definitely didn't fit in.
"I uh, thought you guys were out eating?" Adie said, hoping to stop the inevitable awkward silence before it developed.
"Well, your sister isn't feeling very well at all," her father said. "We figured it was best to just bring her home and whip up something here instead."
"I thought you were supposed to be working on homework, Adrienne," her mother cut in, before her husband could treat this situation any more normally.
"I actually just finished. It was pretty easy," she said, snapping her book shut, and told herself she'd finish those last two problems on the bus to school tomorrow morning. "Billie Joe and I were just going to grab something to eat with Juliette, you remember her, right?" Luckily, they both liked Juliette a lot. Adie knew she could get by if she threw her name in that. However, she knowingly left out that Juliette's boyfriend was coming, as that would leave open the obvious prospect of this being a "double-date."
"Adie, it's a school night," her mother said, still maintaining her controlled, stiff behavior.
"Well, yah, but you took Mare out, and would have taken me. I won't be home any later than what I would have with you guys."
"It sounds alright to me, Adie," her father cut off his wife. "Be home by nine," he said, then looked at his wife with a small smile, as if to say, "Don't waste the time, dear."
"Kay. Thanks Dad," she said, and grabbed her jacket off the chair- or rather, Billie Joe's. "Love you guys."
"It was nice meeting you," Billie Joe said as he chased Adie out the door, who was in a bit of a hurry.
"Hey, slow down roadrunner," Billie said when Adie reached the end of their driveway and he was speed-walking to keep up.
"God that was awful," she said, stopping to let him catch up.
"Eh... it wasn't too bad," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Billie, don't ever expect them to really like you. At least not my mother. I mean, I love them and all, but they have their faults. That's one of them- being overbearing and arrogant," she said, shaking her head, too frustrated with her own thoughts. Billie Joe turned them around to walk up the road and put his arm around her shoulders.
"Calm down. You never know, my charm could bring them around," and he smirked at her, flashing his teeth. She rolled her eyes.
"That's the least of my worries."

***

The two of them eventually made their way to Juliette's house, who was sitting outside with her boyfriend, Adam, much to Adie and Billie's dismay. The four of them headed down to the local pizza parlor for supper, and sat in a bit of an awkward atmosphere, as Billie and Adie loathed Adam, and he didn't think too fondly of them either.
"So... the Gilman's got one hell of a line up this weekend- you guys going?" Billie Joe asked, spinning his pizza crust slowly around his plate.
"That good huh? You guys must not be playing," Adam said, then laughed at his own joke, rather loudly. Billie Joe just snickered and nodded, but his eyes spat fire.
"Nah though," Adam picked up again after his laughter had subsided. "We might. Depends on what Miss Whinebag wants to do," he said, nudging Juliette and starting to laugh once more. She just smiled and nodded.
"Sounds pretty cool," was all she said.
"So you two are going, I take it," Adam asked, leaning back in his booth and putting his arm on the back of it.
"Yah, probably," Adie said, in between sips of her soda, which was all slowly melting ice by now.
"So... what's with you guys? Are you dating or what?" Adam asked defiantly, like it was any of his business to know. Billie Joe and Adie hesitated. It was Adie that regained consciousness first.
"Oh, god, no. Billie has a girlfriend. Baily. You might know here," she said, as confidently as she could. It was the truth after all, she told herself. "He was just the first person I met here. He's been my tour guide," and she punched him in the arm, platonically.
"Heh. Yah," Billie Joe replied weakly. Adam was too dense to notice their uncomfortable body language and when about his teeth-picking, but Juliette eyed them both suspiciously. Still, she said nothing.
"Well," Billie Joe started, "I say we pay. Adie's got to be home at nine, so we should probably head out."
"Yeah," Adie agreed.
They got up, paid, and left their own portions of tip. On the walk home, Billie Joe and Adrienne took turns mocking Adam and calling him various names. They couldn't believe some of the things he would say to Juliette, or, more importantly, how she handled it- by doing nothing. She blew off his blows as if they weren't existent. Like she was immune to it...
"Uh... should I walk you to your door?" Billie Joe asked, unsure on if it would be wise for him to go back to her house.
"You tell me, Mr. Refined. What do you think the true gentleman would do?" she asked, playfully. In response, he offered her his arm and walked her to her porch. They were about to part ways, when the front door opened.
"Billie Joe," Mr. Raleigh stood at the door looking friendly. "Thank you for bringing my daughter home on time. How was supper?" he asked. Billie Joe, however, stammered at first, still surprised at how quickly he had appeared.
"It was... uh... It was great! I mean, we just had some cheap pizza, but it, ya know, hit the spot I guess. I just wanted to make sure Adie got home safe. I just live down the road and to the right. Not too far out," he said.
"Ah," Mr. Raleigh nodded. "Well, you should come to dinner with us sometime. How about Friday evening? We'll have Missy cook up something nice, and you can come over and properly introduce yourself. Sound good?" he asked. Billie Joe was taken aback, but that was nothing compared to Adie's reaction. She'd gone pale, as if she'd just heard a judge pronounce Billie Joe's sentencing for murder. This was not like her father. This seemed like a trap, and that seemed just like Adrienne's mother. Billie Joe, on the other hand, had no choice but to accept.
"Absolutely. It would be great."
"Lovely. Feel free to come around at about six. It'll be fun."