Joey's Depression

Michelle slowly got up, and started to creep towards the window. "Ow!" She gripped, trying hard not to scream- she had scratched her wrist on a loose nail that had been half-hammered into the bed. She toppled over, tears mixing with the blood. "C'mon Michelle, pull yourself together," she silently told herself, getting up to stand on her own two feet again.

She placed her bloodied hand on the clear white windowsill, staining it with a red handprint. Carefully, with her un-cut hand, she pushed open the window screen, letting fresh air into Joey's stuffy room. She was about to detach her hand from the screen, when someone reached up and grabbed hold of it.

***
"5 hundred dollars!" Billie Joe exclaimed under his breath. "5 hundred dollars." He gasped some more, before going to call Mike.

"Hello?" Mike asked from his phone.

"Hi Mike! Guess what I have?! 5 HUNDRED DOLLARS!!" he cried, struggling to contain his excitement.

"Oh...so you'll be coming back," Mike sighed.

"What?! So you're not happy?!" Billie Joe sopped.

"No, Billie, of course I am," Mike assured. Billie Joe didn't believe him. He hung up.

"Don't worry about them," someone chuckled. He expected to see John, but no- someone he didn't even know. "Shaun's the name." He smiled, holding out his hand. He had shaggy golden hair, was tall, thin and had gigantic dimples.

"Billie Joe," Billie Joe grinned back, shaking 'Shaun's' hand.

"Well I think everyone already knows that," Shaun laughed.

"They do? I didn't think that I was even visible to anyone," Billie told him.

"Everyone knows you're there. But anyway, you wanna get back to your home town, eh?" Shaun grinned.

"Yep. Now I can afford to, my own best friend doesn't want me to."

"I'm sure that's not true," Shaun chuckled, a sly smirk appearing on his face.

***
"Let me go!" Michelle shouted, tugging away from the hand. Soon enough, it disappeared. Michelle was in tears. She stumbled into the kitchen. Adrienne and Jakob were out so she was alone. She reached into the fridge and grabbed 2 bottles of alcohol, before making her way back to Joey's room. Michelle stared down at the bubbly liquid that was held in the 2 glass bottles. Slowly she took little cautious sips, which slowly adapted into faster ones, which turned into huge, encouraging mouthfuls. She felt the sadness and depression inside her turn into rage and frustration, her dark black eyes finally getting the satisfaction of showing the true feelings they deserved. She gripped the other beer bottle tightly, drips of blood from her wrist still streaming down the moist edges. She held it up and threw it against the wall, allowing the splashbacks to hit her in the face.

***
"So...John didn't kill you," Mike pieced.

"Nup," Tre popped.

"So what are we doing here?" Joey questioned.

"I...don't know," Mike answered.

"We better go, then," Joey sighed.

"See ya!" Tre called from his bed.

***
When they had got home, Mike started walking towards Joey's room, while Joey would the car's windows up and locked the doors. "Oh my god Michelle. What have you done!?" he whispered loudly, walking down towards the corner where Michelle was sitting.

"All this...I did all this," she told him drunkenly.

"I know you did but..." Mike replied stiffly, but paused when he saw the bloodied handprint on the window-sill. "Let me see your wrists," he demanded. He pulled up her wrists and examined them. "You're cutting yourself, aren't you?" he gasped. "Yes, you are!" he said, a bit louder this time, not even giving Michelle a chance to explain. "How am I supposed to tell you-know-who this?!" he continued.

"DON'T!" Michelle exclaimed. "What Joey doesn't know won't hurt him."

"What if he finds out?! How will he take it?" Mike questioned. Michelle burst into tears.

***
"What's that supposed to mean?" Billie Joe questioned.

"Why don't I pay for the ride back to Cali? I've been meaning to go there for quite some time," Shaun suggested.

"But...why do you want me back there so bad?" Billie Joe asked.

"Just hurry up. You'll have to spend another night in that crummy hotel," he teased.

"How did you know about that?" Billie queried.

"Everyone knows," Shaun giggled.

"Well...if you say so," Billie Joe stretched. "Okay, I'll do it!" The next thing Billie knew, they were on a plane headed for California.

***
"I...you...you just don't get it! I'd do anything for Joey! How dare you think I would cut myself at a time like this?! And even if I did, I wouldn't TELL him!!" she sobbed.

"Let's get you cleaned up," Mike sighed, grabbing Michelle's strong hand, holding it around his shoulder, and carrying her to Joey's messed up bed. Mike cleaned up Michelle's bruises and cuts, and soon enough, she fell asleep, so Mike went into the other room to watch cartoons. That's when Joey walked in. At first he saw nothing abnormal, but then he saw half the bloodied handprint- which Mike had foolishly tried to hide with a face cloth. Joey gasped, and uncovered the rest of the handprint, then grabbing Michelle's wrist, he saw the cut.

"Michelle," he gripped, shaking Michelle about.

"What?" she moaned.

"Why are you doing this to me?" he questioned.

"What?" she repeated.

"THIS!" He shouted, pulling at Michelle's wrist.

"Why do you even worry about me anymore!? Why don't you just kick me out!? I can't deal with being victimised anymore!" Michelle shouted.

"Because I care about you!" Joey replied.

"If you cared, you would listen!" Michelle shot back.

"Fine then, I'll listen," Joey decided, calming down slightly and placing himself on the bloodied bed.

"I have something important to tell you," she sighed.

"Yes?" he beckoned, half-sarcastically half-seriously eager for her to go on.

"Brad...knocked me up," she bit. Joey almost exploded at that point.

"What?! You slept with him, he knocked you up and you didn't even bother to tell me?" he stammered.

"I didn't actually sleep with him," she explained. Joey's eyes widened.

"He...attacked you, didn't he?" he gasped. Michelle nodded slightly. "Why don't you just get an abortion?" Joey suggested.

"JOSEPH! How dare you think like that?!" Michelle cried.

"What's going on!?" Mike questioned worriedly, running into the room.

"Michelle's..." Joey started. He stared at Michelle, who innocently stared back. "Michelle's pregnant."

"Ohhh," Mike grinned. "Congratulations Michelle, congratulations Joey." Joey felt tears in his eyes. He leant on Michelle's shoulder, hoping not to cry.

"Mike! You stupid, stupid dickhead! It's not his!!" Michelle screeched.

"Well then who's is it?" Mike stupidly questioned.

"Brad's," she winced.

"He...attacked her," Joey explained.

"You mean...he raped you?" Mike questioned. Michelle didn't reply. "Oh," Mike finished.

"And since that happened, I have to stay with him," Michelle sighed.

"Why?" Mike asked.

"I don't have a choice, do I?" Michelle asked.

"Well I don't care what he does to you, I'm not letting you spend the rest of your life with someone who treats you the way he does," Joey stormed.