False Pretense

It was shaping up to be a pretty rough day. First, going to my second day of college with a hangover wasn't the best idea, and on top of that, anybody who sharpened their pencil or tapped it against their notebook while the professor spoke was asking for their death to come early. Secondly, Billie had confessed that he didn't know how to handle having a person like me in his life. Mind you, we still weren't friends. I didn't know what the hell we were! Maybe just people who came into each others lives when it was convenient. Furthermore, Tre and I had kissed. Twice. What did that make us? I had no idea! He didn't seem to be pissed by the fact that Billie and I got drunk together, but we haven't been alone since then, either. So I had yet to find out how he felt about the situation.

When I got out of my last class that day I went straight over to Billie's and found him sitting on the front porch with a cigarette in one hand and a pen in the other. As I walked closer I saw that he had a notebook in his lap.

"Hey, Roots." I smiled and he seemed surprised to see me.

"Hey, Sassafras." He seemed to be in a good mood, which I was happy about because I wasn't in the mood to fight. He scooted over and I sat down next to him, smirking as I stole his cigarette out of his hand.

"What are you doin'?" I inhaled the cigarette, my healthy lungs were still growing used to the smoke.

"Trying to write a song. We have a gig in four days over at Gilman and I'm trying to write a new one....kind of a surprise." He stole the cigarette back and closed the notebook.

"Want any help?"

"No, thanks. I usually overcome these writer blocks with a walk but I'm feeling a bit lazy today. What brings you here, though?" I watched as he inhaled and blew out smoke rings.

"Thought we could dye that hair of yours." I ruffled his hair as I stole the cigarette.

"Yeah, sure."

Billie and I smoked two more cigarettes before even getting around to going to the store. We just sat and talked, it was rather soothing to have a friendly conversation.

"Sassy, I gotta tell you something." He threw the butt of the cigarette onto the lawn and turned to face me. I took my eyes off the bright sky and turned to meet his gaze.

"Yeah?"

"I rather like having you around. When you're around, I actually feel like there is somebody out there that cares about me. You were right about what you said last night, and it does scare me because I feel like I may grow attached to you."

"You know there are other people in this world that care about you. But, Billie, it means a lot you shared this with me."

"Well, you're my person to confide in."

"Right. But, I gotta admit, Roots, I like having you around as well." He smiled and grabbed his notebook as he stood up on the step.

"Ready to dye my hair?"

"Yes."

~ ~ ~

A half an hour later, Kat and I were in the upstairs bathroom and she was applying the dye onto her glove-covered hands and running it threw my hair.

"Oh, this smells." She scrunched her face slightly and I couldn't help but smile at how cute that was.

"Sassy, you better get used to it. You promised me you'd dye my hair so you can't back out now." I noticed how good it felt when she was running her fingers through my hair. Oh, no. No, no, no, no.

"I'm not backing out, I'm just mentioning how much this smells. Oh, I don't think I can call you roots anymore." She laughed and grabbed the bottle and squirted more dye onto her hands.

"Nah, you still can. Otherwise the joke would be ruined." She rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Dying your hair ruined the joke."

Mike appeared in the door way and smiled.

"Is that what smells?"

"Yep." She answered simply, focusing on her dye job.

"Well, careful not to make a mess when you rinse, Bill. And, uh, Kat, Tre is waiting for you downstairs." She thanked him and he disappeared without another word.

"Tre is here for you?" I looked up at her but she avoided my eyes.

"I guess so." She laughed nervously, stepping back to examine her work.

"You are all set!" She cheered, pulling off the gloves and throwing them into the trashcan.

"Thanks. You can go see what Tre wants, this has to sit anyway." She smiled slightly and seemed reluctant to leave.

"It was nice not fighting with you for a change." She laughed a little and disappeared from the room before I could respond. A weird feeling arose in the pit of my stomach and I didn't like it.

~ ~ ~

I smelled my hands as I walked down the stairs, not too bad for handling hair dye. Before reaching the bottom of the steps, I heard Traci talking to Tre.

"Is something going on between the two of you?"

"No, why would you think that?"

"Well, you coming over here and asking for her would be a sign."

I didn't want to hear anymore, I turned to head back upstairs but bumped straight into Billie's chest.

"Whoa, there." He chuckled, looking down at me as he stopped walking.

"Oh! Sorry." I smiled sheepishly and I started to turned to continue down the stairs.

"Where were you going?" He raised an eyebrow and his eyes stared into mine.

"Uh." I shrugged and he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion but laughed nonetheless. I turned and jumped off the steps and hurried toward the kitchen before the tension got anymore awkward.

"Hey." I smiled as I walked into the kitchen, jumping onto the end of the counter. Mike, Traci and Tre all looked at me and smiled.

"Hey." Tre piped up and Billie joined us in the kitchen seconds later.

"Oh, you're what smells." Traci crinkled her nose and Mike laughed.

"Yeah, but only for eight more minutes." He smiled, walking over to the counter across from me and sat on top of it.

"So, I heard you were here for me?" I asked Tre, who looked from Billie to me.

"Yeah, I was just dropping by to see if you needed a ride back to your dorm. I figured Traci was going to be sleeping over here and...yeah." He smiled slightly and I laughed at his, once again, lame excuse.

"Well, I was going to stay until later, but if you need to head back early then Tre can take you." Traci said, eyeballing Tre suspiciously.

"I do, actually. I have my first homework assignment and I don't want to save it for later," I hopped off the counter and turned to Billie. "Are you okay with rinsing that out yourself?"

"Yeah, of course. Thanks."

"Uh, there is another pair of gloves in the box...you know, in case you don't want to get it on your hands." He nodded and smiled. I turned to Tre and he stood up from his chair.

"Ready?"

"Yeah. See you all later." I waved to the three of them and walked through the living room with Tre following in suite.

* * *

Tre stayed while I did my homework and afterward we cuddled on my bed and made out. I had no idea what I was doing. I liked Tre, but everything with Billie was just up in the air and I had to pretend that there was no guilty tension every time I was around him. But if we were going to be getting along from now on...well, it was only a matter of time until we had to tell him, right?

"I should probably get going." Tre said as he pulled away.

"Yeah, probably." He smiled and kissed my temple.

"We are having an early practice tomorrow and I need to be well rested and make sure I have enough energy." He laughed and we stood up from my bed and I hugged him.

"Well, will I see you tomorrow?" I pulled away and looked up at him.

"Of course. You can come to their place after school, we'll probably just be fucking around by then." I laughed and wrapped my arms around his neck as I leaned in to kiss him goodbye.

"I knew it!" I heard Traci's voice yell. I jumped away from Tre and he sheepishly turned around.

"Busted." He whispered, looking at me as I joined his side. Traci smiled evilly and shook her head.

"I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!" She threw her coat onto her bed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I should go." He laughed, looking at me and kissed the top of my head as he pulled me into a one-arm hug.

"Bye, Tre." I laughed and Traci waved as he walked toward the door. Once it was shut, I turned to Traci and she shook her head slowly.

"You are so screwed."