The Bet

"A girl spent the night here?" Ollie asked, crossing her arms at her chest.

Billie sighed. "Yes mother, but nothing happened. Promise."

"Who is she?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." He muttered, looking ahead as he picked up his cup of coffee, bringing it to meet his chapped lips as Ollie raised an eyebrow at his off-topic statement.

"What's her name, Billie?" She laughed at her son. She often wondered where his thoughts led him.

"Shayla. She's in my chemistry class and we happen to be lab partners. I went to a party with Mike last night and got drunk so she offered to drive me home."

"So she parties. Not liking what I'm hearing Billie, you know I don't support your habits."

Billie snorted. "Shayla? Yeah, she doesn't party. You'll love her mom, she's the kind of influence you want in my life. It's just too bad that I'm not easily swayed."

Ollie shook her head at her youngest son.

"Billie Joe, oh Billie Joe, what am I to do with you?"

*

Shayla stepped out of the shower, wrapping the freshly washed green towel around her slender body. She could hear voices chatting lightly down the hall as she looked at the clothes Billie had given her to wear. According to him, he had a sister who had the same dress style as she did. Whatever that meant. Shayla liked to think she was open-minded and didn't fit a certain dress style.

She lifted up a floral pattern skirt and smiled. She was starting to lighten up at the idea of Billie picking out her clothes for her. Once it was time for the shirt, however, she looked down to see a worn out black shirt with the word Nirvana written across the chest. She sighed hopelessly and decided not to make a fuss, for he was indeed a boy with no idea of her fashion sense.

"Hi everyone." She greeted Billie and his mother, whose name she did not know, as she entered the kitchen.

Ollie turned at the sound of the soft voice and smiled.

"Hello dear, I'm Ollie, Billie's mother."

"Shayla. Billie's acquaintance." She smiled as she took a seat across from Billie.

"How are the clothes?" He asked, setting down his coffee mug.

"Interesting. I love the skirt, but the shirt, I'm afraid I don't listen to this band."

Ollie looked in curiosity at the clothes Billie had given her to wear. She gasped, putting her hands on her hips.

"Billie Joe! Did you get those clothes out of the dirty laundry and give them to her?"

Shayla's eyes widened as Billie looked at his mother with an innocent face.

"What? I didn't know they were dirty! They smelled clean!" He spit out quickly, looking between the two women. He bit his lip as he looked at Shayla.

Shayla giggled. "It's fine, Billie, honest mistake."

"I promise. I wouldn't give you dirty clothes to wear."

"Thanks for that, but it looks like you already have," she mocked.

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you know what I mean. Not on purpose."

Shayla lifted up her shoulders slowly, raising her hands upward.

"I dunno..."

Billie scoffed, scooting his chair back as he stood up. "Fine, you know what, I'll go get you some clean clothes, just to show you."

Billie's mother giggled to herself and Billie stopped and looked at her before exiting into the living room.

"What?"

"Not easily swayed, huh? You know if that were Mike you would make him wear those dirty clothes."

"Why are all women against me?" Billie muttered to himself as he stomped out of the room in frustration.

*

"This is going to be awkward." Shayla sighed as they sat in the driveway.

"Not at all." Billie smiled encouragingly as he watched Mike walk down the driveway with his bass over his shoulder.

"I've never really communicated with him before, and now we're going to be in the same car with no space between us."

"Jesus Christ, Shayla, he's a nice dude. He's nicer than me, believe you me." Shayla laughed at his comment and scooted over as Mike opened the passenger door.

"How'd you end up getting home last night, Mike?" Billie asked as he looked over his shoulder as he backed out of the small driveway.

"I hitched a ride with West since my buddy ditched me with my own car," Mike joked, making Shayla uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry about that," She apologized right away, in a robotic voice.

Mike furrowed his eyebrows. "For what? You took my very intoxicated friend home instead of letting him leave by himself. He's safe, that's what I care about," He said as he leaned in closer to her. "Plus, I'm used to him taking my car. I swear he thinks he owns the damn thing."

Shayla laughed, looking at Billie, watching him beat the steering wheel along to the music.

"Say, why do you have a bass with you?" Shayla asked, noticing the instrument.

"We have a gig tonight," Mike explained, eyeing Billie out of the corner of his eye.

Billie stopped beating the steering wheel and seemed to go deep in thought.

"You're right, Mike. We have a show at Gilman tonight. Fuck!" He yelled, slapping the steering wheel.

"Gig? Gilman?" Shayla asked clueless.

"We're in a band, and we have a show tonight at a club in downtown Berkeley. It seems our fellow lead singer forgot."

"I'm ready though! I am always ready to perform."

"Where's Blue?" Mike questioned.

"Uh....at....my....house..." Billie seemed hesitant to answer.

"Dammit Bill! Now we're going to have to go back there after dropping her off instead of meeting Al like we promised we would."

"I'm sorry man. I really am, but it's fine. We'll get Shayla's car and she can follow us back to my house and then we can pack her car up and go meet Al at Gilman's and everything will be fine."

"Excuse me, we'll pack up my car?" Shayla interrupted his train of thought.

"Well yeah, your car is much more spacious and it would help us out a lot. Plus, you don't want to go back home just yet, do you?" He asked, asking a question that only the two of them would understand the answer to.

Shayla silently shook her head.

"See, then it all works out then. Never fear, Mikey, I always find a way."

Mike rolled his eyes.

*

"Shayla, welcome to Heaven." Billie smiled as they walked inside the dingy club. The walls were filled with graffiti, the floor was cool cement, and the couches were torn up with duct tape on them.

"Heaven has a weird smell," she commented, getting rude stares from strangers as they continued to walk across what seemed to be the chill spot, not the club.

"That would be a mixture of sweat and cigarettes."

"I recognize. It's what you smelled like last night." Shayla looked up at the ceiling and the beams that seemed to be the only things holding the place together. They were covered in graffiti as well, only leaving her to wonder how people got up there.

She shook her head, noticing that the people who were there all seemed to be acting at home. She felt a sudden pang of jealousy. She had always wished to find a place that these people have been lucky enough to find. She looked at Billie and Mike who were greeting people as they walked through the room.

"Billie, Mike, I love your music!" A girl with a blue mohawk yelled, waving frantically.

"Thanks darling!" Billie called out, winking. Shayla felt that same pang of jealousy and felt herself getting mad. She shook her head, determined not to feel that. Not here, not not.

They approached a chunky, brown haired boy sitting on a couch in the farthest corner of the room with a girl.

"Al! Sorry we're late man," Mike said, plopping down on the couch.

The girl looked at the three of them, smiling a friendly smile.

"Hey guys, who's the stranger?"

"Remi, this is Shayla. She's a new friend of ours." Remi smiled and nodded her away in acknowledgment.

"Remi. That's a first. Interesting name." She tried to compliment.

"It's a nick name actually. My real name is Remington, but I couldn't bare going through life with that, so I thank whoever started calling me Remi because it's a whole lot better." She laughed lightly, making Shayla feel at ease.

"Well it's pretty, whichever way you prefer it to go."

"Thank you." She smiled.

Billie squeezed her side lightly and winked as Shayla tried her best not to blush at the attempt to fit in.

"Well I think we need to go set up now," Al said, standing up and squeezing Remi's hand before he started walking off.

"Are you two good?" Billie asked.

"Yeah, totally. It's about time you brought a girl around that's not trying to constantly kiss on you."

Shayla choked.

Billie nervously chuckled. "Hey Remi, while I'm gone, try not to talk too much, yeah?" His glance made Remi lean back and she nodded.

"Fine, but I'm just saying."

"So am I." Billie sighed, running a hand through his hair before grabbing his guitar case and Shayla's knee in what he hoped to be a comforting manner.

*

Throughout Sweet Children's set, Shayla surprised herself at the amount of fun she was having. Sure, she had been to shows with Dave before but they were never anything like this. People in the crowd knew their songs, and they were merely kids in a garage band. She could tell there was something different about this place and she was thoroughly enjoying herself.

However, she couldn't get Remi's statement out of her head - which she constantly apologized for - and she realized she had never thought about Billie's romantic life before. Well, why would she? She never expected to see him outside of chemistry class. Let alone in the place where he could be nothing but himself.

After the show ended, she walked around the stage picking up the empty water bottles and doing her share of pitching in to clean up. Billie smiled at her as she passed by with full hands and threw them into the recycle bin. As she headed back to start picking up the floor, he snaked a arm around her waist and pulled her into his embrace.

"Remember that one time when I said I wondered what it was like to be you..."

"Yeah..."

"...And you said something like I wouldn't want to know..."

"Yeah..."

"Well I think that's bullshit because I do in fact want to know. So you should probably tell me. Right here, right now." He let go of his grasp on her, but stepped in closer, closing off the last of the room that stood between them.

"I'm the girl that isn't allowed to fall apart," she answered simply.

Billie rolled his eyes. "You talk about it in that sense a lot. Saying "that girl," but that's still not what I'm looking for." He poked her in the chest, a sudden move that surprised her, and she looked down and stared at his calloused finger as he kept it perfectly still.

"I don't know how to help you then. Because that's the only way to describe it. Everyone else is allowed to break down but for some reason, that card didn't come in my deck in life. I have to be the strong girl, the one with no problems, no fears, no horrific events, nothing. Just sugar and spice. And what's even more sick? I'm judged for it. I'm conceited, I'm shallow, I'm fake, I'm everything people wish to be but can't because there weren't handed my so called 'luck' in life."

Billie nodded, but still didn't budge. She looked up at him, wondering if she hit the target, but the longer he stared at her, the more she realized she still wasn't close.

"You're missing the point. You're telling me how everybody else views who you are. That's not what I want."

"Then what do you want?"

He poked her again, making a harsher impact.

"I want whats inside, not what people think is inside."