Paper Lanterns

"This is the last one. It's from me." Your mom handed you a small box. You opened the box. It was a gold bracelet. "I got it when you were born."

You hugged your mom. "Thank you. I love it."

You put the bracelet on and finished your piece of cake you were eating that you never got to finish because Billie Joe insisted you open your presents. You, Billie Joe, Mike, John, Lisea, and Dani had all gone to Uncle Mike's where your mom was staying and they ate cake while you opened your presents from them.

You looked at Billie who looked like he was having trouble trying to not think about something. You ignored it and finished the last bite of your cake.

About an hour or so later, you all went home. You went straight into bed while Billie Joe talked to Mike for a bit.

"Are you ready for your real present?" Billie asked as he shut the door to the bedroom.

You stared blankly at him. "What if I say 'no'?"

"You'll be missing out," Billie stated. "on the best present in the whole entire state of California."

"Oh. Well, that's okay." You smiled while your face burned. Billie Joe saw this and smiled as well. He flicked of the switch to the lights and leapt onto the bed.

"We'll see about that. You know you can't resist me, Maria." He smirked.

Billie began to kiss you. You felt your resistance fading as the kiss got deeper and deeper. You kissed him back and he smiled into the kiss. He pulled away and looked at you, still smiling.

"See I told you." He said matter-of-factly.

You shook your head. "Doesn't mean a thing."

"Oh yeah?" Billie Joe started kissing you again, this time moving ontop of you. You felt like you were losing all your self-control. You wrapped your arms around his neck. Billie Joe had some sort of hold over you. You weren't sure how he does this to you or if you liked it or not but didn't worry about that at the moment.

Billie moved one hand down to your waist. He pulled out of the kiss and moved down to your neck. You felt completely helpless by now. You whimpered and Billie looked up at you.

"Does it mean anything now?" He asked. You didn't answer. He knew though.

You woke up the next morning, got dressed, and walked into the kitchen to eat breakfast. Mike was staring at you out of the corner of his eye while he pretended to read the newspaper. Seems that what occured last night was what Billie Joe mentioned to him.

"Billie Joe's in the shower." Mike stated as you poured yourself a cup of coffee.

"Oh." You put the coffee pot back and sat down at the table. You and Mike just sat there in silence. Him peering over at your via the newspaper and you staring at your coffee mug.

You felt a pair of arms wrap around you as cold water slowly dripped onto the top of your head. You looked up at Billie.

"Good morning, Maria." He was smiling. Probably at my self-control or lack there of, you thought. He kissed the top of your head and sat down at the table as well. "Morning Mike."

"Mhmm.." Mike mumbled pretending to be to enveloped into whatever he was pretending to read in the newspaper.

"Mike, I know you're not reading. That's the same page you were on when I was in the shower." Billie pointed out.

You smiled. "I'm afraid he caught you, Mike."

Mike shrugged and placed the newspaper down. It was then you noticed the earplugs were still in his ears. You began to laugh. Mike looked confused and you pointed at your ears. He touched his and realized they were still in.

"Uh, yeah. I um, was um...'warned' last night." Mike fumbled with his words.

"I can see." You stated bluntly.

You went off to band practice, feeling like you haven't done so in a million years.

"So, you have fun yesterday?" Lisea asked in the middle of the practice.

You stared at her skeptically seeing as she had gotten up from her drumset and was right next to you. "Define 'fun'."

"You know ..." She nudged you.

You shook your head. "You're sick, you know that?"

"And damn proud of it." Lisea smiled. "So, did you have fun. Yes or no." You stared at her. "A-ha! So you did."

Dani glared at her. "Shut up."

"Why?" Lisea asked.

"Because that's a private matter and even though Maria exploits my private matters, I don't want to exploit hers and neither should you." Dani said matter-of-factly.

Lisea sighed. "Fine." She then turned to you. "But you can tell us if you want to."

You laughed. Where did I find friends like these two?

"I tried to not give in." You told them.

Dani looked confused. "You....gave in?"

"I lost control?" You questioned.

"What kind of control?" Dani inquired.

Before you could answer, Lisea jumped in. "Oh, so you can ask her those questions but I can't ask her anything?"

Dani ignored the comment and repeated the question.

You hesitated. "...self?"

"Maria, Maria, Maria." Dani shook her head. "What are we going to do with you?"

"Lock me up and bury the key in the backyard or something of that nature?" You asked as you face lit up. They just laughed. "It's not that funny."

Lisea shook her head. "No, you should've seen your face. It was hilarious. You looked completely serious."

You being confused, simply shrugged your shoulders and continued on with the practice.

You got home and Billie Joe was watching tv while Mike played with Zero. You sat down on the couch. Billie put his arm around you and gave you a kiss.

"How was practice?" He asked.

"Fine." You said.

Billie smiled. "That's good."

"Hey, Maria." Mike called out. "Can I still get a Punkie Brewster lunchbox for christmas?"

You laughed remembering that day. "Sure, Mike."

"Sweet." He said and went back to playing with Zero.

"That reminds me about my christmas present." Billie Joe smirked.

You leant in to kiss him, and just as you were literally two inches away from him you smiled. "I got homework." You got up and left Billie Joe in the living room with a confused expression plastered on his face.
Where's the kid with the chemicals?

I thought he said to meet me here but I'm not sure

I got the money if you got the time

You said it feels good I said I'll give it a try