The Correlation Between Peppermint and Eyeliner

Uptight

Hello, my fellow reader. How is you today? I'm updating. This chapter's a little, er, different. guess. But have you guys seen those page layout thingys? I don't think I like them so much. I don't think I'm gonna put one up for my story. It makes it seem sorta cheap. Iunno. But it's a good thing there's gonna be story editors now. Especially since there's quite a few of realllllly badly written stories out there. You know, like the ones with the 'no quotation marks, the no capitalization, no context' at all? Yeah. I read one with absolutely no quotation marks. None, whatsoever. But, whatever. That's just them, I guess. Anyways...I NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED SUGGESTIONS, PEOPLE! I need suggestions and ideas and predictions and all kinds of stuff for this story! Just put 'em in your comments! I neeeeeeeeeeeeeeed them! Oh, and, I also need you guys to tell me if the story's loosing focus, or better yet, loosing anything. I'm a bit anxious and nervous now, on account of this story has now about 22-23 chapters, (well, I have the next couple, so about 25), and this is THE MOST I've ever written. Yeah, seriously! The most I've ever written besides this is a story that was seven or eight chapters, and after I wrote those, I lost the story to a cliffhanger mistake, in which I had to give up. Whoa. This note is long. I suppose I should just let you go and drink some coffee and snuggle up and read the chapter. So, go ahead. Grab a biscotti on your way...

Part 22

Alex stared at Billie face. “Billie.” She whispered. He didn’t respond.
“Billie.” She whispered again. She poked his forehead. “Billie. Wake up.”
He grunted. “Hm?”
“Wake up.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
He opened one eye and saw her inches away from him. “Why?”
“Because. I’m bored.”
“I’m tired.” He closed his eye and tried to drift back to sleep.
“Pweeeeese?” Alex begged.
“You’re just like Tre.” Billie moaned.
“So? I’m bored. Lets go get coffee!” She poked his forehead again.
“Don’t poke at me!” he whined. Alex poked him again.
“I said don’t poke at me!” he buried his face in his pillow.
“Aw, c’mon, I’m all better now!”
He turned his head and squinted at the sunlight. He groaned.
“C’mon, lazy ass. Let’s go get coffee!” She pulled his arm and drug him a few inches.
“You’ll never take me alive!” Billie shouted, but continued to let her pull him.
“Oh, yes I will!” she drug him just a few more inches, then he was hanging off. She let go of him arm, and PLOP. Billie was on the floor.
“Hey!” Billie said, getting up slowly. Alex started laughing.
“Betchya can’t catch me!” Alex started running toward the door. Billie followed after her as she opened the door, running down the hallway.
Ah, back to her old self again… Billie thought.

-ALMOST TWO WEEKS LATER-

Billie still hadn’t told anyone about his little surprise that he had planned for Alex. The surprise being, her guitar. He pictured the moment in his head, but trying not to think of it so much that he rethinks the whole situation.
Over the last two weeks, he felt closer to her as he had ever felt for anyone, (as if he hadn’t felt that since day one,). For some reason, since her Dark Day, she had been closer, and it almost seemed as though they were completely honest with each other, and that there wasn’t any secrets between them. Although Billie had to admit that he did see her a bit differently now that she had told him that she used to be a cocaine addict, but who wouldn’t? He tried not to linger on it too much, but it had brought him back to all of the memories that he had had before all of this fame and luxury, back to the Bookmobile times when they were getting drugs after shows. He never really got addicted to them, hence why he never had the urge to sell a television set for another fix of whatever he was in the mood for that day. But she did have that time, and apparently it was life altering for her. Billie thought about what she had been through, and what it must’ve been like to be controlled by the drugs, so controlled that she had to sell her guitar. She had told him a few days after her Day that it was the worst thing that she had ever done in her whole life, and it was something that she has and will always regret. It broke Billie heart over and over again every time she said that she ‘lost it forever’, but then he would only think of what she would feel like when she found it again.
Billie told the guy from the music store not to send it for a week or so, just so it would get to his house at least a few days after Alex would get there. He hadn’t even told Mike until yesterday of what he had planned, which Billie quickly felt paranoid that maybe she had found out somehow. But, that was just the paranoia talking—he knew that she still had no idea.
Tonight was the last concert, then they would be on their way to California for a break. The break was to rest up for a couple of weeks, then maybe go to Australia again or something.
Alex seemed to be excited to go to California, but exhausted at the same time.

“Hey, Alex? What are you wearing to the concert tonight?” Billie yelled from the bathroom.
“Ummm, I dunno. What are you wearing?”
“My leopard thong.” He said casually, as if it were an everyday thing.
She rolled her eyes. “You’re not normal, y’know?” she laughed.
“I know I’m not normal, babe. That’s why I’m Billie. THE Billie. Non normal extraordinaire!” He fiddled with a few stray hairs sticking up out of place.
“Alex?” Billie said so full of fear it almost squeaked.
Alex looked up. “Yeah?”
“Alex!” he screamed. “Alex! Come here!”
She jumped up and walked over to the bathroom and saw him fear stricken. “What is it?”
He pointed to a small, black spot on the wall of the bathroom. “Kill it!” he screeched.
It moved a few centimeters. He screamed. “Ah! Kill it!”
She laughed at how big of a deal he was making out of a spider.
“Don’t laugh! Kill it!” he looked at her.
“Fine, fine.” Alex turned around and walked out of the bathroom door. Billie stood there, staring at the bug. She came back in a few moments later, carrying a small Tupperware container.
“You need to kill it, Alex, not keep it as a pet!” she squawked.
“I’m not going to kill it, I’m putting it back outside.” she gently pushed him away from the wall and opened the container. He watched in complete horror as she coaxed the spider into the plastic and put the lid back on.
She held the container up in front of her face. “See? It’s just an teensy weensy spider!” She laughed and walked over to the balcony.
“Everyone deserves a second chance.” She whispered to the spider as she bent down to the patio. She opened the lid and let it go, free to live, free to keep living.

*

Billie walked out of the room and as soon as she was sure that he was out of earshot, Alex scurried over to Mike.
“Hey, Mike.”
He looked up at her. “Huh?”
“Do you think I could get away with doing something on stage?” she looked at him with excited eyes.
“What do you mean?” he looked at her confused.
“I mean, like,” she paused. “Kind of embarrassing Billie.” She laughed.
“It depends. Is it funny or just plain torture?”
“Um, both, I think.”
He nodded. “Yeah, probably. He likes you, so he would probably just laugh along with it.”
Alex got up. “Okay. I just wanted to make sure.”

*

Billie and Alex raced onto the stage. The crowd roared with excitement. Billie stood there and posed with his hands on his hips, standing like a superhero. Moments later, the whole concert started out with just the single chords of American Idiot.
Billie began doing the “Hey Hooooooos” after a few songs, and Alex saw this as her chance. It was when Billie started doing his usual “Ah’s’” and eventually going into faking an orgasm when she decided that she was going to do something that she had always wanted to do.
She had arranged before they had gone on stage with the sound crew that she was going to pick up a mic during the show, so she ran over to the left of the stage and picked up the microphone, being unnoticed by Billie.
She bit her lip and ran over to him, preparing herself. She got over near to him as he was getting ready to stick his hand down his pants.
“Billie! Oh, yes!” she screamed. “Yes, yes, yes!” and she stuck her hand down the front of her pants. “Oh my God! Ohhhhh! Ahhh! Ahhh!” she faked, amusing herself, and the crowd. Billie watched in astonishment as she continued to, ahem, fake an orgasm.
-Billie’s POV-
She was just standing there, in front of twenty thousand people, with her hand down her pants. Yeah, I was amazed. But I wasn’t aroused. Okay, maybe a little. But she was just…Alex. Like, she was all “I don’t give a shit about what you think!” type thing.
She looked up at the ceiling and held the mic up to her mouth. “Billie! I think I’m gonna need to see you baaaaaaaackstaaaaaage!”
-End POV-
Some people may have said that the look on Billie’s face was pure enjoyment, others say he was just horny.
But what it really was was when he realized that the only way he’d ever be happy was if she was around. The moment was when he realized that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. This was the moment when Billie realized he finally found something he found worth living for. And his reason was…her.

*HA! I'm not sure if I like the ending, though. I knew I wanted to do this, and I had everything all planned out, but... I didn't know how to write it out. So, I hope you like it. Oh, and guess what?! My birthday is Saturday. Yep. The 24th. So, I think, in order to give myself a little free-time, I think I'm going to take a break. From everything---my story, GSB (*gasp*), everything. Because apparently, I need to study a bit more and get my Reading grade up. (Ironic, huh?)