The Correlation Between Peppermint and Eyeliner

Poprocks and Coke

Part 7: Poprocks and Coke

“So… this is your place.” Billie said when he followed her into the clean, tiny apartment.
“Yup, this is my huge mansion.” She sarcastically breathed, setting her cell phone on the counter a few steps ahead, making a clack noise.
“Looks cozy.” He studied the room. It’d been a long time since he saw an actual civilized home.
“Yeah, well…” she looked around the room. “Poprocks!” she yelled from the front of the apartment. “Coke!”
Billie smiled, hearing his song titles again.
Pretty soon, he heard a faint meow and a tiny but abnormally fat cat came running from the slightly opened door across the apartment. Alex picked the yellow tiger cat up, bracing it in her arms.
“Billie, meet Coke.” She introduced them and Billie reached over and petted the cat’s head.
“I think I’ve heard those words before,” he said as an inside joke about his teenage years.
Another cat jumped down from behind them off of the top of the refrigerator, causing a loud thump in vibration.
“Oh, and that’s Poprocks.” She pointed to the other small and overly heavy cat, letting Coke jump out of her arms. The cat was pure white, with just a small speck of gray on one ear.
Billie nodded. “Who came up with the names?”
“Well, Jen and I are both fans of that song, and when we moved in together, we got cats from the shelter and named them.” Alex smiled. “She also has a snake named St. Jimmy, so the song names continue, if you were wondering.”
Billie laughed slightly, and then continued to scan the room.
“Well, um, I need a shower, but you’re welcome to stay.” She offered, and she walked over to the door, which appeared to be the bathroom.
“Yeah, sure…” he said and he sat down on the couch.
“Okay…” she opened the door and closed it. When she got inside the bathroom, she silently screamed in excitement. She started the shower and hopped in, letting the warm water flow over her body.
Billie walked around the front of the apartment, studying the details of what her life was like. So far, he had concluded that she liked chick flick movies, was a vegetarian, wrote and worked as a waitress at the Iron City Bar and Grill. He had also come across that Alex went to poetry slams and open mic nights in some towns he had never heard of.
As Billie walked down the walls looking at all of the stuff, he suddenly came across a small notebook.
It was gray and blue, with the heart grenade on it. Something inside of him gave him the feeling he wasn’t suppose to read what was inside, but curiosity over ruled.
Written down on the pages was what looked like were poems.

“Day by day, my soul sinks through, the suicide in my heart, for what I’ve come to…”

Billie read these interesting and often depressing writings. He read them up and down until he came across one he saw that almost seemed like a song.

“You’re the reason she’s not here today… Suicide all down the bay… She had the gun, the trigger on her love… and she pulled it…”

Okay, this sounded like a Jesus of Suburbia and St. Jimmy, only in female form. Sort of. Billie thought once he read it all. He noticed that her songs and poems were not just pulled out of the blue. They looked like they were really written from the heart; which was what Billie had put into his own writing.
He read the song over and over again until he could listen to the melody in his head. He thought this song had potential; had a future. Like it was supposed to have more than just a page in a book.
The door of the bathroom creaked open, and Billie’s first instinct was ‘Oh, shit. Maybe she’ll be mad…’
Alex’s head stuck out the door and she saw Billie, on the couch, not knowing he was sitting on the ‘Soul Seducer’ as she called it. (The name from which she titled because as soon as she opened the book, her soul would pour out feelings.)
Billie smiled at her, seeing her come out dressed in black jeans, a shirt that says “Addicted to Guys in Eyeliner” and her long red hair in a ponytail with chopsticks.
“So, did you find it?” she asked nervously.
“Find what?” Guilt was building up in Billie’s veins.
“The book… The ‘Soul Seducer’.”
Billie tried to look like he had no idea what she was talking about.
“I know you did… It has a way of finding people.” She added.
Okay, Billie couldn’t take this anymore. He didn’t want to lie to the woman that he had begun to get a crush on. He reached behind him and grabbed the journal, showing guilt and looking sorry for what he did. He hoped to hell she wouldn’t be mad. He handed it out to her, and she smiled.
“It’s okay… I don’t mind if you read it.” She looked at him. The sorry in Billie left and a great deal of relief came over him.
“Good, because I didn’t want you to be pissed at me.” He laughed and she shook her head.
“Why would I be pissed at you? I wouldn’t dare be ticked at Billie Joe.” She said sarcastically.
He reached over and pulled her close to his side. “Y’know, Alex, I think I might like you.” He confessed and grinned.
“Well, that’s a good thing, because if you didn’t, I’d have to make you leave.” She looked at him and he had a spark inside of him, like he did when he drew contact with her emerald green eyes surrounded by newly applied eyeliner. He put his hand lightly on the side of her cheek and leant in towards her face. She met him halfway and their lips met. Alex’s head filled with air as she kissed him, letting go of her bad thoughts. The refreshed smell of peppermint returned to Billie’s senses. They had been kissing for a good minute or so when Alex’s cell phone rang.
She unwillingly broke away and walked up to get her blue flip phone off of the counter.
“Hey…” she answered when she flipped up the flap.
“Hey, where are you?” it was her friend Jen.
“At home…” she took a breath, and decided she’d make Jen scream again. “Making out with Billie Joe.”
These sorts of predictions never failed- Jen squealed into the other line.
“Hey, Jen, I gotta let you go…” Alex said when she saw Billie’s face.
“But, Alex, wait-“
“What do you want from me?” Alex sarcastically whined.
“Make sure you feed the cats. And check on Jimmy.”
“Okay… Fine… Bye, Jen! I promise I’ll call you later!” Alex was eager to get back to Billie’s arms. She closed the flip phone and looked down at the cats’ food dish. She took a scoop of food from the bag underneath the sink and hurriedly poured it in, tossing the scooper on the floor behind her.
She skipped to Billie childishly and plopped over beside him. He leaned over and began kissing her as he had started before, continuing their make-out session.
After a while, Alex looked at the clock. Shit, how time flies when you’re having fun. She thought. She had to work tonight, in about an hour.
“Hey, I have to get to work soon.” She said quickly to Billie, who was leaning over her on the couch.
“Are you serious?” he whined.
“Yes…” times like this she hated her job even more.
“Can’t you just, like, call in sick or something?” he asked her, not really knowing how the job thing worked.
“No, I have to go…I need the money…”
“I’ll give you the money,” he suggested.
“Billie Joe, I’m not going to take your money.” She said to him, looking him playfully in the eye.
“I promise. I get off work at 2 am and then I’ll call you, assuming you’ll still be up thinking about me…” she reasoned.
Billie smiled and kissed her one more time.
She got ready for work, putting her tacky waitress lower-apron on and Billie drove her back to the bus to get her car.
He kissed her good bye and she left, knowing he’d be there when she got off of her 9-hour shift.

*Hehe... Billie kissed her!