I Was Only Dreaming

I watched in horror as Tre stuffed another dumpling into his mouth, then shoveled in another forkful of peas.
"Tre, please! We have a guest!" Ollie swatted at Tre's arm, and gave her 'What did I do wrong?' look.
I giggled a bit. "Don't worry, ma'am, I go to high school. I have seen how disgusting the jocks can be!"
Ollie smiled at me very sweetly.
I found that I really liked Ollie. She really reminds me of Mom, before, y'know, the accident. Always happy, cheerful, and always criticizing people on eating habits. My dad used to eat like Tre and only cleaned up his act when you-know-who entered the picture.
After dinner, Billie helped Ollie with the dishes while Mike, Tre and I waged arm wrestling wars with each other. I won every time, of course. We then proceeded to watch the original 'Dracula' on TV. Tre kept trying to scare me every time something happened. It got so annoying that I had to hit him in the stomach...which led to more arm wrestling.
This was the kind of life I had always wanted. A wonderful mom to cook meals and care about me, maybe a couple of brothers who always picked on me and scared me but loved me to death... This is what I always wanted. I have been on my own and so alone for so long now, I forgot what it's like to have a mother, and I've never had any siblings at all. Frankly, I never wanted to leave this house.
It about 8:30 I checked my phone. There were three new messages from my dad. Ugh. If I didn't show up before nine, he was going to be really pissed. I mean, even more then usual.
I announced that I should probably bet going, but Tre jumped off the couch and gave a huge bear hug. Squeezing...the...life...outta...me. When he finally let go, I let out a big sigh, trying to catch my breathe.
Mike was laughing, and so was Ollie. But I looked over at Billie, who was sitting on a recliner, just staring at me. Not smiling, but not frowning...just staring. It was a little creepy, actually.
Mike got up, still laughing a little bit. "I'll drive you home."
"Thanks," i reply, then I say my goodbyes to Ollie, who hugs me, Tre, who gives me another suffocating bear hug, and Billie, who just smiles at me. He is still staring.
We go outside and Mike opens the door of his car for me. I step in, and he gets in the driver's seat. He starts the car and pulls into the street.
"So, what do ya think about us?" He asks me. I begin to watch the route from Mike's house to mine, making sure I know exactly how to get there.
"Tre's fucking crazy. Oliie's just the sweetest. Billie's kinda weird." I say, watching Mike's reactions to the comments. He laughed at the ones about Tre and Billie, but grinned at the one about Ollie.
"What 'bout me?" Mike asks.
I giggle a bit before answering. "You're awesome. You know that."
Mike smiles at me. Then I see that we're in front of my house and that warm feeling in my stomach that I had all night was gone.
"You want me to come inside with you?" Mike asks.
"No," I sigh. "If I just ignore them, they'll ignore me."
"Are you sure?"
No, I'm not sure. Please come in with me, Mike, I can't face them.
"I'm sure. I'll be okay," I say, and I reach over and hug him. He kisses my cheek and says that he'll see me tomorrow.
I get out of the car and walk to my window. I climb the little homemade ladder and when I reach my bedroom window, it's locked. Uh oh.
I climb back down and go to the front door. I peek through the window right next to it, but see no one.
Okay, I think. Maybe it'll be okay.
As soon as I open the door, I immediately regret not asking Mike to come in with me. I see Patricia at the kitchen table, a lit joint in one hand, and several empty bottles on the table.
"Where the hell have you been?" She asks, angrily, as she gets up.
"I, uh, had d-dinner with a, uh, friend," I say. Patricia's coming closer to me, now, and I start to back into the living room. I see her pick up a thin, small glass off of the table. Great. Just what I need. another fight.
"What friend? You don't have any friends, you low-life piece of shit!" At that, Patricia throws the glass at me, but I cover my face with my arm. The glass hits my arm and shatters against it. I feel warm, sticky stuff pour from my arm. I press my arm to my shirt, hoping to stop the bleeding.
Patricia picks up a bottle and throws it my way. I get out of its way as it hits the wall and glass bits go everywhere. Patricia grabs me by the wrist and throws a punch. I duck, but she then hits me in the stomach.
I fall to my knees, trying to decide which I should hold, my arm or my stomach. Patricia slaps me as I struggle to get up. When I make it to my feet, I stumble to the stairs and fall about five times before making it to my room. I shut the door, lock it, and even stuff my desk chair under the door knob, just in case Daddy Dearest decides to pay me a visit.
I stumble into my bathroom. I grab the nearest towel and press it against my arm. The bleeding is not stopping, and I get very worried that it never will stop. I look out my window and see my dad's car pull into the driveway. Great. Just what I need.
I get a fresh towel and wrap my arm in it. I tie my green sweater around my waist, just because it's my favorite, and quickly unlock my window. I slip down the ladder, amazed that I didn't fall, and run to the only safe place I could think of.
I kind of lose self-awareness, and my brain doesn't know where my feet are taking me. I guess I lost a lot of blood. I find my self knocking on someone's door. I collapse into someone's arms. Then everything goes black.
*
The first thing I feel before even opening my eyes is warmth. I feel soft sheets, fluffy pillows, and a thick bandage around my arm. Oh, and a bad pain in my stomach.
I open my eyes and I can barely see anything. I see the soft glow of light from a lamp next to the hug bed I'm in. I see a figure sitting in a chair on the other side of me. The figure has his head in his hands.
I shift a little bit on the bed and the figure looks up. It's Mike. He sees me awake and a look of relief is on his face.
"Hey there," He says, smiling at me. "Thought you'd never get up."
I groan from the pain of my stomach, arm, and now my head hurts. "Yeah," I squeak out. "What happened?"
"You knocked on the door, then just fell on me when I answered it," Mike looks at me with worry. I see that his shirt is soaked in my blood and i feel a bit guilty.
"Now what happened to you?" Mike asks me. He slides off the chair onto his knees next to the bed. He takes my hand.
"Um, after you left, Patricia was really drunk and stuff, and she started to throw stuff at me and she hit me-" Mike stops me from saying anything else.
"Yeah, I figured it was her or your father," he whispers. I just noticed that the two of us have been very quiet about speaking. Maybe because the whole house sounds quiet.
"But you don't have to worry about that anymore, Jessie, 'cuz you're gonna stay here with us. I shoulda done this a long time ago, right when I first met you. I'm really sorry that I didn't, and that you had to go through all this. I'm really, truly, sorry," Mike looks like he's gonna cry.
I really don't understand why, though. It's as much my fault as it is his. I'm a hard-headed bitch and I didn't want to leave home, I always felt as though I would be letting Patricia win.
I struggled to sit up for a minute. When I did, I stuck out my index finger and had Mike come in closer to me. When he did, I leaned in and gently placed my lips upon his. It wasn't quite a kiss; I don't know what you'd call it, exactly. There was no tongue, no teeth, just... a little kiss, I guess.
Mike was a little surprised at this, considering what just happened to me. But, nonetheless, he didn't do anything to stop it.
I'm pretty sure that this could've gone on for a little while longer if the bedroom door hadn't opened. I pulled away from Mike and looked up. Billie was standing in the doorway, looking at me like he had when I had left earlier. However, his look was mixed with... anger? Hurt? I must not be seeing things clearly...
But, I did see Tre push Billie out of his way so he could come in the room. I sigh and slip back under the sheets. I am really tired and all I want to do is sleep.