I Was Only Dreaming

*Jessie's POV*

"Tre! Get your ass back here, we're not done!" I yelled at Tre, who was running away from the car, into the house.
"Tre! I am not carrying all this stuff in by myself, you know that, right? Tre!"
I sighed in frustration. So much for that. I opened the backseat of the car and picked up a white garbage bag full of clothes. I carried it over to the front door, which Tre left open, and carelessly throw it in the house. I hear someone yell, "Hey!" as I go back to the car for more.
I see Billie walk out the door, rubbing his knee. Oops.
"Ya got some throw, there!" He laughed.
"Oh, right, sorry about that," I say, blushing.
"Mind if I help?" He smiles, and I see his jade colored eyes sparkle.
"If you don't mind, Tre ditched me for MTV, or something."
"No, he's playing video games with Mike," Billie responds. At the sound of Mike's name, I remember what happened a few hours ago. I blush automatically.
Billie notices this and laughs. This, of course, makes me blush even more.
"Sorry about that, “I say. "I mean I know people have to sit on that that couch an all."
"Oh, don't worry bout it. I talked to him, and everything's good," he said.
"Oh, okay. Here, take this bag," I hand a black duffel bag to Billie. We carry a few things in the house, passing Mike and Tre playing Pacman in the living room. As we passed through, Mike looked up at me and gave me a weak smile. I felt him touch my hand for second and I turn towards him and he smiles. Genuinely. "You wanna go to the beach tomorrow?"
I grin. "Of course. I haven't been there in ages," I give him a wink before following Billie up the stairs to my room. We place the bags on the floor, and then make three more trips before Tre's car is fully unloaded.
We place the final load in my room when Billie asks if I need help with anything else.
"No, I think I can take it from here. But thanks for the offer, and for helping me drag all this shit up here," I say, grinning.
"No problem, I-"
I hear the front door open and shut. Ollie must be home.

Mike's POV

I know I should tell her. I should just March right up those stairs and tell Jessie what Billie told me. But, if I know Billie, he will move on very quickly, and we will forget all of this.
I hear the front door open, and Tre drops his controller and runs, " screaming, "Ollie!!!" I don't believe I will ever understand the mind of Tre Cool.
Ollie comes into the living room, greeting me with a smile. "Hey, Mike. How’s the patient doin?"
I stifle a laugh, thinking, a whole lot better, trust me, as what happened earlier crosses my mind. "Jessie's doin good. I think she's upstairs with Billie. Tre went over to her house while her parents were out and got her stuff from her room," I decide to not mention the fact that she went as well.
"Oh, that's good. I've been thinking about that. Thank you, Frank, I appreciate it." Tre is now bear hugging Ollie.
Billie and Jessie come downstairs just then. Ollie smiles at Jessie and asks her how she's doing, how do you feel, are you okay emotionally, y’know, shit like that. Olivier goes into the kitchen to start dinner, and asks Jessie to help her. Billie plops down on the couch between Tre and me and suggests Asteroids.

Jessie's POV

“Can you please turn on the stove?" Ollie asks me, and I do so. Ollie takes some leftover mac and cheese and puts it in the oven. Then she starts to pour vegetables into a pot on the stove.
"So, are you sure everything is alright?" Ollie asks.
"Yeah, I'm sure," I say.
"Do you think you may be able to take care of those three boys for the night? I hate to ask you, but I have to go out tonight," Ollie says, eying me with caution.
"I don't mind. Where do you have to go?"
"I, uh, have a date." Ollie blushes like a little girl after her first kiss.
"Ah, I see. With who?"
"His name is Brad. I met him a few months ago." Ollie got kind of a glazed-over eye look. Well then, I thought. Looks like somebody's been getting around. It makes me wonder about Ollie's husband, Billie's father. I'll have to ask Billie about that.
"Oh, okay. I'll be fine. When will you be home?" I ask.
Ollie giggles a bit. "Oh, there's no telling when, I'm afraid."
I smile at her as she leaves the kitchen and goes upstairs. I start stirring the vegetables in the pot of now boiling water. I then hear a crash, and then Tre runs through the kitchen, with Billie following him, and with Mike following Billie. Tre and Billie storm down into the garage, but Mike hangs back in the kitchen with me.
"I'm not even gonna ask about that," I say.
I can feel Mike grin even from behind me. "Yeah, you really don't wanna know. So where's Ollie off to?"
I pause before answering. I wasn't sure if I should answer that. "She went out with some guy," I say.
"Some guy? Who?" Mike is facing me now, looking very concerned about this. I mean, what's the big deal?
"She said his name was Brad. And that she's been seeing him for a few months."
Mike sighs and rubs the back of his neck.
"What's wrong?" I ask. I guess I shouldn't have said anything.
"If Billie finds out about this...I don't know what he'll do," He says.
"Why? What's the big deal?"
"Billie's father died when he was ten. Bill's never really been able to get over it, and whenever Ollie dates somebody, he, he, explodes. He goes crazy, like "It's too soon", or "What about Dad?" and stuff like that. And she'd only see them for a couple weeks, then that would be it. But her relationships have never been more than, like, a month at a time. Shit, he's gonna be mad."
I didn't know what to say. I mean, this probably would have gotten out; Ollie would have told Billie, or someone would have seen something. It won't be my fault if Billie finds out. Right?
"What should we do?" I ask.
"I dunno. I think we should just let Ollie tell Billie herself, but I hate to keep stuff from him."
"I guess just let Ollie tell him," I suggest.
"Yeah. That's probably best."

*

Tre left after dinner and went home. Billie, Mike, and I watched "Jaws" and ate some ice cream that was in the freezer. All the while, I couldn't help but to think about what happened before dinner. It was eating at me. And I'm sure it was eating at Mike, too. It was about 11:30 when I went to bed. I was tired from the day's activities, and just wanted to sleep until noon. My plan was interrupted, though.
I hear the squeaky brakes of a car outside the house, and then the door opens and shuts, very quietly. Then the car drives away. Hmm...suspicious. I sneak out of my room and go down a few stairs so I can see into the living room. The TV is still on, and Billie's asleep on the couch. I see Ollie quietly move towards the stairs, but Billie wakes up.
"Mom?" Billie asks, sleepily.
"Oh, Billie, you're awake," Ollie looks worried. Very worried.
"Where ya been? Late shift?" Billie sits up, turning off the TV.
"Um, no, not exactly. I, um, went out...with someone."
I couldn't tell because of the lighting, but I think Billie is starting to get upset. "Who?"
"His name is Brad-"
"How long ya been seeing him?"
"Maybe a couple of months-"
"A couple of months?!" This is when Billie really loses it. "Months? And you didn't tell me?"
"Billie, dear, I just wanted to make sure we were somewhat serious before I-" Ollie is looking a little frightened. Like Billie might hurt her in some way.
"How serious is it?" Billie demands. His voice is loud enough to wake the neighbors. "How serious?!" He shouts again, when Ollie doesn't answer.
"Billie, don't raise your voice-"
Billie gets up and swiftly walks out the front door, slamming it shut. I can see Ollie begin to cry as she climbs the stairs. I quietly slip into my room until I hear her door shut. Then I get dressed quickly and pad down the stairs in my converse. I too, slip out the door.
I see Billie's shadow jogging down the street, opposite the direction of my house. The way I don't know. I follow him, walking, though, so he doesn't notice me. I hear him kick some rocks, mutter stuff I can't quite hear, and sometimes he will stop and look up at the moon.
Eventually, though, he cuts through someone's lawn and walks through a messier, dirtier part of town. Mobil homes with lots of crap in the front, broken down cars, and a thug or two on each corner. The homes begin to get fewer and fewer, until there are none at all. We come to train tracks, and Billie follows them for maybe half a mile until cutting off of them and climbing up a hill. I follow, and when he stops, I stop, maybe fifteen feet away from him. I can see practically all of Rodeo from the top if the hill.
Billie sits down, and I see a flick of light and the sound of a lighter. He takes a bottle out of his jacket pocket and takes a drink from it. The bottle makes me think of what happened last night, but I shake the thought away.
I slowly start to approach Billie, but I step on a twig and it snaps in two. Billie doesn't even turn around. I see him point at me from behind, and then he pats the spot next to him. Well, so much for being quiet. I walk over to him, slowly, and he doesn't even look at me. Billie gestures for me to sit down again. I do so. After maybe five minutes, he turned to face me.
"Hi."