Good Riddance

The next morning I was awake relatively early like always. I wasn’t much of a late sleeper, once I was awake I tended to get up and make myself busy, I couldn’t face lying in bed when I had been there all night.

This morning was different however, it was Saturday morning and seeing as I didn’t have to be home for another three hours I had plenty of time for doing exactly what I liked. This morning that constituted staring at Billie as he slept and not much else. He had his arm over his eyes and the other one was hanging off the side of the bed. The arm that was over his eyes had been around me for much of last night but as I had shifted in my sleep, he too had moved.

I got slowly out of bed and made my way to the sink to clean my teeth. I did this quickly and as quietly as possible before sneaking to his chest of drawers. I needed something to put on and it was mighty cold this morning. I ended up pulling on a t-shirt of his and finding a pair of over large sweatpants.
I slid back into the bed with him trying to be careful as I did so I didn’t wake him. He stirred. Dammit.

“Morning” he said as he opened his eyes and looked across at me.

“Hey” I said quietly, “Sorry I woke you”

“It’s alright, what time is it?” he asked blearily.

“Like half eight” I said and giggled as his eyes widened in protest.

“I haven’t been awake this early on a non school morning since never” he said closing his eyes again.

“Well go back to sleep then” I said, “I’m quite content to be here”

“mmmm” was all he said and put his arm out for me. I put my head on his chest and smiled indulgently as he fell back to sleep; typical man.

I turned over slightly so I was lay on my back and looked around his room. He had the sofa in the area near the door in front of a really crappy T.V set, Mike’s bed was in the corner although I think he spent more time at Kiera’s these days anyway. The two guitars of Billie’s were leaning in the corner and there was also his chest of drawers and wardrobe, there was also a bookshelf and a chair next to it, his desk was near there as well with an office chair next to that; the desk was extremely untidy with papers all over it and at least two coffee mugs. The cream carpet went nicely with the dark blue walls in the room. The light was coming from the windows at the top of the far wall where the ground level was.

It was quiet upstairs and I assumed Ollie had already gone out to her Saturday job and Daniel wasn’t up yet. I could hear someone mowing their lawn across the street and I wondered why they were doing it so early.

It was then that there was a knock on the door. I slowly slid out of the warmth of the covers and went to the basement door.

“Hello?” I asked.

“It’s just us Scar” I heard Jess’ voice, “Open up”

I quickly unlocked the door and opened the door to be greeted with a bright eyed Jess, a bleary eyed Mike and a equally dopey looking Tre. Mike merely walked past us and flopped down headfirst onto his bed and fell asleep.

“Be quiet guys!” I half whispered, “Billie’s still asleep”

Mike didn’t even answer but Jess half nodded as she watched Tre fall onto the sofa and fall asleep.

“Why are you here so early?” I asked her.

“Let’s go upstairs so we don’t wake the sleeping beauties?” she asked. I nodded in agreement and I followed her up the stairs letting the door shut quietly behind us.

“I had to go pick up Mike from Kiera’s house and I told Tre he could stay in bed but he insisted he came with me,” Jess said, “So as I result I dropped Mike off here and had Tre in tow because he insisted on it and now they’re all asleep”

“So I see” I murmured as we went into the kitchen, “Do you know where Ollie keeps anything?”

“Sure” she said, “Sit and I’ll make us coffee, or rather I’ll make you coffee and me hot chocolate”

“Hot chocolate at nine in the morning?” I asked.

“Hot chocolate is good at any time of the day!” said Jess, “Have you ever tried those ones where you just use the block of chocolate?”

“Erm no?” I said as she busied herself.

“Well I have,” she said, “First time I tried it was a disaster and I didn’t add hot milk, just hot water and I kinda ended up with a gooey lump in the bottom of the cup”

“Ew” I commented.

“Yeah, it was a bit icky” she said crinkling up her nose. I just smiled as she put down a hot cup of coffee in front of me.

“This might wake the dead” said Jess, “Billie is a coffee addict”

“I know,” I said, “The other morning I was here I literally unscrewed the top of the coffee Ollie had left out and he was at my side almost breathing it in”

“Sounds like him” Jess said as she sat down with her chocolate.

“Why did Mike have to turf out of Kiera’s?” I asked.

“She’s going flying today” said Jess, “She had to leave early”

“In the state she was in?” I asked, “Isn’t she majorly hungover?”

“Kiera holds her drink well” said Jess with a grin.

“Evidently” I said rolling my eyes.

“So what happened last night?” asked Jess leaning in.

“If you’re after gossip I’m afraid it’s intensely boring, nothing happened except us curling to sleep” I said.

“So why are you wearing his clothes?” she asked.

“Because it was cold in my undies!” I said.

“Ah hah!” said Jess, “So you slept in your undies next to him?”

“Um yes?” I said, “I wasn’t about to sleep in my dress”

“You could have borrowed his t-shirt...” Jess said with a grin.

I floundered for a moment and then just shrugged, “It was comfy”

“Good” she said eventually with a grin. I heard a noise from downstairs that sounded like a yell of surprise and then feet up the stairs.

“Here comes yours now” said Jess naming Billie as more of an object than a man. I giggled with her.

***

The next week was a bit surreal. It was wet but it was warm which I disliked intensely, it made my hair frizz, which never usually happened. What else was weird is that I had become part of this special group, I almost felt like I was part of a cult. I was officially “Billie Joe’s Girlfriend” to the rest of the student populous and that meant that I didn’t get talked to, bothered or annoyed by the majority of people, most people didn’t know my name but it didn’t seem to matter, it seemed like Jess and Kiera shared the same status respectively. Nobody seemed to mess with them. I had asked Billie one lunch time what made him so special and he just said association. I wondered what he meant by that because I didn’t find Tre, Mike or Billie particularly scary – Tre trying to threatening would just be amusing.

It turned December on the Thursday of the week and Miss Hickett reminded me that the arts festival was the week after, it didn’t phase me particularly.

“But I don’t have a partner” I said to her as I stood in my modern dance clothes about to try the show dance again with her.

“Wrong” she said with an indulgent grin. I glanced at Billie who was sat in the corner as usual and he just shrugged at me.

“Who?” I asked biting my lip as I stood with my hands on my hips.

“Your mother called last week to tell me the news but she wanted it to be a surprise for you so she made me promise not to tell you, he just arrived today” said Mandy before grinning and running to the door. I was still really confused and I turned after her as she opened the door.

“Zach!!” I shouted as the boy came through the door. I screamed quite loudly and launched myself at him, he caught me and I wrapped my legs around his waist, hanging my arms around his neck. I couldn’t stop laughing as he was.

“What are you going here!?” I asked eventually as I stood back on the floor.

“I just arrived here from England, my mum lost her job and dad was feeling depressed so they thought they’d relocate completely, you know like a fresh start, and I suggested Cali and here we are!” he said, “I’m back”

“That’s incredible!” I said my head still spinning, “I can’t believe this, it’s so surreal!”

I heard a noise behind me and I spun around to face Billie who was looking at me confused due to the fact I had my legs wrapped around another boy. Zach hastily put me down.

“Billie this is Zach I told you about!” I said, “He’s my friend and dance partner from England!”

“I gathered” said Billie and then he stuck his hand out, “Hey Zach I’m Billie, Scarlett’s boyfriend”

If I hadn’t known better then I would have thought he had put a slight tone onto the boyfriend, just to make it more recognisable.

“Hi Billie,” said Zach taking his hand, they shook hands briefly and then there was a stony silence between them.

“Well this is comfortable,” I said, “So I take it we’re going to dance together again?”

“If you’ll still have me” Zach said with a grin.

“Of course!” I said with a giggle, “If you can still lift me, I’ve got a little chubby recently”

“Chubby my ass” said Zach appreciatively and with that he put his hands on my waist and lifted me onto his shoulders with ease. He then twisted me over so I was upside down, he spun me down again and I landed gracefully.

“Yes you can still lift me!” I said and I heard Billie go sit back down.

“I want to see you dance together just to get a gage on you, Scarlett do the tango routine with me and then I want to see Zach fall in” said Mandy, “Is that alright?”

“Sure,” I said, “How will he get the steps in one go?”

“I was going over them with him at lunchtime,” said Mandy, “So he’s knows ‘em, he’s just got to see where you fit around him”

“Oh okay” I said and grinned at Zach who flashed me a winning smile and I took up position with Mandy. She pressed the button on the remote for the CD player and we launched into our tango routine even though tonight it was supposed to be modern dance.

“Okay Zach?” Mandy said.

“Yeah sure” he said and we went over to the start in the opposite corner to Billie.

“Now remember,” said Mandy, “I want to see passion and anger between you”

“Easily done” I said pulling a face Zach. I couldn’t believe he was back! It was amazing, it felt so good to be dancing with someone I knew and that I could win with. I took up hold with him and I snapped my head away from him as the music started. We went through the routine and neither of us messed it up at any point. It was brilliant to be dancing with someone who was used to dancing the guy parts and wasn’t too busy looking out for my faults to concentrate wholly on their own parts.

“Excellent!” said Mandy as the music finished, “That was brilliant, not a step wrong!”

I beamed at Zach and he laughed, “Just like old times?”

“Just like old times” I agreed, “But the show dance is a bit more than we’ve done before”

“I’m up for a challenge” said Zach, “But I can’t wait until we do the rumba!”

“Zach!” I admonished glancing over my shoulder at Billie but he seemed to have missed the significance, I mouthed that we were nearly done and he nodded.

“I just want to try the two difficult lifts in the show dance and then you’re free to go” said Mandy, “Is your shoulder up to it?”

“Yeah it’s fine now” I said with a half smile, my shoulder still had some ugly bruising on it but it was feeling better.

“Right Zach” said Mandy, “The first one is just a waist lift, a clockwise spin to 180, up and then a split from Scarlett obviously, a spin down and then she lands it”

“Okay” said Zach, “Well that sounds easy enough”

I smiled at him as I stood in front of him facing away from him, he put his hands firmly cross on my waist and then lifted me, he spun me around so my head was near the floor, he lifted me up and I did the splits as he held me up, he spun me back and I landed out of it.

“Good!” said Mandy, “Well that’s encouraging, you don’t need much support”

“What’s the other lift?” Zach asked.

“It’s a dolphin lift into a crucifix and a spin off” said Mandy. Zach’s eyes widened but I braced myself and in the end we did the lift perfectly. Most people think that getting hauled about is a nice feeling but it is really not, often you get dropped, hands go in the wrong place, you slip, you pull muscles. It’s not really much fun unless you’re weightless.

The practice ended after we’d done those two lifts and I hurried over to Billie, he stood up. He looked extremely grumpy.

“Billie?” I asked him, “Zach and I are gonna drive back to mine because he lives in the same neighbourhood are you coming?”

“Nah,” said Billie looking over at Zach who was talking to Mandy, “I’m just gonna head to Mike’s for a while and then I’ll go home”

“Um, okay then” I said biting my lip and looking at the floor, “Guess I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah sure” he said and stalked off at the room.

“What crawled up him and died?” asked Zach staring after my boyfriend.

“Zach!” I said, “I think he’s just a bit miffed off that you’re here”

“What does he see me as a threat?” Zach asked, “Excellent”

“Stop being such an ass!” I said to him, “Otherwise I’ll make you walk while I drive”

“No fair” Zach said, “If Billie can’t face some healthy competition then...”

“You’re not competition!” I said, “You’re just a friend”

“I live in hope” he said with a grin.

“Did you know if they made a book about your ego it would have to be about 40,000 pages long and I thought Billie was egotistical” I said heading out the studio with my bag on my back. Zach just grinned at me and we made the way to my mini with him in tow. Throughout the next few hours where we were talking in the kitchen with my mum about how she’d kept the secret from me and how Zach was finding America so far, I was preoccupied. I couldn’t stop thinking about the look on Billie’s face and I’d already sworn Zach to secrecy on the matter of Billie. He agreed only because he valued our friendship, not because he cared about Billie.

After Zach had left I got a quick shower and I changed.

“Mum?” I asked as I went back downstairs, “I’ve got to go to Jess’ house”

“Why?” Mum asked warily.

“Because she’s got some of my stuff from Saturday” I lied. Lying to my mum had become a habit of mine and for the most part I got away with it.

“Okay, but I want you back tonight” she said pointing a wooden spoon at me.

“Why?” I asked, “Please let me stay out mum”

It took my mum a few moments to agree but then she merely sighed and made me promise I would go to school in the morning before she let me leave the house. I pulled my jacket closer, of course I had no intention of going to Jess’, I was going to Billie’s.

I reached his house after about twenty minutes and of course after about five minutes of walking it decided it was going to pour with rain so that my blonde hair got stuck to my face and down my back in the torrent of rain that fell.

I walked up to the front door and knocked. Ollie answered the door, Tuesday was one of the rare nights that she was actually in.

“Hey Scarlett, do you want me to get Billie?” she asked.

“No,” I said, “He’s mad at me, I need to talk to him”

“Typical man, fumes away in his room, doesn’t air his problems!” said Ollie rolling her eyes and letting me in, “Scar you’re soaked, don’t you wanna change?”

“Haven’t got anything” I said, “I’ll change later”

“Alright” she said and shrugged before turning back to the kitchen in which nice smells were emanating from. I turned away from it and went down the dark stairwell to the basement door which was shut. I knocked carefully and waited.

“Who is it?” came the eventually reply.

“It’s me,” I said quietly, “Scar”

There was another lengthy pause before I heard him come to the door and unlock it. He looked down at me stood in the gap between the door and the stairs, dripping a nice puddle onto the concrete.

“Scar you’re soaking” he said looking down at me but he let me in anyway. I walked into the warmth of his room and stood there looking relatively pathetic. He had has his back turned to me.

“I’m sorry for earlier” I said to him but I didn’t move any closer, “I should have stayed with you”

“It’s okay” Billie said turning back to me, “I shouldn’t have been such an ass, I understand he’s your best friend and stuff but I just felt a bit –

He cut off and moved closer to me.

“A bit what?” I asked, “Jealous?”

There was a slight pause, “yeah”

“Billie, you have nothing to worry about” I said, “Zach is my friend, that is it. He is my dance partner. I am with you and there is no way I would choose him over you, he’s even more egotistical than you are”

Billie smiled, “Scar you’re so weird”

“You’re the one whose mad over nothing and I am the weird one?”

“You’ve walked here in the pouring rain, to talk to me because I was pissed at you” he said.

“Well I wasn’t gonna let you stay pissed at me” I said to him with a confused face. Billie just smiled and kissed me softly.

“But there was one thing...” Billie said.

“Yes?” I asked.

“What did he mean when he said he couldn’t wait till you did the rumba?” Billie asked, “What is the rumba?”

I grinned at him and put my hands on his shoulders.

“I could teach you if you like?” I said biting my lip again and looking up at him through my lashes.