Good Riddance

The next day was heaven for me. Billie moved his T.V so it was at the foot of the bed and throughout the day I remained curled up in his bed and then in his arms as we watched movies. The rain from yesterday had persisted so I didn’t want to go out during the day and he was perfectly content to stay in with me. My favourite type of movies were either action, romance or comedy and Billie seemed to have an abundance of these along with a couple of horror. I wasn’t too into horror movies but I would watch them if that was the general consensus of people I was with.

“What time is it?” I asked as the third film of the day rolled it’s end credits. Billie rolled away from me to look at the clock on his bedside table.

“Ten past four” he said and then looked out of the window, “The rain’s stopped”

“Awesome,” I said, “Maybe, a bit later we can go down to the bridge?”

“You feel like walking that far?” he asked me, holding me closer as he moved back towards me.

“Yeah,” I said, “I’d like to go for a walk. I feel like I’ve been too much of a slob today”

“Everybody’s got to have their slob days” said Billie tucking a piece of stray hair behind my ear. I smiled at him and tilting my face I kissed him softly.

“Are you going to go through with your plan of dyeing it?” he asked me.

“Yeah” I said, “As soon as I get around to it. I haven’t really had much inclination about my hair recently. I’m gonna ask Kiera to get me the dye”

“Cool” he said, “It’ll take a bit of getting used to but it’ll look fantastic. I’m used to having my blonde baby, then it’ll be a fiery redhead”

“Apparently red heads are more passionate” I said to him with a straight face.

“Is that so?” he asked with the beginnings of a grin.

“Mmmm” I said.

“Well, when you get it done, you’ll have to prove it to me” he said with a full on smile and kissed me. I smiled back and nodded in promise.

“So do you start your home schooling this week?” he asked me changing the subject to a much more sedate topic.

“Yeah I do” I said, “Three days a week”

“Three?” asked Billie.

“Yeah,” I said rolling onto my back, “Because apparently my schooling is much more ‘intense’ if I do it at home, it means I can do all the work I need to do in three days instead of five. I then do dance on a Thursday and I get a long weekend on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.”

“Make the guys jealous” he said.

“Don’t know what of” I commented, “I’m usually recovering on Friday, after Thursday. Mandy’s really putting me through my paces at the moment”

“Tell her to go easy this Thursday then?” he said.

“I will do” I said, “No way am I doing a set of fifteen circular split leaps around that room”

“I’ll nod and pretend I know what they are” he said with a smile.

“It’s where I start by the door in the room and I do sideways split leaps all around the room until I get back to where I started from.” I said in a bored tone but he could hear the smile in my voice.

“Alright, I’m-the-best-dancer-in-the-continental-US, some of us aren’t dancing geeks” he said poking me in the side.

“I think all the people with the title of ages above me might have something to say about that” I said with a smile.

“Yeah well,” he said, “You’d prove ‘em wrong”

“If you say so babe” I said and interlaced my fingers with mine.

“I do,” he said, “And my word goes”

*

“Hey Scar!”

I waved as Cassidy called out my name and waved at me from by the river banks on which they were sat. Yes, we had come down to the bridge, I had wanted to get out and Billie had no objections. It was about eight now so it was dark and there was a makeshift campfire burning by the river banks, throwing firelight onto everybody’s faces as they sat around it.

“Long time no see gurl!” said Jo as I sat down next to her.

“It’s been two weeks” I giggled.

“Long time!” she reiterated with a smile. Billie sat down behind me on a log that had been pulled up from god knows where and I leaned against his legs. Tre was sat on my left, Kiera and Mike on his left again.

“Where’s Jess?” I asked him.

“She stayed home” he said, “She didn’t want to risk seeing Joey. Not just yet”

“Yeah, I get that” I said looking across the circle to see Joey. He was smoking a joint, Shell was sat next to him holding his hand. I couldn’t see Joey properly because he was sat in the shadow and yet every time he drew in on the cigarette the dull red light from the tip made his eyes visible. He was staring right at me. It made him look distinctly sinister. I turned to look at Billie for reassurance, he held the hand I offered and I nestled further into him.

“So how’s life Scar?” asked Jo from my right.

“It’s getting better, my dad seems to be somewhat on my side now” I said with half a smile at her, “He’s the one who lied to my mom so I could escape this weekend”

“Cool” said Jo, “Do you think that’s going to become a norm?”

“I don’t know” I said, “Maybe. I hope so. Don’t quite know what lies he’s going to have to make up to my mom though”

“How did he get you out this weekend?” she asked lighting a cigarette.

“He told her we were going to view a dance school in L.A for a long weekend” I said with a smile.

“Oh yeah,” she said, “When are your champs?”

“Six weeks” I said, “I’m freaking slightly”

“Yeah if you win you’ll become a celebrity!” she said.

“Hardly” I said.

“Oh come on Scar” she said, “If you win you’ll be the World Champion at certain dances”

“Only in under eighteen” I said meekly.

“Still” she said, “You’ll have offers for all sorts of things!”

“Like what?” I laughed.

“Dance schools, movies, shows, porn movies –

Billie made a strangled noise from behind me and Jo laughed.

“I think not” I said with a glance up at Billie who’s eyes are stony.

“Have you seen your legs?” asked Jo with a laugh. I know she’s pushing this as far as she can go, she’ll stop in a moment. I smiled at the compliment and squeeze the hand holding mine to let Billie know it’s just a joke.

I looked around the circle at my friends that were gathered there and smiled at the total togetherness of everybody, there was no emnity here, even between Tre and Joey there wasn’t much bad blood, they just avoided each other now. I don’t think Tre had fully forgiven himself for introducing Jess to Joey and it was more for his own benefit that he was staying away from Joey than for want of a fight.

Theo has brought his boom box and somebody switches it on and music fills the large circle of talking people. Some people jump when the music is turned on and I giggle as Kiera nearly spills her glass of punch over herself.

“Shut up” she says to me as she managed to get it to spill on the ground in front of her. A couple of people start to dance to the music coming from the box and it makes me want to dance to do but I get a feeling that would be a really bad idea. A true dancer can’t hear a piece of music without imagining the moves that could be made to it, this piece was quite slow and melodic and imagined the curling and contorting of my body as moved to it.

“What you thinking baby?” asked Billie

“Dancing” I said, “I miss it. I haven’t been dancing for two weeks”

“You’re getting back to it on Thursday aren’t you?” he asked.

“Yeah” I said, “Mandy is having a ten hour rehearsal on Thursday”

“Really?” he asked, “Is that going to be okay?”

“Yeah” I said, “I’ll be fine. I’m just scared I’m not going to get it all done in time for New York”

“You’re a brilliant dancer, Zach is a great partner and Mandy is an amazing choreographer, you will be outstanding” he said. I nodded but I wasn’t sure, I needed to practice more.

The night progressed with talking, music and being together. I was back where I belonged, I loved being down here. Cassidy talked to me for a quite a lot of the night and I asked her about Zach because I hadn’t seen him in over two weeks, she told me that he was missing dance as much as was. We both belonged in the dance studio or on the stage and with one of us locked up, it couldn’t happen.

I heard a church clock strike midnight before I realised what time it was. I stood up and looked around the group which had now dispersed around the area of the bridge for Billie. He was over by one of the arches with Joe and Tommy and I meandered across to get him.

“You wanna go?” he asked.

“Can we go to the park?” I asked him.

“Sure” he said and got up, saying goodbye to the people he was with. He took my hand and after we had said goodbye to the others we made our way toward the park.

“Why the park?” he asked.

“I want to lie on the hill and look at the stars” I said, “As sad as that is”

“It’s not sad” he said with a smile, “If it’s what you want to do then we’ll do it”

I smiled at him and we walked away up the road.

***

“So why did you want come here again?” asked Billie as we lay on the blue black grass of the hill, looking up at the sky.

“This town is so full of light,” I said, “Here, where it’s shaded by trees is the only place you can see the stars”

“That’s quite poetic” he said looking over at me and smiling.

“I am” I said with a grin and shuffled closer to him, he put his arm around me and I put my head on his shoulder.

“So what do you think about when you see the stars?” he asked.

“How small we are” I said immediately, “Everything is so large. We think we are so important and yet when we stop and look around, everything is so much bigger than that, everything is so much bigger than who we are.”

“That’s deep” he commented and stroked my hair softly. I moved my legs so they were entangled with his and moved so I was fully in his arms. It was a warm night so we had no worries about getting cold as we lay on the earth.

“This year has been so amazing” I said, “Everything has changed for me”

“Things are a little different for me as well” Billie said with a grin, “This time last year I was sleeping with pretty much anybody who I get down to my basement –

“That sounds like it’s your lair!” I cut in.

“It was,” he said with a laugh, “Anyway, I was sleeping with anybody who I could and I was smoking weed a lot, playing hashed together tunes on Blue and generally being a waster”

“And now?” I asked.

“Well you’ve made me grow up a lot Scar” he said, “I love you and the band is taking off. You’ve made me sit and smell the coffee and realise that you can’t get through life just being this bastard, you have to actually do something worthwhile with your time to get you where you want to go”

“And you accuse me of being deep” I said but I kissed him on his jaw line anyway.

“Well seeing as we are being” he said, “I just thought I’d say that”

“Thank you” I said, “I love you as well, for making my year the most amazing of my life. A year ago I’d never had a boyfriend, I didn’t think I would know what love felt like for at least another ten years and I had resigned myself to that because I was putting my dancing first. You showed me that you could do both and not split yourself in two doing it”

Billie drew me even closer to him then if that was possible and caught my lips with his in a passionate kiss. I melted into it and rolled onto my back so he could move on top of me. I moved one hand around his back and the other to his chest as his lips sought my neck, I flung my head back and half moaned as he gave me one hell of a hickey that I knew would be a bugger to hide.

“Billie” I said as he moved down to my collar bone, “Stop”

He immediately stop and resting his weight on his forearms he looked down at me.

“What?” he asked.

“I do have to go home on Tuesday” I said with a smile, “If you going to bite me, at least do it where it can’t be seen”

“Well that could be arranged” he said and with that his hand went to the shirt buttons and slowly undid them; one by one before his hand slipped behind my back and undid my bra, before throwing it away. His head dipped again and this time when his lips paid homage to my skin, it was in a place that, once I put a shirt back on, would be unnoticeable.

“That better?” he asked me a while later as his face moved back to mine and kissed me softly.

“Mmm” I said with a giggle, “Much. But it’s only fair that if I’ve got my top off, you do too”

That said I reached down to the hem of his t-shirt and pulled it up and as he sat up, I pulled it over his head and threw it away.

“Better” I said admiring his nicely muscled chest. Not too much, but definitely defined. I loved lying here, darkness our only cover as we kissed. We lay in the total silence of the park for ages and I in the silence I pondered about everything that could be, would be and had been. I heard a police siren in the distance and I started and sat up.

“Whoa” Billie said, sitting up and catching my shoulders, “What’s up?”

“We could get arrested?” I whispered, “If we get caught in a state of undress in the middle of the park”

“I think the cops around here have worse things to worry about” he said with a grin.

“Hum” I said smiling and lying back down, “What time do you guess it is?”

“About three” he said with a shrug, “I guess we should be getting home, if we don’t Ollie will get up at five for her morning job and wonder where the hell we are”

“mmm” I whined, “A few more minutes. It’s so peaceful out here”

“Aren’t you cold?” he asked me.

“No” I said with a smile, “You?”

He just shook his head and sat up before drawing me onto his lap. He kissed me softly.

“You know that that perv in the bush over there is getting a right show” he whispered against my neck which caused me to leap up off his lap and jump to my feet, wildly looking around. I looked down at Billie who was in hysterics on the floor.

“You ass!” I said to him and kicked him lightly. I tried to stalk away from him but he caught my hand and pulled me back down to the grass and moved on top of me so that I couldn’t get up again.

“I hate you” I said to him and turned my face away from his.

“No you don’t” he said with a grin. I screwed up my face to try and prevent myself from smiling at him.

“Urgh,” I said after a moment, “You are impossible to stay mad at”

“It’s my beautiful face” he said.

“Modesty is a virtue you know” I said.

“But it doesn’t get you anywhere” he said. I shook my head at him and then smiled to let him know he was forgiven.

*

“You’ll have to be really quiet” he said as we crept down the path towards his front door. The first light of dawn was just beginning to show, paling the sky from black to a deep blue colour.

“I’m not the one who makes a noise!” I whispered as he unlocked the front door and we slipped inside.

“I can’t see a thing!” he whispered as his hands sought the door handle to the basement stairs.

“It’s a bit further along you goon!” I said.

“Goon?” he asked straightening up, “What type of insult is that?”

“Billie, not the time” I said as he continued along the hallway to try and find the handle.

Then the light came on.

“Fuck” I heard his muttered curse word as he turned around and looked up the stairs.

“Hey Mom” he said with a smile.

“What are you two doing up?” she asked, she had her dressing gown on and was heading down the stairs to make her breakfast.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Billie offered.
“No wonder as you’re fully dressed” his mother said not buying his story at all, “You’ve been out all night haven’t you?”

“Erm-

“Where’ve you been, down at the bridge?” she asked.

“No we –

“Please tell me you weren’t at Gilman this late?”

“No we –

“You didn’t do anything stupid did you?”

“NO!” he said loudly cutting off her list of places we hadn’t been, “We were at the park”

“All night?” she asked

“We were at the bridge until midnight and then we went to the park and just lost track of time” I said biting my lip. Ollie just rolled her eyes at us.

“Fat lot of use you’re going to be today” she said, “Get to bed”

Billie just grinned at his mom and grabbing my hand we went down to the basement bedroom where after getting ready for bed, we crashed out and fell asleep almost immediately.