Know Your Enemy

Part 4

Part 4:

My alarm clock was blaring when I woke up this morning. I rolled over and hit snooze, and opened my eyes just a little bit to see the time. It was 7:11. I closed my eyes slowly, and then shot open when I realized my bus arrives at the stop at 7:15. I jumped out of bed, getting dizzy from getting up too fast. It was only the second day of school and I was already late. It wasn't my fault. I couldn't sleep at all last night because of Billie. I just kept thinking about him, and his smile, his eyes, everything. This was totally not normal. And definitely bad for my health. I threw my hair up into a messy bun and put on my glasses - no time for contacts. Today I was wearing little make up, just foundation and mascara, and lazy clothes, just jeans I rolled up, Converse, and a sweater from a really crappy band I saw in concert last year.
When I left the house, it was 7:30 and I had missed the bus for sure. With my mom and dad both at work already, my only other option was to walk.
Thankfully, the school was about a 30 minute walk, so I would only be a little tardy for my first period, which was just shop class. As I walked, I took in the neighborhood. Quiet, comfortable, normal; as it always has been. I started thinking about Billie again. He had said he lived across the tracks, which was where I was headed, because that's in the direction the school was.
"He must never be late..." I thought to myself, considering the fact he lived closer than I.
When I reached the tracks, the stop signs were down, but there was no sign of a train. I waited across the road for about 5 minutes until the signs stopped blinking, and then they just sat there, blocking my path. I walked over to the track and put my hand on it to see if I could feel the vibration of the train - nothing. I made a quick decision. I looked both ways, and dodged under the signs, running across the tracks. My heart was beating so fast, I thought I was going to explode. Still, nothing was on its way to the tracks, so I kept walking. I was about two blocks from the school, when I saw a familiar black haired boy sauntering on the side of the sidewalk, on their way to school.
"No way." I whispered to myself, and followed him until I knew. Halfway through the block, the boy turned around and, as expected, it was Billie Joe, who was obviously just as late as I was.
"Hey! What's up? Nice glasses," He said, walking over to me. "Are you suppose to be at school by now?"
"Yeah... my alarm didn't go off on time this morning," I said sheepishly. "But I could say the same to you. Why are you late?"
He shrugged. "I didn't really want to come, but, I've got to make my mom happy. She likes when I go to school, but I just can't stand the people there, yknow?"
I nodded in agreement, even though I didn't know anyone at the school, but I guess he didn't either.
Billie and I walked all the way to school in silence. But it wasn't an awkward silence at all. In fact, it was comforting, peaceful. I don't know if it was just the vibe Billie put off, or if I was just relieved I wasn't the only one who was late. When we got to the school we went straight to our lockers. I gathered my stuff for shop as he got his stuff for his class. I was about to step around him when he unexpectedly shut his locker and stepped right in front of me, crashing right into me once again. Being majorly clumsy, I started to fall, but Billie put out his hand and grabbed mine, then pulled me into him. We stood there for about 2.2 seconds, and then we both pulled away awkwardly. He smelled good. A little like soap, and a little like a campfire. I straightened my sweater as he chuckled. I chuckled too.
"Is this going to become a daily thing for us?" I asked, smiling.
"I don't know," he laughed, "but to be completely honest, I don't mind." He smiled handing me a couple of papers I dropped once again, and walked to class. I turned to watch him go, and sighed. This boy was growing on me.

•••

Three and a half months have passed. I've started to become friends with Billie, and even two of his friends, Mike, and Tre. Billie didn't bother me so much anymore, considering the things that had happened between him and I. I didn't want to like him like I did. It didn't even seem he felt the same way about me. He couldn't have. I was just some introvert that people never really talked to. I always listened to "weird" music and read "weird" books, and tried to wear "weird" clothes, according to my parents. I tried to make myself believe I'm normal even in doing these things, but everyone I've ever known, or have been friends with was normal... not Billie. He was the exact definition of what my parents called weird, and... I liked that. That feeling of rebellion. At first I was scared of it, but now I see that I was just scared of not being normal.
When I first met Mike, he was ecstatic, crazy, hilarious, but he has the biggest heart, and carries the most empathy. Tre was even crazier than Mike, but no matter what, he always thought you liked hot, and never let you down. Mike is a bass player, Tre is a drummer, and Billie sings whilst playing the guitar. And they're in a band together. Their little band was great, and Billie and Mike wrote some really good songs too. These guys were my friends... and it was incredible.

•••

One day, I walking home with Billie, and he was quiet, but not just on the walk. He'd been quiet the whole day. He could've been tired, but I wasn't going to push him about it. We sat on the bus looking out the window, when Billie shifted in his seat.
"Scarlett..." he said quietly.
He called me Scarlett, he'd always call me Scar.
"Yes, Billie Joe?" I was starting to get nervous just by the look on his face.
"Can I come over to your house tonight? Probably at around 12-ish. I think we need to talk. Is that too late?" He asked.
I shook my head, even though he'd never been over that late.
"Good," He said, "I'll see you then I guess." And turned into his driveway, leaving me standing on the sidewalk alone, to panic about what was to come.