Private Ale

10 - Mike

"Stella... com'ere." Mike softly says as he extends an arm to get me out of the pouring rain. "What happened?"

I open my mouth to try to respond, but my lip quivers, and all that comes out is a little gasp, followed by more tears. I feel vulnerable and pathetic and all the walls that I put up around people normally have come crashing right down.

I feel Mike pull me into his chest and rub the back of my head comfortingly. I sink my head into his chest that smells like cigarette smoke and release all my frustration and self-pity. My tears form a wet spot on his white t-shirt.

"Now would'cha tell me what happened? Do I have to go beat someone up for ya?" Mike says calmly after a few moments of silence, when I seem to be done crying.

"I thought they were my friends." I whimper painfully.

"Who were your friends?" His face is flooded with concern.

"Diana and Emma. I knew them since I was a kid when I lived here."

"Well you also knew me when you were a kid, so ya know you got me." He quietly replied, flashing a faint smile. "What did they do to you?"

I sigh, reliving our fight from a few hours ago in my head. Telling Mike what happened between my friends and I would mean confessing to my feelings about Billie. My cheeks burn red at the thought and my hands begin to shake with a volatile mixture of rage and embarrassment.

"Well?" Mike kindly pleads.

I look at the floor. "They think I'm worthless. They don't even want to be associated with me anymore."

"And why would they think that?"

"Because... I confessed to them that Billie Joe and I kissed."

"You what?!" Mike looks taken aback and his expression looks shocked.

"We were at Paul's Halloween party. It was for truth or dare."

Mike scratches his head for a moment, then ushers me over into the living room. "I think we need to sit down for this one." I sit next to him on a plaid beat-up couch and continue.

"That wasn't the part they got mad about, though. I told them something else... I was honest with myself and to them and all it did was fuck me over."

"Well what did you tell them?"

I scratch my nose and look down. "That I have feelings for..."

"For?"

"For Billie."

"Billie?!"

"Shh!" I smack him on the shoulder. "Keep it down, would you? Isn't he upstairs?"

"I can't believe you like Beej." Mike laughs to himself in disbelief.

"Yeah, yeah. I've had enough ridicule for one day, okay Mike? I don't care if we're in different social groups or whatever the fuck Diana said."

"No, it's not that. It's just funny you said that because just today we got a call from Tim. I wasn't sure if he needed anything and Bill wasn't home, because it's usually him that he calls for. So, I picked up and said hello. So, Tim starts talking, thinking that I'm Bill and saying all this crazy stuff. I didn't even understand what he was talking about... some stuff about the record we're working on, something about fixing his car and where to get an oil change. But I heard him mention your name and then after that the reception got messed up and I couldn't make out what he was saying. I didn't even know what to say and I felt bad like I was listening in on Billie's business so I just told him I had to go and hung up. Weird, huh?"

My heart skips a beat as the words leave his mouth. "Tim from Gilman? They were talking about me?" I remember what he told me a few weeks ago about Billie.

"That among other things, I suppose." Mike shrugs.

"Mike, please don't tell Billie what I just told you... I'm not even sure about my feelings for him. It just seems like he's too unpredictable and I have this really bad fear of getting hurt." I sigh. "He doesn't mention me to you... does he?"

"Me and Bill are close as can be but the last time he's ever mentioned a girl to me or Tre was when he was bragging about his drunk hookups in the summertime."

My expression becomes disheartened.

"Listen, Stella, don't get your hopes up on him because he's got issues of his own to work out for himself. He was just diagnosed with panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. I trust you not to tell anyone. That's why he's never in school."

"I had no idea..." I think back to my first memory upon meeting Billie. He was the kid that exuded this confidence about him. He waltzes in a half hour late to class, doesn't even give a shit. He smokes weed and plays guitar all day. He seems to not have a care in the world. But underneath the exterior, he's pretty fucking messed up.

Suddenly, I hear the stairs creaking, alerting me to stop from saying too much. I see a blonde-haired boy with bedhead rubbing his eyes and making his way downstairs. He's wearing nothing but gray boxers and socks.

"Mikey, what's goin' on?" He blinks, adjusting to the light.

My heart begins to beat a mile a minute. I look up stupidly and stare at him, unable to speak.

"What's Stella doing here?" His expression turns puzzled and he looks at Mike, not looking me in the eyes.

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Sorry if this is short! I'm updating again verrryy soon because I'm excited for certain things to happen... As always, feel free to vote and leave comments and thank you to all who read :)