Billy Carter

Chapter 3: Text Me in the Morning

On Saturday, I didn't have any bottle to tell the others that I'd written a song last night. What if it was shit? Besides, it was really personal and I got side-tracked by work at Don's anyroad.
I had been texting Cynthia after work, talking mostly about Annabelle. Everyone seemed pretty excited over these piano lessons I'd be giving her, and apparently she'd asked Jenny if she could come to her birthday party and Jenny and Cyn both thought it was just so she could see me.
I was trying not to read too much into it of course. I didn't want to look like a knob, but Cynthia seemed to think Annabelle was a sure thing.
We continued the conversation after I met her at her house at around six-thirty that night on our way to Jenny's. After a quick-yet-respectful hello to her parents (who very openly disapprove of me) we set off on foot, since Jenny's house was only a few blocks away.
"My parents said I had to be home by midnight," Cyn complained after we started walking.
"I have to be back by two." I told her. "And I'm not allowed to get drunk. Dad said I can have a couple of drinks, but if I come home sloshed he'll throw a fit."
"Hey, would you mind walking me back home for my curfew? It's stupid, but I get kinda nervous walking around late at night by myself, especially if I've had a couple of drinks."
"Of course, I don't mind. What kind of friend would I be if I refused to walk you home and something happened? I'm quite fond of you, you know - I like having you around, so it'd be a shame if you were to be murdered."
"I'm glad you feel that way," she laughed and gave me one of her gorgeous smiles, then told me that Tony and Trent wanted to clean out Trent's garage tomorrow and set up our music equipment for band practice, so I should be there for twelve to help her and the guys out. I agreed, glad that I wouldn't have to be stuck at home with Dad. I made a mental note to talk to Annabelle tonight to organise a time for her first lesson so it didn't conflict with cleaning the garage. Too much.

It took us about fifteen minutes to walk to Jenny's house, and we were greeted at the back gate by our second-most responsible and mature friend (Ollie's first).
"There they are!" Tony shouted when we arrived. He scrambled across the outdoor setting, sloshing some type of alcohol from a plastic cup.
"Jesus, Tones! You drunk already?" I asked, and Cynthia and I laughed.
"No!" He grinned goofily. "I'm just really really really happy you're here!" he exclaimed, and wrapped me up in a hug.
"Yeah, you're drunk," I laughed.
"Shh!" he hissed. "Don't tell Jenny, she doesn't know!" By the look Jennifer was giving Tony I think she already did and was not pleased at all about it.
"Ok, whatever." I patted him on the back. "Is Trent here yet?"
"Yes, he's peeing," Tony told me. Cynthia and I looked at each other.
"Too much info, Tony," Cyn sighed.
"Ok, sorry. Here, drink this." Tony gave me his sticky plastic half-empty cup and left to harass someone else. I finished it for him with one gulp, tasting a horrid cocktail of vodka, tequila, gin and bourbon and immediately regretting it.
"Cor, the fuck was that?" I asked, wincing at the horrid taste.
"Trent's new cocktail, he calls it 'Death Wish'," Natalie told me, sitting on a lawn chair wearing big sunglasses. She looked like she was famous.
"Sounds bloody right," I muttered, throwing the empty cup into the nearest bin. I walked over to Jenny, who was telling Tony off, and distracted her with birthday greetings. "Happy birthday Jenny," I told her.
"Aw! Thanks Billy!" she gave me a hug and I kissed her on the cheek.
"Oi!" Tony narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously.
"Oh, come off it Anthony!" Jenny exclaimed, getting cross again.
"He's just jealous, Jenny. Here," I pulled Tony closer by the collar of his shirt and kissed him on the cheek too. "Problem solved. Resume your earlier argument." I left the squabbling love birds alone, knowing full-well that tomorrow (if not later tonight) all would be forgiven and they'd be back to gazing lovingly into each other's eyes.
Cynthia'd wandered off and was sitting with the main group next to Natalie, Annabelle and Victoria. I saw Victoria kept shooting daggers at Annabelle when she wasn't looking, which I found kind of amusing. I was going to go over and organise tomorrow's piano lesson with Annabelle before Trent appeared with a cup of 'Death Wish' and dragged me over towards Ollie, just a few chairs across.
Actually, as we got closer I realised Ollie was the centre of attention, along with some other guy I'd never seen before. But he was very good looking.
"What's up?" I asked Ollie, glancing questioningly at an excited Trent.
Ollie rolled his eyes and sighed. "This is Guy, he's new to the football team this year," Ollie told me.
"Isn't 'guy' a noun or something?" I asked, making all the guys laugh (except for Ollie and Guy) and the girls start yelling at me (except for Annabelle, who thought I was funny).
"The point is Guy's gay too!" Natalie told me, elbowing me in the ribs.
"What do you mean?" I asked. "Who gives a fuck? Ollie's gay too and no one bats an eye- oh."
"Exactly!" Natalie grinned and I frowned at Ollie, feeling confused.
"So are you two dating or something?" I asked Ollie. I was kind of upset he'd never mentioned this before. I thought we were better friends.
"No we're just friends, although this lot doesn't seem satisfied with that," he explained, looking frustrated. Guy didn't seem satisfied with it either, based on how he was looking at my very best-friend.
"But you two would be so cute together!" Natalie exclaimed.
"Yeah!" agreed Cynthia. "You'd make the hottest couple! Make it official already!"
I looked Guy up and down. He really wasn't that good looking. I mean he was more muscular than me, but I'm still much better looking. And he wore the weirdest outfit, he had on yellow trousers and an ironed white shirt. Who even irons their clothes? And so what if he's really good at football, as far as I could see that was the only thing they had in common. Ollie could do better. Much better.
And what sort of name is "Guy" anyroad?
I stole Trent's cup right out of his hand and downed it while everyone was busy falling all over themselves over fucking Guy.
"Hey!" Trent complained. "That's my 'Death Wish'!"
"Well go make another then!" I snapped irritably.
"The fuck's wrong with you?" Trent asked angrily.
"I'm fucking sober, that's what's wrong. Go make me four more of these awful things, would you?"
"Four? Fuck off, just one of these has eight shots in it!"
"Well it's called a fucking 'Death Wish' isn't it? Fuck you, I'll do it myself," I shoved past him and went to the table Jenny had various bottles of liquor set up on to make my own version of a 'Death Wish'.
No way was I going to stay sober with everyone fawning over that wanker. I was probably going to get my arse kicked by Dad when I got home, but honestly I didn't care, it felt like that was the least of my problems.
I drank the whole cup in a second flat, and by eleven o'clock I'd also drunk the six pack of beer Dad had allotted me and thrown up twice.
I sat on the grass in the furthest corner of the backyard, away from everyone else. I'd succeeded in pissing most everyone off, including Guy. Apparently I was an angry drunk tonight.
Cynthia was with me, forcing some water down my throat. I love that girl, I'd probably be dead without her. Anyroad, having vomited fairly recently I was considerably less drunk than I had been before, and I wasn't as angry either. After I finished the bottle of water I got up and wandered back over to the group with Cyn.
"Great, who're you going to abuse now?" Greg asked, sighing and rolling his eyes at me.
"Actually I was coming over to apologise, you stupid fuck," I snapped. "But you can shove yours up your fat arse if you've got room to fit anything besides your own head in there!"
"Good job Bill, great apology," Tony sighed sarcastically. He'd sobered up quite a bit too.
"No, I am sorry," I sighed, sitting down. "It's been a hell of a week. Still, it's no excuse. I really am sorry, to all of you. Except you, Greg, you can go fuck yourself."
"Fuck off!" Greg glared at me. I glared back and flipped him off.
"Wow, you're rude," Guy scoffed, leaning back in his chair and sipping a beer.
"Ollie, you didn't tell me Guy was a detective!" I said sarcastically.
Ollie sighed loudly and buried his face in his hands, mumbling an apology to Guy for my behaviour. "I'm so sorry, Guy."
"No, it's my fault Ollie, I could've sworn I was dealing with an adult," Guy told him, glancing angrily at me.
"Oh, don't be an arsehole to me Guy, 'cause then I'll have to be an arsehole back and I can do it much better than you," I told him.
"I genuinely believe you."
"Ha ha ha. Fuck you."
"Alright, why don't you come for a walk with me, Billy?" Annabelle asked, getting up and offering her hand.
"Make Guy go for a walk, he started it," I muttered.
"Come on Bill," Annabelle gave me a sweet smile and I sighed. I took her hand and got up, and she walked me into the house. Jenny's Mum and Dad were in bed sound asleep upstairs so we were careful not to be too loud. We sat down on the couch in the lounge room with just a lamp on for light.
"What's going on with you tonight, huh?" she asked me. I sighed and combed my fingers through my hair, slumping back on the couch.
"I don't know. Honestly. I'm just in a bad mood I guess," I told her. "I'm sorry, I've kind of ruined the party."
"No you haven't," she laughed quietly. "Most of the time when you were yelling it was just a slur of words, no one could make out what you were saying. Then when you vomited, mid-rant - honestly, it was kind of funny. Gross, but funny. Everyone laughed - well, except for Greg, but you compared him to a lackluster hand job."
"Well that's 'cause he was bitching like it," I grumbled.
"Yeah, he can't really take a joke." She smiled at me again. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"
"Positive."
"Alright then. Well I guess I don't need to ask you what you think of Guy. I like him though, he seems ok to me."
"He's a fucking imbecile, did you see his clothes? He's wearing fucking yellow trousers, who the fuck dresses like that? Ollie certainly doesn't. How on earth is he even considering that tosser for a boyfriend?"
"Well, firstly Ollie said that they're just friends, so I don't think there's anything going on there. Secondly, why do you care? You're always telling Ollie to get a boyfriend. Thirdly, he actually looks really good in those trousers. Fourthly, I think he's really nice. I mean he told me I have the best figure he's ever seen, so..." she trailed off and laughed, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
"Well that's just creepy," I snorted. "He's an idiot. What kind of name is 'Guy' anyroad? His parents should've just called him fucking 'Theodore' or something if they wanted a pretentious douche-bag for a son."
"You really don't like him."
"He's an idiot. Ollie's one of my best friends, I know he can do better," I told Annabelle. "Ollie doesn't have to settle for him just because he's the first available gay guy he's met."
"Well let's talk about something that won't send you off into another blind rage," Annabelle suggested with a grin and a little laugh.
"Hey, when are you coming over tomorrow? At twelve I'm going to Trent's to help clean out his garage, and I don't know when we'll be finished," I told her.
"Oh, I was thinking after lunch, maybe two o'clock? Will you be home by then? I could come by later?"
"No, two's fine. It'll give me an excuse to leave early," I gave her a cheeky smile and she laughed again.
"God, you're so..." she sighed and shook her head, "You. My life would be so boring without you in it. Even when you're drunk and cross," she said, putting her hand on my arm. "I love how you make me smile all the time."
"Cool," I smiled at her, coming up with a new agenda. Thank you, liquid courage. "Nothing beats making a cute girl smile."
"Really? Nothing?" she asked, looking at me with a mischievous glint in her eye.
"Well, not nothing," I agreed, readjusting my position in a way that looked casual but brought us a little closer. "But it's up there."
"I'm flattered that you think I'm cute," she said, blushing.
"I think you're gorgeous," I told her. She blushed again and looked into my eyes, and I leaned in and we kissed.
It was awesome. Annabelle's a gorgeous girl, and in a matter of minutes I was leaning over the top of her with my tongue in her mouth and a hand up her shirt. I mean, I was tipsy and I was snogging one of the hottest girls in school - that's the teenage equivalent of Heaven.
We snogged hot and heavily for something like ten minutes until we were both startled by a loud noise from the backyard.
"It's ok," I told Annabelle, my voice husky. She nodded, breathing heavily and went back to lifting her shirt over her head. I couldn't believe that I was about to see the tidiest girl in my whole school without a shirt on. I couldn't believe I was about to see any girl without a shirt on. The furthest I'd gone with a girl was second base (over the shirt - I've never actually seen a boob in real life), so this was a new milestone I was looking forward to crossing. For that reason (and the obvious anticipation) I started to get frustrated when we heard another loud noise, followed by some shouting. If those fuckers cocked this up for me I was going to kill them.
When a third bang actually made Annabelle drop her shirt and turn to face the back door I decided homicide was my only option. Swearing, I got up and marched to the door. I threw it open, fuming, and then paused in surprise when I saw Tony and Ollie holding Trent back from Kenny Leary. Kenneth Leary is my arch-nemesis, the Joker to my Batman, Judas to my Jesus, Kanye West to my Taylor Swift. He's a little bit taller than me - the prick - and he has brown eyes, but he has black hair too. Actually, besides the eyes and height, we look pretty similar. Maybe he's my secret evil doppelganger.
Kenny Leary stood with three of his tosser mates, laughing, jeering and making all sorts of nasty comments.
Jenny and Cynthia were yelling at them to leave and threatening to call the police.
After I registered the situation in front of me my earlier anger at being denied boobs returned, amplified by the fact that the reason I wasn't looking at Annabelle's brassiere right now was due to my sworn enemy Kenny Leary talking shit to my friends.
Fucking Kenny Leary. I hate that son of a bitch.
I stormed up to him and punched him in the face, channeling all my anger from all the events of the night into it. I felt his nose crack against my fist and watched blood pour out of it as he stumbled backwards. I didn't give him a chance to return the favour and tackled him to the ground. I climbed on top of him and started punching him again and again, until one of his friends tackled me. I brawled with his mate for a moment until Ollie, Trent, Tony and Guy intervened, pulling Kenny's friend off me and shoving him to the side. Tony pulled me onto my feet and put me protectively behind him.
"Fuck off Kenny!" I yelled. Tony shot me a warning look and told me to shut it.
"That's enough! All of you!" Cynthia exclaimed. She stomped into no-man's-land, followed by Jenny and Annabelle, who'd apparently followed me out of the house but was more interested in fixing her lip gloss in her compact mirror than diffusing the fight.
"Get out of my yard, you're trespassing on private property!" Jenny told Kenny Leary and his friends. "You think you can crash my party, pick a fight with my boyfriend and I won't call the police? Try me, fucker!"
"Shut your mouth, bitch!" Kenny Leary said, and the rest of his mates laughed.
"Shut up, Kenny! I'm warning you," Tony said dangerously. "Get out of here."
"Or what? You gonna set your mad dog on me?" Kenny Leary asked, his glare shifting onto me.
"Gee Kenny, that nose looks sore," I taunted. "And how's your head? That concussion I gave you last time didn't give you more brain damage, did it?"
"You fucking arsehole, I'm gonna get you one day Billy!" Kenny spat.
"You know for some reason that doesn't worry me. At all," I retorted. Kenny opened his mouth to respond but Cyn interrupted him.
"Please just go away, guys. We don't want any trouble," she told them, staying calm.
"I'll tell you what, we'll go away- if you three come with us. You too, Nat," Kenny's mate Sean said with a wink at Natalie, who'd been standing to the side.
"Very funny, just go. Ok?" Ollie said, sounding tired.
Kenny's gaze turned on Ollie, a dangerous glint in his eyes that I didn't like. "What do you care, dickhead?" he asked. His threatening tone sent shivers of rage through me. I stepped forward but Tony wouldn't let me pass.
Ollie met Kenny's vicious stare unflinchingly. "Go away," Ollie said sternly. "Or we'll call the police."
"He asked you a question, faggot," Sean snapped. "How can you be one of them and seem so normal? They shouldn't let you coach the kid's football at least, I wouldn't trust one of you around my kid," Sean snorted. I finally snapped and succeeded in dodging Tony's attempts to grab me. I only got one shot on Sean, but it was my best yet. That's when things got messy again. Kenny and his other friend got involved, then my friends got involved, until Kenny and his guys knew they were outnumbered and backed off.
"Go home, Kenny. You're ruining my buzz," Annabelle told him with a frown, hands on her hips and a "don't fuck with me" attitude coming off of her in waves. Kenny opened his mouth to retort, but thought better of it when Annabelle arched an eyebrow at him. Finally he and his mates left, throwing a couple more insults over their shoulders at us.
In that last bout of fisticuffs Kenny Leary landed a decent punch on my cheek, right near my nose. It wasn't broken, but my nose has been broken so many times in the past that it's pretty sensitive to nosebleeds. It was bleeding like a bitch now, which caused my friends to fuss over me.
"Shit Bill, are you alright?" Tony asked, eyeing my nose. Annabel gave me a handful of paper serviettes to help stop the bleeding. The collar of my shirt was already soaked red and I could taste blood in my mouth.
"I'm fine," I told Tony, waving him off. Ollie pulled my hand away from my face and narrowed his eyes at my nose. He fancies himself a doctor already.
"It looks broken," he said, sounding a little bit worried.
"That's how it always looks," I told him, stepping back away from him. I was still pissed with him. I knew it was silly, but I couldn't let it go so easily. I felt like he'd betrayed me or something with this Guy... guy. I mean we tell each other everything, he knows every dirty little secret I have (except the one about Dad) and he couldn't tell me about this gu- uh, person? Didn't he trust me? Besides, he'd always said he wasn't interested in anyone.
"It's not broken," I assured him. He wasn't having it though. He grabbed my face in his hands to keep me from wriggling away and he scrutinised my nose like he really was a doctor. My breath caught in my throat for some reason.
"Fine, I believe you," he sighed eventually. "But you gotta wash up, you look like a vampire."
"Nah, I just thought I'd stay bloody like this for the rest of the night," I snapped sarcastically. My rotten temper was returning, and my alcohol-addled mentality wasn't interested in stopping it. I was grumpy and I didn't care who knew it.
"The fuck is wrong with you tonight? You're acting like a prick!" Ollie told me, dropping his hands. I sneered at him.
"Why do you care?"
"Maybe because you're my best friend? Or you usually are, at least - I don't really like this arsehole version of you very much," Ollie told me.
"Whatever, I don't give a shit," I rolled my eyes, ignoring the fact that Ollie's disappointment in me actually hurt pretty bad. I turned around and went into the house to the bathroom to clean myself up, ignoring the irritated looks I got from my friends as I passed them.
I didn't realise Ollie was following me until I saw him come into the bathroom in the reflection of the mirror and close the door behind him, while I was cleaning myself up with wet toilet paper.
"Go away, leave me alone," I growled.
"What's wrong?" he asked. He didn't sound so mad anymore, mainly worried.
"Nothing! Go stick your tongue down Guy's throat and leave me alone."
"I don't get why you seem to hate him so much."
"He's an arsehole."
"You were an arsehole first. Come on, tell me what's going on. Why won't you talk to me?"
"Oh, you want me to talk to you? Like you talked to me about Guy?" I asked, throwing the bloody toilet paper into the toilet. I was finally clean again, and I flushed the dirty paper and turned to face Ollie properly, rather than keep arguing with his reflection.
"What do you mean?" Ollie frowned.
"Just yesterday in study you were telling me how you weren't interested in anyone and not forty-eight hours later you're introducing me to some guy you've been seeing? Why didn't you tell me about him before? Why did you lie to me? Why'd you keep him a secret?" I asked.
"I... I wasn't. I wasn't keeping him a secret, I wasn't lying or hiding anything from you. There's nothing to hide or lie about anyway, we aren't dating or anything. How many times have I had to explain that tonight? And why are you so upset? If we were dating, which we're not, I thought you'd be happy for me. You're always telling me I should get a boyfriend," Ollie told me, looking confused.
"Yeah but not someone like him!" I argued. "What do you like about him anyroad? He's nothing like you!"
"So what? I like him because he's nice, he gets along with my parents, my friends, and we have fun hanging out together. To be honest, I wouldn't be against dating him if that's how things turn out. You don't even know him, Billy."
"I know he didn't do anything about Kenny Leary!" I pointed out. "He's a tosser, he didn't have your back! He didn't say anything when Kenny Leary was calling you names, he didn't do anything!"
"I don't care about Kenny Leary, he's a bell-end!" Ollie argued.
"He shouldn't be allowed to say that shit to you! I hate it! He doesn't even know you and he treats you like shit!"
"Well, that sounds familiar," Ollie remarked drily.
"It's different with Guy!" I snapped. "Kenny and his mates shouldn't say that shit to you! Every time he opens his stupid fucking mouth I wanna punch the son of a bitch out! If he knew you he wouldn't even think about saying shit like that! I mean, who gives a fuck if you're gay? So what? And it's not like being gay's a bad thing! You're fucking awesome, Ollie! You're smart as fuck, I mean you're an awesome tutor and you kick arse in school without even trying. You're great at Football too, you're tough and you're an awesome coach. You're friends with pretty much everyone because you're so nice and funny. You're patient and generous and compassionate too - you're always the first to offer help to anyone and you go out of your way to be helpful. I mean most people would want to be a doctor for the money, but all you want to do is help people, Ollie. You don't hold grudges, you don't hate anybody... You've got the nicest, warmest smile I've ever seen. You've always got my back and you're so easy to talk to because I know you'd never judge me. And you're taste in music is fucking awesome, and even though you can't sing you don't hold back when Bohemian Rhapsody comes on the radio. You're just..." I sighed and trailed off, ending my rant. "You're amazing, Ollie. You can do better than that idiot."
Ollie stared at me in surprise and I avoided eye contact, nervous and kind of embarrassed that I'd said all that. I started to feel really uneasy, like I'd said some things I shouldn't have.
"... Your nose is still bleeding," Ollie said finally, sounding kind of shaky.
"Oh," I mumbled, but didn't do anything. Ollie grabbed some toilet paper and stepped closer, gingerly reaching out with it. He dabbed at my face and cleared his throat.
"Um, Billy...?"
"Mm?" I continued to avoid eye contact. I'm really bad at opening up to people and I was still feeling weird about my outburst. I don't know why I was so worked up.
"Look at me," he said quietly. It took a lot of effort for me to look him in the eye. But it was Ollie. I can always count on Ollie not to judge me. His brown eyes weren't cold or angry like Dad's, they were warm and curious. He kept wiping the blood off my face. "Whatever's going on with you, you can tell me. You can talk to me about anything. There's something going on with you, and I'm not really sure what it is, but... this isn't like you," he said. I sighed and grabbed his hand, stopping him from cleaning me up.
"I'm just drunk," I mumbled. Ollie wiped the last of the blood off my face and smiled, but it looked forced.
"Yeah, you are. And upset. Maybe you should go home." He flushed the dirty paper.
"I don't want to go home."
"What do you want? You're all over the place tonight," Ollie said, sounding frustrated.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm being so... I don't know. I don't know why I'm so angry tonight, I just... it hurt. I don't know why it hurt so much, but it did."
"What hurt? Kenny Leary, those things he was saying?"
"No, fuck Kenny Leary. You and Guy. It just seems wrong." Ollie gave me a little questioning frown.
"That's not what I mean and you know it," I told him. "It's not two guys dating that bothers me, it's just you two as individuals. I told you, I don't like him. You can do better."
"Like who? I don't know if you've noticed, but my options are far more limited than yours," he said irritably. "I'm sick of it, you know? I only know one other gay guy, who I'm not interested in at all. You've got Annabelle, Victoria, and pretty much any other girl you want to choose from for that matter."
"What? No I don't-"
"You do so! You're totally oblivious to it too. You're very good looking, Billy. On top of that you're kind and caring. If you turned on the charm and stopped being so introverted and awkward  you could have any girl you wanted. I'll admit it right now, I'm jealous of you; you could click your fingers and have a girl in your arms. I'm lonely, Bill. I don't care if it sounds stupid or girly, I want a relationship, I want someone to hold and I want to have my first kiss - a real kiss, not like when I still thought I was straight," he admitted.
"You want a first kiss?"
"Yes! I want-"
He didn't get to finish that thought. I didn't even do much thinking myself. I'm not known for my thoughtfulness, or consideration. I'm impulsive, reckless, trigger-happy, however you want to put it. Anyroad, the point is I kissed him. I thought if he had a first real kiss he might not give up so easily, and it's not like it meant anything. But then something kind of weird happened. I liked it. Loved it, even. I was kissing Ollie, and it made me so happy - suddenly the kiss meant everything. It was like something clicked, and I realised that I didn't think Guy was unsuitable for Ollie because they seemed so different; I thought he was unsuitable for Ollie because he wasn't me.
Ollie was so surprised that he didn't respond to my kiss at first, but when I reached up and touched his face he started to kiss me back. Since caution was already in the wind and I'd gotten this far, I decided I might as well go all in. I pressed him up against the wall and deepened the kiss. After Ollie's initial shock wore off we started out-right snogging, and honestly it was great. Ollie's lips were soft but firm, he tasted like peppermint and he had the experience under his belt to make it plenty enjoyable (he hadn't kissed any guys before, but he'd been quite the ladies man before he was outed/worked out his sexual preference).
It didn't really matter whether or not he had experience though, because it was Ollie. And I think that I, who'd only ever kissed and thought romantically about girls before, had a huge fucking crush on him. It was like I was seeing him in a different light, the same light I'd been seeing Annabelle in - only more intense. Way more intense. Even more than when I'd briefly dated Cynthia, and I was pretty certain I'd been in love with her for a while.
In my head I was completely confused, but it just felt so right and natural. Ollie apparently agreed, following my lead easily. It was passionate and heady and Ollie snapped out of it long before I wanted or was even ready to.
"Billy, what are we doing?" he asked, pushing me gently away.
"Snogging, I would've thought it was obvious," I replied smartly, leaning in and kissing him, only to be pushed away again.
"You're a lot drunker than I originally thought, Billy. This isn't right, we need to stop," he said sternly.
"What's wrong?" I asked irritably. "We're two consenting adults. Close enough to adults, at least."
"Billy, you're really drunk and I don't want to take advantage of you," he explained. "I could never do that to you."
"I'm not that drunk and you aren't taking advantage of me. I want to do this - fuck, I started it!" I argued. "You taste like peppermint and it's fucking delicious." I moved in to kiss him again but for the third time he pushed me back.
"Listen, I don't know what exactly's going on with you, but I'd be happy to talk to you about it tomorrow when you're sober. Deal?"
"Ollie, Christ, it's not like we're fucking or anything! It doesn't mean anything!"
"Well it means something to me, ok? And it's not fair to either of us if we aren't on the same page. We're really good friends, Billy. I don't want to ruin that."
I sighed and leaned my head against his shoulder as the the room spun. He was sort of right, about my drunkenness at least. I started thinking - which is never a good idea - and once my lustful haze faded it suddenly hit me what exactly I'd just done.
I'd just snogged - fairly heavily - with one of my best friends. That's never a good idea, not to mention that this best friend was a guy, and fuck me if I know what to do with that minor detail. But another thought hit me - had I just stolen his first kiss? I meant well, but... drunk snogging in a bathroom isn't exactly romantic.
"Holy shit," I breathed, stepping back and staring at Ollie with wide eyes. "I am so sorry," I told him. He gave me a small smile in return.
"It's ok," he said. I gaped at him for a few more seconds before I had to run away. I shoved past him and rushed out the door, panic quickly setting in. What the fuck just happened? What did it mean? Do I actually fancy Ollie?
I was so confused and my brain wasn't working to help me out, so I decided to scarper. But first, I needed a drink.
I downed the Death Wish I'd left in the lounge room earlier and checked the time. It was nearing midnight thankfully, which was Cyn's curfew. She'd asked me to walk her home earlier, so I decided to find Cynthia and take her home - then I could go home and sleep everything off and continue on like nothing had ever happened.
Annabelle, Cynthia and Jenny were sitting in a circle on the lawn, leaning in close, blushing and whispering. Annabelle was doing most of the talking and they were all giggling a lot. Victoria and Nat were at the other end of the yard. Victoria was crying for some reason and Nat was trying to comfort her.
The guys were standing by the door I'd just come out of. I was heading straight for Cynthia, but Tony grabbed my shoulder and pulled me over to them.
"You feeling better now? Ollie set you straight?" Tony asked.
"Straight? That's a good question," I mumbled to myself.
"Huh?"
"I said I'm fine. What're you lot-" The door opened then, and Ollie walked out. He looked just as uncomfortable as I felt, especially when Guy called him over.
"Oliver, thank God," Guy sighed in relief. Ollie forced a smile. "These guys have been talking about girls the whole time."
I saw my out and I took it. "Yeah, uh, speaking of girls, I promised to walk Cynthia home, and it's nearly her curfew so I've gotta go," I told them, and left before anyone could stop me. I overheard a couple last things though:
"What's wrong with Victoria?" Ollie asked.
"She's upset 'cause she fancies Billy and he's pulled Annabelle instead," Trent told him.
"Oh," Ollie laughed bitterly. "He'll love that. Just one more broken heart to add to his collection."
That curt remark hurt more than I cared to admit and simply fuelled my confusion, but I ignored it and walked over to Cynthia. They were sitting so Cyn had her back to me as I approached and didn't realise I was within earshot.
"He was the best kisser-"
"What're you lovely ladies talking about?" I asked, interrupting Cyn. Her head swung around so fast I was surprised she didn't break her neck.
"Nothing, not you!" she said quickly.
"Alright, well it's nearly midnight, do you wanna get going so you don't miss your curfew?"
"Oh, shit! Yeah!" I helped her to her feet and she dusted herself off.
"Are you going too, Billy?" Jenny asked. She and Annabelle stood up too.
"Might as well," I shrugged. "By the time I get back here from Cynthia's I'll have to start heading home anyroad."
"Fair enough. I'll see you both on Monday then." Jenny gave Cynthia a hug, then she pulled me in for one too. "Feel better, Bill. You know if there's anything wrong you can talk to me about anything, or Tony if you want - he's worried about you, it's kind of cute," she said quietly, so only I could hear.
"Thanks Jen, but I'm fine. Just a bad mood. Sorry I acted like a brat, especially since it's your birthday and everything," I apologised.
"It's fine. I'll see you guys later."
"See you on Monday Annabelle," Cynthia gave Annabelle a hug and Annabelle whispered something to Cynthia that made her giggle nervously. I wasn't sure what the appropriate goodbye was for Annabelle, given the circumstances. It didn't matter though, because she did. She strode right up to me, put one hand on the back of my head and pulled me into a deep, firework of a kiss. It was over as soon as it had started and left me even more confused.
"I'll see you tomorrow Billy," she said, biting her lip. "Two o'clock?"
"Two o'clock," I said breathlessly. She kissed me again and giggled quietly.
"What is it?" I asked. She smiled.
"You taste like peppermint."
That worked like a bucket of cold water.
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then," I said, trying not to sound too rushed. I looked for Cynthia but she'd walked off to give all the guys and then Victoria and Nat their own goodbye-hugs. Why do girls always say goodbye like it's the last time they're ever going to see each other? We'd be halfway to her place by now if she'd cut out these ridiculously long goodbyes.
I wanted to get her so we could head back to her house already but I was still trying to avoid Ollie. I'm not known for my bravery. I gave everyone a little wave when she finally headed back my way and we went out the back gate we'd come in through.