Billy Carter

Chapter 14: Dirty Little Secret

Ollie came to band practice after he finished work - he works at a pharmacy - and I showed the others (Cyn, Tony and Trent) two new songs I had. I actually had quite a few new songs - eventually I'd get sick of not being able to fall asleep at night, so I'd get up and work on my lyrics, harmonies, melodies, until I couldn't stay awake any longer.
The others all wanted me to sing my new lyrics, of course. It definitely hadn't been forgotten that Mum had told them all I can sing, and everybody in my group of friends was pestering me about it. Even Tony was being petty and annoying, refusing to sing my lyrics and joining the others when they complained that unless they heard the lyrics and the harmony they couldn't possibly have any ideas for melodies or rhythms. When Ollie arrived I couldn't have been more relieved.
"Oh thank fuck," I sighed in relief. Ollie smiled.
"What's up?" he asked.
"These fools won't stop bugging me about singing," I told him.
"Oh," he nodded and grinned at the other three, who were looking too smug for my liking. "Well maybe if you sang something they wouldn't have to bother you."
"Oh fuck off, not you too!" I exclaimed frustratedly. Ollie grinned and sat down on the couch next to me and I tried to ignore him. I always got butterflies around him, but since last night it's felt more like a beehive. We didn't have sex, but we fooled around and did some stuff - Annabelle's advice came in handy. But ever since I'd struggled to keep my hands off him and we'd been collecting as many stolen moments as we could all day - he's like my new addiction, I just couldn't get enough.
"I'm kidding, relax," Ollie said with a laugh.
"But Ollie has a point, Bill," Trent told me. "If you'd just sing something-"
"How many times do I have to say 'no' to you guys!" I exclaimed. It wasn't funny anymore, it was irritating and I was starting to get all anxious and nervous like one of my turns was coming.
"Come on, leave him alone," Ollie told them. "You shouldn't pressure anyone to do something they don't want to."
"Exactly!" I agreed.
"Whatever," Trent rolled his eyes and Cyn and Tony sighed.
"Now let's get some work done!" I said, clapping my hands to get the others moving.
"Yeah, can I hear one of your songs?" Ollie asked eagerly.
"Well, sure, but don't get too excited," I told him. "They aren't anywhere near finished yet."
"That's fine, I don't care."
"Alright then." I got up and grabbed my acoustic guitar, Tig. "Ready Tony?"
"Fine," he sighed, grabbing the lyrics. I started to play the melody and Tony cleared his throat before jumping in with the vocals.
"That's really good, I can't believe you guys can make something like that," Ollie said when we finished.
"It's all Billy, to be honest," Tony told him. "He wrote the lyrics and he came to us with the melody, but we're all trying to turn it into something solid."
"Something half-way decent," I scoffed.
"No, that's really good! I mean it does need a little fine-tuning, but you've got a solid song structure there," Ollie said. "I mean, I don't know much about making music, but I listen to it, and that sounds good to me. Just keep at it, you'll learn as you go and before you know it you'll be the hottest thing in London - then England, and everywhere else. But seriously, it's not like your lives depend on a successful music career, so don't stress about it. I mean you're just doing it for fun, aren't you?"
"Well yeah," Trent agreed. "But if we become famous rockstars I won't complain."
Ollie laughed. "Yeah, I think fame and fortune would suit you, Trent."
"All too well," Cynthia agreed.
"I concur," Trent smiled proudly. "And when I'm famous I'll have servants bring me snacks. In the meantime, I have to go and get them myself. I'm thinking pizza for dinner, what do you think?"
"Sure!" I said excitedly. I love pizza - but who doesn't? We all pitched in for three large pizzas - we're all pigs for pizza, even delicate Cynthia and Ollie, the King of Portion Control - and two bottles of coke. And by "we all pitched in" I mean Tony slipped me some cash when no one was looking so I could give it to Trent to pay for my share. I'd pay Tony back after I got paid next week.
"Alright, I'll go pick them up and you guys can stay here," Trent told us.
"I'll come and keep you company," Tony offered, getting up with Trent. I raised my eyebrows at Cyn and nodded towards Tony and Trent as they were walking towards the door. She sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Hang on, I wanna come too!" she told them, hurrying after.
"Ok, well we'll be back soon," Trent told me and Ollie. "If you get super hungry, there're crisps and biscuits in the pantry, so don't eat each other." We all raised our eyebrows at him and he blushed. "Ok, that came out wrong. What I mean is, don't resort to cannibalism," he said, sounding very serious. "Adios!"
"Goodbye, losers," I waved goodbye and Tony flipped me off before they left the garage and headed into the house to get Trent's car keys.
"Well, now that they're gone," I turned to Ollie and gave him a big kiss, one he happily returned. Without much further ado we started snogging, getting comfortable on the old couch and having a grand old time.
"Do you think things are moving too quickly?" I asked suddenly, and Ollie pulled away.
"Oh, do you want to slow things down a bit?" Ollie asked.
"No, I just meant... I mean we haven't even gone on a date or anything. People usually date for a while before they start getting into this sort of stuff, right?"
"I suppose that's how it worked when I was dating girls, but it's different for everyone. Some girls I've been with have been happy to move things along quickly, and others have been more reserved. It just depends on what you're comfortable with," he told me.
"Yeah, I guess."
"Are you comfortable with how everything's going?"
"Yeah, it doesn't bother me, I was just thinking about it, wondering if maybe we'd be better off slowing down. Most couples move a bit slower, that's all - get to know each other and build trust."
"Do you trust me?"
"Of course."
He started to quiz me, and I answered each question without hesitation: "What's my favourite colour?"
"Yellow."
"What's my favourite food?"
"Chicken nuggets."
"What's my favourite David Bowie song?"
"Let's Dance."
"What's my favourite book?"
"To Kill a Mockingbird."
"Exactly," he told me with a smile. "And I trust you too, and I know that your favourite colour is blue, your favourite food is pizza, your favourite David Bowie song is Blue Jean, and your favourite book is any of the Harry Potter books. We've been best friends since we were ten, we know each other back to front and inside-out - Hell, I reckon I know you better than I know myself. We don't have to build a relationship because we already have one. You see what I mean?"
"Yeah, you're right," I smiled at him. "I wasn't feeling uncomfortable, in fact I think it all feels really natural. I just... wasn't sure. I haven't really been in a serious relationship before - except my short relationship with Cyn - and I want to make sure we do this properly."
"Relationships aren't like IKEA furniture," he said with a laugh. "There's no instructions, you just have to make it up as you go along and do what you feel is right. This feels right to me," He leaned in and gave me another gentle kiss.
"Same," I agreed. "You know, what you just said - that was almost wise."
He grinned. "I am wise."
"Shut up," I laughed and started kissing him so he wouldn't say anything else. We stopped about half an hour later when we heard footsteps and Trent's loud voice. My stomach grumbled loudly and Ollie laughed as we returned to a less compromising position. "Hungry?" he asked.
"And horny," I said, sneaking one more quick kiss. "Maybe you could come back to my house for some "study"?"
"Aren't you grounded? And your mother knows about us anyway, I'm sure she'd be suspicious about us holing up in your room," he replied.
"Well, your place then. I'll tell Mum band practice ran later than we expected," I said with a mischievous grin.
"That's very tempting-"
"PIZZA!" Trent shouted, raising two pizza boxes above his head triumphantly. Tony and Cynthia soon followed, Tony carrying two large bottles of soft drink and Cynthia with the last pizza box - and a half-eaten slice already in her mouth. We dug in and talked about random stuff until eight o'clock, when Tony and Cyn left for home, and I went with Ollie back to his place for some "study".