Billy Carter

Chapter 17: Ashley

"Are you ready baby?" Mum asked, walking into my bedroom. She was wearing a pretty red dress and black high-heels. She'd straightened her hair and put some of her new makeup on, and she used my mirror to put a pair of black dangly earrings in.
"You look nice," I commented. She smiled at me in the mirror's reflection. "Thanks baby. Are you ready? What're you reading?"
"I'm ready," I said, putting my book down, and taking my glasses off.
"What are you reading?" she repeated patiently, putting in the other earring.
"The Catcher in the Rye," I told her.
"Your daddy loves that one."
"Yeah. He read it to me ages ago. But I don't hate it, and I thought it would be good practice."
"Well, get your tushy downstairs and put your shoes on." She walked over and planted a kiss on my forehead. "Hope your hungry..!" she said in a sing-song voice, leaving my room again. My stomach growled and I got up, trying not to disturb Blue Jean who was curled up asleep on the foot of my bed. I grabbed my phone and followed Mum to the front door.
"You ready?" Dad asked as I came downstairs.
"Yeah."
"That's a nice shirt." I glanced down at the black button-up shirt I was wearing.
"It was Tony's."
"You look good in it, kiddo," he ruffled my hair when I reached him at the bottom of the stairs. "Except for the red lipstick on your head. Here." He reaches out and I tried not to flinch. He rubbed the lipstick off my forehead with a smile. "She got me too," he said, and pointed to his cheek as he sighed contentedly. "You're a handsome lad, you know that?" he said suddenly. "Makes me feel good when people assume you're mine," he teased with a wink.
"Yeah?"
"Don't pull too many lasses tonight, alright?"
"Dad-"
"Come on you two!" Mum called. We hurried up and followed Mum out of the house and climbed into Dad's work car.

#

Dad drove us to the pub we were having dinner at - but it was a bit fancier than your usual pub. Not exactly a restaurant though - it still had that party atmosphere.
We walked inside and were greeted by cheers from all of Mum and Dad's mates, and everyone wished them happy birthday - it was Dad's birthday today and Mum's was in a week but since hers between Christmas and New Year's it's kind of an awkward spot to have a party, since all Mum's friends are busy with the Holidays and relatives, so they decided to have a joint party. Mum and Dad caught up with everyone and got to talking, and I ended up straggling behind, unable to properly relate to their adult conversations. It was awkward, but fine - after we sat down at the table I was quickly roped into conversation.
"Hello William, I haven't seen you since you were in Primary School!" one of Mum's friends said. I had no idea who she was, but apparently she knew me.
"Oh, yeah..." I said awkwardly.
"Yeah," she turned back to Mum. "My Luke's just started kindergarten," she told Mum. "They grow up so fast, don't they?"
"Oh, God yes," Mum agreed, smiling at me. "I can't believe Bill's going to be seventeen this time next year, driving and everything - I have no idea where all those years have gone."
"Seventeen, really?" Mum's friend turned back to me with wide eyes. "Gosh, already?"
"Yep," I said, twiddling my thumbs uncomfortably under the table.
"And then before you know it you'll be eighteen! My goodness." That's how age works, lady, I thought. "So how's school going, Will?"
"Uh, it's fine."
"Do you have a job?"
"Yeah, I'm waiting tables Wednesday and Thursday nights - sometimes weekends. I used to work Fridays and Saturdays, but my hours changed. And on Mondays and Tuesdays I work at a DVD store, but it's closing down after New Year's."
"Oh, dear."
"Yeah."
"Well, you must be very busy then! Especially with Year Eleven on top of it all."
"Yeah, a bit."
"He's in a band, too," Mum said. I inwardly cringed. Why did she have to tell everyone? What if we're shit?
"Oh, a band!" Mum's friend said - a bit over-excitedly, if you asked me. Patronizing, even.
"Sort of. Not really," I told her.
"Their first performance is on Saturday," Mum told her. "But I've already heard great things from his friends who have heard a couple of their songs."
"Wow. So, have you got a girlfriend Will? I bet a handsome guy like you has no trouble getting dates?"
"Oh, no, I don't have a girlfriend," I said, blushing with embarrassment.
"You had that Annabelle girl all over you a couple months back - what happened there?" Dad asked, jumping into the conversation suddenly.
"We, uh, just didn't work out," I answered.
"Isn't she a model now?" Mum asked. "I'm certain I saw her in a magazine I was flicking through last week."
"Yeah, she's uh, modelling for H&M." I told Mum.
"Damn it boy, how'd you fuck that one up?" Dad teased, elbowing me in the ribs.
"I didn't fuck anything up," I protested. "She told me she wasn't going to date anyone until she'd finished High School so she can focus on her studies," I told him, and it was only a half-lie. Annabelle had declared to all of us that she wasn't going to date until we graduated (in saying that, she had a new beau every week), but obviously the real reason we hadn't ended up together was a bit different.
"Oh, right. What about Cynthia then?" Dad asked.
"She's like a sister, that'd be gross!" I exclaimed.
"That, uh, Jen? Jenny? I think that's her name."
"She's dating Tony."
"Oh."
"But it doesn't matter, I need to focus on school anyroad - get my grades up."
"But you should have a dating life too, Billy," Dad told me. "All you do is study with Oliver and band practice."
"I'm only sixteen - barely sixteen - and I've got plenty of time to play the field," I pointed out. "I'll fuck like a rabbit in my twenties, but for now-"
"William!" Mum exclaimed. Dad choked on his water and the men within earshot burst into laughter. Mum pushed a tenner and a fiver into my hands, frowning disapprovingly. "Go get us some drinks. I'll have an apple cider."
"He can't buy alcohol - I'll go with him," Dad pointed out, still laughing. We both got up from the table and walked over to the bar. "Christ kid, you come out with some crackers," he chuckled.
"I didn't mean to embarrass you, I just said it without thinking," I told him.
"It's fine, you didn't embarrass anyone. We'll go home and your mum and I'll crack up about it while we're getting ready for bed." He winked at me and we reached the bar.
"Are you, um, drinking?" I asked hesitantly.
"No. Don't want to risk it. It's been hard, but it's getting easier. I don't want to undo all the progress I've made."
"Ok." Good, I thought.
"What do you want?"
"Jack and Coke."
"Can I get an apple cider and two cokes please?" Dad asked the bartender.
"Sure." The bartender got our drinks and I gave Dad a flat, unimpressed look.
"What?" he asked. "You're not eighteen yet. In two years I'll buy you a pint, ok?"
"I'll hold you to that."
"I know." The bartender gave us our drinks and Dad gave me one of the cokes. "You looked at the menu yet?" Dad asked me.
"Nah."
"There's a burger there you might like. Barbecue sauce, beef patty, cheese, onion, spinach, pickles and a couple other things on a brioche bun."
"What's a brioche bun?"
"French bread. It's tasty, you'll like it."
"I like Turkish bread."
"Me too. Hey, speaking of Turkey, which is next to Greece - guess who just got here?" Dad nodded towards the door where I saw Haris Roberts enter. He made eye contact with Mum and smiled before he saw me and Dad.
"Happy birthday Steve!" Harry grinned and came over to us. Dad gave me Mum's cider so he could shake hands with Harry, and then swatted the back of my head when I snuck a mouthful.
"Go give it to your mother, she's looking impatient," Dad told me.
"Yeah, yeah. Hey Harry," I smiled at my music teacher.
"Hey Bill. How's band practice going? I'm excited for your gig on Saturday." He grinned excitedly at me.
"Don't hold your breath," I warned him.
"Billy's pretty pessimistic about it," Dad explained.
"Well, a bit of nervousness is a good thing," Harry told me. "But I know you're going to be great. You had a pretty awesome teacher, after all."
"Ha ha," I rolled my eyes.
"You'll be great, you really will."
"Thanks."
"Right, well I'm gonna get a beer. Has anyone ordered yet?" Harry asked Dad.
"No, we've only been here a couple of minutes."
"Alright."
"Hey I wanted to talk to you about- Bill, go give that to your mother already!" Dad chided me. I rolled my eyes and went back to the table to give Mum her drink.
"About time!" she complained.
"I was talking to Harry!"
"Well have a look at the menu honey." Mum held one out for me and turned to her own. I sat down and began reading over it. I figured Mum was trying to give me a head start over everyone else. I'd gotten a lot better at reading, but I was still slower than everyone else. I was tempted to order the burger Dad had suggested earlier, but felt really guilty about it so I ended up telling Mum I'd like a salad. She gave me the most confused look.
"Honey, are you alright?" she asked worriedly. "You hate salad."
"That's not true, I like this one. And it's got chicken and bacon in it."
"Come on, order something good. We don't eat out very often, so make the most of it," Mum told me.
"Nah, I want a salad. I'm not very hungry anyroad."
"Why do you want a salad? I don't think you've ever asked for vegetables."
"Why is it so weird? Ollie eats salad all the time and you don't freak out."
"But that's Ollie, he's always eaten healthily - the Billy I know would live off pizza and cheese burgers if he could."
"Maybe I want to start eating healthy."
"Why? Billy, you are healthy. Your diet is fine, you're skinny - almost too skinny, actually, although I'm glad to see you've put on some weight."
I blushed slightly with embarrassment when she made that comment (though I tried not to) but she saw it and in a matter of milliseconds worked out exactly what was bothering me. She leaned over to me with a small smile. "Baby, you aren't getting fat," she whispered to me. "You're handsome and healthy, and you're filling out properly as you're getting older. You're good-looking now, but when you're in your twenties and your body is finished growing you're going to be drop-dead gorgeous."
"If I'm not obese," I muttered. Mum frowned at me.
"You won't be if you exercise regularly. Baby, what you eat is fine. If you're so worried about it, don't focus on dieting - focus on exercising. Go with Ollie and Tony to the gym more often, start playing football again, or tennis or whatever you want to do. But I think if it concerns you so much you should bring it up with your counselor, because it's completely irrational."