The Innocent Can Never Last

Miss You

Billie's POV

I woke up to the sound of somebody banging heavily on the locked door of my room. "Billie, are you alive in there?" they shouted.
It was Tre. With a long sigh, I clambered out of my bed and hobbled over to the to open it. "What's the deal?" I asked, opening the door to let Tre in, as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and yawned a bit.

"Sorry, but it's like, one-thirty in the afternoon, and you still weren't up yet. I just came to make sure you were okay..." Tre said, sounding a bit concerned.
"Yeah, I'm okay, I just couldn't sleep for most of the night, that's all. My mind was on other things..." I said.
"Do you wanna talk about anything?" Tre asked, sitting down on the bed and staring up at me with expectant eyes.
"It's nothing major...I just kind of miss Emma...and I'm starting to think that maybe I was wrong to get involved with Ruby. She never calls or anything, and then when she does come over, all she ever wants to do is make out," I said.
"Yeah, that's Ruby for you," Tre said. "If I was you dump her and make up with Emma."
"Yeah, but it's not that easy," I said, with a sigh. "Ruby's got so much damn charm that I'm like, helplessly drawn to her, and Emma pretty much hates me."

Tre gave me a sympathetic look and said, "Well, look on the bright side, your friend Mike is coming over in a little bit, and you guys are going to meet Larry about the band."
"Yeah, I guess," I said. "Do you wanna come with us when we go see Larry?"
"Sure, if you don't mind," Tre said.
"No, I don't mind, and I know Mike won't," I answered.
"Okay, cool, I'll come," Tre said.

I nodded, and began to stare at the floor again. Tre sighed and said, "Cheer up, buddy. Things will get better. Why don't we go down to the kitchen and get you some food? You look half-starved."

With a slight shrug, I got up and followed Tre down to the kitchen, clad in only my boxers and a pair of socks. When we got downstairs, even though I wasn't particularly hungry, I joined Tre in rummaging through the cabinets for something decent to eat.

After several minutes of searching with no luck, Tre and I were suddenly interrupted by JJ, who came galloping into the room holding a box of dried out cereal. As soon as he saw me, however, JJ dropped the cereal and said bluntly, "Oh, my god, Billie, are you anorexic?"
"No, why?" I asked suspiciously.
"Look at yourself, dude...your ribs are sticking out for like, a mile," JJ said.

I looked down at my shirtless abdomen and saw that he was right. My ribs were sticking out to the point that it was almost alarming, and my belly was all caved in and flat. "You look like a skeleton, Billie, that can't be healthy," JJ said. "When is the last time you ate a decent meal?"

I shrugged, because I was honestly unable to remember the last time I had really eaten something. I was never hungry anymore. Usually I would just pick at my food instead of actually eating it. "Bill, that's probably why you don't sleep well at night, because you're starving. Why don't you ever eat?" Tre asked.
"I'm just never hungry," I replied.

JJ frowned, before turning and walking out of the kitchen. He returned some thirty seconds later, holding a bucket of chicken wings from the night before. "Eat," he commanded, shoving the bucket into my arms. "I don't know why you're never hungry, but I'm gonna make sure you start eating from now on. You seriously don't look healthy, buddy."
"Thanks, JJ," I said, grateful that I actually had some friends that were trying to help me out.
"Sure thing, kid," JJ answered, patting me on the back. "Now eat, or I'll shove it down your throat."

I sat down at the table and began eating, not wanting to risk having food shoved down my throat by a guy that was twice my size...

"Billie, I'm taking you shopping later," Tre said, as I came hobbling down the stairs. "It'll make you feel better."
"I doubt it," I answered, sitting down next to Tre on the couch.

It was about two hours later, and my mood really hadn't improved since I had woken up earlier that day. My girl problems were still getting the best of me. I missed Emma, and I was starting to get peeved that I still hadn't heard from Ruby. Not to mention the fact that I was feeling very bloated and nauseous after being made to eat a whole bucket of chicken wings. I yawned a bit, and Tre said, "Come on, let me take you shopping."
"No, you're not taking me shopping," I said.
"Why not? It'll be fun!" Tre said, in a sing-song voice.
"What the heck would you want to take me shopping for, Tre?" I asked.
"Because, well, I don't mean to be rude, but you've got no style, Bill. If you're gonna be a rockstar, you gotta have your own style, you know?" Tre asked.
"There's nothing wrong with my style," I said.
"Billie, you're like an old rusty car that needs to be pimped," Tre said. "I think you'd be more confident in the long run if you ditched your hobo style and came up with something more...you."

I looked over at Tre, who was wearing a pair of ugly plaid shorts with a black shirt that said, "Dirty," in block letters across the front. He was wearing a pair of low-cut converse, and his blond hair was spiked into a mohawk. I laughed a bit and said, "Yeah, because you obviously have a style that's all your own."
"Yeah, and I'm obviously doing pretty good for myself, aren't I?" Tre asked.
"Well, yeah," I admitted.

Tre was always very confident in himself, and there were always people flocking around him. Maybe being more like Tre wasn't such a bad idea. I sighed, and said, "And what do you have in mind as my own personal style?"
"Oh, I don't know...I was thinking maybe we could dye your hair a different color. Hmm...some eyeliner and a nice leather jacket would do you good, too," Tre said.
I laughed and said, "As long as you don't make me wear any of those plaid shorts like yours, then I'll be good."
The two of us laughed for a few minutes, before I suddenly became very serious and said, "Dude, I think I'm gonna puke."
"Maybe you're bulimic," Tre replied.
"I'm not bulimic, I'm just not used to eating that much at one time," I said, closing my eyes as a wave of nausea passed through me.
"Why don't you just take a nap?" Tre asked. "You'll probably feel better when you wake up."
"That's not a bad idea," I said. "Wow, Tre, you're just full of bright ideas today."
"Yeah, I know, it's kind of scaring me," Tre said.
I grinned a bit, before laying down on the couch and quickly falling asleep.

Lord knows how much later, I was woken suddenly from my sleep, as I became slightly aware of a tickling sensation up my nose. I quickly opened my eyes, and came face-to-face with Mike, who appeared to be sticking a long, fluttery feather up my nose. "Aaargh!" I shouted, jumping to my feet with a start, as Mike and Tre both fell back, laughing. "What the heck are you doing?"
"Waking you up," Mike said, as he and Tre hit high-fives.
"Quite a wonderful way to be woken up," I said, with a yawn.
Mike and I both grinned, and I looked up at Mike and said, "When did you get here?"
"A little bit ago," Mike answered.
"Oh," I said. "Well, I see you and Tre have met."
"Yeah, we've met allright," Tre said, elbowing Mike playfully in the side.
Happy that the two of them seemed to be getting along so well, I stood up, stretched, and said, "Are you guys ready to go?"
"Yeah, dude," Mike replied. "Let's go get this band signed..."

Emma's POV

"Emma, phone!" yelled Melly from the foot of the steps.
I sighed, picked myself up off the bed, and walked over to the telephone.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Hey, Em, it's Mike."
"Oh, hey Mikey, what's up?" I asked, sitting down in my desk chair.
"I thought you were supposed to be going to some meeting with Billie Joe?"
"I did. We just got done, actually," Mike said, and I could hear the excitement in his voice.
"Well, what's the news?" I asked, with a grin.
"We got signed, Emma. I mean we really got signed! Papers to prove it and everything!"

I grinned again, and said, "That's awesome, Mike. You'll have to let me know when you start playing shows. I want to come see you."
"That probably won't be for a while, we still don't have a drummer, remember?" Mike asked.
"Yeah, that's right," I said. "Has Billie looked into anybody yet?"
"Well, what I don't understand is why Billie hasn't asked Tre to be the drummer," Mike said.
"Who's Tre?"
"He lives in the warehouse with Billie. He's really cool, and he plays drums really well, so why Bill hasn't asked him is beyond me..."
"Maybe he's waiting for you to second him or something," I suggested.
"Maybe," Mike said, as the phone seemed to cut out for a second. "Crap, Em, I'm gonna have to let you go...the time on this pay phone just ran out and I haven't got any more quarters..."
I smiled. "Okay, buddy, I'll talk to you later."
"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow, I expect," Mike said.
"Okay, bye."
"Bye."

I hung up the phone, and went skipping off down the hall to tell Melly the good news. It seemed as if things were really going back to normal...