tatum
"can you please both shut the fuck up?" i yell, interrupting my parents fighting.
once again my parents were fighting, it used to be an everyday thing but it got to a point where i literally wouldn't come home if they were both there.
"don't talk to me like that tatum" my mom says, causing me to roll my eyes.
"shut the fuck up" i say harsher.
"tatum-" my dad begins before i cut him off.
"no dad, you have no room to say anything" i say, cocking my head towards him. "you are barley ever home, and when you are, you are doped up and fighting with mom, hell i don't know when the last time i saw you sober was"
"get out of my house, last time i checked i'm the reason we have a roof over our head, i'm the reason the water and electricity is still running, i'm the reason you have a place to come to and sleep" he says sternly, taking a step closer to me. "you can leave"
"fine, i'll leave" i announce, stepping out of the house before they could say anything.
it was like 2:00 am so i knew corey would be home, that's exactly where i went.
i knocked on the door which was weirdly locked.
let me tell you, it's never locked.
"corey wake the fuck up" i say loudly, continuing to bang on the door.
i head towards the back, jumping over the fence before letting myself through the back door which was luckily unlocked.
"corey?" i ask, walking into the living room to see it was empty.
i take out my phone, dialing coreys number,
"hello?"
"hey tatum! what's up?"
"i'm in your house, parents were being assholes so i left. where you at?" i question, hearing people talking behind him. "is that kermit?"
"uh, yeah, me him and billie are at ellys" he says as i scoff in disbelief.
ellys was this waffle house that we would go to literally every night when we had nothing to do, the food was cheap, and amazing. except it was more than five miles away from my house meaning i couldn't go anymore. we made a promise none of us would go and eat there unless all three of us were together again.
"what happened to us not going there until i'm off house arrest?"
"kermits idea"
"of course" i mumble.
"when will you guys be back?" i ask, hoping they won't be there for much longer.
"uh, not till later, we were going to go down to the pier"
my heart aches at that, wishing i could be with them all. especially billie.
fuck it, i have an idea.
"stay at the ellys" i say before hanging up the phone.
i head towards the kitchen before lighting a blunt and taking a long hit from it.
"here goes nothing" i mumble, grabbing plastic wrap and olive oil from the top cabinet.
listen, i know this sounds crazy but i've seen it in a movie and i've been debating on doing it for so long but i haven't had the reason to actually pull the trigger.
my ankle monitor wasn't exactly skin tight, as i was able to stick thin paper or plastic in between it.
i smear the olive oil all over my ankle, letting it fall in between the monitor and my ankle before sticking the plastic wrap in between the monitor and the lubed up skin.
"no fuckin way" i whisper as i start to wiggle the monitor further down my ankle.
i spend the next three minutes slowly wiggling the monitor further down my leg, until eventually reaching the furthest down point of my ankle, slipping it off.
i rub my hand over the now freed, smooth skin before placing the monitor in a drawer at coreys, smiling triumphantly at my work before grabbing my keys and starting my car.
i blast the music probably a little to loud, screaming the lyrics to 3005 by childish gambino, smiling like a little kid at the fact i'm more than 5 miles away from my house right now.
i park at ellys which was pretty much empty except for a couple old creepy dudes and billie kermit and corey.
i walk into the waffle house, corey, kermit, and billie all smiling but giving me a questionable look as i approach the booth they were sitting at.
"how the hell are you here?" corey asks as i take a seat next to him.
"yeah? how are you?" billie questions.
i smile before kicking my feet up on the table, pulling my sweatpants up, revealing my bare ankle.
"they took it off?" kermit questions.
"hell no, i took it off myself" i laugh.
"you are gonna get in so much fucking trouble" billie laughs as i take my foot off the table.
"nah, i wont get caught" i say confidently. "now come on, i need to get waffles, ive missed this place"
"where did you get this sweatshirt? it's sick" billie says, tugging at kermits sweatshirt.
is she trying to make me jealous? because shes doing an awfully bad job at it if she is.
"thanks, i actually thrifted it" kermit says, placing an arm around billie.
i glance up from my waffles, taking another bite before looking at billie who's already looking at me, her bottom lip between her teeth.
she's driving me crazy.
"uh, i'm gonna go the bathroom" i announce, getting up from the booth and heading towards the bathroom.
i pull out my phone to text billie, but before i could the door opens to reveal her standing there, a small smirk on her face.
"you are so jealous" she smiles, stepping closer.
does she think she's in charge?
i snort at her comment before grabbing her hips and quickly turning us so she's pinned against the wall.
"i'm not jealous baby, you are just so desperate to kiss me" i mumble, our lips only inches apart.
trust me, i wanted to kiss her, but i wasn't going to give in.
"and why do you think that?" she asks, in almost a whisper.
"because you are trying to get me jealous, and it's not going to work" i say lowly in her ear, making her shiver.
i place a kiss on her neck making her breath hitch before trailing my lips up to her cheek, and giving a quick kiss to the corner of her mouth.
"tatum" she says quietly as i tuck the loose hair behind her ear. "please kiss me"
i smirk before stepping back, a good distance between us now.
"i'm good" i reply before heading towards the door.
"you trying to make me jealous, isn't going to work princess" i say over my shoulder as she just licks her lips and flips me off.
~
we arrive at santa montica pier of course it being completely empty as it was 4:00 am.
"i love this time of night, how no ones around" i say as we get out the car, walking down the pier.
"yeah" billie says softly, taking her hood and sunglasses off, letting her blue hair fall behind her back.
i noticed whenever we go somewhere public she keeps her hood up and sunglasses on, i hope it's not a insecurity thing because she's gorgeous and if anything, she needs to show her face off more.
we walk around, sitting on the rides which were obviously not being operated, and billie insisting we have a small photoshoot.
"jet skis?" i whisper to kermit whos eyes light up at the idea.
"hell yeah" he replies.
we head toward the end of the dock where the jet ski rental is, the place still keeping the keys in the same exact place.
"what are you guys doing?" billie questions has kermit throws me a set and than corey.
"riding jet skis, like i told you about" i tell her.
"what if we get caught" billie asks worriedly.
"trust me, we won't" corey answers as we all shake our head in agreement.
"come on, its so much fun" kermit whines.
"fine" she says causing a smile to grow on my face. "but i don't know how to ride one"
"ride with me" i say as she nods.
we walk towards the jet skis, taking the cover off three of them before me, corey, kermit start to strip into our underwear.
"you gonna swim?" i ask her, taking my shorts off and throwing them onto the pile of corey and kermits clothes.
"nah, i'm good" she replies as i toss my phone down onto the pile of clothes.
i could see billie was staring as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, making me want to kiss her right there, and i would have if the boys weren't around.
"i was exited to see you almost naked" kermit jokes as billie playfully slaps the back of his head.
"pervert" she says making him laugh.
"does that make me a pervert too than?" i say as billies eyes widen.
"tatum!"
"i'm joking!" i laugh, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the edge of the dock.
"alright, i'll get on first than you" i instruct billie as she nods.
i get on the jet ski, reaching my hand out for billie to grab behind me.
"okay, just wrap your arms around me and hold on tight" i tell her as she nods. "make sure i can breathe though"
she laughs before wrapping her arms around my stomach, her warm hands on my skin as her chest reseted against my back.
"ready?" i ask but don't wait for a response before turning the throttle to its max and quickly speeding over the waves.
"tate!"
tate, that's a name i haven't been called sense ivy. she would always call me tatey and i absolutely hated it, i would always get so mad whenever she called me it. she introduced me to people as tatey and shit.
now i would do anything to hear her call me that again.
kermit and corey would call me tate too, but the name was to painful to be heard as it just brought back memories of ivy so i wouldn't let anyone else call me it.
that's until billie, yeah it reminded me of ivy, but it brought back the good memories, the ones of laughing on her bed until we couldn't breathe memories.
billie saying it made everything seem okay.
i follow the boys who have been trying to get water on us this whole time by coming close and suddenly turning.
"i'm gonna kill them" i yell over the engine of the jet ski, following corey.
we finally come to a stop, turning off the engines to the jetskis. you could see the faint street lights from the pier, it was pretty.
"you sure you don't wanna swim?" i ask billie as she loosens her grip from around me.
"yep, i'm scared of the ocean, sharks and shit" she says making me laugh.
"you know, you have a better chance of dying from your refrigerator falling on you than you do from a shark attack"
"okay and? my refrigerator doesn't have fuckin teeth" she argues, making me laugh.
"alright kermit" i shout as he reaches for the rope, tieing it to the back of his jetski before tossing it to corey to do the same, than me.
"alright, sense you arnt swimming, just hold onto this rope. don't fuckin let go or else we will lose the skis and drown" i tell her as she grabs the rope.
i dive off the jet ski, letting the cool water hit my body. it was refreshing, i missed this feeling.
if there's one thing i love about california, it is the ocean.
"you are missing out bil!" corey shouts as she just shakes her head.
"tell me that when a shark bites your leg!" she shouts back making us all laugh. "i'm serious!"
"i missed doing this" i say to the boys who both nod. "i'm going to miss you guys a ton, but let's make this the funnest summer yet, now that i know a way out of my ankle monitor"
they both agree as we continue to mess around, reminiscing on the times we used to do this.
"think ivy is watching our dumbasses right now?" corey asks softly.
"oh hell yeah, for sure" kermit says as i smile.
"i hope so" i whisper, looking up at the stars.
"she definitely is, but she's probably cringing at your soft ass right now so come on, we can't miss sunrise" kermit adds before splashing me.
we swim back to where billie is still on the jet ski, holding the roap.
"tate i swear to god" billie says as i climb onto the jetski, rocking it back and forth on purpose.
i laugh at her nervousness before untying the rope and throwing it to corey.
"last one back is buying breakfast" i announce as billie quickly wraps her arms around me before i take off back towards the pier.
i glance over my shoulder to look at billie whose head was up, looking at the stars, her hair blowing in the wind as she had a huge grin on her face.
something about seeing her smile made me smile as cliche as it is. seeing her happy, made me happy. i don't want anything to happen to her.
we were the first ones back the pier, as we got off the jetski, placing the cover back over it.
"you can see the stars so clearly out there" billie says as i grab my shirt and shorts from off the ground.
"yeah, no light pollution, it's pretty cool" i agree before pulling my shirt over my head.
"you cold?"
"i'm good"
"you're shivering, take my sweatshirt" billie says, taking the black hoodie off from herself and handing it to me.
i pull it over my head, the warmth making me instantly feel better as i rub my hands together, giving billie a smile, "thanks"
"that's bullshit! you got a head start, i had to put the rope in the thingy!" kermit whines as i snap out of my daze of looking at billie.
"shut up, i don't care, we can't miss sunrise!" i say, breaking up kermits and coreys little argument as they grab their clothes.
we hop the fence, and climb the ladder on the side of one of the gift stores as we reach the roof, letting our legs hang over the edge as we watch the sunrise.
"ivy definitely would have called us lame for this" kermit jokes, breaking the silence.
"nah, her ass would still be out on the jet skis" corey says.
"gotta agree with him on that" i add making us all laugh. "i wish you could have met her billie, she would have liked you"
"she sounds amazing" billie says softly.
"she was" i agree as corey wraps his arm around me, pulling me into a side hug.
"i've been missing her recently" i tell him honestly.
"this week isn't easy, i get it" he says before kissing the top of my head.
it's july 18th, ivys birthday week, she passed july 22nd which happened to be her birthday. hence why i was having a sleepover with her.
we all sit in a peaceful silence, waiting for the sun to fully rise before deciding to get off the roof, not wanting to risk getting in trouble.
there were a good amount of poeple here now, lots of locals come early to see the sunrise on the pier and i don't blame them, it's amazing.
"uh tate? think i can have my hoodie back? i'm kinda cold" billie asks as we head down towards the pier.
"so billie can call you that forbidden name but not your friends of four years?" corey pouts as i just laugh.
"billie has special privileges" i shrug.
"yeah so tate wanna give me my hoodie back? i'm freeezing" billie says.
i find that hard to believe as the suns up now and it got like ten degrees warmer, but don't question her as i take the hoodie off my head before handing it to bil who puts it on, as well as her sunglasses.
"so, who's place are we crashing at all day? i haven't slept in twenty four hours" corey says like we won't go to his place.
"uh, yours?" kermit questions.
"i got work today, i'll come over after though" i say as they nod. "my cars still at ellys, so can you guys drop me off there?"
we arrive at ellys as i get out of kermits car, and head towards mine, billie following behind me, "i'm gonna get a ride from tate"
"what are you doing?" i ask her as she gets in the passenger seat next to me.
"getting a ride home from you, i don't wanna go to coreys" she says as a raise a eyebrow.
"why not?"
"because, you're going to come over. meet my mom, dad, and finneas. while you can you know?" she asks as she glances at my freed ankle.
"i got work though" i pout.
"take a sick day?" billie asks.
"i need the money though" i tell her.
"i will literally give you cold hard cash a day's worth of work if you spend the day with me" she says as a i give in.
"fine, only because you are paying me" i smirk as she rolls her eyes.
before i could stick the keys in the ignition, there is a knock on billies window causing me to jump.
it was two young teenage girls, i would guess 14 or 15?
"shit" billie mumbles before opening the door.
the hell?
"sorry if we were interrupting" one of the girls says.
"no, no, not at all, how how you guys?" billie asks the girls who were looking at her like she's their world.
i'm so fucking confused right now.
"i'm good" one of the girls says as she begins to cry. "i just love you so much"
"aw, don't cry baby come here" billie says, pulling her into a bear hug. "let's take pictures!"
they have a short conversation as i just watch in confusion.
"thank you billie" the other girl who doesn't have tears running down her face says.
the girls leave as billie gets back in the car as i'm just staring at her cluelessly.
"surpise?" she says as i just shake my head in disbelief.
"oh you have so much explaining to do"
~
a/n - a soft ass chapter