Chapter 2/?

- - -

After that night, Mike wasn't mean to me anymore. We didn't really talk, but he was definitely not rude anymore. Sometimes whenever he was in the house I can catch glances, but he always looks away.

My father was thinking of moving here. He said he didn't know yet, though. He's still deciding, but he wants to stay here for now. I don't mind, but it's just kind of weird.

I walked in the kitchen and Billie and Mike were there, eating cereal. "Mom went to work, and I think your dad is sleeping," Billie said, crunching on some cinnamon cereal.

I nodded and got a bowl from the cupboard and then a spoon from the drawer. "So...do you guys have any plans for concerts or anything soon?" I asked them as I plopped into the seat next to Billie, filling my bowl with some sugary flake cereal.

"Planning for Billie's birthday bash for next week," Mike said, eating his fruity cereal. Billie Joe punched him in the arm. "You don't have to, moron...just getting drunk with you and Tré while performing at the Gilman is enough for me," he said, laughing. Mike smiled and shook his head. "No way, it's gonna be awesome as fuck, alright?" He said, giving Billie a noogie.

I smiled. "Do you need any help with anything?" I asked him. He let go of Billie and looked at me. "Um...I don't know...probably not, but thanks." He said as he continued to eat his breakfast. I pursed my lips and nodded slowly, eating my breakfast too.

Billie looked at Mike with disbelief and shook his head, however Mike didn't seem to notice and continued to eat.

We all kind of ate in silence until someone rang the doorbell. Billie stood up to go get the door, and I followed behind him.

He answered and it was his new girlfriend Adrienne, her hair tied in a half ponytail and she was wearing a black tank top. They hugged for a while and I smiled. They looked so happy together and it made me feel really happy.

They pulled away. "Sorry for unexpectedly dropping by, I just really wanted to see you," she said to him. She smiled at me. "Hi, Logan. How are you?" She asked and I nodded and responded with a small 'good.'

"Adrienne please, I'm never not excited to see you," Billie said as he hugged her again. "I don't know, you're still in your pyjamas," she said with a small chuckle. Billie looked down at his clothes. "Right. I'm gonna go change, then we can go hang out after." He went to his room and Adrienne turned to me. "Do you want to come with us too?" She asked me.

I gave a light chuckle. "Um...don't you and Billie want to be alone? I mean...you two are dating right?"

She laughed. "Oh we are, but we're just hanging out with some friends right now. You should come, it'll be a lot of fun," she said with a reassuring smile. She must of noticed that I looked nervous, and she looked at me sincerely. "I know it's nerve-racking meeting new people when you're shy, but there's only going to be a couple of people there-Mike, Tré, his friend Jason and his girlfriend, and then Billie and me. If you ever feel nervous you can just talk to me," she said with a smile. I looked at her. "Thank you," I said, smiling back.

Billie came back wearing a loose grey T-shirt and loose jeans, and his blonde hair looked like dry spaghetti noodles. "Alright, I've officially unshitted myself."

Mike walked into the foyer from the kitchen, I kind of forgot he was here. "What are we doing?" He asked us, scratching his head. We all turned to look at him. "Get dressed, Mikey. We're going out," Billie said to him. Mike groaned. "I'm gonna go take a shower." He left to go to the bathroom.

I looked at the two. "Yeah, I should go and change..." I said as I slipped out of the foyer and headed to my room.

I decided to just wear a tight fitting white T-shirt and these nice denim overalls I had. It looked okay to me. I walked into the living room and sat down on the couch opposite from the couple.

"So...where are we going?" I asked them quietly. Billie shrugged. "Guess we'll just hang out at the café," he said. "Nobody's gonna be at the Gilman right now, it's only noon time."

I nodded and Mike walked into the room, wearing a loose grey T-shirt and jeans. "Dude, we're matching," Billie said, standing up. "We're gonna look like boyfriends."

Mike rolled his eyes. "Well obviously someone's going to have to change," he said. They stared at each other for a long time. Awkward silence. Billie then groaned and walked passed him. "You're a little shit!" He yelled at Mike.

Billie returned in a red zip up sweater with a white shirt underneath, grunting. "Alright, let's go."

Billie drove as Mike was in the front seat, playing air bass along with the song on the radio, making bass sounds with his mouth. "Dirnt, dirnt, dirnt, dirnt..."

Billie hit him. "Shut up, Dirnt. I can't concentrate on the fucking road."

Adrienne and I were in the backseat. "So..." She looked at me. "When did you get here?" She asked.

"Just about a week ago. I don't know, I just graduated high school and I'm not really planning on going to college or university yet, so my dad wants us to come here because there was a family reunion party and he wanted me to get together with Billie Joe. Also, he's thinking of moving here, so..."

Adrienne nodded. "I see. You're from Seattle, right? At least that's what Billie said. Is it nice there?" She asked and I nodded. "It's alright. What about Minnesota?" I asked her back. She shrugged.

We hit a bump in the road and we all gasped. Mike was hitting Billie and Billie hit him back. "Cool it, guys." Adrienne said and they stopped.

We arrived at the café and all got off the car. A guy with wavy brown hair and sunglasses was there sitting in a booth making out with a girl with short red hair.

"Hey," Billie said to them and the guy gave him a hug. "Jason, this is my cousin Logan." He brought him to me and I gulped. He shook my hand. "Jason White, nice to meet you," he said and I nodded. He went back to his girlfriend who was awkwardly sitting there and continued to make out with her.

"Where's Tré at?" Mike asked and Billie Joe shrugged. Soon a loud van playing mariachi music rolled in and Tré entered. "Yeah, dad. I know, okay?" He said as he stuck his head out the door. He walked up to us as the van rolled away. "Hey guys," he said with a smile. He slid up next to me in the seat. "Hello, Miss Logan. How are you?" He asked as he put an arm around me. I blushed. "I'm okay...how are you?" I asked him. He sighed. "I'm alright I guess, I woke up, realised I have no friends, then got a speech from my dad about how these nimrods over here are my friends, then I was mildly disappointed because I realised I needed another...friend," he said as he smirked at me. I looked in the opposite direction and blushed even deeper. My heart rate began to quicken.

Billie Joe rolled his eyes. "Easy over there, Tré."

I know Tré was just messing with me, because he seemed like the type of guy who goofed around a lot. Plus, there wasn't anything special about me. I wasn't even pretty. Oh no, I'm getting self conscious! Ahh!

So in the booth was Billie Joe, Adrienne, Jason and his girlfriend, and then on the opposite couch was Tre, me, and Mike. "Anything for y'all?" A waitress asked us. Mike ordered a coffee and Jason ordered a muffin, and then there was me who asked for a glass of milk. The rest ordered colas.

Soon a girl with tan skin and long dark brown hair walked in, the same girl I saw at the Gilman a few days ago. I could hear Mike muttering something under his breath and the rest of them having either worried or annoyed looks on their faces.

She walked over to us and slid next to Mike, forcing Tré and I to scoot over. "You didn't tell me you were hanging out with your friends," she said to him. She had this voice that was squeaky and slurred.

"Well," Mike stirred his coffee. "You don't tell me a lot of things, so..."

Adrienne and Billie had worried looks on their faces, Jason and his girlfriend were still making out, and Tré looked kind of annoyed. I was just confused.

She gave a little 'hmmph' and sat there, arms crossed. Mike looked like he kind of stopped caring, sipping his coffee like it was nobody's business.

I looked at Tré confusedly. "Who is she?" I whispered to him. He sighed. "Satan himself in the form of a living being on earth," he whispered in my ear, still looking really annoyed.

They were holding hands. "You know I love you," she said to him. Mike kissed her on the cheek. "I know. I love you too." He said it in a monotone voice, returning to his coffee. Billie and Adrienne were just awkwardly sitting there, giving each other knowing glances and secret looks of worry and disagreement. The air was filled with awkwardness, so Billie spoke up. "So...Cali. You like it so far?" He asked me. I was pretty sure he asked me this question before, but the awkward silence had to be broken. "Yeah, it's really nice." I said, twiddling my thumbs.

"Hi, I've never seen you before. What's your name?" The girl asked me. I gulped. "L-Logan..." I said quietly. She smiled. She was really pretty. "I'm Kaylee VanBelle. I'm Mike's long term girlfriend. Are you Tré's girlfriend?"

I blushed red because his arm was still around me and we were sitting close together. "Oh...we-we're just friends..." I said nervously, looking down and brushing a piece of hair behind my ear.

She batted her long eyelashes and smiled. "Oh, what a shame. You two would be so cute." I just continued to look down, embarrassed as Tré still looked really annoyed.

"Well, I know everyone around here and I've never seen you before, so welcome to Oakland," she said with a sweet smile. I nodded. Mike scoffed and gave a small smirk. "Of course you know everyone around here, you banged everyone in town." he mumbled under his breath. I heard what he said, but I wasn't sure about anyone else since I was sitting right next to him and Kaylee was leaning over the table to talk.

"Hmm?" She looked at Mike. He looked up at her and smiled. "I love you," he said as he gave her a small peck on the lips.

Billie and Adrienne hadn't spoken a word the whole time, only gave each other secret signals. Kaylee turned her attention to them. "So, you two...do I hear wedding bells yet? I mean...Adrienne, if you won't marry him, I will," Kaylee said jokingly with a laugh. Adrienne looked uncomfortable and stressed out. "Will you please excuse me for a second? I need some fresh air." She said as she scooted off the seat and walked out of the café.

Mike looked bored, as if he's been through it before. He would just make snide comments under his breath here and there. "Um...I think I need some fresh air too," I said, making Mike and Kaylee scooch over so I could exit.

I found Adrienne leaning against the wall outside, looking into the distance. "Are you alright?" I asked her. She sighed and looked at me. "I'm sorry, she just really gets on my nerves."

"I can understand. But do you want to go back inside?" I asked her. She shook her head. "No thanks. I just want to stay out here for a little." Her voice sounded sad. "Is it okay if I rant a little?" She asked as I nodded and stood next to her.

"I don't know why Mike's still with her. He always says he's in love with her and he can't leave her. She's such a snake. A couple months ago when I was hanging out with Billie Joe, Mike and Tré, she knew that I had a crush on Billie Joe and continued to flirt with both him and Tré, right in front of Mike and I. It's sickening thinking about how Mike tries to deal with it. I know he's in love, but..." She sighed and shrugged.

I nodded. "Um...a couple of days ago...after they performed at the Gilman," she looked at me as I continued. " I found Mike sitting on the porch steps of Billie's mother's house drinking a lot of alcohol..."

She nodded. "Yeah. He shows that he's okay and everything in public but I'm sure he's heartbroken when he's alone," she said as she shook her head. "I'm friends with Mike and I've known this for a while. He's been with her for a long time." She said. Then she looked at me. "I can't answer all the questions you may be thinking right now, but maybe you should talk to Mike himself about it if you two ever become close."

I shook my head. "No, he doesn't like me at all. I think he hates me." Adrienne then put her hands on my shoulders. "Mike doesn't hate you," is the only thing she said.

I shrugged. I really liked Adrienne. She was very sweet and genuine. We stood there staring off into the distance for a while until I spoke up. "I think we should go back now, we've been out here for a couple of minutes already," I told her and she took a deep breath and nodded.

We walked back inside and sat back down. "I was worried about you, where'd you go?" Billie asked her, and she gave him a look. He then nodded back at her. Tré looked at me. "You okay?" He asked and I nodded and smiled. He smiled back at me. Oh, he was really cute...

Jason and his girlfriend were like non-stop make out robots. They haven't said anything except for the noises they made as they were slobbering all over each other. I was wondering if their jaws ever cramped up or something.

"Michael...want to go somewhere private after this?" Kaylee whispered to him, playing with the collar of his T-shirt, giving him a pout. Mike looked tired as he sipped a second cup of coffee. "I have other plans I already made," he said, not even looking at her.

Her eyebrows raised. "Oh? What kinds of plans?" She asked, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Can I come along?"

"It's kind of important, okay? I'm sorry," he said to her in a slightly annoyed tone. "I love you," he said, kissing her on the forehead quickly. We all stood up and Tré offered to pay, and we even got a discount because he used his charm and told the waitress she had beautiful hair.

I got in the car, squished between Tré and the door, since Billie wanted to sit beside Adrienne.

I looked over and saw Mike looked either tired or sad. I nudged Tré and he replied with a 'hmm?' I looked at Mike and Tré got the message. "You okay?" He asked Mike. Mike nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

We all hung out back at Billie's mom's house. "So what's it gonna be, Bill? We gonna have some balloons and streamers and pay a clown to come in?" Tré asked.

Billie was leaning back on the couch, kicking his feet up on the armrest. "Why would I pay a clown to come in if I can get you to attend for free," he said, munching potato chips. "But seriously, you guys don't have to...just have all of my friends and family hang out here is enough."

"Why don't we all go out for dinner?" Adrienne suggested. "A nice restaurant. It'll be great."

I looked at the others and they were nodding their heads in approval. "Yeah, that sounds cool. After we perform at the Gilman we come back here and hang out and then go out for dinner. Sounds good, Billie Joe?" Mike said. Billie nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"Great, I'll make reservations for next week, then." Adrienne said with an excited tone. We all sat there and watched some TV until Billie kissed Adrienne on the cheek goodnight.

Tré soon had to leave. "Bye, y'all." He said to us. He asked for a hug and I nodded and hugged him. I felt myself blush, he was really warm and gave nice hugs...oh jeez, I needed to stop!

He left and then it was just Billie, Mike and I. My dad was in his bedroom because he was apparently told by Ollie not to bother us when we were hanging out.

I looked over at Billie on the opposite couch. "Is there anything you really want as a birthday present?" I asked him shyly.

Billie laughed. "No, guys...It's just the 20th anniversary of the day I came out of my mom's vagina, I don't need anything, it's cool."

We were watching some more TV and Mike, who was laying on the floor, flipped it to the music channel, and some hip hop type music was playing. "Someday, Green Day is gonna be on this channel."

"I hope not. Mixing our music with this crap? I'd rather not," Billie said, shoving more chips into his mouth. "I need to lay off the chips, I'm getting pudgy," he said as he patted his belly.

Mike rolled his eyes. "Dude, shut up. Your body is better than like half the girls I know."

Billie blew Mike a kiss. "I'm gonna go take a shower," he said as he rolled off the couch and went to the bathroom.

Mike was flipping through channels because I think he got tired of listening to hip hop. "Um...Mike, can I ask you something?" I asked quietly as I gently sat down next to him.

He decided on a game show channel. "Okay?" He responded.

"You seemed kind of upset earlier at the café...is everything alright?" I asked carefully. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

He rolled his eyes. "Look, I'm fine. I don't know why everyone's always asking if I'm okay and whatever. I'm fucking fine." He said with a frustrated sigh. "Sorry, okay? It just gets annoying when people always ask me that. I'm alright."

I nodded. "Okay...sorry for bothering you," I said quietly as I left the living room and went to my room. I waited until Billie finished using the bathroom and I grabbed my towel and pyjamas.

I took a hot shower and then dried up and changed into my pyjamas. I exited and Billie was in his room, making noises and singing. My dad was in his room snoring. I went to the living room to check on Mike, but he wasn't there. I heard some talking outside, and once again being my curious self, I tiptoed to the window beside the front door and subtly peeked through the curtain.

Mike was there on the porch kissing his girlfriend. They then pulled away and embraced. "I love you so much," Mike said as he stroked her hair and kissed her on the head. She looked up at him and she was crying. "I love you too, Michael. I don't know what I'd do without you...please don't leave me..." She said as he pulled her back into his arms and held her tight.

I slowly crept away from the window and went to my room. I was thinking about Mike's relationship. It seemed complicated, but it wasn't any of my business. I turned off the lights and crawled into bed.

I was thinking about if I should help Mike or not, but a voice in my head told me not to. After all, I'm a loser and all I do is mess everything up.