Mike and I walked back to Ollie's house in silence. "Um...thanks for talking with me, I guess..." He said shyly. "No problem," I said with a shrug. "But...another thing, why do you stay here if you live in the Longview house?"


He gave a small chuckle. "Billie and I are attached at the hip," he said. "Wherever he is, I'm there too. Plus, I like visiting here too, seeing Billie's mother and all."

I nodded. I really liked the friendship between them, it was very sweet. "Well...goodnight, Mike." I said with a smile. I was surprised when he gave a small smile back and said, 'goodnight.'


- - -

Three days later...


The next morning Billie and Mike already went out. I was a little disappointed since I was looking forward to hanging out with them, Tré especially.

Oh, of course! They're all best friends who knew each other since forever and I'm just some awkward tag-along. Obviously they have better things to do than hang out with some teenage loser. I mentally kicked myself for thinking that they were my friends. They were just being nice to me.

I sat on the edge of the bed and took some deep breaths, then walked over to the mirror and looked and pursed my lips as I studied myself. I was wearing a thin white undershirt with thin straps and light flannel shorts because it was especially hot that night. Man, sometimes I needed to wear a bra when I slept. Would Tré ever think I'm cute?


"Oh my god," I said out loud as I groaned and flopped on the bed. I grabbed my towel and went to go head to the bathroom.


I opened the door and walked out. "Oops!" I yelped as I bumped into Mike in the hall. "Sorry!" I said to him. He shrugged. "Did you and Billie go out?" I asked him.


"Yeah, practice. I forgot my bass sheets in his room..." He said and he reddened and looked away as he scratched his head. He looked uncomfortable. Then I realized he was looking at my outfit and I realized I really needed to change.


"Okay. Have fun," I said quietly as I went into the bathroom. It was kind of embarrassing standing there in a tight shirt without a bra on and Care Bear pyjama shorts. I took a shower then changed into my striped purple t-shirt and denim capris.


I slumped on the couch. Watch TV? I've been watching more TV this week than I have in two years.


Mike already left while I was in the bathroom. I was kind of upset since I lost my favourite gold necklace, I haven't seen it since the night I got here.


I tried to retrace my steps in my head. And I sighed, realizing I might have lost it when I put Mike to sleep in Billie's room.


I shouldn't be doing this, I told myself as I entered the messy room. I remember being in here when Mike was tipsy, but I never seen it as it was.


There wasn't much left since Billie probably took everything with him when he moved out. I saw band posters knocked over and peeling off the walls; the Clash, NOFX and Rancid were some of the posters. I knew Billie and Mike liked those bands since I saw them wearing their shirts a lot and listening to their records.


I saw some black lace dress hanging on Billie's closet doorknob. Why would Billie need a dress? I crawled on the floor to look for my necklace, spreading through clothes, papers, and some food wrappers. I looked down and picked up something, they were old pictures scattered on the floor.


It was a black and white photo. There were a bunch of punk looking young adults and teenagers sitting on a couch. There was Billie Joe, from probably only a few years ago, with his arm around some girl. And Mike on the floor, with super long hair. I almost didn't recognize him.


I put them back where I found them and noticed crumpled up papers on the ground. I opened them, and they were song lyrics and some sort of music markings.


The lyrics all seemed to be romantic and heart-breaking.


'Something unpredictable, but in the end is right,
I hope you have the time of your life.'


I decided not to dwell on it as I continued to search for my necklace. After 5 minutes, I still couldn't find it. I stood up and sighed. "My goodness, where is it?" I asked myself out loud. I sighed and decided to ask Billie if he came back, because that necklace was really important to me.


I walked down the hall, slumped on the couch and looked over at the radio. I saw a cassette tape labeled, '1000 Hours - Green Day.' I popped it into the player and rewinded it, then listened.


It was a really nice love song. It was of course, punk and you could barely hear what they were singing, but it was a very pretty song.


The doorbell then rang and I started to panic. Should I answer it? What would I say if it was someone I didn't know?


I nervously walked over to the door and relaxed when I saw Adrienne smiling at me. "Hi."


"Hi," I said. "Billie isn't here. He went to go practice with Mike and Tré," I said.


"I know. I wanted to come over to see you. You must be bored all by yourself, so I thought it would be fun to spend girl time together," she said happily and let herself inside.


"1000 Hours, huh?" Adrienne laughed as the music played in the background. I nodded slightly. "It's a sweet song," I said. "Did Billie write this about a girl he liked?"


Adrienne smiled, looking like she was trying to keep herself from laughing. "Well, he wrote it for someone, that's for sure." She walked into the kitchen and I followed behind her. "We should make a cake for Billie, since it's his birthday and all."


I nodded and she smiled at me. "Let's make him a chocolate cake. He'll be out until later practicing for Green Day's performance at the Gilman, so we have lots of time!"


We started making the batter and she instructed me what to get for it. She helped me measure since I wasn't very good with measuring. We laughed and talked while we messed up the kitchen and finally put the cake in the oven.


"Jeez, do you think we should've bought a cake instead?" She asked me as we plopped on the couch.


"I think our cake is gonna be fine," I reassured. She started giggling and I couldn't help but giggle too. I really liked her, she was really cute and nice. The cassette tape went to the next song and she frowned as the song began.


"Let's listen to something different," I said as I walked over to the cassette player and switched the tape to a random one on the shelf and put it on.


"Yes, I love Screeching Weasel!" She said excitedly. I sat beside her on the couch. "So...how is your relationship with Billie?" I asked quietly.


"Oh, it's fine," she said with a smile. "I really like him," she said with a dreamy sigh. "What about you?" She asked with playfulness in her voice and I looked at her confusedly. "You and Tré seem to be getting close and flirty..." She nudged me.


I laughed. "We're just friends, nothing more." And it kind of was true, we were only friends. Even if I was hoping we'd be something more...


We waited about 20 minutes, talking about stuff like education, her job, Billie's band, plans for tonight, and just random stuff. The cake was ready and we took it out and decorated it with whatever icing was in the cupboards.


We carefully stuck the candles on the cake and I decided to ask something out of curiosity. "Is it...weird dating somebody younger than you?" I asked her.


She shrugged. "We're not that many years apart," she said. "Plus, if you really love someone, shouldn't age not matter?"


I thought about it a little bit and soon we heard the door open. We both giggled quietly and lit the candles, then picking up the cake and walking into the dining room.


"Happy birthday!" We said happily as Billie smirked. "Oh no, what the fuck is this?" He asked with a chuckle, hiding his face with his hands. He twirled Adrienne around and kissed her on the cheek.


I stood there and smiled. "Thanks, you two. But seriously, you didn't have to—" Adrienne shut him up by kissing him. "Eat your damn cake, Billie Joe," she said as she smiled.


Billie's mother came home and we all had a small little celebration together as we ate the cake. And boy, that cake was pretty good.


Soon we had to get ready for dinner and Billie went to go to his old bedroom to change. I went to brush my teeth, then Adrienne and I went into my room and she excitedly pulled out the red skater dress we bought at the mall. "Here, put the dress on and I'll go get my hair and makeup kit in my purse," she said as she smiled and left, closing the door behind her.


I stripped off my clothes and slipped the dress over me, pulling it down and then fastening the black belt.


Adrienne knocked as I squeaked 'come in' and she walked in and closed the door, sighing in awe as she looked at me in the mirror. "Oh, I'm getting emotional again..." She said as she smiled sincerely at me, her hand on her chest. "You look so beautiful."


"Thank you," I said. She made me sit on the bed as she got out some makeup from her purse. It was difficult to stay still since I didn't usually wear makeup. I flinched when the brown pencil touched my eye, and Adrienne began to sigh in frustration because I kept flinching and blinking.


"I'm sorry," I said to her with a sigh. She smiled. "It's fine. Just relax, okay?" I nodded and closed my eyes and opened them whenever she told me too. Then she got some sort of powder and put it on my face, then brushed some red stuff on my cheeks. "And now..." She applied red lipstick on me and I smacked my lips. It was kind of sticky.


"Don't do that, it'll fade," she said to me and I quickly stopped. "Now your hair..." She pulled it out of it's bun, ruffled it, then placed a red barrette.


She stepped back and studied me, then she actually began to cry. I widened my eyes and put my arm around her. "Are you okay?"


She wiped her eyes and looked at me. "You're so beautiful, you know? I know I always say that but I mean it! You should leave your pretty curly hair down more often," she said. I whispered 'thank you' with a smile.


I left the room and walked down the hall into the living room, and there was Ollie and my father talking. They looked really nice, and I was happy my father actually put the effort into getting to change into a suit. There was also her husband there.


"Aw, you look lovely!" She said to me and placed her hand on my shoulder. "You're getting so mature," my father said with a smile. "This is my husband," Ollie said to me and he smiled and I shook his hand lightly.


Adrienne walked in the room, her hair in an updo and she was wearing a simple black halter dress and a bit of makeup. She looked really pretty.


"You look beautiful too, Adrienne!" Ollie said to her and they hugged. I smiled at her. "You look very pretty," I said to her. She rolled her eyes playfully. "But not as beautiful as you look!"


Billie walked in, having issues with his tie. He kissed Adrienne on the cheek. "You look beautiful," he said to her and she blushed. He saw his mother's husband and glared. "I thought this was my dinner and that only people I cared about were coming."


Adrienne walked over and helped him with his tie. "Billie Joe, please..." She said with a quiet calming voice to him.


Ollie and her husband were whispering to each other. He got out a small box and walked over to Billie with a smile. "Happy birthday, kiddo."

Billie looked at him with a disgusted look and smacked his hand away, the box flying across the room. "I don't fucking want anything from you," he spat.


Ollie and my father looked horrified. "Billie Joe..."


"I don't want you to come to this dinner, I don't want you coming to my mother's house, I don't want anything to do with you, I don't want you in my fucking life," Billie said coldly with anger. Adrienne and I were both shocked and didn't say anything. The man just smiled and nodded, walking out of the house.


Ollie angrily walked out of the living room, down the hall into her bedroom and my dad started calling her name as he followed her. "Billie Joe, are you okay?" Adrienne asked him as she cupped his face in her hands. He nodded. "Now I feel bad for my mom...but still, I didn't want that fucking asshole ruining my night."


"I think you need to apologize to your mother," Adrienne told him as she held his hand. He nodded and she led him down the hallway.


I sighed and sat on the couch and the phone rang from the kitchen. Since everybody was busy trying to fix the mess Billie just made, I had no other choice but to answer. I walked over and picked it up. "Hello?"


"Who is this?" The other voice asked, and I recognized the voice. "Hi, Mike. This is Logan," I said simply.


"Oh, hey. Do you think I could talk to BJ or Adie?" He asked me and I pursed my lips. "They're kind of busy..." I said with worry in my voice.


"Did he freak out again?" He asked me and I quietly said 'yeah.' He sighed into the phone. "Well can you tell him that I'm at the restaurant with Tré and that the reservation is under Adie's name? They won't let us go until the host arrives, like what the fuck."


"Okay," I said quietly. "See you later." He hung up and I went down the hallway to knock on Billie's bedroom softly.


Adrienne cracked the door open a little bit and pressed her finger to her lips, pointing at Billie and his mother who were behind her, talking to each other. I nodded and Adrienne stepped out quietly and closed the door.


"Mike just called from the restaurant and said the reservation is under your name." I said simply. Adrienne sighed. "Well, we'll have to wait until they're finished and then we gotta hurry."


My father was sitting in the living room, waiting. I sat beside him and he put his arm around me. "All grown up."


I smiled at him, and even though he was smiling at me, his eyes looked sad. "You look like your mother," he said in a sad voice.


I looked down. "Dad, do you ever—"


"My god, let's go! Mike and Tré are gonna be pissed!" Adrienne said in frustration as her and Billie walked in the room. Ollie followed and my dad asked if she was okay and she nodded.


We all got into the car and Billie drove. It was pretty quiet on the way there.


We arrived at the restaurant, and the exterior looked classy. "Wow, Adie..." Billie Joe said as he climbed out of the car and admired the building. "...you really go all out."


She climbed out of the car and leaned to kiss Billie on the cheek. We all walked in the restaurant and I shyly followed behind Billie and Adrienne, who were holding hands. I hid behind them because I felt kind of embarrassed, with makeup on and my hair down like this. Billie's siblings were there, and Mike and Tré were there too, dressed in suits and they waved at us, walking over.


"I'm starving, man." Mike said to Billie and Adrienne. "You clean up well, Armstrong. And you look really nice, Adie."


Adrienne smiled. "Thanks Mike, you look great too."


Tré was admiring the fish in the tank. Billie and Adrienne moved aside and Billie went to go hug his siblings, while Adrienne went to talk to the receptionist. Then both Mike and Tré eyed me as I awkwardly stood there.


"You look gorgeous, Miss Logan," Tré said when he looked at me up and down. He strutted over and kissed my hand and I felt myself blush. "You're the prettiest girl in the room tonight."


"Th-thanks...you look really good too," I said shyly. He did look really classy in that suit.


Mike was still staring at me and Tré rolled his eyes. "Mikey, Mikey...sorry but she's my date tonight." Tré put his arm around my waist and I felt myself get hotter. "Shall we?" He asked and I nodded with a smile as he led me to follow Billie and Adrienne.


Ollie and my father followed after, and they sat at one end of the long table with my cousins and then us at the other end. Tré pulled out the chair for me as I sat. "Thank you," I said and he only smiled back, sitting in the seat in front of me. Mike soon sat down with us beside Tré.


"Where's your date, Mikey?" Tré asked him and Mike sighed. "She'll be here soon. You know how girls are," he grumbled with a slightly disappointed look on his face.


I cleared my throat as I ate a bread roll. Soon, Billie's friend Jason and his girlfriend who's name apparently nobody knew walked in with his arm around her. "Happy birthday to the lamest asshole ever!" Jason shouted to Billie and Billie shook his head with a smile at him.


Jason was wearing a suit but also with a backwards cap, and his girlfriend wore a long pink dress that was...well, it looked more like a princess costume for a middle school play to be quite frank. But I wasn't judging.


Jason sat beside Mike and his girlfriend sat in front of him, and Jason chowed down on bread rolls.


Billie was staring off into space as Adrienne subtlety tried to get his attention. I looked at Tré and he was just smiling at me.


"Why are you smiling at me like that?" I asked. Seriously, he was smiling like there was some kind of joke. Oh no, what if there is? What if I look ugly?


"Because you're pretty, that's why," he said shyly. "Ah, you don't mean that..." I said quietly. He shook his head. "But I really do." I looked down, blushing and smiling. We all started ordering what we wanted for appetizers and meal and received water.


"Think your date's here," Jason said to Mike as he chewed with his mouth open, pointing to the door.


We all turned our heads and there was the beautiful girl with tan skin, long dark hair and was wearing a short, tight purple dress. She looked like a movie star.


I turned back and even Billie was staring. Adrienne glared at him and kicked him under the table as he yelped.


Kaylee walked over to Billie as he stood up and gave a nervous smile. "Happy birthday, Billie Joe," she said with a sweet smile. She handed him a small wrapped box and gave him a kiss on both cheeks as he stood there, blinking and turning red.


Adrienne cleared her throat and Billie shook his head. "Thank you for the gift," he said before sitting back down. Mike briefly kissed her and she sat down in the empty seat next to me.


I turned to Tré and he was still staring at me. "Oh, stop staring! You are making me embarrassed," I said to him with a small chuckle as I looked down. "But I can't help it when the cutest girl ever is sitting in front of me," he said, resting his chin on his hand. His blue eyes sparkled.


"Aw, so are you two really dating now? I told you two that you'd be cute, I called it," Kaylee said, smiling at us. I started to become flustered. "Oh, I'm only his date tonight," I said in a panic. Tré ignored her as he sipped his glass of water.

A waiter came by and asked her what she'd like to drink, and she said wine. "I'd like to see some identification, please."


She gave a small chuckle and eyed him up and down. "Don't I look...mature to you?" She asked him in a sultry voice, her fingers playing with her necklace right by her cleavage as she pouted at him.


The waiter gulped. "O-one bottle of red wine coming up." His face was red as he scurried off.


I frowned and looked at Mike who was trying to concentrate on his dinner roll. I pursed my lips as I looked at the menu on what desserts they had.

"So, how's your birthday dinner so far, Beej?" Tré asked him. Billie shrugged. "I dunno, I'm hungry as fuck and I want the food soon."


"Billie, please." Adrienne said sternly and Billie apologized.


Kaylee turned her attention to Jason, who had finished all the dinner rolls on that side of the table, offering the last roll to his girlfriend, but she shook her head. "So, Jason...how's work down at the 7/11?" She asked.

Jason shrugged, not even looking up at her. "It's okay, I guess." He was gobbling on more dinner rolls.


Our appetizers came and I began to happily eat the fresh salad. I observed everyone around at our table as I ate—my father and Billie's mother were having a casual conversation. Billie and Adrienne were enjoying their salad, and so was I. Tré was sipping on his tonic drink, and Mike had his face rested on his left palm, his other hand playing with the lettuce leaves and tomatoes with his fork.


Kaylee was making talk with Jason and it was obvious she'd been drinking that wine that was served to her much too fast. Jason looked very uncomfortable as he held his girlfriend's hand in his.

"Jason...do you ever, like...go dancing?" Kaylee asked him in her signature slurred voice.


Jason gave an uncomfortable smile. "Y-yeah, I go dancing. In fact, my baby over here and I are going next week," he said. 'We are?' His girlfriend mouthed to him and he nodded. "It was supposed to be a surprise, but—"


"Jason, do you think my dress is pretty?" Kaylee interrupted him, draining her wine with a sigh. She pulled the top of her dress down a little bit and Jason uncomfortably scratched his curly brown hair and looked away. His girlfriend looked at her own dress in shame.


I looked at Tré and gave him a look that said, 'are you hearing this?' He looked at me, shook his head and sipped his tonic water, giving me a, 'I'm so god damn annoyed right now' look.


Kaylee continued to drink and Mike was clenching his fist as he held his fork. We all ate and then I decided to ask a question to ease the tension in the air. "How was the performance at the Gilman today?" I asked both Tré and Mike.


"It was pretty damn good," Tré spoke. The waiter started taking our plates away. Mike nodded and chimed in. "Super fun. Performed some Kerplunk songs, a bit of 39 smooth stuff—"


"Are you like...in a band?" Kaylee asked Jason in a low voice, leaning over the table and tilting her head as she sipped from her glass.


Jason shook his head and squeezed his girlfriend's hand. "I do play guitar though...play with these guys sometimes..." Kaylee slowly nodded as she poured more wine in her glass. I turned to Adrienne who was sitting beside me. She was chatting with Billie.


"Adrienne..." I whispered to her and she looked at me with a 'hmm?'


"I was just...Mike's girlfriend..." I whispered to her, giving her a look.


She sighed and nodded. "I know. But we can't just tell her to leave. Even though if she is acting inappropriately, Mike's gonna hate us forever." She shrugged and turned back to Billie.


I still didn't understand. Why would anybody want to stay with someone who hurt them so much?


The waiter came over to our table and served us our main courses. I ordered an eggplant parmesan pasta and I was so ready to dig in. Everybody looked hungry as well, but especially Billie.


I happily enjoyed my delicious food, happy to be here. I was so happy Tré asked me to be his date. He looked at me and smiled. "So...do you wanna hang out sometime?" He asked me shyly.

"But...you don't have to ask, Tré! You always come over—"


"I meant, hang out...together...like how we did at the arcade, y'know?" He said. He was usually so goofy and confident, but now he seemed quite bashful.


"Oh..." I looked down and reddened as I smiled. "I'd really like that."


"Haha, Jason!" Kaylee said loudly, now assumed almost past her drinking limit. "You're really, really funny!"


Jason stopped in mid-slurp of his spaghetti and looked at her confusedly. "Uh, I didn't say anything..."


"So silly," she said with a small, 'heehee' as she sipped her glass, almost spilling it on her dress. I felt uncomfortable as the air was tense to the right side of the table.


"Hey," Mike snapped at her. "Can you please lay off the—"

"Jason, why don't you come and play for me sometime?" Kaylee slurred loudly, cutting Mike off.


There was an abrupt shove of the table as it made a loud noise, as everyone went quiet. Mike angrily pushed himself from the table and stormed outside.


"Is Mike okay?" Billie asked us worriedly. I guess he was too caught up with his conversation with his siblings and mother to understand what was going on at that side of the table.


"Mikey's angry," Kaylee said as she laughed slightly and rested her head on the table. "I'm sleepy." I raised my eyebrows at her comment and looked at Adrienne for help. "Just let him cool off," she said as she rested her hand on my shoulder. Billie leaned over the table. "Adie...I'm actually really fucking worried about Mike."


"Billie, he just needs time to calm down." Billie sat back down and sighed. I felt extremely bad for Mike, and I felt like I had to do something. "Excuse me," I said quietly as I quickly stood up and walked out, ignoring Adrienne's call to come back.


I walked out, and it was dark. I looked back and forth and found Mike standing in the middle of the parking lot, smoking a cigarette. I walked up to him. "How could you act up like that?!" I didn't mean to yell, but I did.


He took his cigarette out of his mouth and threw it on the ground. "I fucking hate this. I wanted to make my best friend's day and I've fucking ruined it. God damn it...fuck everything...fuck her! I hate her! But...I love her, oh my fucking god...please, I just need someone to talk to, I feel so fucking unstable."


I calmed down. He was a lot taller than me, so it was kind of intimidating. "It's not your fault...I'd be frustrated too. But you can't just do that, Mike. You need to apologize or something to Billie!" I sighed and breathed in again. "Why do you do it, Mike? Why do you stay with someone who hurts you like that?"


"Because...I don't know...all I know is that I'm done with all that bullshit. But I can't go back in there now, they think I'm a fucking asshole, it's embarrassing," he said, pointing back at the restaurant.


"Mike, we have to. I know you must be really upset about your girlfriend, I know you feel like she's not treating you well, and that's what everyone says too...and-and I honestly have to agree with them too, you're really sweet and deserve so much better. However your relationship is your business and not mine, but we have to go back in there because Billie and the others—"


I gasped and widened my eyes as I felt him abruptly lean down and press his lips on mine. I didn't know how to feel—shocked? I only stood there, eyes widened and unresponsive. Mike was kissing me, oh my god. I began panicking inside.


He pulled away slowly and looked away in embarrassment. "W-we can't do that ever again," were the only words that escaped my lips as I was still in the petrified stance I was in when he kissed me.


"Yeah..." He said. A couple quiet seconds passed. "But why not? I don't want to be with her. You...I know we barely met and everything, but god damn—I don't know...every time I talk to you, you make me a better person," he said to me as I could hear his voice cracking. I could tell he was crying.


I began to cry too. "Mike...I—I can't, okay? This isn't right...you're just upset over your girlfriend right now. We have to pretend that never happened and we have to go back inside and act like everything is okay and you have to tell everyone you're sorry and take your girlfriend home when all of this finished." I wiped my eyes with my sleeve and sniffled.


He was about to say something but he wiped his eyes quickly and nodded at me as we both walked back inside.


Everyone asked if we were okay and we only faked a smile at them.