Green Day Is A Boy With A Peculiar Name, chapter 5
Erica and Mike Joe stood against the wall of the gym.
"Do you wanna dance?" Erica asked.
Mike Joe shrugged. "Not really."
"What do you want to do?"
"I dunno."
"Do you want something to drink?"
"Sure. A soda would be nice."
Erica sighed. She had meant for him to go get HER a drink, not to act as his slave girl. She shook her head and walked slowly across the floor to the table where they had drinks. She was beginning to regret coming to this stupid thing. She had thought coming with Mike Joe would have made this the best night of her life, but she had been very wrong. She picked up two sodas and was almost run over by a group of boys in search of food before she made it back to where Mike Joe had been standing. When she returned, Green Day and Tre had shown up. Tre was laughing and wearing a ridiculous blue bow tie and red top hat. Green Day looked sullen, and was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, staring out at the crowd.
"Hi," she said to them. No one replied. "I said, hi," she repeated, irritated.
"Hey, Erica!" Tre grinned. "What's up?"
Erica smiled, glad someone was talking to her. "Oh, noth-"
"Tre!" Mike Joe cut her off. "I heard some kid was trying to climb up to the roof! You wanna go see?"
"Yeah!" Tre replied excitedly. They both raced off and disappeared.
Erica leaned against the wall and sighed. She was too annoyed to realize that she and Green Day had been left alone. They stood in silence for a few minutes, watching everyone else dance and talk and have a good time. Erica wished more than anything that she could go home.
Finally, Green Day said, "I hate these things."
Erica looked at him. "Then why did you agree to go?"
He shrugged. "Tre threatened to blackmail me if I didn't. He didn't want to go alone, since Mike Joe was going with you." He said this last sentence with an air of annoyance, and Erica wondered what was going on between Green Day and Mike Joe. Were they mad at each other?
"Oh," she said, and then it was silent again.
"Uh... Do you want to dance?" she asked randomly a few seconds later.
"Uh... No thanks." Green Day looked at her oddly, and she knew it had been a stupid question.
"I want to go home," she muttered, staring at her feet.
"You're not having a good time?" Green Day asked. Was there a note of hope in his voice?
But Erica ignored it and shook her head. "No."
"Then why did YOU agree to come?"
"I don't know... I guess Mike Joe asked me, and I thought... I don't know." Erica knew that there was no way she was going to tell Green Day about her now former crush on Mike Joe.
All Green Day said was, "Oh." There was more silence, and slow song came on, leaving Green Day and Erica standing awkwardly while single people pushed their way to the edge of the gym, leaving couples wrapped around each other in the middle of the floor. Erica half wished Mike Joe would come back to dance with her, but then she remembered what a huge asshole he was being tonight, and was glad he was gone.
Green Day cleared his throat next to her, and Erica wondered what he was thinking. She had noticed how he had not insulted or pushed or poked her or anything tonight, and wondered what had inspired this sudden change.
Then, completely out of nowhere, Green Day said in a rush, "You know Mike Joe only asked you to the dance because I dared him to."
Erica just stared for a second. "What?"
He took a deep breath. "We were playing truth or dare, and I dared Mike Joe to ask you to this," he gestured with his arm, "and that's the only reason he's here with you."
Erica's breathing stopped. She didn't know what to do or think. She noticed that she didn't mind so much that Mike Joe didn't like her, she was really rather glad about that, she never wanted to speak to him again after tonight. No, what bothered her was that Green Day and Mike Joe, and probably Tre, thought she was so pathetic that she had turned into a "dare," someone no one would ever want to go out with voluntarily. Green Day had screwed with her emotions, had made her believe something that wasn't true, had made her feel rejected and unwanted. This was much worse than calling her stupid, or even dumping a shoe full of water over her head. She was angrier at him than she had ever been, and right then she just wanted to get away from him. She gave him a look of hurt and rage, then walked as fast as she could toward the exit door, holding back tears.
She pushed open the door, feeling a cold blast of air on her face as she stepped outside. The door slammed with a metallic clang behind her, and she finally let out her tears. She put her face in her hands and sobbed, remembering how happy she had been when Mike Joe had called her, how he had so genuinely seemed to want to go with her. She realized Tre and Green Day had probably been sitting next to him, covering their giggles with their hands, waiting until Mike Joe hung up to release huge peals of laughter, laughter at Erica, laughter at her stupidity, at how gullible she had been. She wiped the tears off her cheeks, her hurt replaced by anger. Green Day had to be real smug and admit his whole plan to her, just to hurt her more, didn't he? What would go through Green Day's mind, how could he just throw someone's emotions around like that, like they didn't even matter? How could he live with himself after doing something so horrible?
****
"Erica, wait!" he called as she stalked off. She didn't hear him, and disappeared among the people. He started to follow her, but thought better of it. What had he just done? He thought that telling her about it would erase her hurt that Mike Joe was ignoring her and obviously didn't like her, but he had ended up doing more damage than he ever thought possible. And it was all Green Day's fault, all his own stupid fault. Now Erica hated him, he had made the girl he was in love with hate him. She thought he was a scum of the earth, she was never going to like him now. What had he been thinking? This whole dare, this whole dance, everything had been an awful mistake.
He walked over to the wall and punched it. "Ow!" he muttered, rubbing his knuckles. Probably not the best idea he had ever had. He rested his forehead on the wall, wondering what to do now. He figured he could go find a phone and get Eddie to pick him up, at least then he could go home and not have to see anyone until Monday. He had just started for the door when Mike Joe ran up.
"Green!" he panted, out of breath.
"Mike Joe?" Green Day's brow furrowed in confusion. "What's wrong?"
"It's.... Horrible, Green, it's all my fault, I didn't mean to...." Mike Joe looked around worriedly.
"Mike Joe, what are you talking about?"
Mike Joe looked up at him, his eyes full of fear.
*****
How the hell am I supposed to get home? Erica thought. Mike Joe was supposed to take me.... And I never want to see him again, stupid asshole. As if in answer to her thoughts, the door to the gym opened behind her. She turned to see Karla, her blond hair up and wearing a pink skirt and matching T-shirt.
"Hey, Erica!" she squeaked.
"Hi, Karla," Erica said weakly.
Karla's face pinched. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, um... Nothing. Listen, could you take me home?"
Karla looked at her in disappointment. "You're not having a superfun time?"
Erica shook her head, looking out toward the woods behind the school. "No."
"Do you wanna stay here and hang out with me? Me and the girls were just telling this really great joke about a penguin and his friend the hedgehog...."
Erica shook her head again. "No."
Her face fell. "Oh. Okay, then. I could call my mom, she could be here in like ten minutes."
"Okay." She and Karla started toward the parking lot, but didn't get very far before the door burst open again.
Green Day and Mike Joe shot out of the gym. The last two people Erica wanted to see. She turned without a word and continued walking.
"Well, hey guys!" Karla said, oblivious.
Green Day ran up to Erica and grabbed her arm. "Erica... "
"Don't touch me," she muttered angrily, jerking her arm away.
"Erica, something really bad has happened... "
"You're damn right something really bad has happened!" she cut him off. "Do you guys really think that's funny, lying to someone like that, for a joke? I'm really glad I could be a source of amusement to you guys!" She scowled and continued walking away.
"No, Erica, wait, you don't understand... " Mike Joe pleaded.
"Erica, let us explain... "Green Day added.
"Okay, fine!" Erica had had it. She turned and stopped suddenly. "Explain." She wanted to watch them squirm.
"Okay, uh...." Green Day began. "We were just at my house, and... "
"We were playing truth or dare," Mike Joe continued. "And Green Day just dared me to ask you to the dance, and I didn't have a choice... "
"Don't blame this all on me!" Green Day protested.
"Well, why not, it's all your fault!"
"I'm really sorry, Erica," he finally said, staring at the ground.
Erica's anger melted away, and she looked at him as calmly as she could. "Why would you do something like that, Green?"
He chuckled dryly. "Because they were making fun of me for liking you, and I just wanted to make them shut up."
Her heart jumped into her throat, and she pretended that she hadn't heard. "They were making fun of you for what?"
"Oh, uh...." Green Day shuffled his feet and looked away. He cleared his throat, started to say something, then stopped. He shook his head in frustration. Finally, he said quietly, "For liking you."
"And do you?" Erica really needed this clarified.
"Yeah," he muttered, avoiding her eyes.
"Oh," she said quietly, looking at him curiously. This explained a lot, it really did. Why else would he have annoyed her every day? Why else would he only pay attention to her? She was almost glad this had been cleared up for her, even though she knew that she didn't like Green Day back, not even a bit.
"Well, anyway, Tre's missing," Mike Joe said suddenly.
"Do you wanna dance?" Erica asked.
Mike Joe shrugged. "Not really."
"What do you want to do?"
"I dunno."
"Do you want something to drink?"
"Sure. A soda would be nice."
Erica sighed. She had meant for him to go get HER a drink, not to act as his slave girl. She shook her head and walked slowly across the floor to the table where they had drinks. She was beginning to regret coming to this stupid thing. She had thought coming with Mike Joe would have made this the best night of her life, but she had been very wrong. She picked up two sodas and was almost run over by a group of boys in search of food before she made it back to where Mike Joe had been standing. When she returned, Green Day and Tre had shown up. Tre was laughing and wearing a ridiculous blue bow tie and red top hat. Green Day looked sullen, and was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, staring out at the crowd.
"Hi," she said to them. No one replied. "I said, hi," she repeated, irritated.
"Hey, Erica!" Tre grinned. "What's up?"
Erica smiled, glad someone was talking to her. "Oh, noth-"
"Tre!" Mike Joe cut her off. "I heard some kid was trying to climb up to the roof! You wanna go see?"
"Yeah!" Tre replied excitedly. They both raced off and disappeared.
Erica leaned against the wall and sighed. She was too annoyed to realize that she and Green Day had been left alone. They stood in silence for a few minutes, watching everyone else dance and talk and have a good time. Erica wished more than anything that she could go home.
Finally, Green Day said, "I hate these things."
Erica looked at him. "Then why did you agree to go?"
He shrugged. "Tre threatened to blackmail me if I didn't. He didn't want to go alone, since Mike Joe was going with you." He said this last sentence with an air of annoyance, and Erica wondered what was going on between Green Day and Mike Joe. Were they mad at each other?
"Oh," she said, and then it was silent again.
"Uh... Do you want to dance?" she asked randomly a few seconds later.
"Uh... No thanks." Green Day looked at her oddly, and she knew it had been a stupid question.
"I want to go home," she muttered, staring at her feet.
"You're not having a good time?" Green Day asked. Was there a note of hope in his voice?
But Erica ignored it and shook her head. "No."
"Then why did YOU agree to come?"
"I don't know... I guess Mike Joe asked me, and I thought... I don't know." Erica knew that there was no way she was going to tell Green Day about her now former crush on Mike Joe.
All Green Day said was, "Oh." There was more silence, and slow song came on, leaving Green Day and Erica standing awkwardly while single people pushed their way to the edge of the gym, leaving couples wrapped around each other in the middle of the floor. Erica half wished Mike Joe would come back to dance with her, but then she remembered what a huge asshole he was being tonight, and was glad he was gone.
Green Day cleared his throat next to her, and Erica wondered what he was thinking. She had noticed how he had not insulted or pushed or poked her or anything tonight, and wondered what had inspired this sudden change.
Then, completely out of nowhere, Green Day said in a rush, "You know Mike Joe only asked you to the dance because I dared him to."
Erica just stared for a second. "What?"
He took a deep breath. "We were playing truth or dare, and I dared Mike Joe to ask you to this," he gestured with his arm, "and that's the only reason he's here with you."
Erica's breathing stopped. She didn't know what to do or think. She noticed that she didn't mind so much that Mike Joe didn't like her, she was really rather glad about that, she never wanted to speak to him again after tonight. No, what bothered her was that Green Day and Mike Joe, and probably Tre, thought she was so pathetic that she had turned into a "dare," someone no one would ever want to go out with voluntarily. Green Day had screwed with her emotions, had made her believe something that wasn't true, had made her feel rejected and unwanted. This was much worse than calling her stupid, or even dumping a shoe full of water over her head. She was angrier at him than she had ever been, and right then she just wanted to get away from him. She gave him a look of hurt and rage, then walked as fast as she could toward the exit door, holding back tears.
She pushed open the door, feeling a cold blast of air on her face as she stepped outside. The door slammed with a metallic clang behind her, and she finally let out her tears. She put her face in her hands and sobbed, remembering how happy she had been when Mike Joe had called her, how he had so genuinely seemed to want to go with her. She realized Tre and Green Day had probably been sitting next to him, covering their giggles with their hands, waiting until Mike Joe hung up to release huge peals of laughter, laughter at Erica, laughter at her stupidity, at how gullible she had been. She wiped the tears off her cheeks, her hurt replaced by anger. Green Day had to be real smug and admit his whole plan to her, just to hurt her more, didn't he? What would go through Green Day's mind, how could he just throw someone's emotions around like that, like they didn't even matter? How could he live with himself after doing something so horrible?
****
"Erica, wait!" he called as she stalked off. She didn't hear him, and disappeared among the people. He started to follow her, but thought better of it. What had he just done? He thought that telling her about it would erase her hurt that Mike Joe was ignoring her and obviously didn't like her, but he had ended up doing more damage than he ever thought possible. And it was all Green Day's fault, all his own stupid fault. Now Erica hated him, he had made the girl he was in love with hate him. She thought he was a scum of the earth, she was never going to like him now. What had he been thinking? This whole dare, this whole dance, everything had been an awful mistake.
He walked over to the wall and punched it. "Ow!" he muttered, rubbing his knuckles. Probably not the best idea he had ever had. He rested his forehead on the wall, wondering what to do now. He figured he could go find a phone and get Eddie to pick him up, at least then he could go home and not have to see anyone until Monday. He had just started for the door when Mike Joe ran up.
"Green!" he panted, out of breath.
"Mike Joe?" Green Day's brow furrowed in confusion. "What's wrong?"
"It's.... Horrible, Green, it's all my fault, I didn't mean to...." Mike Joe looked around worriedly.
"Mike Joe, what are you talking about?"
Mike Joe looked up at him, his eyes full of fear.
*****
How the hell am I supposed to get home? Erica thought. Mike Joe was supposed to take me.... And I never want to see him again, stupid asshole. As if in answer to her thoughts, the door to the gym opened behind her. She turned to see Karla, her blond hair up and wearing a pink skirt and matching T-shirt.
"Hey, Erica!" she squeaked.
"Hi, Karla," Erica said weakly.
Karla's face pinched. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, um... Nothing. Listen, could you take me home?"
Karla looked at her in disappointment. "You're not having a superfun time?"
Erica shook her head, looking out toward the woods behind the school. "No."
"Do you wanna stay here and hang out with me? Me and the girls were just telling this really great joke about a penguin and his friend the hedgehog...."
Erica shook her head again. "No."
Her face fell. "Oh. Okay, then. I could call my mom, she could be here in like ten minutes."
"Okay." She and Karla started toward the parking lot, but didn't get very far before the door burst open again.
Green Day and Mike Joe shot out of the gym. The last two people Erica wanted to see. She turned without a word and continued walking.
"Well, hey guys!" Karla said, oblivious.
Green Day ran up to Erica and grabbed her arm. "Erica... "
"Don't touch me," she muttered angrily, jerking her arm away.
"Erica, something really bad has happened... "
"You're damn right something really bad has happened!" she cut him off. "Do you guys really think that's funny, lying to someone like that, for a joke? I'm really glad I could be a source of amusement to you guys!" She scowled and continued walking away.
"No, Erica, wait, you don't understand... " Mike Joe pleaded.
"Erica, let us explain... "Green Day added.
"Okay, fine!" Erica had had it. She turned and stopped suddenly. "Explain." She wanted to watch them squirm.
"Okay, uh...." Green Day began. "We were just at my house, and... "
"We were playing truth or dare," Mike Joe continued. "And Green Day just dared me to ask you to the dance, and I didn't have a choice... "
"Don't blame this all on me!" Green Day protested.
"Well, why not, it's all your fault!"
"I'm really sorry, Erica," he finally said, staring at the ground.
Erica's anger melted away, and she looked at him as calmly as she could. "Why would you do something like that, Green?"
He chuckled dryly. "Because they were making fun of me for liking you, and I just wanted to make them shut up."
Her heart jumped into her throat, and she pretended that she hadn't heard. "They were making fun of you for what?"
"Oh, uh...." Green Day shuffled his feet and looked away. He cleared his throat, started to say something, then stopped. He shook his head in frustration. Finally, he said quietly, "For liking you."
"And do you?" Erica really needed this clarified.
"Yeah," he muttered, avoiding her eyes.
"Oh," she said quietly, looking at him curiously. This explained a lot, it really did. Why else would he have annoyed her every day? Why else would he only pay attention to her? She was almost glad this had been cleared up for her, even though she knew that she didn't like Green Day back, not even a bit.
"Well, anyway, Tre's missing," Mike Joe said suddenly.
Previous | Page 5/5
