I Won't Be Gone Forever, chapter 2
September '85
The familiar buzzing sound rang through my ears. I groaned as I slammed my hand on the alarm clock and shoved the pillow over my head,
"Billie Joe!"
"Urrggh."
"Billie Joe, come on, you're late. Again!"
"Ok, ok I'm up!" I yelled in response to my mother before I heard her close the front door. I rolled over and fell to the floor roughly.
"Fuck." I muttered as I stood, scratched my head and searched my room for Blue. I realised I'd left the guitar at Mike's and so started to look for some decent clothes. Picking up a pair of almost clean jeans and a t-shirt I dawdled down the stairs. I put my tired old converse on and slung my bag over my shoulder. I looked around the empty house before I shut the door and made my way to school. I tilted my head up to the sky and let a few tears fall from my eyes. I kept walking, not paying attention to where I was heading, and tripped over a woman crouching on the ground,
"Shit, I'm sorry." I apologised quickly as I quickly wiped away the tears and looked down,
"It's ok," she replied, still bent over,
"Hey, um, can I help you?" I asked, trying to be friendly,
"Well, I just dropped a load of change on the floor and... " I immediately lowered myself and picked up the small coins littering the floor. I don't know why but something about her seemed familiar,
"You new around here?" I asked, starting a conversation,
"Actually yeah, I moved here with my daughter just yesterday,"
"Cool, look I'd better be going, I'm already late for school."
"Ok, well thanks for helping me, you're a sweet kid." She replied. She looked up at me and her eyes studied my face for a moment, she then smiled broadly. I nodded and carried on to school.
I walked through the empty halls and turned into the classroom,
"Billie Joe Armstrong, you are late, again!" Mr. Wilson shouted,
"Yeah, yeah ok." I brushed off his anger, handed in my late slip and slumped down in my seat at the back.
"Now as I was saying," the boring one carried on,
"We have a new student starting tomorrow so I want you to welcome her." The rest of the class nodded silently as I rolled my eyes.
*
"Hey BJ wait up!" I heard Mike yell.
"Dude, sorry I was just kinda thinking." I replied, remembering that I'd forgotten to wait for Mike,
"It's ok, I forgive you, it's September." He said kindly, I smiled and we walked to his place.
"Hey Bill, what's really up with you? I mean every September for the three years that I've known you, you always get, I dunno, weird." I sighed I thought it was time I told Mike, I mean, he'd been my friend for three years, he deserved to know,
"Ok Mike, this really isn't an easy thing to say, so bare with me." I started. Mike noticed it was something serious and so, sat down on the couch next to me. I coughed and carried on,
"Three years tomorrow, is the day... " A few tears came to my eyes but I brushed them away with the back of my hand,
"Is the day that, my dad... my dad died." I finished. Mike's eyes grew wide,
"Fuck, dude, I... I'm sorry. So that's why I never saw a dad around your house." I nodded as Mike put a comforting hand on my shoulder. We sat in silence for a while, until I blurted out,
"Well, it was real hard for me 'cuz the next day, my only friend moved away. That hurt too." Mike just nodded and listened while I let out some of my deepest feelings.
"Bill, I'm so sorry, I didn't know. Hey why don't we play some shit?"
"Yeah?" I muttered,
"You know you want to." Mike gave me a cheesy grin. I nodded. We sat for a moment in silence once more before we both reached in and hugged. I was so grateful I had met Mike when we moved or I would've been totally lost to depression and loneliness.
Mike and I talked for a few more minutes and when we heard his mum leave the house for her night shift Mike jumped up and went into the kitchen,
"I'll get the drinks, you plug in the amp." He called. Returning with two beers, he handed one to me as a wide smile spread across my face.
*
The next morning I rolled over in Mike's arms and opened my eyes. His eyes opened at the same time and after and few seconds relapse we both realised how we were sleeping,
"Aaah!" we yelled in unison and jumped about a meter into the air and scrambled off the couch. Looking down Mike said,
"Shit, that was the single scariest thing that ever happened to me in my life." I noticed we were both still fully clothed and breathed a sigh of relief. I looked back at Mike and we both burst out laughing,
"Jeez we must have been hammered." He said through his fits of laughter,
"Dude, I'm just gonna use your shower, cool?"
"Yeah, I think there's towels up there." He replied, still laughing. I smiled and made my way upstairs whilst he went into the kitchen. I turned on the water and stepped under the warm spray. I stood for a few minutes, remembering my dad and all the good times I had with him. Tears rolled down my cheeks and then my thoughts turned to Bam. I thought about her a lot, I missed her so much and I wondered what she was doing now. I stepped out of the shower, dried myself, dressed and wondered down stairs.
"Hey Bill, we went through a lot of beer last night dude." Mike stated,
"Cool," came my simple answer,
"Hey are we gonna bother going to school today?" Mike looked over at me,
"Well, I'll understand if you don't want to but personally, I don't wanna be around when my mum gets home and finds out all the beers gone." He explained,
"Yeah? Go on then I'll come." I agreed,
"Good man." Mike joked as he threw all the empty bottles into a huge black garbage bag. We grabbed our bags and walked lousily to school. I lagged behind Mike as we approached the gates. I didn't want to face normal people today, people that would judge me with piercing glances and mutter behind my back. I never usually cared what others thought but I didn't think I could cope with it, just not toady. I was about to turn my back when a flash of black caught my attention. It was a girl I had never seen in this town before, walking into school. This intrigued me and I followed her into the building.
"BJ, what the fuck?" Mike asked,
"Ssh." I waved my hand behind me. He followed, to see what I was staring at. I was mesmerised by her, even though all I could see was the back of her head. She was wearing all black and had muddy, worn converse, just like mine. I followed her beautiful, long, curly hair down the corridor, towards the principles office.
"Bill, do you even know her?" Mike questioned curiously. I looked back and replied,
"I don't know there's just something so familiar about her." Mike shrugged and we hid round the corner as she knocked on the office door,
"Enter." Our stuck up principle boomed, she sighed and opened the door. I let out a long breath,
"Dude, who was that?" Mike spoke quietly,
"God, I... I don't know, I just got an urge to follow her and, yeah." I gave an un-clear response, though I had a feeling I knew who it was. Just then the bell rang and scared the shit out of both of us so we headed to our classrooms.
"I'll catch you in math." Mike said as he gave me a friendly shove. I slunk into the classroom,
"Oh my," Mr. Wilson pretended to faint,
"Billie Joe Armstrong, on time?" Some of the class snickered as my eyes rolled in their sockets. I sighed agitatedly and made my way to the back. I froze instantly when I heard her voice,
"Um, excuse me, are you Mr. Wilson?" I turned slowly and stared.
"Why yes, you must be the new student." He replied and she nodded. I couldn't take my gaze off her. She had brilliant green eyes surrounded by smoky black eyeliner, her gorgeous hair framed her face perfectly and her body, Wow. I knew instantly who it was,
"Bam?" I muttered, she turned and stared at me,
"Pardon?" she looked me in the eyes and I nearly fell over,
"Bam, it's me, Billie." I said slowly. Her face looked blank and for a few gut wrenching moments I thought I'd made a mistake, but then her magic eyes lit up and she yelled,
"Fuck me, Billie Joe?" I smiled and rushed towards her, we hugged tightly as both of us laughed. Mr. Wilson coughed, spoiling the moment, and we both parted and looked around the room. The whole class was staring at us, with wide eyes or mouths agape. We both shuffled our feet and looked at the floor
"I take it you two know each other?" Mr. Wilson asked. We nodded,
"Well, Mr. Armstrong, kindly take your seat and um... " he looked through the name list,
"Beth is it?" again Bam nodded,
"Well, there is a spare seat just over there." He pointed to the second row from the front. She hitched her bag up on her shoulder and made her way over to the seat indicated by Mr. Wilson. She sat and then turned slightly to look at me. She smiled amazingly and then mouthed,
"I told you I'd be back."
The familiar buzzing sound rang through my ears. I groaned as I slammed my hand on the alarm clock and shoved the pillow over my head,
"Billie Joe!"
"Urrggh."
"Billie Joe, come on, you're late. Again!"
"Ok, ok I'm up!" I yelled in response to my mother before I heard her close the front door. I rolled over and fell to the floor roughly.
"Fuck." I muttered as I stood, scratched my head and searched my room for Blue. I realised I'd left the guitar at Mike's and so started to look for some decent clothes. Picking up a pair of almost clean jeans and a t-shirt I dawdled down the stairs. I put my tired old converse on and slung my bag over my shoulder. I looked around the empty house before I shut the door and made my way to school. I tilted my head up to the sky and let a few tears fall from my eyes. I kept walking, not paying attention to where I was heading, and tripped over a woman crouching on the ground,
"Shit, I'm sorry." I apologised quickly as I quickly wiped away the tears and looked down,
"It's ok," she replied, still bent over,
"Hey, um, can I help you?" I asked, trying to be friendly,
"Well, I just dropped a load of change on the floor and... " I immediately lowered myself and picked up the small coins littering the floor. I don't know why but something about her seemed familiar,
"You new around here?" I asked, starting a conversation,
"Actually yeah, I moved here with my daughter just yesterday,"
"Cool, look I'd better be going, I'm already late for school."
"Ok, well thanks for helping me, you're a sweet kid." She replied. She looked up at me and her eyes studied my face for a moment, she then smiled broadly. I nodded and carried on to school.
I walked through the empty halls and turned into the classroom,
"Billie Joe Armstrong, you are late, again!" Mr. Wilson shouted,
"Yeah, yeah ok." I brushed off his anger, handed in my late slip and slumped down in my seat at the back.
"Now as I was saying," the boring one carried on,
"We have a new student starting tomorrow so I want you to welcome her." The rest of the class nodded silently as I rolled my eyes.
*
"Hey BJ wait up!" I heard Mike yell.
"Dude, sorry I was just kinda thinking." I replied, remembering that I'd forgotten to wait for Mike,
"It's ok, I forgive you, it's September." He said kindly, I smiled and we walked to his place.
"Hey Bill, what's really up with you? I mean every September for the three years that I've known you, you always get, I dunno, weird." I sighed I thought it was time I told Mike, I mean, he'd been my friend for three years, he deserved to know,
"Ok Mike, this really isn't an easy thing to say, so bare with me." I started. Mike noticed it was something serious and so, sat down on the couch next to me. I coughed and carried on,
"Three years tomorrow, is the day... " A few tears came to my eyes but I brushed them away with the back of my hand,
"Is the day that, my dad... my dad died." I finished. Mike's eyes grew wide,
"Fuck, dude, I... I'm sorry. So that's why I never saw a dad around your house." I nodded as Mike put a comforting hand on my shoulder. We sat in silence for a while, until I blurted out,
"Well, it was real hard for me 'cuz the next day, my only friend moved away. That hurt too." Mike just nodded and listened while I let out some of my deepest feelings.
"Bill, I'm so sorry, I didn't know. Hey why don't we play some shit?"
"Yeah?" I muttered,
"You know you want to." Mike gave me a cheesy grin. I nodded. We sat for a moment in silence once more before we both reached in and hugged. I was so grateful I had met Mike when we moved or I would've been totally lost to depression and loneliness.
Mike and I talked for a few more minutes and when we heard his mum leave the house for her night shift Mike jumped up and went into the kitchen,
"I'll get the drinks, you plug in the amp." He called. Returning with two beers, he handed one to me as a wide smile spread across my face.
*
The next morning I rolled over in Mike's arms and opened my eyes. His eyes opened at the same time and after and few seconds relapse we both realised how we were sleeping,
"Aaah!" we yelled in unison and jumped about a meter into the air and scrambled off the couch. Looking down Mike said,
"Shit, that was the single scariest thing that ever happened to me in my life." I noticed we were both still fully clothed and breathed a sigh of relief. I looked back at Mike and we both burst out laughing,
"Jeez we must have been hammered." He said through his fits of laughter,
"Dude, I'm just gonna use your shower, cool?"
"Yeah, I think there's towels up there." He replied, still laughing. I smiled and made my way upstairs whilst he went into the kitchen. I turned on the water and stepped under the warm spray. I stood for a few minutes, remembering my dad and all the good times I had with him. Tears rolled down my cheeks and then my thoughts turned to Bam. I thought about her a lot, I missed her so much and I wondered what she was doing now. I stepped out of the shower, dried myself, dressed and wondered down stairs.
"Hey Bill, we went through a lot of beer last night dude." Mike stated,
"Cool," came my simple answer,
"Hey are we gonna bother going to school today?" Mike looked over at me,
"Well, I'll understand if you don't want to but personally, I don't wanna be around when my mum gets home and finds out all the beers gone." He explained,
"Yeah? Go on then I'll come." I agreed,
"Good man." Mike joked as he threw all the empty bottles into a huge black garbage bag. We grabbed our bags and walked lousily to school. I lagged behind Mike as we approached the gates. I didn't want to face normal people today, people that would judge me with piercing glances and mutter behind my back. I never usually cared what others thought but I didn't think I could cope with it, just not toady. I was about to turn my back when a flash of black caught my attention. It was a girl I had never seen in this town before, walking into school. This intrigued me and I followed her into the building.
"BJ, what the fuck?" Mike asked,
"Ssh." I waved my hand behind me. He followed, to see what I was staring at. I was mesmerised by her, even though all I could see was the back of her head. She was wearing all black and had muddy, worn converse, just like mine. I followed her beautiful, long, curly hair down the corridor, towards the principles office.
"Bill, do you even know her?" Mike questioned curiously. I looked back and replied,
"I don't know there's just something so familiar about her." Mike shrugged and we hid round the corner as she knocked on the office door,
"Enter." Our stuck up principle boomed, she sighed and opened the door. I let out a long breath,
"Dude, who was that?" Mike spoke quietly,
"God, I... I don't know, I just got an urge to follow her and, yeah." I gave an un-clear response, though I had a feeling I knew who it was. Just then the bell rang and scared the shit out of both of us so we headed to our classrooms.
"I'll catch you in math." Mike said as he gave me a friendly shove. I slunk into the classroom,
"Oh my," Mr. Wilson pretended to faint,
"Billie Joe Armstrong, on time?" Some of the class snickered as my eyes rolled in their sockets. I sighed agitatedly and made my way to the back. I froze instantly when I heard her voice,
"Um, excuse me, are you Mr. Wilson?" I turned slowly and stared.
"Why yes, you must be the new student." He replied and she nodded. I couldn't take my gaze off her. She had brilliant green eyes surrounded by smoky black eyeliner, her gorgeous hair framed her face perfectly and her body, Wow. I knew instantly who it was,
"Bam?" I muttered, she turned and stared at me,
"Pardon?" she looked me in the eyes and I nearly fell over,
"Bam, it's me, Billie." I said slowly. Her face looked blank and for a few gut wrenching moments I thought I'd made a mistake, but then her magic eyes lit up and she yelled,
"Fuck me, Billie Joe?" I smiled and rushed towards her, we hugged tightly as both of us laughed. Mr. Wilson coughed, spoiling the moment, and we both parted and looked around the room. The whole class was staring at us, with wide eyes or mouths agape. We both shuffled our feet and looked at the floor
"I take it you two know each other?" Mr. Wilson asked. We nodded,
"Well, Mr. Armstrong, kindly take your seat and um... " he looked through the name list,
"Beth is it?" again Bam nodded,
"Well, there is a spare seat just over there." He pointed to the second row from the front. She hitched her bag up on her shoulder and made her way over to the seat indicated by Mr. Wilson. She sat and then turned slightly to look at me. She smiled amazingly and then mouthed,
"I told you I'd be back."
