Estelle, chapter 1
My name is Estelle Desiree Pritchard. Yes, I am the one and only offspring to the bass player extraordinaire and member of Green Day, Michael Pritchard. Or as many know him, Mike Dirnt.
I live in Oakland California, sometimes with my mom, Anastasia, and sometimes with my dad. Although my parents are divorced, they're still good friends, which seems to be a good thing considering how a lot of divorced parents are.
My dad has been married twice and divorced twice, first to my mom, Anastasia, and then to Sarah. He had Sarah divorced because she said he was spending too much time in the studio working on the American Idiot album and not concentrating on their marriage. He had another girlfriend a few years back, but he's currently single. Well, you can't expect him to commit to anyone. He's just a free spirit I guess, kind of like me.
I love my dad. You might think it's weird to have a rock star dad, but we're just like any other family.
Well, besides the long absences from home for tours. And the stalkers. Those are the worst.
But its not like I'm exceptionally different from any other fourteen-year-old; I go to school, hang out with friends, do homework, etc., etc. It is the year 2011. I am fourteen years old and in the ninth grade. I go to a normal public high school like anyone else. But I don't try to be normal. In fact, I think to be normal is to give in to society, and I don't believe in any of that. I always try to be unique and stand out from the crowd. But I don't want to be remembered as 'Mike Dirnt's daughter.' I want to be remembered as Estelle Pritchard. Myself. How I'm going to accomplish that, I have no idea.
I actually go to the same school as Joey Armstrong, Jakob Armstrong, and Frankito Wright. But I usually only see Joey because Jakob and Frankito are so much younger.
Am I friends with Joey? Yes. He's two years older than me, but we've been friends since we were little. Well, I guess that's to be expected since our dads are best friends, but we've been through everything together. We understand each other completely, and I love being able to have a friendship like that.
Today is the first of May. Right now I am staying with Dad, counting the weeks until his tour starts. Green Day has just released a new album called Camorra, at midnight on Saturday. Apparently 'camorra' means some kind of secret society or something. Maybe they just like the word. Anyway, they have their reasons.
I've listened to the album about five times all the way through plus a couple of small performances. Now, before I tell you whether the album is good or not, everybody who thinks that my Dad, Billie Joe, and Tré are too old (thirty-nine) to be releasing albums need to know that Green Day will be playing together for the rest of their lives, or until they're too weak to pick up a guitar. So anyway...
The album is great. Now, its not another American Idiot, but it's got a great sound. So far my favorite song is called, 'Next Time.' The album has been gaining a lot of hype in the past few weeks, but it didn't sell nearly as many albums as American Idiot. But the numbers don't really matter. The music does.
Anyway, so I had just woken up Monday morning the weekend after the album had been released. I was exhausted after a weekend of celebrating. As I stumbled out of bed, my cell phone started ringing. After finally finding it under a pile of clothes, I answered it.
"Hello?"
"Stella? Hey, its Joey."
"Oh, hey Joe, I just woke up. Man, am I tired," I said, rubbing my eyes.
"Yeah, me too. What a crazy weekend. School is gonna be pretty chaotic today, huh?"
"I wouldn't doubt it for a minute. I just hope we aren't stoned by haters," I said, laughing.
Joey laughed too. "Yeah, well, fuck them. You wanna meet at my house on your way?"
"Yeah, sure." I glanced at the clock. 7:15. Class starts at 8:00. "Damn, I have to get ready," I said.
"Okay, see you in a few," he said.
"Okay, bye," I said as I snapped the phone shut.
Even though Joey was older than me, he always treated me as an equal. Part of it might be that I'm a pretty mature person, even though sometimes I can act like a complete five-year-old. It killed me that when I would be a junior he will already be graduated, and he won't be there for my last two years of high school. I mean, I had a lot of other friends, but he was my best friend.
I got up off the floor and went over to my closet. I decided to wear my favorite black dickies, a long-sleeved green top with little white stars printed all over it, (Estelle means star, and if you didn't know my dad has a strange obsession with stars, hence my name) and my green converse. I also like to wear a lot of jewelry and within a few minutes had my arms, fingers, and neck covered with bracelets, rings, and choker necklaces. I also wore my little silver hoop earrings. I put my wavy blond hair in a messy ponytail like I usually did, and made sure I had plenty of hair over my face. I also managed to quickly pencil on some dark eyeliner I always wore.
As I made my way down the stairs I was surprised to see my dad flipping pancakes in the kitchen. He almost never got up earlier than I did, and I was especially surprised since the album was released just that last weekend, and he was just as exhausted as I was.
"Dad?" I said, pleasantly surprised.
"Good morning, Hero," he said as he set down the spatula and kissed me on the top of my head. (Hero is his nickname for me)
"I'm surprised to see you up," I said. "How much coffee have you had to drink to wake up?"
"I'm on my third cup," he said, grinning. "Want some?"
"Thanks," I said as he poured the dark liquid into a mug. If there's one thing my dad and I had in common, it was our love for coffee.
"What's the occasion?" I asked. "Well, I mean there's the album, but... "
"Well, you know how things get after an album has just been released." He explained. "I just wanted you to have a little security before things get out of control again."
I knew what he meant. It wouldn't be long before every magazine, television channel, and radio station in the country would be calling for an interview with Green Day.
"Thanks, dad, I really appreciate it. These pancakes are delicious," I said, swallowing my first bite.
"Anything for my favoritist daughter in the whole wide world," he said, grinning.
"I'm your only daughter; your only child, for that matter," I said, laughing.
"All the more reason to love you!" he said, setting down the spatula and turning off the stove.
I just rolled my eyes as I finished off the pancakes. I took one last swig of the coffee and started slide off the stool I was sitting at.
"Done already?" asked Mike.
"Yeah, I've gotta meet Joey and I don't wanna be late," I said.
"Ok, well have a good day."
"I will," I said as I gave him a hug.
***
Joey's house is in the same neighborhood as mine, so it only took about five minutes for me to reach his. Usually he is standing on the sidewalk waiting for me, but he wasn't out yet.
So, I went in. I looked at the table and saw Jakob stuffing his face with Coco-Puffs with his eyes glued to the TV.
"Hey Jakeie," I said.
He turned his head and glared at me. He hated it when I called him that.
"My name is Jakob. Jakeie is a little-kid name," he said.
"Oh, put you are a little kid!" I said, laughing.
Jakob is twelve. He goes to the middle school, so I don't see him at school too often. I went up to him and ruffled his hair when I saw Adrienne.
"Good morning, Stella," she said brightly as she gave me a quick squeeze.
"Morning, Adie. Joey around?" I asked.
"He's still getting ready. I think he'll be down in a minute. He's pretty tired," she said.
"Aren't we all," I sighed.
She nodded in agreement. "Billie is going to be immovable for at least a few more hours," she laughed.
"Hey Stella," said a voice behind me.
I turned around and saw Joey at the foot of the stairs. He was wearing blue jeans and simple black t-shirt. His hair was ruffled and he had bags under his eyes.
"Good morning, Sunshine," I laughed.
"Shaddap," he said as he punched me in the arm.
"You ready to go?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said as he picked up his backpack.
***
As Joey and I started to walk up the stairs to get into the school building, we saw people staring at us and whispering things to their friends. We tried to ignore them as best we could.
"So, what's your first class?" Joey asked casually.
"Um, science, I think. I don't know how I'm gonna stay awake," I sighed.
Science was my worst subject. I would study my ass off for the tests, and the results would always come out mediocre. Not only that, but the class was as boring as watching paint dry.
"I have Spanish," said Joey. "Damn, I don't know what Ms. Garcia has against me. What did I ever do to her?"
Joey was right. For some reason, the he would always be getting in trouble in her class.
"Well, maybe she's just jealous of your exceptional taste in clothing," I laughed, looking at his way-to-casual outfit.
"Either that, or she's jealous of my supportive friends," he sarcastically, glaring at me but smiling a little.
The bell rang, and people began shuffling from their lockers to the classrooms.
"I gotta make a quick stop to my locker before I go to class," I said. "See ya later."
"Alright, see ya," said Joey, already making his way down the hall.
***
I stepped into the classroom just as the second bell rang. I scanned the room for an empty seat. I noticed that some people stared at me and whispered as I looked around. I finally saw a seat next to my friend, Serena. She waved at me.
"Hey Serena," I said, smiling as I sat down. "What's up?"
"What's up with you is the question," she said. Then she lowered her voice. "How was your weekend?" she asked.
"Pretty chaotic. I just hope I can get through today without wanting to shoot myself," I said as I rolled my eyes.
"Hey, that's my job!" she said laughing.
I made a motion with my hand like I was blowing my brains out. She started laughing harder and I laughed with her.
"Excuse me, ladies, will you please quiet down."
We looked to the front of the classroom and saw Mr. Lombardi glaring at us. We immediately stopped laughing. The whole class was staring at us.
Mr. Lombardi started teaching. A few minutes later I caught Serena's attention. I rolled my eyes in the teacher direction, and we both smiled.
***
I met Serena in sixth grade when we were both just starting middle school. I think the reason we really became friends was because she had no idea what Green Day was, and that was good because she didn't judge me for my dad, she judged me on solely myself. When she found out I was the daughter of a rock star her judgment of me didn't change, but she simply wanted to know about the band. Whenever people would either make fun of me or obsess over me because of my dad, she would be puzzled, but would always try to comfort me.
It was lunchtime. As I walked with Serena over to the cafeteria, a guy about our age came running up to us.
"Your Mike Dirnt's daughter, right?" the guy asked.
"My name is Estelle," I said, a little annoyed.
"Right. Props to your dad, man, the new album rocks!" he said, slapping me a high five.
"Thanks," I said, as the guy ran off.
Serena laughed. I was kind of annoyed, but when I saw Serena laughing, I laughed too.
***
As I walked toward the table area with a tray full of food, I saw Joey waving at me from one of the tables. I saw his friend Greg sitting next to him. Serena and I approached them.
"Hey Joey, hey Greg," I said, as I set my tray down.
"Hey guys," said Joey. Stella muttered a small "hey", and Greg was munching down a burger so he put his hand up to acknowledge us.
I laughed. "Greg, someone would think you haven't eaten in a week," I said.
Joey laughed too. "Actually, he just ate a few hours ago during break," he said.
Greg swallowed his food. "Hey, its not my fault I have a fast metabolism," he said a matter of factly.
Greg was a pretty wacky person. He was always doing something weird, and he was constantly making Joey, Serena, and me laugh. He used to play drums in a band called The Hostages, but they broke up a few months ago because the singer and lead guitarist went off to collage. He still played drums for fun, though.
We all laughed at Greg's last remark. As Serena and I began eating, Serena asked Joey how Spanish class had gone. She too knew about Joey's reputation with the Spanish teacher.
"She gave me a detention," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Why?" I asked.
"Well," he explained, "I started arguing with this stupid kid about how punk music originated. I kept telling him that it originated in the UK, but he was convinced it started in California with Skate-Punk bands. Anyway, we were getting really into it, and Ms. Garcia would tell us to stop but then this kid would start arguing again, and that kept going on until Ms. Garcia got fed up and gave me a detention. She didn't even give one to the kid I was arguing with!" he said angrily.
"Joey, your parents are not gonna be happy about this," I said. "This is your fifth detention this year."
He glared at me. "Don't you think I already know that?"
Greg looked up at Joey from his lunch. "Whoa, Joey, I don't think she said that to be mean," he said. "She's right, you know."
"Yeah, but you don't need to point it out," he said. "Oh, I don't know." He dumped the rest of his lunch into a nearby trashcan and sulked away.
We all stared at him as he left.
"What was that about?" asked Serena.
I shook my head. "You know how he gets," I said. "Especially with the new album out, he probably is just falling under all the pressure." I sighed. "But he's not the only one."
I turned my head to look at a group of girls. They were pointing and laughing, and it was obviously at me.
Greg saw them too. "Hey!" he yelled at them.
A tall girl with curly brown hair perked up. "What?" she said.
"You got something to say to her?" he said. "Go on, say it!"
"Greg," I whispered. "Forget about them. I don't care, really."
"Come on, Stella," he said. "You can't let them get away with this stuff."
I watched as the group of girls walked away, still giggling.
"He's right, Stella," said Serena. "I mean, I'm not saying you should start a fight or anything, but you can't let those bitches push you around."
I sighed as I threw my lunch away. "I'm gonna go look for Joey," I said. "See you guys later."
"Ok, bye sweetie," Serena said with a worried look on her face. "Take care."
I turned to look at Greg and Serena as I walked away. They had started up a conversation and were talking back and forth. I always thought they would be so cute as a couple. I smiled as I went out of the cafeteria.
***
I finally found Joey behind the school leaning against a wall. As I got closer, I noticed he had a cigarette in his hand. I ran up to him.
"Hey, Joey," I said, with a worried look on my face.
He quickly threw down the cigarette and stomped it out.
"I hope your not getting addicted to that," I said.
"No, actually I'm not," he said, annoyed.
"I'm sorry Joey," I said. "I don't mean to sound like your mom or anything. I just... I just care about you, you know?"
He sighed. "I know, Stella. It's just... " He paused. "Ok, so our dads' new album has just been released right? And pretty soon they're going to be gone all the time for interviews, and this summer, the tour. They're going to leave us without thinking twice about it. And it makes me mad that they are obligated to all theses people called "fans." I mean, shouldn't they be obligated to us? Their children?" He paused again. He was getting really worked up. "I don't know, call me selfish, call me whatever you want. It just doesn't feel right to me."
He slid down the wall until he was sitting on the ground. He looked really pissed off. His eyes were fierce with anger. I sat down next to him and put my arm over his shoulder.
"I know Joey. It's really hard. I know exactly how you feel. I mean, I love my mom and all, but I love living with my dad. When he goes on tour I'm gonna have to move back in with my mom again." I sighed. "But we have each other, right? We'll get through it, you'll see."
He looked at me. Never in my life have I been physically attracted to Joey, but right there, in that moment, when his faced turned towards mine, it nearly took my breath away.
"Thanks, Stella," he said. "I'm sorry I'm being such an asshole."
I laughed. "Yeah, you kind of are."
We were smiling as we stood up and walked to class.
I live in Oakland California, sometimes with my mom, Anastasia, and sometimes with my dad. Although my parents are divorced, they're still good friends, which seems to be a good thing considering how a lot of divorced parents are.
My dad has been married twice and divorced twice, first to my mom, Anastasia, and then to Sarah. He had Sarah divorced because she said he was spending too much time in the studio working on the American Idiot album and not concentrating on their marriage. He had another girlfriend a few years back, but he's currently single. Well, you can't expect him to commit to anyone. He's just a free spirit I guess, kind of like me.
I love my dad. You might think it's weird to have a rock star dad, but we're just like any other family.
Well, besides the long absences from home for tours. And the stalkers. Those are the worst.
But its not like I'm exceptionally different from any other fourteen-year-old; I go to school, hang out with friends, do homework, etc., etc. It is the year 2011. I am fourteen years old and in the ninth grade. I go to a normal public high school like anyone else. But I don't try to be normal. In fact, I think to be normal is to give in to society, and I don't believe in any of that. I always try to be unique and stand out from the crowd. But I don't want to be remembered as 'Mike Dirnt's daughter.' I want to be remembered as Estelle Pritchard. Myself. How I'm going to accomplish that, I have no idea.
I actually go to the same school as Joey Armstrong, Jakob Armstrong, and Frankito Wright. But I usually only see Joey because Jakob and Frankito are so much younger.
Am I friends with Joey? Yes. He's two years older than me, but we've been friends since we were little. Well, I guess that's to be expected since our dads are best friends, but we've been through everything together. We understand each other completely, and I love being able to have a friendship like that.
Today is the first of May. Right now I am staying with Dad, counting the weeks until his tour starts. Green Day has just released a new album called Camorra, at midnight on Saturday. Apparently 'camorra' means some kind of secret society or something. Maybe they just like the word. Anyway, they have their reasons.
I've listened to the album about five times all the way through plus a couple of small performances. Now, before I tell you whether the album is good or not, everybody who thinks that my Dad, Billie Joe, and Tré are too old (thirty-nine) to be releasing albums need to know that Green Day will be playing together for the rest of their lives, or until they're too weak to pick up a guitar. So anyway...
The album is great. Now, its not another American Idiot, but it's got a great sound. So far my favorite song is called, 'Next Time.' The album has been gaining a lot of hype in the past few weeks, but it didn't sell nearly as many albums as American Idiot. But the numbers don't really matter. The music does.
Anyway, so I had just woken up Monday morning the weekend after the album had been released. I was exhausted after a weekend of celebrating. As I stumbled out of bed, my cell phone started ringing. After finally finding it under a pile of clothes, I answered it.
"Hello?"
"Stella? Hey, its Joey."
"Oh, hey Joe, I just woke up. Man, am I tired," I said, rubbing my eyes.
"Yeah, me too. What a crazy weekend. School is gonna be pretty chaotic today, huh?"
"I wouldn't doubt it for a minute. I just hope we aren't stoned by haters," I said, laughing.
Joey laughed too. "Yeah, well, fuck them. You wanna meet at my house on your way?"
"Yeah, sure." I glanced at the clock. 7:15. Class starts at 8:00. "Damn, I have to get ready," I said.
"Okay, see you in a few," he said.
"Okay, bye," I said as I snapped the phone shut.
Even though Joey was older than me, he always treated me as an equal. Part of it might be that I'm a pretty mature person, even though sometimes I can act like a complete five-year-old. It killed me that when I would be a junior he will already be graduated, and he won't be there for my last two years of high school. I mean, I had a lot of other friends, but he was my best friend.
I got up off the floor and went over to my closet. I decided to wear my favorite black dickies, a long-sleeved green top with little white stars printed all over it, (Estelle means star, and if you didn't know my dad has a strange obsession with stars, hence my name) and my green converse. I also like to wear a lot of jewelry and within a few minutes had my arms, fingers, and neck covered with bracelets, rings, and choker necklaces. I also wore my little silver hoop earrings. I put my wavy blond hair in a messy ponytail like I usually did, and made sure I had plenty of hair over my face. I also managed to quickly pencil on some dark eyeliner I always wore.
As I made my way down the stairs I was surprised to see my dad flipping pancakes in the kitchen. He almost never got up earlier than I did, and I was especially surprised since the album was released just that last weekend, and he was just as exhausted as I was.
"Dad?" I said, pleasantly surprised.
"Good morning, Hero," he said as he set down the spatula and kissed me on the top of my head. (Hero is his nickname for me)
"I'm surprised to see you up," I said. "How much coffee have you had to drink to wake up?"
"I'm on my third cup," he said, grinning. "Want some?"
"Thanks," I said as he poured the dark liquid into a mug. If there's one thing my dad and I had in common, it was our love for coffee.
"What's the occasion?" I asked. "Well, I mean there's the album, but... "
"Well, you know how things get after an album has just been released." He explained. "I just wanted you to have a little security before things get out of control again."
I knew what he meant. It wouldn't be long before every magazine, television channel, and radio station in the country would be calling for an interview with Green Day.
"Thanks, dad, I really appreciate it. These pancakes are delicious," I said, swallowing my first bite.
"Anything for my favoritist daughter in the whole wide world," he said, grinning.
"I'm your only daughter; your only child, for that matter," I said, laughing.
"All the more reason to love you!" he said, setting down the spatula and turning off the stove.
I just rolled my eyes as I finished off the pancakes. I took one last swig of the coffee and started slide off the stool I was sitting at.
"Done already?" asked Mike.
"Yeah, I've gotta meet Joey and I don't wanna be late," I said.
"Ok, well have a good day."
"I will," I said as I gave him a hug.
***
Joey's house is in the same neighborhood as mine, so it only took about five minutes for me to reach his. Usually he is standing on the sidewalk waiting for me, but he wasn't out yet.
So, I went in. I looked at the table and saw Jakob stuffing his face with Coco-Puffs with his eyes glued to the TV.
"Hey Jakeie," I said.
He turned his head and glared at me. He hated it when I called him that.
"My name is Jakob. Jakeie is a little-kid name," he said.
"Oh, put you are a little kid!" I said, laughing.
Jakob is twelve. He goes to the middle school, so I don't see him at school too often. I went up to him and ruffled his hair when I saw Adrienne.
"Good morning, Stella," she said brightly as she gave me a quick squeeze.
"Morning, Adie. Joey around?" I asked.
"He's still getting ready. I think he'll be down in a minute. He's pretty tired," she said.
"Aren't we all," I sighed.
She nodded in agreement. "Billie is going to be immovable for at least a few more hours," she laughed.
"Hey Stella," said a voice behind me.
I turned around and saw Joey at the foot of the stairs. He was wearing blue jeans and simple black t-shirt. His hair was ruffled and he had bags under his eyes.
"Good morning, Sunshine," I laughed.
"Shaddap," he said as he punched me in the arm.
"You ready to go?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said as he picked up his backpack.
***
As Joey and I started to walk up the stairs to get into the school building, we saw people staring at us and whispering things to their friends. We tried to ignore them as best we could.
"So, what's your first class?" Joey asked casually.
"Um, science, I think. I don't know how I'm gonna stay awake," I sighed.
Science was my worst subject. I would study my ass off for the tests, and the results would always come out mediocre. Not only that, but the class was as boring as watching paint dry.
"I have Spanish," said Joey. "Damn, I don't know what Ms. Garcia has against me. What did I ever do to her?"
Joey was right. For some reason, the he would always be getting in trouble in her class.
"Well, maybe she's just jealous of your exceptional taste in clothing," I laughed, looking at his way-to-casual outfit.
"Either that, or she's jealous of my supportive friends," he sarcastically, glaring at me but smiling a little.
The bell rang, and people began shuffling from their lockers to the classrooms.
"I gotta make a quick stop to my locker before I go to class," I said. "See ya later."
"Alright, see ya," said Joey, already making his way down the hall.
***
I stepped into the classroom just as the second bell rang. I scanned the room for an empty seat. I noticed that some people stared at me and whispered as I looked around. I finally saw a seat next to my friend, Serena. She waved at me.
"Hey Serena," I said, smiling as I sat down. "What's up?"
"What's up with you is the question," she said. Then she lowered her voice. "How was your weekend?" she asked.
"Pretty chaotic. I just hope I can get through today without wanting to shoot myself," I said as I rolled my eyes.
"Hey, that's my job!" she said laughing.
I made a motion with my hand like I was blowing my brains out. She started laughing harder and I laughed with her.
"Excuse me, ladies, will you please quiet down."
We looked to the front of the classroom and saw Mr. Lombardi glaring at us. We immediately stopped laughing. The whole class was staring at us.
Mr. Lombardi started teaching. A few minutes later I caught Serena's attention. I rolled my eyes in the teacher direction, and we both smiled.
***
I met Serena in sixth grade when we were both just starting middle school. I think the reason we really became friends was because she had no idea what Green Day was, and that was good because she didn't judge me for my dad, she judged me on solely myself. When she found out I was the daughter of a rock star her judgment of me didn't change, but she simply wanted to know about the band. Whenever people would either make fun of me or obsess over me because of my dad, she would be puzzled, but would always try to comfort me.
It was lunchtime. As I walked with Serena over to the cafeteria, a guy about our age came running up to us.
"Your Mike Dirnt's daughter, right?" the guy asked.
"My name is Estelle," I said, a little annoyed.
"Right. Props to your dad, man, the new album rocks!" he said, slapping me a high five.
"Thanks," I said, as the guy ran off.
Serena laughed. I was kind of annoyed, but when I saw Serena laughing, I laughed too.
***
As I walked toward the table area with a tray full of food, I saw Joey waving at me from one of the tables. I saw his friend Greg sitting next to him. Serena and I approached them.
"Hey Joey, hey Greg," I said, as I set my tray down.
"Hey guys," said Joey. Stella muttered a small "hey", and Greg was munching down a burger so he put his hand up to acknowledge us.
I laughed. "Greg, someone would think you haven't eaten in a week," I said.
Joey laughed too. "Actually, he just ate a few hours ago during break," he said.
Greg swallowed his food. "Hey, its not my fault I have a fast metabolism," he said a matter of factly.
Greg was a pretty wacky person. He was always doing something weird, and he was constantly making Joey, Serena, and me laugh. He used to play drums in a band called The Hostages, but they broke up a few months ago because the singer and lead guitarist went off to collage. He still played drums for fun, though.
We all laughed at Greg's last remark. As Serena and I began eating, Serena asked Joey how Spanish class had gone. She too knew about Joey's reputation with the Spanish teacher.
"She gave me a detention," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Why?" I asked.
"Well," he explained, "I started arguing with this stupid kid about how punk music originated. I kept telling him that it originated in the UK, but he was convinced it started in California with Skate-Punk bands. Anyway, we were getting really into it, and Ms. Garcia would tell us to stop but then this kid would start arguing again, and that kept going on until Ms. Garcia got fed up and gave me a detention. She didn't even give one to the kid I was arguing with!" he said angrily.
"Joey, your parents are not gonna be happy about this," I said. "This is your fifth detention this year."
He glared at me. "Don't you think I already know that?"
Greg looked up at Joey from his lunch. "Whoa, Joey, I don't think she said that to be mean," he said. "She's right, you know."
"Yeah, but you don't need to point it out," he said. "Oh, I don't know." He dumped the rest of his lunch into a nearby trashcan and sulked away.
We all stared at him as he left.
"What was that about?" asked Serena.
I shook my head. "You know how he gets," I said. "Especially with the new album out, he probably is just falling under all the pressure." I sighed. "But he's not the only one."
I turned my head to look at a group of girls. They were pointing and laughing, and it was obviously at me.
Greg saw them too. "Hey!" he yelled at them.
A tall girl with curly brown hair perked up. "What?" she said.
"You got something to say to her?" he said. "Go on, say it!"
"Greg," I whispered. "Forget about them. I don't care, really."
"Come on, Stella," he said. "You can't let them get away with this stuff."
I watched as the group of girls walked away, still giggling.
"He's right, Stella," said Serena. "I mean, I'm not saying you should start a fight or anything, but you can't let those bitches push you around."
I sighed as I threw my lunch away. "I'm gonna go look for Joey," I said. "See you guys later."
"Ok, bye sweetie," Serena said with a worried look on her face. "Take care."
I turned to look at Greg and Serena as I walked away. They had started up a conversation and were talking back and forth. I always thought they would be so cute as a couple. I smiled as I went out of the cafeteria.
***
I finally found Joey behind the school leaning against a wall. As I got closer, I noticed he had a cigarette in his hand. I ran up to him.
"Hey, Joey," I said, with a worried look on my face.
He quickly threw down the cigarette and stomped it out.
"I hope your not getting addicted to that," I said.
"No, actually I'm not," he said, annoyed.
"I'm sorry Joey," I said. "I don't mean to sound like your mom or anything. I just... I just care about you, you know?"
He sighed. "I know, Stella. It's just... " He paused. "Ok, so our dads' new album has just been released right? And pretty soon they're going to be gone all the time for interviews, and this summer, the tour. They're going to leave us without thinking twice about it. And it makes me mad that they are obligated to all theses people called "fans." I mean, shouldn't they be obligated to us? Their children?" He paused again. He was getting really worked up. "I don't know, call me selfish, call me whatever you want. It just doesn't feel right to me."
He slid down the wall until he was sitting on the ground. He looked really pissed off. His eyes were fierce with anger. I sat down next to him and put my arm over his shoulder.
"I know Joey. It's really hard. I know exactly how you feel. I mean, I love my mom and all, but I love living with my dad. When he goes on tour I'm gonna have to move back in with my mom again." I sighed. "But we have each other, right? We'll get through it, you'll see."
He looked at me. Never in my life have I been physically attracted to Joey, but right there, in that moment, when his faced turned towards mine, it nearly took my breath away.
"Thanks, Stella," he said. "I'm sorry I'm being such an asshole."
I laughed. "Yeah, you kind of are."
We were smiling as we stood up and walked to class.
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