Mistakes Worth Making, chapter 1

After fifteen minutes of power-walking across the airport in fear that we will miss our flight, my brother and I finally reach our gate. I drop the bag that I have been carrying on the floor and sit down in one the blue, plastic chair that is closest to me. My brother, on the other hand, paces back and forth in front of the row of chairs before voicing his concerns about getting on an airplane.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" I furiously ask. "They are gonna start boarding the plane in just a few minutes!"

"I just don't want to go anymore," my younger brother says as he stops in front of me. I am absolutely dumbfounded by his statement and I wonder how he could not want to go when someone else is paying for the entire trip.

"So let me get this straight... you don't want to go spend a week in sunny California or you're just being a total fucking wuss right before we get on the plane," I scowl. "Which one is it?"

"I hate flying," he whines. "I don't know why we don't just drive... I would feel a lot safer."

"Hello?!" I say sneeringly. "Are you aware that we currently live in New York? By the time we got there it would already be time to turn around and drive back home!"

"That is just way too long to be thirty-thousand fucking feet in the air and be able to plummet straight back down to the earth at any given moment... I'm not going and you can't make me," he says assertively.

"So how was your trip?" I say mockingly. "Oh, I didn't even step foot on the plane since I was acting like a little fucking coward because I was scared I was going to die," I roll my eyes after I finish insulting him.

We sit in silence for a few minutes before I hear my section being called. I get up and retrieve the overstuffed bag that had been previously resting at my feet. My brother stands up to give me a hug and tells me to have a good time on the trip. I cannot believe he is going stay behind and I am going to have to go all by myself. I give my ticket to the lady standing at the door and then turn back towards where he is standing.

"Oh, by the way, I'm not getting your stuff when I land ... " I say smiling. "I'm sure someone will get great pleasure out of having that pretty little guitar of yours that you're so attached to." With that being said, I turn around and make my way towards the plane.

Once I get on the plane, I find my seat with ease and sit down. A few minutes later, my brother enters the cabin with a flustered look on his face. I laugh to myself because I knew he wouldn't let his guitar fall into the hands of someone else.
"It's nice to see that you decided to join me," I smirk. "Find someone back there that will switch seats with me," I halfway turn around to say as he walks by me. I find it really exasperating how we booked the flight months in advance and our seats are still nowhere near each other.

An elderly lady who was traveling alone switches seats with me so I can witness my pathetic brother having a panic attack during takeoff. As I am walking towards the middle of aircraft I see him... he is already as pale as a ghost. I laugh at his priceless expression as I sit down in the seat on his right.

"It's ok," I say reassuringly. "As soon as we hit the ground the plane will probably burst into flames... I'm sure it'll be a quick, painless way to die."

"How can you joke around like that?" he asks in a very serious tone. "This is how dad died, you know."

"How's that?" I ask wondering how the hell he could even compare our situation to his. "And by the way, you are such a drama queen!"

"Umm... duh... he died in a place crash!" he basically yelled.

"Honey... our dad's plane crashed because he was in Kuwait and insane military insurgents, who by the way were willing to blow themselves up, shot the damn thing down. That is not the same thing, you moron," I say sounding a little more than irritated.

He starts to speak again, but I interrupt him by trying to get the flight attendant's attention. "Excuse me, can I get a big glass of something alcoholic?" I ask politely.

"As you wish, ma'am," she says with an English accent. "Are you a little nervous, sweetie?"

"Me? Nah... I am just going to try to drown out this idiot's nonsense with it," I say pointing at my brother. "I should have smoked a whole lot of weed before I even thought about sitting next to you," I say blatantly to him as the stewardess walks off.

"Shhhh... " he says as the stewardess hands me my drink.

Apparently, the guy sitting in the row behind us is a serious stoner because he leans over the back of my seat and asks me if I need him to get me some weed when we land... I think he may be joking. I laugh at his question and then lean down to get my iPod out of my bag. He then turns to my brother and says, "And don't worry, man... because if it goes down and you survive, at least you'll get to say you were in a plane crash with Green Day."

With that comment, I look up to see Billie Joe Armstrong talking to us. I knew the guy's voice sounded familiar. He looked a lot hotter in person and he smelled really good, too.

"Holy shit," I say as I turn around in my seat and prop myself up on the headrest. "See, aren't you glad you got on the fucking plane," I say slapping my brother on the shoulder.

"My name is Samantha," I say as I extend my hand to shake his. "But everyone calls me Sam."

"Billie Joe Armstrong," he says with a smile. "You obviously already knew that though."

"And this is my brother, Chad," I say motioning toward my brother who is still staring consistently at the seat in front of him. "He is afraid of flying. So... where is the rest of the Green Day crew?"

"Mike and Jason are sitting up there," he says pointing towards the front of the plane. "And Tré is at the back somewhere... most likely aggravating the hell out of an innocent passenger."

Unfortunately, my conversation with Billie is interrupted by the pilot telling us that we are about to take off. With that, I turn around and sit down in my seat and buckle my seat belt. Chad starts breathing a little irregularly so I put on my earphones to block him out.

I scroll through the list of songs on my iPod until I find a song that I feel like listening to. I stop on 'Going to California' by Led Zeppelin since the title seems to fit the occasion and I close my eyes. The slight movements of the plane eventually lull me to sleep.

I am awakened by someone putting their hand on my shoulder. I rub my eyes and pull the earphones down so that they are around my neck. I look to my left and find Chad sound asleep, I am relieved that I won't have to hear him for a while. I then look up to see Billie leaning over the back of my seat again.

"Hey," I say sleepily. "What's up?"

"Well everyone else is asleep," he starts. "And you've been out for a long time. I'm sorry to wake you up... I'm just getting really bored back here by myself," he laughs.

"Oh," I say as I unbuckle my seatbelt. "It's fine... I actually didn't mean to fall asleep."

"So I could have woke you up a long time ago?" he asks teasingly. "Come sit back here... nobody is sitting in this seat," he says pointing to the one next to him.

I stand up and almost topple over as the blood rushes back through my legs and to my feet. I slip past Chad into the aisle trying not to disturb him and then sit down next to Billie.
"So, where are you from?" he questions. "And what are you flying all the way across the country for?"

"I live in Manhattan," I tell him. "My mom wanted to send Chad on vacation as a college graduation present. I don't really know why she wanted me to go... I guess to make sure he doesn't get thrown in jail or anything," I laugh. "Oh well... our tickets, hotel room, and rental car are all paid for. We just have to pay for all of the fun stuff that we want to do."

"Cool," he says. "We just finished up our tour in New York... I can't wait to sleep in my own bed."

"I can't imagine what that must be like," I sigh. "I'll be missing my house after a week of being on the west coast."

"Well we all have a lot of fun and I really like it, but you start missing your family and stuff... that makes it really hard on me," he says. "You got a family?"

"Me? Nah... " I smile. "Too young for all of that... I have a boyfriend, though. So are you and Adrienne still married?"

"How old are you?" he asks. "And yes we are still together... and I take it since you know my wife's name that you are a fan of Green Day?" he smiles.

"I am twenty-six... and I know that I am not that young, but I'm not ready to have kids yet," I say. "And yes to your second question... you guys are really awesome! And I am very jealous of your wife," I say jokingly.

"How come?" he asks with a grin.

"Oh, come on... " I smirk. "She is absolutely gorgeous and she gets to be with you."

He laughs at my comment about her. "Well, feel lucky... you get to be with me right now instead of her. So where are you and your brother staying?"

"We don't know," I laugh. "We were just going to wing it... but we'll be staying somewhere not too far from Berkeley."

Billie and I talk for what seems like hours... in fact, it probably has been hours. As much fun as I am having talking to Green Day's sexy frontman, I let out a sigh of relief when the pilot says that we will be landing soon.

I lean over the seat in front of me to wake Chad from his lengthy slumber... I wouldn't want him to miss the landing since he hates that part the most. He sarcastically thanks me for my cruel gesture and impulsively tightens his seatbelt.

I sit back down to talk with Billie... and to my amazement he is still fully alert. He tells me that he slept most of the day before leaving for the airport. Then he proceeds to inform me that he had four cups of coffee on the way to the airport.

I lean over him to lift up the window shade and I am greeted by darkness speckled with the numerous lights of Los Angeles. He looks down at the city that he has been absent from for months and a big smile starts across his face.

"Finally," he sighs. "I'm home!"

The plane finally comes to a stop and I check my watch to find it is two in the morning... Eastern Time, that is. I stand up and stretch, my body aches from sitting down for so long. I gather my things from the overhead compartment in the row of seats in front of me and slowly make my way into yet another airport.

Billie introduces Chad and I to the other members of the band when we get off the plane. I am really excited to meet everyone, but I am drained and don't seem too enthusiastic about it. The band gives us their autographs before we part ways.

I leave it up to Chad to get us a good deal on a rental car since he had a restful nap on our journey all the way across the country. I am amazed at how many people are trying to get a rental car at this hour... then again, I don't really know what the time difference between California and New York is.

Since I am not a big fan of standing in line and waiting, I sit down close to where Chad is standing to rest my body. I am just starting to nod off when I am startled by someone calling my name. I immediately open my eyes to see Chad standing approximately where I had left him.

I then look in the direction that my back is facing towards. I see Billie walking towards me with something in his hand. I am confused for a moment before I realize that he is holding my iPod.

"Hey... I forgot to give this back to you after I looked through your playlist... sorry," he says sounding a little out of breath.

"Oh," I say gladly. "Thanks for bringing it back to me."

"Anytime," he says as he starts to walk off. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot... we might be at this place tomorrow night to celebrate our homecoming if you're in town and want to come hang out with us or something," he says handing me a piece of paper with an address on it.

"Maybe I'll see you guys there," I say with a smile. "It was nice to meet everyone."

"Yeah, maybe... and it was good to meet you and your brother," he says as he turns to walk the other direction. "Thanks for keeping me company on the plane, too."

I watch him as he walks back in the direction that he came from. A few girls standing around recognize him and make a lot of commotion before surrounding him. He dismisses their shrieks before signing some autographs and continuing on his way.

"That is one good-looking guy... oh, the things I would do to... " I start to say as Chad walks towards me with the keys to the rental car.

"Yeah, yeah... I don't want to hear it," he says. "Let's go find us a place to stay for tonight."

"No... let's go ahead and get to there tonight so we don't have to drive in the morning!" I say knowing that he will drive and I will get to sleep in the car.

"You're insane," he says. "Trust me... it will be better this way."

Little did I know, he was right... it would be better this way.