She's A Rebel, chapter 1

She strummed a G-chord on her black Ibanez guitar, humming to the beat. She sat up on her gray and white bed sheets and rubbed her hazel eyes. She looked at her room, wondering why she couldn't be as she wanted. The black walls, filled with posters of her favorite bands, stared down at her. In their eyes, they had disgust. Looking at her, you would never expect she ever once went into a mosh pit; or even what one was.

She was always categorized as "popular". Girls hated to love her, but loved to hate her at the same time. Boys loved her. She was always asked out; she always had a boyfriend. That was part of the reason why so many girls didn't like her, but kept it quiet. She had friends, but didn't trust any of them. She knew her "friends" didn't like her. They were only being nice to her because they wanted to be as popular as she was.

When she would walk into school with something different, people would look the same way the next day. When she tried to be herself, she was followed by a herd of people, waiting to go by her every move. She hated it. She wanted to once walk into school and not see something she saw the day before that she wore. She wanted wanted to be herself, but could never.

"Laurie! Are you ready yet? School starts in a half hour!" she heard her mother yell from the kitchen.

"I gotta get dressed mom! That's all!" Laurie called to her.

"Okay Laur. Come down when you're ready so I can drop you off."

Laurie picked herself up from her bed and went to her dresser. She plowed through the black and red shirts she had, reaching towards the bottom. She pulled out a pink Hollister shirt and put it on. She found a pair of skin-tight jeans, putting a white, oversized belt on for the finishing touch. She got out a pair of matching pick socks to put on before she placed her all-white sneakers on. Laurie went to her full length mirror and observed herself. She brushed her reddish-brown hair into a high ponytail, pulling it together with a baby blue rubber band. She flattened her wrinkles in her shirt and sighed.

"Why are you like this Laurie?" She said to her reflection. "This isn't you. This is what everyone expects you to be." Looking at herself that way made Laurie want to shatter the mirror.

"Oh honey! You look so cute!" Laurie's mother said. "You ready to go?"

Laurie nodded. "Ready as I'm ever going to be," she muttered to herself.

She walked into her first period class, Science. As she walked in, she heard boys whistle at her. She pretended like she never heard them. She walked to Jimmy, her boyfriend's, desk. Laurie took the seat next to him.

"Hey baby. What's up?" Jimmy said to her, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Mmmhh.. Not much."

"Class," her teacher said to get everyone's attention, "We have a new student."

Everyone's attention turned towards to the boy with blue hair. Laurie noticed his piercing green eyes. They were beautiful. She saw his Chuck Taylors. They were black, and looked like he had them for years. Laurie had always wanted Converse, but was afraid of what her friends and boyfriend would think.

"Please welcome Billie Joe Armstrong everyone," her teacher continued. Nobody gave a real "welcoming", but Billie Joe didn't seem like he expected one. Laurie was still staring at the new student, and Billie Joe noticed. He looked at Laurie and smiled. Laurie smiled back and slightly waved.

"Laurie?" She snapped back into reality and looked at her teacher.

"Huh?" She heard a few giggles throughout the class.

"I said, what did we discuss yesterday?"

"Oh, umm, I'm sorry Mr. Ramierez. I uh, forget."

"It's okay Laurie." Laurie turned to Billie Joe, who just smiled at her and turned away.

The bell rang, indicating first period had ended. Laurie got up, saying goodbye to Jimmy, and walked out to her second period class. While she was walking down the hall, all she could think about was Billie Joe. He was everything she wanted to be. The way he looked like he didn't care what people think; and dressed how he wanted, without caring at all.

Laurie felt a finger tap her shoulder. She turned around and came to see those beautiful green eyes again. "Hey... Umm.. Laurie. Right?"

Laurie nodded, "Billie Joe?"

He nodded, "Yup. Umm.. I was wondering if you knew where room A-111 was."

She smiled, "Actually, I'm heading there right now. I'll show ya. Follow me." Billie Joe listened and followed Laurie down the long corridor.

While they were walking down towards their next class, Laurie decided to strike up a conversation with him. "So, Billie Joe, where did you move from?"

"Rodeo. I mean, I really wouldn't call it a "move". Oakland really is close to here and all."

Laurie nodded, understanding what he was saying. She loved how Billie Joe seemed so comfortable talking to a complete stranger. The conversation between them wasn't a long one. The rest of the way, they walked in silence. When they got to the classroom, Billie Joe thanked her for helping him.

While listening to their Social Studies teach ramble on about World War one, Laurie couldn't help but keep on staring at Billie Joe. He was the new kid, but acted like he'd been here forever. He had that confidence that Laurie wanted. She wanted to walk into a room of complete strangers and act like she knew every single person.

"Pssh, Laurie," she heard someone whisper to her. She turned and saw her best friend, Andrea. "Who ya lookin' at?"

Laurie became defensive, "No one. Okay?"

"Sure. Hey, did ya check out the new loser," Andrea was referring to Billie Joe. "Whoever thought dying their hair blue was cool is seriously braindead." Laurie forced a fake laugh out and ignored Andrea for the rest of the period.

School ended and Laurie walked home. Jimmy offered to walk her home, but Laurie denied the kind gesture. She still couldn't get her mind off of the new, blue-haired kid.

"Laurie! Laurie!" She turned around and saw Billie Joe jog up to her. "Hi."

Laurie slightly giggled and said hi. Billie Joe offered to walk her home, and she accepted. While they were walking, there was a silence in the air. The sound of crisp, fall leaves crunching under their shoes was all that was heard. The roads were a bit bare, not that many people were around.

When they came to Laurie's house, Billie Joe said his goodbyes. Laurie waved, and walked inside. She was glad he didn't comment about her house. It wasn't the world's biggest house. It was one story, a tan color with reddish shudders. Two small trees lay on both sides on the slightly uncared for lawn. She had no pool, no garage, no second floor. She never invited friends over that much, afraid of what they would say about her home. All her other friends had huge, luxurious homes, and she had this small home.

Laurie walked into her front porch, closing the door behind her. She looked out her window, looking for Billie Joe. When she saw him, she smiled. Not only was she looking at him, but he was looking at her.