The Out Girl, chapter 1

All my life, I've been moved state to state. First, it was New York, where I lived for five years, then it was Miane, after that, Colorado, next it was Miami. And now, not to my surprise, California. Yes, where all the famous people live, or so I thought. When I arrived in Berkeley, California, it was nothing but crappy buildings and bad streets.

Let me explain this a little better for you. My parents are traveling lawyers. They get paid five hundred thousand per person they help, which adds up to about three million dollars a year. Yeah, I'm rich, big whoop. But at all the schools I've been to, all the kids ignore me because they think I'm a snotty rich bitch or something. But I'm not. I'm nothing like that. Usually when my parents are gone on a business trip, I sit in my room and wish that I had a friend or at least someone to talk to besides the maid.

Not even three days of living in Berkeley and my parents already left for Illinois for two months. I hadn't been out of the house at all, so once they left, I grabbed the extra house key, locked the front door, and started walking. Soon, I found myself sitting on a beach, which was deserted, and throwing rocks into the churning waters ahead of me. There was a storm coming in, with a light drizzle already coming down, but I didn't care. I could be wet and ugly for all I cared. Then about five minutes later, rain was everywhere. It was pouring down and thunder was booming above me. I sat there, thinking of my life without a single friend.

"Hey," I heard a voice yell behind me. I looked to find a guy with an umbrella walking towards me. "What are you doing out in the rain?" When I didn't answer, he kept walking. "Here, have my coat. We can share the umbrella."

"No, that's really okay," I said, not wanting to know if he was just helping or if he was a rapist. But he ignored me and draped his leather coat over my shoulders. It was still warm from when he was wearing it and it had my favorite men's body spray on it, Tag. The guy helped me stand and put the umbrella over my head.

"I'm Joey," he said, holding out his hand.

"Jessie, but Missy is preferred," I said, shaking his hand.

"So what are you doing out here in the rain," he asked.

"I just moved here and I took a walk," I said, shrugging. "And I didn't know it was going to rain..." That is such a lie, but what the hell? He didn't care. "So I didn't bring a coat or anything. Plus, I have no idea where I live." He laughed and started wiping sand off my front pant legs. I let him and pulled the jacket closer to me.

"So, Missy," he said, finally getting all the sand off of me. "Do you know the address?" I pulled out my cell phone from my pocket and searched the address in my address book.

"Here," I said, showing him the screen.

"Oh hey, we're neighbors," he said, smiling. I smiled as well. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, making me go tense. "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything to you. I'm giving off my body heat to keep you warm." I relaxed a little and snuggled into his side.

"So..."

"Where did you move here from," he asked.

"Well, actually that depends," I said. He gave me a confused look. "When I was born, I lived in New York. Five years later, I moved to Maine. Seven years later, I moved to Coloardo, three years later, I moved to Miami, and then two years later, I end up here."

"Oh, so you're seventeen," he said. I nodded. "What do your parents do? They sound like they travel a lot."

"They're lawyers," I explained. "That's why we moved so much. But really, I don't see the point in moving if you're just going to leave every two months." Again, I got the confused look. "My parents go on business trips to other states and stuff for two months and sometimes longer."

"How much do they get paid," he asked.

"Around three million a year," I said.

"Wow, you really must be rich by now," he said.

"Yeah, but the problem is, everyone thinks that I'm some snotty spoiled bitch that doesn't give a fuck about anyone or anything but herself and money," I said, shaking my head. "But really, all I wanted in life was a friend. Someone I could talk to about, well, anything."

"Well, now you have me," he said. "I'll be that one friend you need."

"But now we have another little problem," I said, smirking. "I just gave you my E! True Hollywood story...you gotta give me something." He laughed as we turned a corner.

"Okay, well my full name is Joseph Marcicano Armstrong," he began. "But now I'm just called Joey. When I was little, my dad left for little trips as well, just like your parents, only he would leave for like a year or something. Um, when I was around seven, I got a little brother, who's name is Jakob Danger. When I was ten, my name was plastered all over the magazines because my dad is Billie Joe Armstrong and I was named the cutest baby face."

"Ah," I said, smiling. He gave me a wry smile and continued.

"Anyways, my godfather, Tre' Cool, has a son named Frankito, who is about the same age as me, which is nineteen. But he's like seventeen. When I was around thirteen, my dad finally got me my own guitar instead of one that he had and he taught me how to play and write my own music. Frankito, Jakob, and another friend of mine, Estelle, are in a band with me. We're called The Saints of Hell."

"Nice name," I said, smirking.

"Haha," he said sarcastically.

"So...is Estelle your girlfriend," I asked, just curious.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "She wishes though. For some odd reason, Tre's daughter, Ramona, and Mike's daughter, you know, Estelle, both have crushes on me. It's kind of creepy because they always try to get their hands on me, but I'm girlfriend free at the moment. Why? You interested?"

"Nope," I said, smiling widely. "I'd rather just be friends with you instead."

"We're here," he said, stopping. I looked up from the sidewalk and saw that we had made it to my house. "Want me to walk you up?"

"Sure," I said. He followed me up the stairs to the front door and the lights automatically went on on the porch. I could finally make out what he looked like. He had the most beautiful chocolate brown eyes I had ever seen and his black hair was messy, with green and blue tips at the ends. The guy was fucking gorgeous. I'm not saying hot because he wasn't really hot, but he was the cutest guy I had ever seen in my life.

"Hey, uh, since you don't know where anything is around here, do you want to come over tomorrow and I can show you around," he asked.

"Oh, um, I'll have to ask my maid, Hilda," I said. "But yeah, other than that, sure."

"Okay, I'll come over tomorrow to come get you," he said. "Be ready around eleven and you can watch our practice after we're done looking around town."

"Yeah, cool," I said, nodding. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my cheek before walking away. I smiled as I watched him cross the street to the white house with the big black door and then went into my own house.