Oh, How Wrong We Were To Think Immortality Meant Never Dying., chapter 2
"Well...we have a...say, a proposition, for you?" Gerard said. "Well, not so much me, kind of just Billie here, I'm just his...entourage..."
I eyed him closely, trying to figure him out. "A proposition"....That could mean anything.
"Are you checking him out?" Billie Joe burst out.
"She does that...she's just taking you in," Lizzie grinned.
"Oh-Kay....Uh, yeah, so anyway- we'll get to the point," Gerard said.
We waited silently. Wondering. Wishing. Freaking.
"You guys- you're not signed, are you?" Billie said.
There was a silence.
"Signed a what? I didn't sign anything," Leigh said.
Billie smiled and Lizzie laughed.
"You're a dufus," she rolled her eyes.
Lizzie...see, Lizzie keeps us together. She's like out mother, in a way. Without her, fuck knows where we'd be.
"Basically, what I'm asking is, would you be interested in working with Adeline?" Billie said.
"Don't you guys do clothes?" Leigh said.
Again, Lizzie rolled her eyes. I said nothing. I was too busy wondering why Gerard was looking at me like I'd just rolled out of the grave. He had that weird look on his face, like he'd just seen a ghost.
Shrugging it off, I turned back to Billie.
"I mean Adeline Records," he was saying.
"Oh...ok," Leigh said. She looked calm. Lizzie looked fazed.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Lizzie asked.
"Yeah...I think so. I want to take you on at Adeline- I think you have great potential," Billie said simply.
That's when it began- I felt it. Right there, that second, I felt my life changing. For better....or for worse?
* * *
"What time is it?"
"Five minutes after you last asked."
"Oh. Ok."
Silence.
"What time is-?"
"Leigh, he's gonna call, okay?" I sighed.
We were sitting in our titchy apartment, waiting for Billie to call so he could arrange to meet us. We had to sign some shit for Adeline.
It was kind of strange that we were actually signing with them after Billie's only heard us once, but he said he had "big hopes" for us, and I wouldn't put it past a guy like him.
"Now come on, come on to this tragic affair, wipe off that make up, what's in it to-"
"Hello?" I picked up my mobile.
"Hi, Blue? It's Billie."
"Hi. Hi, hi, how are you?" I stuttered.
"Good. You?"
"Yeah- fine. Just, y'know, nervous..."
He laughed lightly. "Don't be- it's cool. Listen, we have a show tonight and we don't have much time, so d'you want to just come over to our hotel and we can sign the shit here?"
"Oh, yeah, sure, when?"
"As soon as possible- now, if you don't mind. We gotta get these papers signed quick as we can."
"Ok. Cool. We'll be there in five."
"Awesome. See you then."
"Okay, see you."
"Bye."
"Bye."
I hung up and looked at Leigh and Lizzie, who were sitting on the couch.
"We gotta go to his place," I said.
"Billie Joe Armstrong's hotel?!" Leigh said.
"Yeah. The same one we met last night," I said to her.
"Yeah...yeah, it just takes a while to sink in," Leigh shrugged.
I nodded, understanding completely.
"We have to go now, he said," I called from the bedroom as I pulled on my jacket.
We headed over to Billie Joe's (he'd given us the address the night before) straightaway, like he asked.
We told the lady at the desk we were visiting, and then took the elevator up. He opened the door and smiled.
"Hi, come in," he said.
We walked in and he shut the door after us.
"Just in here," he said.
We followed him in and started to talk.
About our band, his band, his label, everything. And then we signed. We signed the papers deciding the next three years of our future.
And still, I don't know if I should have done it. It was strange, it really was, because I knew for a fact that Green Day had signed with Reprise, and they didn't know if it was what they should have done.
It wasn't related at all...but it felt so strange; so surreal...Like it wasn't happening.
Still, I signed.
Billie wanted us to stay and meet his family, but I needed a walk...So I left Lizzie and Leigh to meet Adrienne and his kids and everyone, and went out.
I started walking around the town, wondering what my future would be like.
I didn't have big expectations, but that was only because my life had been a letdown on me so far.
I walked up along the old railway tracks, still thinking. I saw the old warehouse and decided to pay it a visit.
I walked in to the old, broken down, crumbling building and stared around. It was deserted. I walked along the rickety floorboards, stepping over glass and suspicious red stains on the floor. There was a creek behind me.
I spun around.
"H-Hello?" I called, my heart beating faster than it should have done.
No one answered.
"Hello? H-hello? Is anyone th-there?"
Still, silence. I stared around the old place. It had been burned back in 1903...yet still, it was here. No one came near it. It was...haunted.
"Blue?"
I gasped. They knew my name- the ghosts.
I made a dash for the door- or, at least, what was left of it.
"Hey, wait! It's only me!"
I turned around slowly. Gerard was standing there.
"Oh...h-hi," I said, slightly breathless.
"Hi...did you think I was a ghost, or something?" he asked.
"Uh- no," I said quickly. He nodded slowly.
We stood there for a second, not saying anything, just staring around the blackened house.
"So...why are you here?" I asked him.
"Why are you?" he snapped.
"Uh...sorry," I said, looking at my feet.
I heard him sigh. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up.
"No...I'm sorry. Sorry I snapped...I'm in a bad mood...I'm sorry," he said. I said nothing.
"I had a fight with Frank..." he sighed again. "He just...he annoys me sometimes," he said quietly.
I nodded slowly.
"Sometimes he just...he doesn't think, he's just...it's like he's a different person sometimes, you know?"
We walked over and sat on a charred bench.
"Yeah...I know what you mean, my friend Leigh is like that sometimes...I mean, she used to be the person I could trust, but now she's...she's like someone else?"
He nodded. "I understand...it's like she's...not who she used to be?" he suggested.
"Yes! That's exactly it, she- she's just....one of them. We used to be misfits together, but...she seems like part of the crowd now," I confessed.
Another silence came between us but it wasn't as awkward as the last. It was comforting, but still, it was hollow.
"So...you signed with Adeline, huh?" Gerard said.
"Yeah...yeah, we did."
"D'you think it was the right choice?"
I looked at him. It was like he was reading my mind...yet he was just a rock star.
Just a guy.
Just Gerard. Way.
* * *
We sat in that old warehouse for god knows how long. It was weird, I got along with Gerard so well. He had been one of my idols and yet it was so easy to talk to him. It was like I'd known him for years.
He walked me back to our apartment when it started to get dark. By the time we got there it was pitch black and rain was falling softly, just a tiny shower.
As we walked along the streets, I couldn't help but notice how the rain looked so beautiful settling in his newly dyed white-blonde hair. His eyes sparkled with something; something that I couldn't quite place.
Whatever it was, it was beautiful.
I eyed him closely, trying to figure him out. "A proposition"....That could mean anything.
"Are you checking him out?" Billie Joe burst out.
"She does that...she's just taking you in," Lizzie grinned.
"Oh-Kay....Uh, yeah, so anyway- we'll get to the point," Gerard said.
We waited silently. Wondering. Wishing. Freaking.
"You guys- you're not signed, are you?" Billie said.
There was a silence.
"Signed a what? I didn't sign anything," Leigh said.
Billie smiled and Lizzie laughed.
"You're a dufus," she rolled her eyes.
Lizzie...see, Lizzie keeps us together. She's like out mother, in a way. Without her, fuck knows where we'd be.
"Basically, what I'm asking is, would you be interested in working with Adeline?" Billie said.
"Don't you guys do clothes?" Leigh said.
Again, Lizzie rolled her eyes. I said nothing. I was too busy wondering why Gerard was looking at me like I'd just rolled out of the grave. He had that weird look on his face, like he'd just seen a ghost.
Shrugging it off, I turned back to Billie.
"I mean Adeline Records," he was saying.
"Oh...ok," Leigh said. She looked calm. Lizzie looked fazed.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Lizzie asked.
"Yeah...I think so. I want to take you on at Adeline- I think you have great potential," Billie said simply.
That's when it began- I felt it. Right there, that second, I felt my life changing. For better....or for worse?
* * *
"What time is it?"
"Five minutes after you last asked."
"Oh. Ok."
Silence.
"What time is-?"
"Leigh, he's gonna call, okay?" I sighed.
We were sitting in our titchy apartment, waiting for Billie to call so he could arrange to meet us. We had to sign some shit for Adeline.
It was kind of strange that we were actually signing with them after Billie's only heard us once, but he said he had "big hopes" for us, and I wouldn't put it past a guy like him.
"Now come on, come on to this tragic affair, wipe off that make up, what's in it to-"
"Hello?" I picked up my mobile.
"Hi, Blue? It's Billie."
"Hi. Hi, hi, how are you?" I stuttered.
"Good. You?"
"Yeah- fine. Just, y'know, nervous..."
He laughed lightly. "Don't be- it's cool. Listen, we have a show tonight and we don't have much time, so d'you want to just come over to our hotel and we can sign the shit here?"
"Oh, yeah, sure, when?"
"As soon as possible- now, if you don't mind. We gotta get these papers signed quick as we can."
"Ok. Cool. We'll be there in five."
"Awesome. See you then."
"Okay, see you."
"Bye."
"Bye."
I hung up and looked at Leigh and Lizzie, who were sitting on the couch.
"We gotta go to his place," I said.
"Billie Joe Armstrong's hotel?!" Leigh said.
"Yeah. The same one we met last night," I said to her.
"Yeah...yeah, it just takes a while to sink in," Leigh shrugged.
I nodded, understanding completely.
"We have to go now, he said," I called from the bedroom as I pulled on my jacket.
We headed over to Billie Joe's (he'd given us the address the night before) straightaway, like he asked.
We told the lady at the desk we were visiting, and then took the elevator up. He opened the door and smiled.
"Hi, come in," he said.
We walked in and he shut the door after us.
"Just in here," he said.
We followed him in and started to talk.
About our band, his band, his label, everything. And then we signed. We signed the papers deciding the next three years of our future.
And still, I don't know if I should have done it. It was strange, it really was, because I knew for a fact that Green Day had signed with Reprise, and they didn't know if it was what they should have done.
It wasn't related at all...but it felt so strange; so surreal...Like it wasn't happening.
Still, I signed.
Billie wanted us to stay and meet his family, but I needed a walk...So I left Lizzie and Leigh to meet Adrienne and his kids and everyone, and went out.
I started walking around the town, wondering what my future would be like.
I didn't have big expectations, but that was only because my life had been a letdown on me so far.
I walked up along the old railway tracks, still thinking. I saw the old warehouse and decided to pay it a visit.
I walked in to the old, broken down, crumbling building and stared around. It was deserted. I walked along the rickety floorboards, stepping over glass and suspicious red stains on the floor. There was a creek behind me.
I spun around.
"H-Hello?" I called, my heart beating faster than it should have done.
No one answered.
"Hello? H-hello? Is anyone th-there?"
Still, silence. I stared around the old place. It had been burned back in 1903...yet still, it was here. No one came near it. It was...haunted.
"Blue?"
I gasped. They knew my name- the ghosts.
I made a dash for the door- or, at least, what was left of it.
"Hey, wait! It's only me!"
I turned around slowly. Gerard was standing there.
"Oh...h-hi," I said, slightly breathless.
"Hi...did you think I was a ghost, or something?" he asked.
"Uh- no," I said quickly. He nodded slowly.
We stood there for a second, not saying anything, just staring around the blackened house.
"So...why are you here?" I asked him.
"Why are you?" he snapped.
"Uh...sorry," I said, looking at my feet.
I heard him sigh. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up.
"No...I'm sorry. Sorry I snapped...I'm in a bad mood...I'm sorry," he said. I said nothing.
"I had a fight with Frank..." he sighed again. "He just...he annoys me sometimes," he said quietly.
I nodded slowly.
"Sometimes he just...he doesn't think, he's just...it's like he's a different person sometimes, you know?"
We walked over and sat on a charred bench.
"Yeah...I know what you mean, my friend Leigh is like that sometimes...I mean, she used to be the person I could trust, but now she's...she's like someone else?"
He nodded. "I understand...it's like she's...not who she used to be?" he suggested.
"Yes! That's exactly it, she- she's just....one of them. We used to be misfits together, but...she seems like part of the crowd now," I confessed.
Another silence came between us but it wasn't as awkward as the last. It was comforting, but still, it was hollow.
"So...you signed with Adeline, huh?" Gerard said.
"Yeah...yeah, we did."
"D'you think it was the right choice?"
I looked at him. It was like he was reading my mind...yet he was just a rock star.
Just a guy.
Just Gerard. Way.
* * *
We sat in that old warehouse for god knows how long. It was weird, I got along with Gerard so well. He had been one of my idols and yet it was so easy to talk to him. It was like I'd known him for years.
He walked me back to our apartment when it started to get dark. By the time we got there it was pitch black and rain was falling softly, just a tiny shower.
As we walked along the streets, I couldn't help but notice how the rain looked so beautiful settling in his newly dyed white-blonde hair. His eyes sparkled with something; something that I couldn't quite place.
Whatever it was, it was beautiful.
