Life As It Is

"Move a little to the left." Billie Joe groaned and did what he was told.

"Perfect!" Ella said. Click. The picture was taken.

It was now March and things had definitely changed in the month prior to Billie Joe dropping out of high school. Especially as to how Al decided to let Mike know he was going to leave the band without consulting the lead singer. These days, it was just a good day or a bad day.

It was also Ella's birthday where she had officially turned nineteen. She couldn't believe it and neither could her boyfriend. She remembered that at this time last year, she and Billie Joe had had sex for the first time.

After a day of many types of celebrations, Ella grew tired and was spending the rest of the day with her boyfriend of a year and two months.

"Tell me again why I have to be your model for this damn class," Billie Joe said as he rested his head on his hands.

Ella smirked. "Because I love you and you're the only person I know who doesn't start squirming around."

"What about Mike?"

"Mike's at the restaurant. You're not getting out of this Billie. You punk."
She stuck her tongue out at him.

"In the flesh." He grinned.

She snapped another few pictures of him, ordering him where to stand, how to look, and so on.

"Ok I think we're done... "

"You're outta film?"

"Nope. But I had to take a certain amount."

"Good!" Billie Joe grinned and snatched the camera he had gotten for his girlfriend last year and grabbed her by the waist. She squealed.

"What are you gonna do?" She grinned.

"I'm gonna make this day memorable."

"Oh, it's memorable already Billie... "

Billie Joe moved his girlfriend in closer and took a few pictures. A few of them acting dumb, a few of them kissing, and a few of them just sitting around in the backyard together.

Time flew once again and before anyone knew it, it was May. Not being in school was allowing Billie Joe to be more focused on Green Day rather than having to wake up every single morning. But nonetheless, he never forgot that his band mates were still in high school.

The next gig he had planned with the guys was absolutely unbelievable.
They would be playing at the high school.

"Who knew Pinhole Valley High would finally pick a damn good band?" Ella beamed at the news. It was about time everyone there would get a taste of Green Day. And for the fun of it, she was going to attend to take pictures and record some of the camera stuff with one of Green Day's friends who always were nice enough to tape shows.

Green Day and Ella walked out to start getting ready. Nothing had changed in the eleven months that she had not come to her old high school. The people still kind of sucked and it was still as loud and rowdy as it had been.

She saw another girl with a camera as well, probably apart of the school newspaper come outside. Then a small crowd of punks who obviously knew the band came along to support them.

The band played their songs as great as they usually did and pleased the small group of people as well as anyone who was passing by when they were going to one class to another.

"You guys kicked ass," Ella said to her boyfriend as they were picking up equipment.

"No shit Sherlock." He grinned.

* * *
A few days later, Ella found a flyer for a college party and decided to invite her boyfriend as well as Mike and Tre. Ever since finding out that Al was going to leave Green Day without letting Billie Joe know, Ella had definitely developed a little hate for him and tried to steer clear of him a bit.

And so, it was a Saturday evening, a perfect night to go out and party as usual to later be regretted the next morning. With a Clash T-Shirt that surprised her own boyfriend who was a big fan, Ella was off with the ones she mostly cared about to a typical college party.

When the four got there, it was packed. There was a band playing in a background that Billie Joe, Mike, and Tre had already gotten the impression that they sucked.

"They sound like they've been playing for two fucking days." Mike muttered.

While they were walking around, the two members of Green Day and Tre saw some familiar faces from Gilman Street who also resented the band playing. Ella had also noticed people from her classes. What a small world.

The four youngsters went to the mediocre version of a bar to sit and drink while they awaited better music to play. In a matter of minutes, Ella and Mike had gotten drunk while Tre wandered off to find any sort of drug dealing going on. Billie Joe had to gain the willpower to not drink since it was his turn to take everyone home in his car.

Ella and Mike were laughing at something pointless, constantly falling off their bar stools while Billie Joe sat and was amused by his girlfriend and his best friend.

"Gosh that band is so fucking awful!" Mike ranted for the tenth time.

"I know maaan," Ella slurred, "What if you and Billie end up sounding like that when Al leaves the band?"

Mike's eyes went wide, then Billie's, and then Ella's. Her sober side took over for a mere moment to go over what she just said.

She was saved by someone who had just dropped a case load of beers and was being yelled at by the majority of the drunken college partiers. Billie Joe had been confused and had kind of shrugged it off. Then Mike decided to wander off to find Tre who according to his slurs was 'his best fucking friend in the whole world besides Billie Joe'.

Billie Joe took off to go to the bathroom. Ella sighed and took a swig of her beer when she saw a guy approach her.

"Hey there sexy," He said as he gave her a sly smile.

She was utterly disgusted and not interested by a college guy who had just said the stupidest thing to her. Ella rolled her eyes and turned around, clutching her beer.

"What's your name?"

"Fuck off."

"That's not a very nice name is it?"

She groaned and continued to try to ignore him.

"You single?"

Although she slurred and the room was kind of spinning around she managed to continue to be annoyed.

"No I have a boyfriend. Le-ave me the fuck alone!" She snapped.

"So uptight...." He said but before he could do anything, Billie Joe was right behind him.

"Is there a problem here?" Billie Joe said.

Ella turned around to see her boyfriend and was relieved.

The guy shook his head, gave a sly grin and was off into the big crowd.

"Thanks," She said, nodding her head a little too much and giggled. Then, she grabbed her beer again that she let down for a second when she had heard her boyfriend.

"What the fuck was he saying?"

"Oh god, he was trying to hit on me." She rolled her eyes and drank a little bit more.

"What an asshole," Billie Joe said and laughed softly.

After Ella had drank a little bit more, she felt a little weird. It wasn't drunk weird; she had already known what that felt like. It felt like—she'd been drugged or something. All of a sudden she felt a little dizzy.

Billie Joe noticed the expression on her face changed and she was really looking dizzy.

"You ok El?" He asked as he put his hand on her shoulder.

She shook her head, trying to stay focused. The room was spinning a little faster and things were looking weird. Then everything was black.

"EL!" Billie Joe said as his girlfriend passed out onto the floor.

"Shit, shit, shit!" He was panicking. Where were Mike and Tre?

His breathing pattern had resulted in small little breaths. He was having a panic attack. Billie Joe tried to calm himself down.

A few people had seen his girlfriend pass out and were now coming over to help.

"I think she got drugged," A guy said. A few others agreed.

"Are there any fucking med students here?" Billie Joe freaked out.
"I am," A girl said and walked towards Ella to check her pulse. "Ok, she definitely passed out. Someone definitely drugged her."

The party had pretty much stopped and people were causing a scene. Mike and Tre had found their way to their friend as he stood there, freaking out.

"Can't someone call a fucking ambulance?" Mike yelled and several people were heading towards the nearest phones. It had been obvious that he sobered up a bit.

Billie Joe explained everything to his friends as quickly as he could. But then he became distant as he saw the guy who was hitting on Ella.

"Billie! Where are you going?" Tre yelled and it was obvious that he too had sobered up a little from any of the drugs he might've taken in the last hour or so.

Billie Joe couldn't hear anything anymore. He was completely concentrated on that guy. He ran over to him as the guy was trying to look slick and cool.

"What the fuck did you do?" He shouted.

"Me? I didn't do anything... " The guy said innocently.

"You drugged my girlfriend you dumbfuck!"

"She just needed to stop being so uptight."

"She was drunk you asshole. What did you put in her beer?" Billie Joe demanded.

The guy didn't answer. Billie Joe found the nearest wall and backed him up against him. Sure, the future rock star was small, but he could beat the shit out of anyone that he intended to.

"What did you put in her drink?" He yelled louder.

The guy gave an annoyed sigh.

"Some white pills. I don't know what they are."

"Nice going jackass, you just earned yourself a beat down." Billie Joe threw him on the ground and started punching him, the guy was trying hard to fight him off, but Billie Joe was pissed and continued to fight. Nobody should ever piss off the lead singer of Green Day.

"Alright break it up!" A young man who was probably in his twenties said as two other people broke the fight apart.
Billie Joe walked off, muttering under his breath.

"What the fuck was that?" Mike asked his best friend. Before he could answer, paramedics had come and the party ended.

As angry and upset as he was, Billie Joe was sure to thank the med student for trying to figure out what was up.

The three punks piled into the ambulance as it took off for the local hospital. Billie Joe stared down at his hands, remembering the last time he had ended up in the waiting room. It was going to be a long night. He glanced over at the clock and saw that it was three o'clock.

"Shit, how long were we at that party?" He muttered to himself.

"A couple of hours." Mike answered and Billie Joe had finally noticed his fellow band mate was sitting next to him after being in so much though for the past thirty minutes in the hospital. Nurses had come and gone, but no word from any sort of doctor.

"It was all going fine. I walked away for two fucking minutes. Two minutes! And I let her get drugged by that fucking creep Mike."

"It's not your fault, neither is it hers. She put down her beer for a mere second and that asshole drugged her. What's done is done."

"If something happens, I'm not gonna forgive myself. Never."

"You won't have to." Mike reassured him. He sighed.

"Where's Tre?" He asked.

"Right here." Tre said as he sat across from his friends. "Did you guys found out anything yet?"

"Nope." They both said.

"Shit." Tre said quietly and looked down at the ground.

The trio sat in silence until a doctor approached them.

"We're very sorry for the long wait," He said as Billie Joe snorted sarcastically but he ignored it and continued, "We had to pump her stomach to try and get the drugs out of her system. We'll let her sleep it all off and get out of the hospital sometime tomorrow. I suggest you all go home and rest."

"Thanks." Billie Joe said and walked off with Mike and Tre.

* * *
Throughout the night, Billie Joe couldn't sleep. He tried to, but he just couldn't. He was obviously suffering from insomnia at the moment. All he could do was think about Ella. He knew she'd be ok, but he just wanted to get her out of that dingy hospital.

The following morning, he quickly got out of bed and flew down the flight of stairs with a quick hello to his mother who was aware of the events prior to the previous hours.

He quickly got Mike, Tre, and even Al to head to the hospital.

When the foursome arrived in Ella's hospital room, she was lying down, staring at the TV. She noticed their presence and gave a grin.

Mike, Tre, and Al had turned around to see a young nurse walking by. Tre nudged them both.

"Hot nurse at nine o'clock," He said.

"Oh nuurrse!" The three of them screamed down the hallway. Billie Joe and Ella laughed. Billie Joe walked over and sat on the nearest chair.

"Aren't you going to join your buddies by hitting on the nurse?"

"No... my girlfriend's right here." Billie Joe grinned and gave Ella a soft kiss. Then his expression turned serious.

"How do you feel?" He asked her.

"Better... I slept like a baby." Ella looked down at her hands and then to him again.

"It was so fucking scary. I blacked out completely and all I could hear was everyone's voices and stuff." She shook her head and sighed.

"I bet it was... I've had a lot of shit happen whenever I've done something with drugs. But no one's ever drugged me. And I shouldn't have put down my drink when I saw you come and let that asshole drug me."

"I shouldn't have left you in the first place."

"Oh Billie," She gave a small smile and touched his face, "Don't blame yourself. Please don't." She brought his face closer to hers and gave him a long kiss.

"Soo... what else happened?" Her boyfriend as they finally broke apart.

"The doctor gave me a long lecture on underage drinking." They both softly laughed.

* * *
A few minutes later, Ella was out and about of the hospital. She felt much better than she had the night before.

Later on in the evening, the couple was sitting in Billie Joe's bedroom not really doing anything.

"El... " Billie Joe began.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"I have a question."

"Shoot."

"Last night... when you were drunk, you mentioned something about Al leaving the band. Do you and Mike know something I don't?"

Ella sighed. He deserved to know the truth already.

"Yeah... " She said and took a deep breath.

They sat in silence. And for what had seemed like forever, Ella broke the silence.

"Are you pissed at us?" She asked, realizing it was a stupid question.

Billie Joe sighed, "Al should've acted like less of a pussy and just told me he's planning to leave. So I can't blame you guys for not telling me."

"Good," She said and jumped up on his lap. He laughed and grinned with her.

"You love my lap don'tcha?" He continued to grin as he put his hand on the back of Ella's head to kiss her.

"I love you," She said.

"I love you too and I don't wanna lose you like that ever again."