It Started Off With Just A Trip To Oakland, California

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

"I'll give you something to fucking beep about" I snapped, slamming my alarm clock so many times with my fist it broke, "Now fucking beep! Go ahead! And WHY am I talking to my alarm clock?!"

I got up, pissed off about everything, and changed into black jeans, and my Green Day hoodie with my black and white converse. I didn't bother to make myself look as nice as I usually did. To me there was no point to.

After quickly getting ready, I walked down the stairs, and out the door. Billie Joe had still been sleeping on the couch, still. He's gonna have a hangover... Which will probably put him in more of a pissed off mood towards me... Not to say that I couldn't blame him.

The street was pretty quite... Nothing much going on. I just walked down it, casually, but every once in a while getting some looks from girls I would pass...

Apart from looking at the magazine, to see what it said, I just needed to get away. Get away from the guilt of that house. Get away from the guilt of yelling at him for no reason.

I walked into the store, and right to the magazines. My hood was up, so no freak of nature girl would come over to me and give me a piece of her mind(believe me... It had happened before with some teenie telling me shit cuz I knew Billie Joe)

I looked through the magazines before coming across one, with a picture of Billie Joe kissing me on the cheek in the upper right hand corner. How the hell did they get that picture? Shows their amazing with the photos... And fucking annoying following him... Idiots...

I just sighed, and looked for the part in the magazine... I finally found it, and started to read under the headline "ROCKSTAR ARMSTRONG" 'Well, that's lame' I said to myself, and continued to read, "ROCKSTAR ARMSTRONG MOVING ON?"

Underneath I read:

"Sources say punk rocker, lead singer of Green Day, Billie Joe Armstrong, 33, has moved on from wife Adrienne Nesser, 35. The new couple has been seen around the town, and even in the same. But has he gone too far? Adrienne Nesser says "They seem cute, but she seems too young"

"Well fuck you then" I mumbled under my breath, and then kept reading.

"Sources say Amanda, 18, is the one who is currently dating Billie Joe Armstrong. Rumors are going around that they have now moved in with each other in Billie Joe Armstrong's house in California. It's been said that this relationship had started at the beginning of the summer..."

But I stopped reading as someone bumped into me, making me pull my hood up again. They grunted sorry, and kept walking. I looked over at them, and thought I was going to have a heart attack...

I closed the magazine, and ran to pay for it quickly, before running out of the store. I didn't care if Billie Joe was at home, in a bad mood from a hangover, still hating me... Well, if he did in the first part... But whatever, I didn't care. I needed to get back to the place I now called home. I would just lock myself in my room. He could never find me there... Never... Well, he could... But he couldn't get me.

With my mind deep in thought, I didn't even realize I had slammed into someone, and was now on the ground. They landed with a "oof," and a "Ow fuck"
I knew I had heard that voice before, especially the "oof"

"Billie Joe?" I said, getting up, still clutching the magazine.

He was going to sit up, when I gave him my hand. He got up, and looked at me, a little shocked to see me.

"Mandy? What the hell are you doing here? And this fucking early?!"

God... He was starting to sound more like a parent than x-boyfriend...

"Just came to get this," I said, showing him the magazine, "What about you? I'm not exactly the one with the hangover"

It felt like we hadn't seen each other in a long time, rather than not speaking for a day.

"That's why I'm here. Tre had the last of the fucking aspirin... And I woke up with the worst headache, so I needed to get more."

"Why didn't you drive?"

"Needed the fresh air... I guess. It's a good thing I didn't drive, or you probably would have just gotten hit by a car"

He smiled, trying to make both of us smile. Things were tense between us, neither of us really had expected to run into each other. I was more than happy that he was talking to me without getting pissed off or anything... And then I remembered why I had bumped into him in the first place, and what I was running away from.

"Billie Joe, I gotta go. I'll see you at home, ya?" I asked, ready to run again

"You have to go? What?" He asked, confused

"I'm sorta.. Running away from someone"

His mouth opened a little, and he looked down at his feet.

"Not you! That's why I said... Shit!" I yelled, grabbing Billie Joe's hand at the sight of the person coming out side of the store

"What the fuck are we doing?!" Said Billie Joe, running, even though he had no idea why

I ran into another store, and into the back, Billie Joe following me. I turned around, and started to explain.

"I got up early this morning, because, well, I just did..." I said... Not wanting to say the real reason, which was that I didn't want to have to talk to him...

But by the look on Billie Joe's face he knew why I had gotten up. The look on his face killed me, making me feel really bad.

"But I went there to look at the magazines, because of this" I said, taking the magazine out of my back pocket, and giving it to him.

He looked at the cover, and then the top corner. "That looks like me... And hey, isn't that... How the hell did they get this?!"

"I don't know, Billie Joe!"

"They think we're going out?" He snorted, and then frowned, "No, I didn't mean-"

"Save it, it's the truth, but anyway, I was in there and my fucking father bumped into me!" I said, trying to stay calm

Billie Joe looked up from the magazine, and then at me. "What?"

"My father bumped into me! But I had my hood up so he didn't know it was me"

"What the hell is he doing here?"

"Billie Joe! Are you kidding me?!" I hissed

"What?"

"He's here to get me home!"

"Fuck"

"What do I do?!"

"I don't know... I-"

But I didn't want to hear it. I pushed past him, and went to walk out of the store when he grabbed onto my shoulder.

"If your father knew that was you, he's fucking watching you-"

"If he knew it was me he would have taken me when he slammed into me."

"In the middle of a store? Only a guy begging to be arrested would do that" Billie Joe said, not letting go of my shoulder, "Let me get you back to the house, at least, and then you can spend all the time you want away from me like you're trying to, okay?"

"I'm not trying to get away from you"

"Yeah, and that's why you left the house this morning before I woke up, and that's why you're trying to get out of this store right now"

I sighed, he was right. I didn't want to talk to him because I felt guilty being around him. I had been ready to talk to him yesterday, but not today.

"I'm... Sorry..." I said, looking down, but I hadn't said it loud enough so he could really hear.

"Come on," He said, "Let me get you home, and then like I said, you can go back to ignoring me"

All of this was my fault, with him thinking I wanted to ignore him and everything. And well, I can't blame him for thinking that I wanted to avoid and ignore him...

We got back to the house, he unlocked the door, and walked in. I had to talk to Billie Joe then... I just needed to.

"Billie Joe... About yesterday..."

"What about it?" He asked, putting his hands in his back pockets and looking at me.

"I didn't mean anything I said... It was stupid... I mean, Matt just got some shit in my head... And I took it out on you..." I said, looking down

"Matt... Your ex-boyfriend? And you listened to him?"

"I didn't want to! He called, telling me that I meant nothing to you, and that you were just going out with me for my looks and what not..." I said, feeling horrible

"You should have known that was bullshit"

Billie Joe really wasn't forgiving me that easily... And well... I can't blame him...

"I knew it was... But it's just... I don't know Billie... But I'm sorry. I didn't mean we shouldn't be together because I'm 18... That was really fucked up..." I said

"It is fucked up... But it's true."

I thought I was going to die right there.

"What...? No... No, Billie Joe-"

"You're 18, I'm 33. It would be a whole different story if you were 30... But you're 18. Still a teenager, I'm 15 years older than you..."

"It never bothered you before yesterday..."

"Because I never thought of it. I should know better, I'm old enough to know that 18 years old is too fucking young"

"If you care about the person it isn't... Age is only a number, Billie Joe."

"A number that means a whole fucking lot. Besides, in the magazine you even saw that they said I've sunk to a new level or some shit" he said, pointing to my magazine, that I had put back in my back pocket.

"It's a magazine! Only a fucking magazine! A magazine that idiots read, get themselfs pissed off about, and then go spread rumors about! And if I can live with that, why can't you?"

"Because," He sighed, "It really doesn't look good-"

"Oh well I'm SORRY Billie Joe that it doesn't LOOK good! I'm so fucking sorry that you're willing to ignore everything because of some freaks running around reading a magazine!"

"Come on Mandy, even you know you're too young... If you're older-"

"If I'm older?! What?! You mean when I'm you age and you're in your 50's?! Then MAYBE we could hook up if we still gave a shit about each other?! Oh, that'll look even better, Billie Joe! A 30 year old starting to date someone in their 50's!"

"I didn't mean that! You're just not old enough... Even you know the rumors and shit that would be going around."

"But I DON'T CARE! I don't fucking care about the rumors!"

"I fucking do! I'm the lead singer of one of the biggest bands in the world, and you don't think it would effect me?!"

"Maybe you are one of the biggest bands, but it means NOTHING to the people that stand by you, Billie Joe. To me you're just Billie, I don't care about anything else! I mean, I do care, but it's so fucking messed up that you're willing to throw something away because of some 13 year old girls who wanna marry you, because your Billie Joe Armstrong!"

"It's not how I look to people that I care about-"

"Bullshit!"

"Listen to me god damn it! It's not fucking bullshit, but it's hard! Because..."

"Because what?! Because you're the Billie Joe Armstrong?! I already said, I don't care that your him!"

"But all the fans out there do!"

"And when your fucking older, and out of your career, are your fans gonna sit by your side? Or are they gonna move onto another band? Huh Billie Joe? Huh?!"

He didn't say anything...

"Maybe this is what got Adrienne to leave you. I don't know how she put up with it." I said, looking him strait in the eye

"She left me because I was never home! Not because of the fucking teenies!"

"No, I meant it was because of you..." I said

"What?"

"She never expected you to be always home, I bet. But I bet she wanted you to give a crap about her"

"That's fucking crazy, because I Loved Adrienne, with all my heart."

"And that's why your not together"

"Stay the hell out of it! It was because I wasn't home, damn it! It was because I was on tour! I cant quit my fucking job!"

"She didn't want you to! She wanted you to care about her! Like I want you to care about me, but then again she was your age, so I'm probably wrong"

"Mandy, come fucking on!"

"No, Billie Joe! If you gave a fucking shit about anything other than those damn bitches out there who hate everyone your gonna like, I wouldn't be arguing with you right now!"

"I do care... It's just..."

"It's just what?! Hmm?! That you don't wanna create a bad picture for yourself to your fans because your with someone you like!? Oh well then that's fucking fine by me! You were the only fucking guy that seemed to give a shit about me, but now it all seems like an act... An act that got me... If you need to talk to me, I'll be up in my room..." I yelled

And then I did something that made me want to cry even more than I was...

I grabbed my necklace that he had givin me, ripped it off my neck, and threw it on the ground. As soon as I saw the look on his face when I did that, I wanted to take it back... But instead I just ran into my room, and laid down on the bed.

I had forgotten about the magazine in my back pocket. I sat, grabbed it, and threw it at the wall, making it open to a page... It was the page about me and Billie Joe... And that was the last thing I needed to see...

It had been an hour since I was in my room, and I was pretending to be asleep, but really I was just thinking..

The doorknob twisted, and I heard someone open the door... It was Billie Joe, why the hell was he here? I just acted like I was sleeping, but watched him, with my eyes barely open.

His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked a little pale. The necklace, and the guitar pic was hanging out of his right pocket. He looked over at me, and sighed, running his hand through his hair.

He looked around, and saw the magazine on the floor, opened to the page about him and me. He bent down, and picked up it, and started to read it. When he finished, he dropped the magazine, and just hit his head on the wall.

"I'm sorry..." He whispered, "I really am... I didn't mean anything..."

He looked down at the necklace that was hanging out of his pocket, and took the guitar pic.

"I'm just really fucking sorry," He whispered, and put the necklace back in his pocket.

If he found out I was awake right now, I think he would have been a little annoyed that I was pretending to be asleep... Or whatever, I don't know...

He smiled weakly, and kissed me on the cheek before leaving the room. I felt horrible...

It had been a couple hours since Billie Joe had left the room. I had fallen asleep, listening to Kerplunk. By the time I had woken up, it was dark out... I looked at my watch, it was 9... God, I think I slept longer than I remember...

I got up, and stumbled to the door of my room, and opened it. I felt like shit, to be honest. I rubbed my eyes, and went down the stairs, and looked for Billie Joe. He was on the couch, watching Mtv... Who were talking about something with Eminem. He snorted at something they said about Eminem, and turned the channel.

He looked over at me for the first time, and then looked back at the TV... Ouch...

But after looking at the TV for about 2 seconds, he looked back over at me to see if I was really there.

"Hey" He said, smiling

"Hey"

"You're up"

"Yeah, how long was I out for?"

Things felt so awkward right then. I was scared to talk, because it seemed like every time we did talk, in the past 2 days, we argued.

"Um... Like 3 or 4 hours."

"Holey shit! I thought I was only sleeping for like an hour!"

"Nope. You were out for a long time..."

"Yeah..."

I walked over to the other couch, and sat down. I didn't have enough courage at first to bring our fight up.

"Are you okay?" Asked Billie Joe, looking over at me, looking a little concerned

"What? Oh... Yeah... I'm fine" I lied

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine" I said

"Okay..." He said, but he wasn't believing me

"Look, Billie Joe, I'm REALLY sorry..."