Not Just Any Whatsername

Two Weeks Later

"Alex!!" She jumped as she heard her name being called. She turned around and leant against the jukebox, coming face-to-face with her boss, Johnny. "What do you want?" She asked him, folding her arms.

"You do know that I don't pay you to hang around the jukebox all day?" Johnny asked her, casually leaning on the counter behind him.

"Yeah, I do know that," She answered, cocking an eyebrow. "BUT, since someone decided to put the SPICE GIRLS on repeat, I have to spend my morning putting some decent music on!!!"

He rose so he was standing upright. "Fine, I'll give you that," He said, pointing at her. "But hurry your ass up, these customers won't wait themselves."

"Whatever," She said, waving him off and turning back to the jukebox. "But don't think I don't know who changed these settings!!" She called over her shoulder.

He began to let out a stream of profanities in French under his breath. "Don't think I can't hear you!!" He heard her say as he reached his peak of insults.

"Alex!" She heard a new voice call her. She turned and saw her fellow waitress, Michaela, standing at the counter of the diner. She gave her a half-smile and walked over to her. "What's up?" She asked, tightening her apron.

"Johnny wanted to talk to you about your uniform again, but he said you had the shits with him right now, so he's making me do it," Michaela said, nodding in their boss's direction.

Alex turned to face him. "Oh really?" She asked, crossing her arms and raising both eyebrows.

"Yeah," Michaela said, suppressing a grin.

"Well, you can tell Johnny, that a) I am not getting rid of the pink in my hair, b) keeping the extra earrings OR covering up the tattoo, taking off the chucks or the gloves. The only requirement is for me to have black shoes, jeans and one of the diner's shirts." She had raised her voice so she was sure Johnny could hear.

"At least take the nail polish off!" Alex heard him yell as he walked to the back, referring to her black polished nails.

"Deal," She said, rolling her eyes and admitting defeat. She was tired of this routine.

"Pick up for table five!!" A voice rang out from the kitchen. "Alex!! Isn't this your table?" Bobby, their cook shouted as she examined her nails.

She sighed, but suppressed a grin as she walked over to him.

"Johnny giving you a hard time about your clothes again?" He asked as she picked up the burgers.

"Yeah," She said, giving a non committal shrug. "It's not like I give a shit. He's a dinosaur who wouldn't know good clothing if it slapped him in the face." The cooks laughed as she walked over to the table to give the burgers.

Tre Cool walked into diner Johnny's diner, along with his fellow band members, Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt.

"Are you sure you want to eat here?" Billie Joe asked him as they surveyed the room. "It doesn't look like they have any vegetarian options.

Tre smirked. "Relax. I'm sure you can get a salad or something BJ," He said as he pulled off his dark shades. "I don't think they're completely carnivorous."

Billie flipped him off as he walked towards a booth.

As they settled down, Mike offered his congratulations to Tre.

"On what?" Tre asked, sinking his weight into the leather booth and raising an eyebrow.

"On using a big word like carnivorous," Mike answered matter-of-factly.

Tre gave a laugh, not bothering to hide its insincerity. "You better count yourself lucky I'm too lazy to get up and hurt you," He said, pointing at Mike.

"So Tre," Billie began, surveying Tre through his bright green eyes. "What's the dillio with that Alex chick? You called her or anything?"

Tre sighed. He knew this topic would arise again, although Billie had scarcely spoken two sentences about it in the two weeks since it happened. He reached onto the table and pulled a napkin towards him. He absentmindedly began to shred it as he answered, "Well, given the fact that I don't have her number, don't know where she lives or where she works, I think the odds are against me," He stated as he stared at the napkin. The other two men shrugged as they turned to their menus, arguing over which cartoon character would kick who's ass in a fight.

Tre leant his elbows on the table, rubbing his temples as he did so. He was thinking he should give up on Alex. Stop thinking that he might somehow bump into her, that she might return to the club or she would somehow turn up at their house. He sighed inwardly, promising himself he would forget; push her out of his mind.

"Hey guys," He heard a chirpy voice say, interrupting his thoughts. "Are you ready to order?" He looked up at her.

She had her head down and was quickly scrawling on her order pad. He couldn't believe it. It was Alex.

"Today's specials are the veggie burger and the chicken omelette. Oh and today's soup is the chicken and corn."

"Alex?" He asked hesitantly. He was still not sure if it WAS her. Mike and Billie pricked up their ears as they heard him ask.

"Yeah?" The girl said, finally looking away from her order pad. As she saw who it was, her whole body seemed to stiffen. Her shoulders became more squared and her eyes widened. "Shit," He heard her utter under her breath.

Alex stood there, unable to move. She couldn't believe it. Of all the times and places for them to meet, why here and now? She was unsure about what she was supposed to do and wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole. She opened her mouth to speak, but for the first time in her life, words failed her.

"Alex!! Alex!!" She turned as she heard a new voice call her. It was Alison, running into the diner, slightly limping. Alex inwardly let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. She had never been so glad to have Alison as a friend. She gave another glance to the trio at the table and then quickly walked to Alison, her ears and neck burning as she walked.

"What's up?" Alex asked as she and Alison leant against the counter on which was home to the cash register.

"I'm really sorry!!" Alison half mumbled, half exclaimed as she stared at the floor. "I didn't mean for it to happen, it was just heat of the moment and well...I'm sorry!!"

Alex was confused, yet she was used to Alison's frequent hysterics. Usually, she had eaten the last Tim Tam or last piece of cheese. Alex sighed again. "What did you do this time?" She asked Alison, raising an eyebrow.

Alison's voice lowered until she was almost inaudible. "I bwokhe yr tee mee?" She said, almost more of a question than a statement.

"You muh-wuh whatted?" Alex asked her.

She raised her head. It was flushed, as though she had been running. "I kind of broke your T.V.," she said this all in a rush, as though saying it faster would make it all okay.

"You WHAT? How the hell did you break THIS T.V.?" Alex's face had scrunched up in a mix of anger and confusion.

Alison turned a deeper shade of red. "Well, I was kind of watching football...?" She trailed off.

Alex sighed. She knew Alison had issues when it came to the football. "Who was playing?" She asked Alison, her tone somewhat condescending.

"The Titans and the Giants?" Alison squeaked. Her voice continued to rise with each answer.

Alex sighed again. "What happened?" She asked Alison, not sure if she wanted an answer.

"Well, you know how I hate the Giants? Well, they were winning, so I kicked the T.V.," Alison's blush grew deeper and expanded to her hairline as she answered.

Alex rolled her eyes. This was not the first time. "What was the score?" Her tone was calm, a contrast to what she felt.

"Four nil." She was sure Alison could not blush more, but was proven wrong. She now resembled a tomato.

"And how long was left in the game?"

"Half an hour," Alison guiltily replied.

"Here's what we're going to do," Alex said. She was surprisingly calm. Then again, she was used to Alison, having been friends with her for almost twenty years.

"You are going to buy me a new television. And then you are going to return my key."

Alison let out a cry of protest. She didn't want to relinquish her key. It made her feel important, as though she was trusted.

"Hey, it's either that or I hurt you," Alex said.

Alison rolled her eyes, giving a sigh. Then she reached to the waistband of her black skinny leg jeans, on which hung a bunch of keys on a chain. She fiddled with them for a while and then handed Alex a purple key.

"Thank you." Alex shoved the key into her pocket. "I still want a new T.V.," She said, expecting an answer.

Alison nodded, swallowing. "Expect it within the month."

The other girl nodded. "Good."

"So," Alison said, hoping to change the subject. "How's work been this morning?" It was now Alex's turn to blush.

"Don't make it obvious, but look at the third booth from the back," She said to Alison in an undertone.

Alison looked. Her eyes grew wide. "What the hell are they doing here?" She asked. Then, not waiting for an answer, she began to head for the table.

Alex lunged for Alison, grabbing her by her hoodie. "No!" She hissed in her friend's ear.

"Why not?" Alison hissed back, enraged at her friend.

"Because you can't," Alex whispered, pulling her friend back down to her chair. "I need some help... "

Alison leaned in to listen to her friend's problem.

Meanwhile, the trio at the booth were in the middle of a heated discussion.

"So that's the Alex chick you slept with?" Mike asked.

Tre, glancing over at the two girls. Tre nodded, the shock still hadn't settled. He didn't know whether he was more shocked at having found her, right when he was about to give up, or the fact that she had reacted the way she did.

"Who's the chick with her?" Billie Joe asked from his place at the booth. He had found Alex attractive, but his attention had been captured by her friend that had run in.

"Couldn't tell you," Tre answered. Their attention was then caught by the girls whose argument had gotten louder.

Their faint sounds of disagreement drifted over to the band. Alex was refusing to do something and her friend, name unknown to the three men, wouldn't take no for an answer. The girls glanced over to the booth, causing the men to quickly avert their gaze elsewhere.

After a few moments, the trio at the booth looked up again and saw Alex's blonde friend poking her in their direction.

Alex was obviously putting up a struggle to stay where she was, her gaze continuously switching from her chair and the booth that contained the aforementioned. They got the general idea of the argument. Alex's friend wanted her to return to their booth, yet Alex didn't want to.

They spent several minutes watching this argument before the blonde whispered something to Alex and shoved her in the direction of the booth.

Alex swallowed the unusual amount of saliva that had built up in her mouth. She repeated her friends parting whisper in her mind to see if she could actually make sense of it..

"Go over there, take their fucking orders and see if you can get me an autograph. Oh, and remember to act like a normal human." Alex suppressed a grin that she could feel coming on. It was typical Alison to say something like that.

As she walked, Mike Dirnt nudged Tre. He could see she was heading in their direction and was probably going to speak this time.

Tre looked up and quickly straightened himself as he saw what Mike saw. As she finally approached them, they quickly went back to looking at their menus, which they had been using as a false pretence so they could keep an eye on the girls.

"So, are you ready to order?" Alex asked, surprising herself at how easily her voice had cracked. She cleared her throat, hoping they hadn't noticed.

"Uh, yeah. I'll have the chicken burger and a coke," Mike said, folding his menu and placing it on the table.

She made a noise of acknowledgement, and scribbling on her order pad, she turned to Billie Joe. After he had ordered a veggie burger and coffee, she turned to face the drummer.

He looked up at her, unable to remember his order. "Um, I'll...Uh...Um...I'll have the hamburger," He said, finally choking out the words he wanted.

Alex nodded, quickly scribbling it down. She grabbed their menus and quickly bustled away from the booth.

"Shit," Tre whispered, more to himself than anyone else. He never knew things could get so awkward with a woman. He had rarely experienced such tension, and it had never been so bad. He had wanted to talk to her, ask her if she wanted to hang out, wanted to see a movie with him, but as soon as he looked at her, all ideas were swept from his mind. He couldn't remember his own name, much less anything else.

"Smooth," Mike said, laughing as he clapped his friend on the back.

Tre squirmed, brushing his friend off.

Billie Joe joined his friend in laughing at the third member of their party. "Seriously Tre. I've never seen you choke up like that."

Tre flipped them both off, leaning into the soft material of the seat. He had no idea what he should do, he had no idea if this chance would come again, and if it did, would he still be the same tongue-tied loser? He needed a fool-proof way to ask her out without getting turned down, embarrassed, or tongue-tied.

He spent a good majority of the time in the booth thinking. He barely heard what Mike and Billie were going on about. It sounded vaguely like an argument over who was hotter: Reese Witherspoon or Angelina Jolie.

"Here you go." They heard a voice say. They looked up. Alex was standing there with three plates in her arms. She placed one in front of each person, and then hurried off to Alison.

"Allie, I'm freaking out!!" Alex whispered hurriedly to her friend, glancing over to Green Day's booth. They were all tucking into their burgers.

"About what?" Alison couldn't see what Alex was so worried about.

"He was looking at me weirdly!!"

Alison knitted her eyebrows. "Weird like how?" She asked Alex, who was biting her nails like she always did when she was nervous.

"Well, he was looking at me like I don't know...it was just weird!!"

Alison laughed at her friend. "You're probably just imagining it." She peered around Alex to the booth.

They were all eating, but Tre seemed a little distracted. He didn't notice when Mike furtively stole a handful of chips from his plate. He was just sitting and staring out the window, his burger held in front of him. Occasionally he would look back to the two girls, his gaze always falling on Alex.

Hmm...Why does he keep looking at Alex? Alison found herself wondering. Then it dawned on her. He wants to ask her out!! At least I think so. She bit her lower lip, grinning to herself.

"What's that stupid smile for loser?" Alex asked her, nervously twirling a lock of pink hair.

"Nothing..." Alex rolled her eyes, sighing. "Whatever." Then she headed back to the counter, she was still on her shift and Johnny was having a cow.

"I'm stuffed," Billie Joe announced, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. The other two agreed, polishing of their remaining bites of the dessert they had gotten.

"Excuse me," Mike tugged on Alex's arm as she walked by.

"Yeah?" she asked, quickly glancing over the table.

"Can you bring us the bill?"

She nodded, quickly sweeping up the dirty plates. A minute later, she returned with the bill. "Here you go," She said, smiling and placing it on the table.

Billie, Mike and Tre all reached for their wallets, putting what they owed on the table. As Mike went to take the money to the counter, Tre quickly stopped him.

He had been thinking the whole lunch time about the best way to approach the situation. He withdrew a pen from his pocket and quickly scrawled something on the bill.

"Thank you," Alex said as she took the leather object that contained the bill and money from Mike.

He smiled at her and then, with his band mates, they left the diner.

Alex gazed after them for a minute and then drew her attention back to the money. They had left without waiting for change. Oh well...More tip for me. She laughed to herself.

Then opening the pouch that contained their money, she gazed down at the receipt. Then suddenly she gasped.

Alison, who was now sitting at the bar, regarded her friend curiously. "What's the matter dude?" She asked, frowning slightly.

Alex seemed to have no words. Silently, she held out the receipt.

Alison looked at it. There, in black ballpoint, were the words:

Alex,
555-6759
Call me,
Tre.