It Seems I'm Too Far Gone
Stuck With Me
Adrienne Raleigh (not to be confused with the capital of North Carolina) was just now finding out that putting on a blue tank top, while trying to stop your wet hair from dripping on it, while trying to brush out that same hair, is surprisingly difficult. She had just turned sixteen, moved to a completely new state, failed her first run at the driving test, and being rushed to go to some lame, dressed-up party was just about to push her over the edge.
Her long orange-red hair was unusually tangled for just being washed. She guessed it was the lightning fast way she washed it.
It wasn’t her fault she was running so late. The guy that gave her the driving test took forever to get set up- as he wasn’t prepared when she first arrived- and then decided to pick the longest route he could seeing as ‘Well, I’m not in a hurry to go anywhere.’
“Little fuckface,” she said as she yanked her brush through her hair again, recalling the experience. And the most annoying fact of it all was that he failed her anyway so the whole thing was worth absolutely nothing to her.
“Adie get a move on- I need in there!” her sister pounded on the bathroom door. Adrienne rolled her eyes and didn’t respond- she didn’t have the time.
Maradith was the whole reason she had to get all dressed up and spend her Friday night pretending to enjoy herself in a room full of corporate bastards. Maradith was trying to get a fully paid corporate scholarship and an internship (or just a job- that’d work to) by kissing up to a bunch of Dad’s business buddies. Dad was lawyer for a big firm and Mom was a Psychiatrist. Needless to say, both were very well paid. That was mainly the reason that Adrienne was so annoyed by this whole situation. Her sister had the grades, and the money, to make her own living, but being lazy just seemed to appeal to her. So now, the whole family had to be all ‘family-ish’ and go to some rented-out restaurant and kiss a bunch of stiffs’ butts. And to top it all off, her parents were all excited about it- not upset that their oldest daughter was going to sit on her butt while life worked itself out for her.
The whole thing really pissed Adrienne off.
Finally, her hair was done and she vacated the bathroom so her sister could finish loading her hair up with 40 pounds of hairspray.
It really wasn’t all that different than usual. It wasn’t that she hated her sister or anything, but they were just so different- kind of like Adie and her parents. She was pretty sure that Maradith would like and enjoy and believe half of the things Adie did, but she was just so darn closed-minded. Should Adrienne hear of new band and play it for Maradith, she wouldn’t listen past the first verse- not because she didn’t like it, but because she said music was a waste of time.
What the hell kind of bullshit was that?
She slipped into her long black skirt just before her sister burst open her door.
“Uhh… heard of knocking, Mare?” she asked sarcastically.
She pulled out a dark purple bra from behind her back.
“Adie, would it kill you to not leave your bra in the bathroom. Some of us don’t want to see it every time they brush their teeth.”
Adrienne rolled her eyes at her sister who returned the gesture.
“Oh, and by the way, we’re leaving in ten minutes,” and she turned around and walked back downstairs.
Adrienne’s eyes became huge.
“Shit!” and she ran to the bathroom to do her make up.
Once her ‘face’ was put on, she grabbed her long-strapped army green purse which was abnormally full and pulled on her lacey magenta and blue shirt she was wearing over her tank top. People started to yell downstairs, clearly standing at the door.
“I’m coming, chill!” she said, grabbed her shoes and raced down the stairs.
“What’s that?” Maradith asked, pointing to the bag slung across Adrienne’s shoulder.
“My survival kit,” she smirked.
“Adie!” her mother yelled and shook her head.
“What?!”
“Ugh… look at your hair…” and she took off up the stairs.
Adrienne looked from her father to he sister.
“What?” she asked, clearly confused.
Maradith shook her head and chuckled a little.
“I’ll be in the car,” and she left.
“Yeah… sounds good to me too,” her father agreed and followed his oldest.
Finally, Adrienne’s mother appeared by the front door again.
“I can’t believe you were thinking of leaving with such wet, sloppy hair like that.”
“Um… thanks mom,” Adie replied.
“Here,” and she handed her a gorgeous flowered hair pin. Even though it was beautiful, Adie hated her hair up. But, she had no choice but to comply.
As smooth as was possible her hair was put up to look presentable and then her mother handed her a necklace.
“What’s this for?” she looked at the big diamond set around some yellow stones with a gold chain.
Her mother acted like it was the dumbest question she’d ever heard, which, it kind of was.
“To wear, of course. You needed something- you looked to empty. But, you lose that tonight, you’re grounded until you’re thirty.”
Adrienne nodded, fully believing the statement.
“Speaking of tonight, Mom, when am I out?”
“What do you mean?”
Adie sighed.
“When can I escape?”
“11.”
She quirked an eyebrow.
“10.”
“10:30.”
“10.”
“12.”
“10:30’s good, 10:30’s good…”
“That’s what I thought,” her mother replied, smiling, knowing she’d won. There’d be no fooling around tonight. Especially from her quote unquote ‘trouble-maker.’ Tonight was important.
***
Needless to say, Adrienne was having a lousy time. But she was kind of thankful for it, because had she not expected it, it would have been even worse.
She then sighed thinking of how sad it was of her to believe that.
In fact, there was only one other person in the building that was having a worse time that she was. His name was Billie Joe Armstrong.
Just like Adie, he didn’t want to be there and was being held against his will. Ever since a bunch of rich people rented out the restaurant his mother waited tables at, she’d been pestering him to work. He really wanted to head over to the Gilman to catch the Friday line up, but he had a soft spot for helping out his mom- a true ‘momma’s boy.’
He had to wear a fancy red vest over a tuxedo shirt and go around with a tray serving drinks to assholes. It was basically like his Hell. And the worst part was that there were two girls there his own age that he had to suck up to.
Yeah right.
“Ahem,” he cleared his throat at the pretty girl with red hair in the back of the room.
‘I guess she’s too good for the crowd,’ he thought to himself.
He’d been standing there for longer than he had patience for and she was completely oblivious, engrossed in some book.
Adrienne raised her eyes to glare up at the waiter who was trying to get her attention.
‘How rude,’ she thought. I mean, sure, she hated all of this fancy, upper-class stuff with a passion, but at least she had manners when it counted.
“Yes?” she asked, annoyed.
“Would you like a drink?” he spat right back at her. It only fueled her more.
“Sure. Just get me a water,” and she returned to her book.
“Of course, your majesty.” She raised her eyes again. He’d started to walk away.
“Excuse me?”
“It’ll be right out,” he threw back over his shoulder, and Adie didn’t feel like wasting time on jerks, so, again, she went back to reading.
***
Adie kept throwing glances up at the clock she strategically sat under so she could keep track until she was ‘released.’ It was 10:20- so painfully close.
When she returned her eyes to the table, she saw the same jerk of a waiter hanging his red vest over the chair across from her. His tuxedo shirt was un-tucked and unbuttoned and a black ‘Ramones’ shirt was underneath it.
‘At least he might have good taste,’ she thought.
“What do you want?” she asked, rather bitchily, she admitted to herself, as he sat down.
“Chill, I’m just waiting until my shift is over,” he said, not even being cocky, just worn-out and not up to arguing. She sighed. She felt the same way.
“When’s your shift up?”
“10:30.”
“Ahh...”
For the first time all night he looked at her eyes as she continued to read, done with their ‘conversation.’ They were so blue he felt like they were going to just pop out and explode or something. They looked like the purest frozen water.
‘Hold up, Billie. She’s way out of your league,’ he reminded himself before he thought about her anymore. He told himself she was just a stuck up, spoiled little brat. Only… he had trouble believing it.
“So, whatcha reading?” he asked and she sighed and picked up her book so he could read the back cover. She didn’t say a word. Adie just wanted to get back to her book and for this guy to leave her alone for the next… 7 minutes.
“Catcher in the Rye? Never heard of it. Any good?”
‘He’s not going to let up so you might as well kill time and answer him,’ she thought.
“Well… I heard it was amazing from a friend of mine, but I’ve yet to see it. I’m hoping for some breakthrough and I’ll end up loving it. Other than that, no, it’s not very good.”
Billie secretly made a mental note to pick this book up next time he went to school. I mean, if SHE didn’t like it, it must be good.
“Oh,” was all he said. He then went back to studying his hands, done with trying to talk to her.
Adrienne was just starting to talk, so this upset her.
‘What an annoying little freak,’ she thought. ‘I mean, look at his hair.’ His hair was long, brown, and somewhat poofy. Locks of it fell into his face and he blew them away, only to have them fall back again. This made her smile. He was starting to seem… kind of cute.
He looked up at her smiling, staring at him.
“What?”
She ignored him.
“Where were you heading off to after you get out?” she asked, catching him off guard.
“Um… well I was gonna head over to the Gilman and catch a show or two.”
“Gilman? What’s that?” she asked, interested in these ‘shows.’ A small pit of excitement she hadn’t felt yet here in California swelled inside of her.
“It’s an all-ages club. It plays a bunch of underground punk rock and shit. Why?”
Adrienne’s eyes got huge. She shut her book and sat up in her chair.
“Oh my gosh, are you serious?”
Billie nodded slowly, confused.
‘Shirley someone like her isn’t a ‘punk,’ he thought.
“Oh my God, can I come with you,” she said abruptly, forgetting her manners she thought of before.
“Uh… sure if you can.”
Adie looked back up at the clock: 10:30 on the nose.
“10:30, let’s go!” and she grabbed her bag and her book and stood up.
“Ok, lemme hang up my vest. Meet you out back,” he gestured to the back exit door.
Adrienne suddenly remembered her mother and how she couldn’t just get up and leave. She turned around and saw her mother talking to some woman- obviously someone’s spoiled housewife- dressed just as finely as herself. Adie quickly started swinging her arms above her head, trying to catch her mom’s eye. It worked.
“I’m leaving,” she mouthed. Her mother looked at the clock.
“Twelve,” she said. “No later.”
Adrienne wrinkled her nose, but decided it was better not to fight it. Punk rock was better than none at all. It always was.
Her long orange-red hair was unusually tangled for just being washed. She guessed it was the lightning fast way she washed it.
It wasn’t her fault she was running so late. The guy that gave her the driving test took forever to get set up- as he wasn’t prepared when she first arrived- and then decided to pick the longest route he could seeing as ‘Well, I’m not in a hurry to go anywhere.’
“Little fuckface,” she said as she yanked her brush through her hair again, recalling the experience. And the most annoying fact of it all was that he failed her anyway so the whole thing was worth absolutely nothing to her.
“Adie get a move on- I need in there!” her sister pounded on the bathroom door. Adrienne rolled her eyes and didn’t respond- she didn’t have the time.
Maradith was the whole reason she had to get all dressed up and spend her Friday night pretending to enjoy herself in a room full of corporate bastards. Maradith was trying to get a fully paid corporate scholarship and an internship (or just a job- that’d work to) by kissing up to a bunch of Dad’s business buddies. Dad was lawyer for a big firm and Mom was a Psychiatrist. Needless to say, both were very well paid. That was mainly the reason that Adrienne was so annoyed by this whole situation. Her sister had the grades, and the money, to make her own living, but being lazy just seemed to appeal to her. So now, the whole family had to be all ‘family-ish’ and go to some rented-out restaurant and kiss a bunch of stiffs’ butts. And to top it all off, her parents were all excited about it- not upset that their oldest daughter was going to sit on her butt while life worked itself out for her.
The whole thing really pissed Adrienne off.
Finally, her hair was done and she vacated the bathroom so her sister could finish loading her hair up with 40 pounds of hairspray.
It really wasn’t all that different than usual. It wasn’t that she hated her sister or anything, but they were just so different- kind of like Adie and her parents. She was pretty sure that Maradith would like and enjoy and believe half of the things Adie did, but she was just so darn closed-minded. Should Adrienne hear of new band and play it for Maradith, she wouldn’t listen past the first verse- not because she didn’t like it, but because she said music was a waste of time.
What the hell kind of bullshit was that?
She slipped into her long black skirt just before her sister burst open her door.
“Uhh… heard of knocking, Mare?” she asked sarcastically.
She pulled out a dark purple bra from behind her back.
“Adie, would it kill you to not leave your bra in the bathroom. Some of us don’t want to see it every time they brush their teeth.”
Adrienne rolled her eyes at her sister who returned the gesture.
“Oh, and by the way, we’re leaving in ten minutes,” and she turned around and walked back downstairs.
Adrienne’s eyes became huge.
“Shit!” and she ran to the bathroom to do her make up.
Once her ‘face’ was put on, she grabbed her long-strapped army green purse which was abnormally full and pulled on her lacey magenta and blue shirt she was wearing over her tank top. People started to yell downstairs, clearly standing at the door.
“I’m coming, chill!” she said, grabbed her shoes and raced down the stairs.
“What’s that?” Maradith asked, pointing to the bag slung across Adrienne’s shoulder.
“My survival kit,” she smirked.
“Adie!” her mother yelled and shook her head.
“What?!”
“Ugh… look at your hair…” and she took off up the stairs.
Adrienne looked from her father to he sister.
“What?” she asked, clearly confused.
Maradith shook her head and chuckled a little.
“I’ll be in the car,” and she left.
“Yeah… sounds good to me too,” her father agreed and followed his oldest.
Finally, Adrienne’s mother appeared by the front door again.
“I can’t believe you were thinking of leaving with such wet, sloppy hair like that.”
“Um… thanks mom,” Adie replied.
“Here,” and she handed her a gorgeous flowered hair pin. Even though it was beautiful, Adie hated her hair up. But, she had no choice but to comply.
As smooth as was possible her hair was put up to look presentable and then her mother handed her a necklace.
“What’s this for?” she looked at the big diamond set around some yellow stones with a gold chain.
Her mother acted like it was the dumbest question she’d ever heard, which, it kind of was.
“To wear, of course. You needed something- you looked to empty. But, you lose that tonight, you’re grounded until you’re thirty.”
Adrienne nodded, fully believing the statement.
“Speaking of tonight, Mom, when am I out?”
“What do you mean?”
Adie sighed.
“When can I escape?”
“11.”
She quirked an eyebrow.
“10.”
“10:30.”
“10.”
“12.”
“10:30’s good, 10:30’s good…”
“That’s what I thought,” her mother replied, smiling, knowing she’d won. There’d be no fooling around tonight. Especially from her quote unquote ‘trouble-maker.’ Tonight was important.
***
Needless to say, Adrienne was having a lousy time. But she was kind of thankful for it, because had she not expected it, it would have been even worse.
She then sighed thinking of how sad it was of her to believe that.
In fact, there was only one other person in the building that was having a worse time that she was. His name was Billie Joe Armstrong.
Just like Adie, he didn’t want to be there and was being held against his will. Ever since a bunch of rich people rented out the restaurant his mother waited tables at, she’d been pestering him to work. He really wanted to head over to the Gilman to catch the Friday line up, but he had a soft spot for helping out his mom- a true ‘momma’s boy.’
He had to wear a fancy red vest over a tuxedo shirt and go around with a tray serving drinks to assholes. It was basically like his Hell. And the worst part was that there were two girls there his own age that he had to suck up to.
Yeah right.
“Ahem,” he cleared his throat at the pretty girl with red hair in the back of the room.
‘I guess she’s too good for the crowd,’ he thought to himself.
He’d been standing there for longer than he had patience for and she was completely oblivious, engrossed in some book.
Adrienne raised her eyes to glare up at the waiter who was trying to get her attention.
‘How rude,’ she thought. I mean, sure, she hated all of this fancy, upper-class stuff with a passion, but at least she had manners when it counted.
“Yes?” she asked, annoyed.
“Would you like a drink?” he spat right back at her. It only fueled her more.
“Sure. Just get me a water,” and she returned to her book.
“Of course, your majesty.” She raised her eyes again. He’d started to walk away.
“Excuse me?”
“It’ll be right out,” he threw back over his shoulder, and Adie didn’t feel like wasting time on jerks, so, again, she went back to reading.
***
Adie kept throwing glances up at the clock she strategically sat under so she could keep track until she was ‘released.’ It was 10:20- so painfully close.
When she returned her eyes to the table, she saw the same jerk of a waiter hanging his red vest over the chair across from her. His tuxedo shirt was un-tucked and unbuttoned and a black ‘Ramones’ shirt was underneath it.
‘At least he might have good taste,’ she thought.
“What do you want?” she asked, rather bitchily, she admitted to herself, as he sat down.
“Chill, I’m just waiting until my shift is over,” he said, not even being cocky, just worn-out and not up to arguing. She sighed. She felt the same way.
“When’s your shift up?”
“10:30.”
“Ahh...”
For the first time all night he looked at her eyes as she continued to read, done with their ‘conversation.’ They were so blue he felt like they were going to just pop out and explode or something. They looked like the purest frozen water.
‘Hold up, Billie. She’s way out of your league,’ he reminded himself before he thought about her anymore. He told himself she was just a stuck up, spoiled little brat. Only… he had trouble believing it.
“So, whatcha reading?” he asked and she sighed and picked up her book so he could read the back cover. She didn’t say a word. Adie just wanted to get back to her book and for this guy to leave her alone for the next… 7 minutes.
“Catcher in the Rye? Never heard of it. Any good?”
‘He’s not going to let up so you might as well kill time and answer him,’ she thought.
“Well… I heard it was amazing from a friend of mine, but I’ve yet to see it. I’m hoping for some breakthrough and I’ll end up loving it. Other than that, no, it’s not very good.”
Billie secretly made a mental note to pick this book up next time he went to school. I mean, if SHE didn’t like it, it must be good.
“Oh,” was all he said. He then went back to studying his hands, done with trying to talk to her.
Adrienne was just starting to talk, so this upset her.
‘What an annoying little freak,’ she thought. ‘I mean, look at his hair.’ His hair was long, brown, and somewhat poofy. Locks of it fell into his face and he blew them away, only to have them fall back again. This made her smile. He was starting to seem… kind of cute.
He looked up at her smiling, staring at him.
“What?”
She ignored him.
“Where were you heading off to after you get out?” she asked, catching him off guard.
“Um… well I was gonna head over to the Gilman and catch a show or two.”
“Gilman? What’s that?” she asked, interested in these ‘shows.’ A small pit of excitement she hadn’t felt yet here in California swelled inside of her.
“It’s an all-ages club. It plays a bunch of underground punk rock and shit. Why?”
Adrienne’s eyes got huge. She shut her book and sat up in her chair.
“Oh my gosh, are you serious?”
Billie nodded slowly, confused.
‘Shirley someone like her isn’t a ‘punk,’ he thought.
“Oh my God, can I come with you,” she said abruptly, forgetting her manners she thought of before.
“Uh… sure if you can.”
Adie looked back up at the clock: 10:30 on the nose.
“10:30, let’s go!” and she grabbed her bag and her book and stood up.
“Ok, lemme hang up my vest. Meet you out back,” he gestured to the back exit door.
Adrienne suddenly remembered her mother and how she couldn’t just get up and leave. She turned around and saw her mother talking to some woman- obviously someone’s spoiled housewife- dressed just as finely as herself. Adie quickly started swinging her arms above her head, trying to catch her mom’s eye. It worked.
“I’m leaving,” she mouthed. Her mother looked at the clock.
“Twelve,” she said. “No later.”
Adrienne wrinkled her nose, but decided it was better not to fight it. Punk rock was better than none at all. It always was.