From green day to Green Day

Nickey looked at the bottle and sighed. This was her last chance, no-one would be home for hours and she didn’t think Danny would figure her out until it was too late. She looked at the bottle again. How many did she need to take?

She poured a glass of water, and took a handful of pills. It must have been around seven, if not more. She put all the pills in her mouth and drank some water, washing them all down her throat. She poured the rest of the drink down the drain, and fell over.

An hour later, Nickey woke up to the noise of knocking. She felt dizzy, and couldn’t remember why she was lying on the kitchen floor. The person who was knocking opened the letterbox and shouted her name through the gap.

Suddenly she remembered. Seven or so hadn’t been enough after all. Ignoring the voice from the door, she ran upstairs to her room and slammed her head in the door until everything went black.

Outside, Danny heard her run up the stairs. At least he knew she was alive. He remembered he had a set of her keys, and opened the door. He walked into the kitchen and saw the bottle of pills. Sighing, he went upstairs. Nickey lay on the floor, by the half shut door. She was obviously unconscious, so he carried her downstairs, and put her on the sofa.

A few minutes later Nickey woke up again. This time she could remember everything straight away. She sat up, and a pounding pain shot through her head. Danny was sitting across from her, on a chair. It looked like he’d been crying.

“Why’d you do it, Nickey? I thought you wanted to get high, not dead! I mean, life is shit, but don’t you know how much I’d miss you? You’re the reason I’m still here. If your friendship means so much to me, surely mine should mean something to you?”

“I’m so sorry Danny!” Nickey said, bursting into tears. “I, I just couldn’t take much more, its worse than I think I can cope with. You must understand, you tried to kill your self before!”

“Oh Nickey, can’t you see? Your parents still love you, as much as they are useless and uncaring. I love you too. Nickey? Will you be okay?”

She hugged him, replying the promise of love, except to her it was a sibling love, and to him, a couple’s love. He took the pills and went home, leaving her to play music; her parents would be home any minute.

Danny walked down the road. About a block away from Nickey’s house, Danny saw a car that fitted the description of Nickey’s Dads car. He wondered if he’d ever be able to tell her that he loved her as more than a friend.

He did, eventually.

It was a long time later, well over two years. Danny and Nickey had stayed best friends, and he’d got her through break ups with her boyfriends, and taken many a punch over her reputation.

But then he found out something that would change things. His mum, the woman who had walked out on his dad, him and his little sister when he was five, had contacted them! As fantastic as going to stay with her was, moving to America meant moving across the Atlantic from Nickey. So he told her the truth.

“Nickey! I have good news and bad news, and news I’m not sure if it’s good or bad!” he started, “The good news is, my mum made contact! Me and Sammy-Anne are going to stay with her for a while, if we wanna live with her or not! The bad news is she lives in California.”

“Oh. Wow, Danny that’s far.” Nickey held on to a lamppost to keep her balance. “I’ll never see you again! When are you going? What’s the last news?”

“In the holidays.” Danny took a deep breath. “I love you. I always have. As more than a friend. Nickey, please, tell me I haven’t totally fucked up.”

It took her a few days to decide she liked him that way too, and in the weeks until he left, they spent their time like a young couple in love. He’d spent the holiday with his mum, and came back for a while, before moving back permanently.

The day before he left forever, he went round Nickey’s one last time. She cried, so he decided to do the best thing for her. He gave her two sleeping pills, and told her he loved her and would be back one day. He went to walk out the door, and he heard her say:

“I love you too, Danny. I love you.”

Crying, he went home and put her front door key in his suitcase, ready for the flight the next day. Back at Nickey’s house, she slept on the floor by the front door, holding his pick-ring and crying in her sleep.

She never saw him again. A few months later she got an e-mail from Sammy-Anne to tell her he had killed himself, and all because he didn’t think she’d wait for him to come and find her.