A Mass Hysteria In The Modern World

Abby's POV.

I had no idea where I was going. My first thought was to go to Alice's, but Uncle Tre and Aunt Marty would never let me stay there and would make me go home. Then I thought about taking Alice with me. So far, I didn't get any calls from my parents, but Alice had began texting me non-stop. I told her that I couldn't stay at home anymore because I wasn't loved the way that I thought I was the whole time, but she didn't understand it. When I got on the bus, I had the choice to get off, go to Berkeley, or go to Emeryville. I decided to go to Emeryville and stop at Mike's restaurant to grab a bite to eat, but I had no clue were I was going to go after that.

Marty's POV.

"Do you know what he said to her?" I asked Alyssa. She kept staring down at the full glass of Mountain Dew that I had given her because it was her favorite drink. She shook her head. I put my head on the table and tried to figure out what to say to her. Tre and Billie were on the porch talking, but I saw Billie get up and walk over to us.

"Hey," he whispered and put his hand on Lyssa's shoulder. She grabbed his hand and rubbed it, not looking up at him.

"Lyssa, I need to tell you something..." He said and looked at me.

"I'm not going anywhere, Armstrong," I said in a serious tone, but began to smile a little bit. They both smiled and Billie sat in the chair across from me and diagonal from her.

"I told her about Tally..." He started. Lyssa put her face in her hands and didn't move.

"She asked me if she was a mistake."

"What did you tell her?" Alyssa said and hit her fists on the table.

"I tried to tell her that I loved her and that she wasn't a mistake, but she wouldn't listen to me."

Alyssa got teary eyed again and I held her hand.

"She... assumed... that we were both 'wasted out of our minds', as she said, and that's how she was born," he whispered.

"But that's not true," she whispered. Tre went upstairs to talk to Alice and Klaus about Abby leaving. But came downstairs a few seconds later, yelling at us to all get in the car as he held onto Klaus' hand.

"Tre! What's going on?!" I yelled.

"Alice!" He yelled back. "She left to go find Abby!"

"What?!" Alyssa, Billie, and I all shouted and shot up out of our seats.

We all piled into one car and took off as fast as we could and immediately started driving everywhere around town, showing people pictures of them and asking if they had seen them; all of them said 'no'. I decided to pull out my phone and call Alice.

"Mom?"

"Alice! Where are you?" I shouted.

"I'm looking for Abby," she said. "Mom, she's my best friend."

"Let me come get you and we can look for her together."

"Why did she leave, mom?"

"I don't know honey," I said.

"Yes you do. Tell me."

"It's just... complications. Where are you?" I asked for a second time. Alice sighed and hung up. I threw my phone on the floor and I felt Alyssa's hand on my shoulder. I looked back at her and tried to smile, but couldn't make one even if I forced myself to.

Alyssa's POV. At home. 11:15PM.

"Now we'll never find them," I moaned into my pillow and started sobbing again.

"Why did it have to be them?!" I screamed and hit the bed.

Billie came over and laid next to me and put his hand on the side of my waist.

"We'll find them, we'll find them," he said in a soothing voice and kissed me behind my ear.

"It already seems like it's been forever," I cried.

"I know. We'll go the police department tomorrow and file a missing person's report, okay? Tre and Marty will come with us and we'll all tell our story together. We'll give them photos and tell them to use them," he said as he rubbed my back.

"Why are you pretending like this isn't a big deal to you?" I asked.

"I'm trying to stay calm for you because I don't want you to end up having a heart attack. I don't want to lose my daughter and you."

I sighed and kicked off my pants, and took off my shirt that left me in underwear and a tank top. He also took his pants and shirt off, leaving him in only boxers.

"You promise we'll do that tomorrow?" I asked, staring up at the ceiling.

"I promise," he said before kissing me and rolling over to go to sleep.

Abby's POV. The next day.

I woke up and there was direct sunlight on my face and I clenched my eyes tightly shut and rolled over and saw there was a boy my age smiling at me.

"Who the fuck are you?!" I asked and sat up, making sure my clothes were still on; and they were. Nothing seemed to be out of place. "Did you rape me?"

He laughed and showed his pearl white teeth and they were straight. The kid had long brown hair that covered his left eye but he would flip his hair and you could sometimes see his whole face.

"I'm Christian," he smiled. "And no, I did not rape you." He laughed a little. I gave him a weak smile and I dug into my pocket, feeling for my phone. I pulled it out and it was still on. I saw that there were many, many missed calls from my parents and Alice. I rolled my eyes, but I wished I could speak to my best friend. She left a voice mail, but I didn't listen to it.

"You were really wiped out last night, I saw you curled up in a ball outside of Rudy's Can't Fail cafe."

"Was I sleeping? I don't remember a thing."

"You were sound asleep, but you kept talking about some Alice girl..."

Tears welted up in my eyes and I tried to push them back. I knew that I had made the biggest mistake of my life, leaving my family, my home, my parents, and my best friend. Alice must be worried sick. Well, I hope she was. I don't want to be another 'nothing' to her, too.

"Alice..." I said and pushed back the tears. "Alice Wright. She's my best friend who I've known since I was born."

Christian smiled and nodded his head. "That's cool. Why do you think you were talking about her?"

I sighed and thought about the story from yesterday and how I would tell it to him. He was a stranger, so it doesn't matter what he knows about my home life.

"Would you like to take a walk with me?" I asked and looked up at him. He looked at me and nodded. We got up and I noticed that I had been sleeping on concrete in an alley.

"Where are we?" I asked as I finally looked around at my surroundings.

"We're in Los Angeles, Abby," Christian said and started to walk down to the street. "Isn't it wonderful?!" He shouted, lifting his hands in the air and touching the graffiti-ed covered walls. I looked around and smiled.

"It's alright," I said and caught up with him.

Tre's POV.

"I'm telling you, officer! Our daughters are somewhere in California!" Alyssa said, pointing to the four of us. Marty and I and Billie and Alyssa were all sitting in an office and Klaus was left at home with Mike and Randi.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. But if we don't know what town they're in then we can't help you," the officer said. I started getting angry, and I couldn't tell you how much the chair that Marty was sitting in was getting torn up. She kept digging her nails into the arm rests and it was making marks.

"You're just being a selfish asshole!" Marty said and punched the wooden desk. She looked at her hand and noticed that her knuckles were bleeding.

"Oh, take a look at that," she said and half laughed. "Reminds me of the time I beat up a kid." She said and looked up at the officer. He got a scared look on his face, like he was afraid of what she could do to him. "And that was when I was thirteen," she added. "You can only imagine how much stronger I've gotten over the years."

"Guys, round up all the men you can get and search Berkeley, Oakland, and Emeryville pronto," the officer said into his walkie talkie that hung on the pocket of his shirt. We all smiled and patted Marty's back.

"Thank you, officer. You're a good man," she said and got up.

"Let's get you cleaned up," Alyssa said and took her to the bathroom.

Abby's POV.

"So that's my story and why I'm here," I sighed and looked up at the sky as Christian and I sat on a Los Angeles bench with my suitcase and waited for the next bus that would take us to San Francisco. "What about you?"

He rolled his eyes. "It's too long of a story."

"Christian, we have the rest of our lives. We're not returning home, right?" I said and he smiled and looked down at his feet.

"My mom had gotten into drugs and alcohol. I never knew my dad, but apparently he was already married when he and my mom hooked up at a bar." I nodded my head and kept listening to him. "My mom also said that it was while she was marred to some Tom guy from a band, I don't remember the band though..."

"Anyways, I left home about a year ago after my mom screamed at me, telling me that I was a mistake and how everyday I remind her of my father and how disgusted she is of me."

"That's horrible," I said and hugged him. "So I guess our stories are sort of similar. I was an unwanted child, and so were you. Except, I have a dad and you don't."

"Who's your dad?" Christian asked me. I rolled my eyes.

"Never mind that."

"No, really Abby. I want to know. It's not like he's famous or anything," he said looking at me.

I bit my lip. "My last name's Armstrong..." He looked at me like he was confused.

"So?" He asked.

"You've never heard of Green Day?" I asked him. His eyes went wide.

"No way! Your dad is Billie Joe?" He asked.

"I knew that would happen," I sighed, grabbing my suitcase and started to walk away. He grabbed my hand and held me in that spot.

"I'm sorry, Abby. I didn't mean to react that way," Christian said and looked at me with his beautiful eyes. I had found out that he was only a year younger than me, which makes him thirteen. I had to admit, Christian was pretty cute. I'd date him.

Alyssa's POV.

"I'm not too surprised that Officer Smith gave in," I told Marty with a smile as I washed off her knuckles in the sink.

"You gotta do what you gotta do, Love," she said and shrugged her shoulders with a smile.

"Do you think they're going to find them?" She asked with her voice a bit shaky. I stopped and looked up at her.

"Of course they're going to, we'll make them if they don't do their job right."

"I'm just so worried. First Abby, now Alice? It's crazy."

"We'll find them," I said hugging her after wrapping up her fingers.

Abby's POV.

Christian and I sat on the bus on the way to San Francisco when he all of a sudden put his arm around my shoulders.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I'm hugging you. Do you want me to stop?" He asked and started to pull away.

"N- no. It's fine. I don't mind it," I said with a smile. "It's just... we just met a few hours ago."

"Well, we're in this together, right? We're both runaways, homeless, a one year difference in age, both mistakes."

"I guess you're right, Christian," I sighed. "You're pretty smart for being out here alone and being thirteen. I never thought anybody could make it out here for a year."

"Well..." He started to say. "I lived off of Church food, you know... when they give away free food, and I lived in some place sort of like the Salvation Army. But I got sick of it and I felt like a scumbag because I wasn't a true homeless, those other people actually had no place to live."

I nodded my head. "I understand where you're coming from."

Billie's POV.

"Billie, look!" Tre said and pointed to the TV that was hanging off of the ceiling in the waiting room.

"Lead singer and drummer of Green Day's children, Abigail Armstrong and Alice Wright, have been missing for 48 hours and there are still no signs of the two teens," the reporter said on the TV. I got up violently and turned the TV off.

"We don't need that playing, Tre," I told him then sat back down in my chair and waited for Alyssa and Marty to come back.

Abby's POV.

"Hey Christian?" I asked once we stepped off the bus again. We were in San Francisco and we didn't know what to do from there.

"Yeah?" He asked as he started picking through a trash can with his hands that had gray fingerless gloves on them. He didn't look like a homeless kid minus the gray and black clothes that were getting raggedy. But his hair was clean and he smelled good.

"You said you didn't know who your dad was?" I asked. He stood up and walked over to me.

"Yeah, what's that have to do with anything?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine, go on..."

"I was just wondering... what her name was. Because my dad went on tour one time when I was two and that's when he hooked up with that slut that forced herself on him. Apparently he tore my mom up and she left him and brought me with her, but I don't remember a thing."

"I've always wanted to go back home and find out who my dad was, because it's one of those unknown things... you know?"

I laughed to myself.

"What?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing. You just sounded like my dad..."

Alice's POV.

"Abby, it's me Alice again. Please answer your damn phone! You're making me worry. I don't know where you are or what you're doing or even if you're safe. Please don't get into something that I wouldn't do," I said into the phone then hung up. That was my fifth message that I've left her, and still no call back.

She had recently- no I can't say that. I promised her that I wouldn't tell anybody, although I'm so tempted to tell her parents. They were like a family to me, and so was Abby, and I needed to protect her. I was still in Oakland, but in an isolated part of it. I dialed Aunt Alyssa's number to have her come pick me up so I could talk to her and tell her about Abby. I was breaking my promise, but I had to do it.

Alyssa's POV.

"Oh my God!" I said once we got back in the waiting room and stared at my phone.

"What?" The three of them asked at the same time.

"Alice is calling me..." I said confused.

"Answer it!" Marty yelled at me. I quickly opened my phone.

"Hey Alice!"

"Hey... can you come get me? I need to talk to you," Alice said.

"Me? What about your mom-"

"It's about Abby," she said, her voice choking up.

"Okay, I'll come get you." Marty and Tre both perked up.

"Make sure it's only you, though. Tell my mom and dad that I'm sorry," she said and hung up.

"I need to go get her, she said that she needs it to only be me," I said. Marty and Tre became sad again. "But don't worry! I'll tell you about it. Whatever it is."

"Be careful," Billie said, taking my hand and then kissing me.

"You know I always am," I said and walked out of the police station.

Alice's POV.

"Alice!" I heard Alyssa shout. "Get in the car!" I quickly turned around and ran to the car. Once I got in, I gave her a big hug and almost started crying.

"Okay, what do you need to tell me about my daughter?" She asked once she started driving again.

"This is hard for me to say because I promised her that I wouldn't tell anybody..."

"I'm not going to be mad at you, Alice."

"Abby is- Abby is addicted to- to drugs," I said. The car stopped and I thought Alyssa was going to have a heart attack. She usually starts to get weak and cries when she gets too upset. Another problem is that she starts getting dizzy, so her driving isn't too good.

"She's... what?" Alyssa asked with her voice choking up.

"I'm sorry."

"Fuck!" She yelled then started driving again. We arrived at the police station and I hung my head.

"Alice, I want you to listen to me," she said and turned around in her seat. "You didn't do anything wrong. You were trying to look for Abby, and I appreciate that, but you made us all ten times more worried. And thank you for telling me about Abby's... problem. It'll be fixed right away."

"Thanks," I whispered, feeling shy. Alyssa sighed then started to talk to herself.

"I'm pregnant... this shouldn't be happening," she whispered then leaned her head back on the headrest, taking her hands off the wheel and putting them on her face.

"You are? Really?!" I squealed. She looked at me and nodded.

"Ah, so you and Billie still get it on, eh?" I asked and winked. She hit my arm and laughed.

"You shouldn't be asking me these things," she said, trying to hold back her laugh.

"What? My parents still do." She busted out laughing.

"Yes, I know they do," she said.

"Anyways, does Abby know?!" I asked. Alyssa's smile was quickly wiped off her face and she started crying in her hands.

"That's the thing," she said in between cries. "Abby stormed upstairs after I told her and Billie went after her to try and talk, but she asked him if she was a mistake and automatically assumed that she was, and she packed up her things and left."

"That's why she's gone...?" I asked. She nodded her head and cried some more.

"Now I have no clue where my drug addicted daughter is," she said and cried some more.

"Hey... how long has she been addicted?"

"About... ten months?"

"Oh God," she said then got out of the car. I got out too then followed her into the police station.