False Pretense

It had been a month since I last saw Billie Joe, and it was a long month at that. I had contemplated at times going over to their house to see him, but I think in the long run it's good that I'm not associating myself with him anymore. I hadn't fought with anybody during the whole four weeks, and it was refreshing, to say the least.

I was currently in our small bathroom brushing my teeth. I was in a white wife beater, rolled down sweatpants and my hair was in a high, messy bun. I was late getting ready to go to a Green Day show at Gilman and I was waiting for Traci to get home so we could head over there.

A sudden knock at the door startled me. Without thinking, I headed for the door and after opening it, I wished I could just close it and pretend I wasn't there. Billie Joe was leaning against the frame with an amused look on his face.

"Heh, oh. Hey, Sas." He smirked, raising his eyebrows. I suddenly realized I still had my toothbrush in my mouth and I looked like I just rolled out of bed. I quickly grabbed my toothbrush and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed, backing up so he could come inside. He held up his hands and headed toward Traci's bed.

"White flag. I just came to grab my notebook that Traci accidentally brought home with hers."

"Oh, well, goodbye now." He chuckled and I headed back into the bathroom to rinse my mouth.

"Somebody's a bit testy today, huh?" He leaned against the door frame of the bathroom. I spit out the water and wiped my mouth with my towel.

"No, I just recall telling you to stay away from me." I headed for the door but noticed he wasn't going to budge from his position.

"I miss you, Sas." My eyes locked with his and I sighed.

"Yeah, well, I don't miss you." I pushed passed him and I turned to face him just as he pushed off the door frame.

"Sas, there has got to be something we can do. Talk it out, maybe?"

"Can you leave now?" I asked, locking eyes with him once more. "Please?"

"Fine." He gave in, and headed for the door.

* * *

"Come on, it won't be that bad." Traci tried to comfort me as we entered Gilman's. Green Day had an important show tonight and I promised Tre that I would attend.

"Oh, Traci, it was so awkward. I honestly don't think I can be around him even more now."

As usual, I was hit with the familiar aroma that was Gilman. I had grown so fond of the place that Traci and I made it a weekly event to see a show. It didn't matter who was playing; the different talent always managed to blow me away.

"Well, I have a confession to make then." We had arrived late so Green Day were already performing.

"Shoot." I said as I took a seat at a table in the back.

"I took his notebook on purpose. I thought if you two were around each other you could work stuff out. Mike misses having you around the house, and I know for a fact that Billie does to." I looked at Traci in horror and slapped her arm lightly.

"You ass munch!" She giggled and held up her hands; much like Billie did earlier.

"I'm sorry! I just thought I'd try to do something. But I guess I just made it worse."

"You did, loser." She stuck her tongue out and I laughed.

Over the course of the last month, Traci and I had grown to be best friends. It was nice to finally have a person understand you so much. She introduced me to a lot from bands to fashion, she was useful for many different topics.

"This next one is another new song, it's called Sassafras Roots." Tre pounded his drum sticks together to countdown and they started into the new song. I stared at Billie in awe as he sung the song that I had found in his notebook.

"Did he say Sassafras Roots?" Traci whispered, leaning close to me.

"Yeah." I couldn't take my eyes off of Billie.

"Aren't those your nicknames for each other?" I laughed to myself; remembering that night perfectly.

"Yeah." I furrowed my eyebrows as I watched Billie bounce around the stage like a hyperactive child. The crowd was jumping and bouncing around, some whistling and even cheering in approval. I caught Tre's eyes finally and he smiled as he beat the shit out his drums.

"So how is it going with you and Tre?" Traci asked once the song begun to die down.

"Really good, I think. We've been having a lot of privacy so we've gotten to know each other a lot better and he's really sweet and I can tell he cares about me." I smiled at Traci. I was happy with Tre, and it was nice how much we got along.

"He does care about you, Kat. To be honest, he feels a little responsible about you and Billie not talking anymore." I raised my eyebrows in shock.

"He does? Why would he? It was my choice. I couldn't handle Billie's childish fights and I still think it's for the best."

"That song was dedicated to an old friend." Billie explained to the audience. I sighed and Traci noticed my sudden change of mood.

"What's wrong, Kat?"

I looked down at my feet, contemplating whether or not to tell her what was actually wrong. If I were doing the right thing, why did I miss that faux blond ticking time bomb?

"You know, Mike has this theory that Billie actually likes you." My head flew up when she spoke, and she smirked when her eyes locked on mine.

"Oh, he's crazy."

"Is he?" My eyes widen in horror as she smiled slyly.

"He couldn't, could he?"

"I don't know!" She sang in a high voice, causing me to roll my eyes.

~ ~ ~

I wiped sweat off my forehead as I stumbled down the stairs at the side of the stage. I bumped into somebody as I hopped off the last step.

"Oh, sorry." I muttered, still wiping sweat off my face.

"Billie?" I looked up at see Kat standing by the stairs. I looked around me to see if Tre was around and she smirked.

"Sas." I smiled slightly.

"Uh, do you have a minute? I thought maybe we could talk." I saw her cheeks turn a light pink and I chuckled.

"Of course. Wanna go outside?" She nodded and I signaled for her to follow me through the crowd.

There were only a few people standing around outside and I walked a little ways from the door. And just like typical Kat, she jumped right to the chase.

"First, I just want to apologize for how I treated you earlier. You were trying to be nice and I was just in too much shock to want to deal with it."

"Don't worry about it, I dropped by unexpectedly." She smiled.

"Actually, Traci took that notebook on purpose. She thought if we had alone time we could talk and I'd start coming around the house again."

"That sneaky bitch." I laughed; she smiled.

"That's what I said. But, Billie...I don't know if I feel comfortable coming around anymore. We did stuff and it just feels wrong.."

"Hey, hey," I touched her arm and rubbed it affectionately. "I talked you into doing something because I was thinking with my penis and not my mind."

"But I could have said no and told you to go to hell, or something."

"I stick up for you and you try and make me look like the not bad guy. You're so weird." She laughed and leaned against the wall.

"Which brings me to my next point, Traci mentioned this weird theory that Mike has. She said--"

"Billie?" A girls voice asked, turning both our attention to the blond with a plaid skirt.

"Sam, hey," He turned his attention back to me and smiled sheepishly. "Look, I gotta go. We'll finish this later?" She nodded and looked awkwardly from Sam to me.

"Yeah, sure." She smiled weakly and I turned toward Sam.

"Ready?" I asked, she smiled and took my hand and we walked back inside Gilman.

~ ~ ~

After blinking a few times as to what just happened, I headed back inside and saw Mike and Tre sitting at our table.

"Hey, where have you been?" Tre smiled as I sat back in my original seat.

"I tried to talk to Billie but some whore came and took him away. Who the hell is Sam?" Traci shot me an apologetic look and I shook it off.

"Oh, that would be the girl he's been sleeping around with." Mike explained, sipping Traci's water. I rolled my eyes and put my chin down on my arms.

"Well, he could have let me finish what I was saying. But no, she says his name and he's off." I looked around and saw them kissing by the entrance. I was thankful I missed that walking back inside.

"Well, we're having a small party at our house tonight, you should come." Traci smiled eagerly.

"Will there be alcohol?"

"Indeed." Mike smiled.

"I'm there."