False Pretense

I decided to take a walk around campus during my lunch, seeing as how I knew no one and had nothing better to do. I stood in front of the Sather Tower, admiring how tall it was, when I felt somebody tap my shoulder.

"Hey, Traci's roommate." I turned and saw Green Day's fill-in drummer, Tre, standing before me.

"Kat." I corrected, smiling nonetheless.

"Right, sorry. Kat. You saw BJ today, right?"

"Yeah..." I was hesitant to answer, suddenly afraid he was going to yell at me.

"Did you drug him? Because he's been pretty happy all day. It's like he's his old self against, almost, he seems less bothered." I felt myself smile without even thinking about it.

"No, I didn't drug him," I laughed. "We just went out to breakfast."

Tre and I ended up talking for about a half hour. He was very funny, and even invited me to their practice later.

~ ~ ~

Mike and I were in our basement, tuning his bass, while we waited for Tre.

"This damn nob just turns ever so slightly all the time and it's beginning to piss me off." Mike grumbled, adjusting the bass in his lap.

"It happens, chill out dude." Mike looked up from his bass and furrowed his eyebrows.

"What is up with you today? You get back from breakfast and you're suddenly acting like your old self again. Did she...give you...a--"

"No!" I blurted out, not wanting him to finish that sentence.

"Are you sure? You denied that pretty fast." He laughed and smacked my arm.

"No, she has nothing to do with it. We aren't even friends! I guess I'm just starting to feel better."

Before he could say anything, the basement door opened and I heard Tre laughing with someone else, a female laugh. I smirked, wondering who Tre had been fooling around with these days and I guess I was about to find out.

"Shut up! That is not going to happen!" He joked, coming further into view. I picked up my guitar and Mike slapped my arm to get my attention. I looked up at him and he pointed to the stairs.

Kat was with Tre, and they were giggling like they were having the best time of their lives. She had her arms wrapped around his bicep and he was whispering in her ear.

"Hey, Tre. Hi, Kat." Mike smiled and stole both their attention away from each other.

"Hey! Look who I brought to practice, hope that's okay." I felt almost sick suddenly, Mike raised an eyebrow my way but I avoided everybody's glances.

"That is okay right, Billie?" I heard her ask. I looked up and forced a smile.

"Yeah, sure. Can I talk to you for a second?" I placed Blue on the other side of me and stood up, grabbing her wrist as I pulled her up the stairs.

~ ~ ~

Billie pulled me all the way to the back deck. I mentally slapped myself for coming with Tre.

"What are you doing?" He growled, spinning me around in front of him.

"What? I can't come to your practices?"

"No, I don't care about that. I don't want you sleeping around with my friends!"

"Sleeping around? Billie, I've been talking to Tre since noon! He invited me to your practice! God, this has got to be the most childish fight you've tried picking me with me yet!"

"Childish?"

"Yes! God, Tre asked me if I drugged you this morning because you were acting happier! But now that you see the two of us together you just snap and accuse me of fucking your friend!"

"The way you were wrapped around him gave me the sign! I wasn't jumping to any conclusions."

"Billie, him and I get along very well. He's funny and actually a nice person! I don't know what crawled up your ass and died but grow the fuck up!" I turned to head back inside but he grabbed my arm.

"What did you just say to me?" I turned around in his hold and slapped his arm away from me.

"I told you to grow the fuck up! What happened to the Billie I saw this morning? You act like my hanging out with Tre bugs you or something! We aren't even friends, Billie, remember that? We're nothing more than two people with a similar past that haunts them!" I pushed him away from me and ran back into the house. I pushed passed Tre as well, who was probably coming up to check on us.

~ ~ ~

"You can't fucking treat her that way, Billie Joe!" I heard Tre yell as he walked out onto the porch. I looked up and saw him with an angry look on his face.

"What are you talking about?"

"She was crying when she ran by me. Did you fucking yell at her?"

"A little, but she started yelling first."

"What did you say?"

"I accused her of sleeping with you and she got pissed."

"Why did you accuse her of sleeping with me? I've only known her since this afternoon!"

"I know, but you two were so close and I don't want her sleeping with my friends."

"Who are you to decided who she sleeps with?"

"She's a girl, Tre! She'll complicate shit and we're so close to making it and I just don't want anybody to wreck this for us! We've worked too long and too hard now to lose it to some goddamn girl!" Tre furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"We are just friends, Billie. I wasn't planning on pursuing anything more than just that, all right? So just chill the fuck out and I think we're going to have to postpone practice today, I'm going to go talk to her." He turned and walked back inside without another word.

What the fuck is this girl doing to me?

Mike looked surprised when I walked back into the basement alone.

"Where's Tre and Kat?"

"Kat and I had a fight and Tre is consoling her."

"What the fuck happened now, Bill?" I plopped down onto the couch and covered my eyes with my hands.

"I accused Kat with sleeping with Tre. We started yelling and I don't know....I just lost my temper."

"Say she did sleep with Tre. Why would you care?"

"I'm afraid that a girl will come in and wreck our band."

"I'm with Traci, I'm still here. What would be different if Kat and Tre got together?"

"I just...there is something different about her, Mike. I don't like her." I heard him sigh and he placed his bass onto the stand next to the couch.

"Bill, you and Tre are both going to meet somebody some day that you're both going to fall in love with. I know shit's been hectic with the band lately, offers to sign to a major record label and everything...but Kat is a nice girl, and she's our friend. Just be cool, all right? She's not going to wreck our band." I loved Mike for being able to calm me down. But Kat....she still bugged me. Something did.

WHAT was she doing to me?