Pieces of Truth

A year had slowly gone by since I sent Billie Joe the post card that told him I was okay. I had been going by Elanore, Elle or Ellie. Never Grace.

Oddly enough, I still kept in touch with Tre. He always called twice a week and all we would do was talk. I had gotten a room mate at my Foxboro apartment, and she had quickly become my best friend. Kelsey Hall was loud and spunky. She reminded me so much of Tre, it was ridiculous.

But lately she had been demanding to know why I did the little things I did- like not listen to the radio, and I had no choice but to tell her or else she wouldn't leave me alone.

"I don't want to because all they play is Green Day," I told the short, blond girl as I sat on my bed hugging Ralph, my ancient stuffed teddy, close to my chest.

Mike, Tre and Billie had released another CD and it was perfect to say the least.

"Are you kidding?! That's no reason to be weird," Kelsey laughed.

"Look, I don't want to talk about it," I groaned.

"Ellie! You can tell me anything."

My friend was very persistent, so I knew she wouldn't drop it until I told her everything.

"Okay, fine. I'm in love with Billie Joe Armstrong."

"That's it?"

"What do you mean, 'that's it'? He's the whole reason I'm here..."

"Ellie, everyone loves him! That's no reason to not listen to them! He's got a good voice.."

"An amazing voice, Kelsey. He always has.. I grew up with him and we were best friends. We dated and we went through a lot of stuff, and we were in love."

"Then?"

"Then he got a record deal and I was so proud of him.. and after 1,039 Smoothed, they went on tour. Then Tre told me that Billie had been fucking random chicks on tour.. So I left him."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yeah.. Billie Joe didn't take it too well. He thinks I'm long gone, and it sucks."

"No way. I don't believe you."

My mouth dropped.

"You're kidding."

Kelsey shook her head.

"Do you want proof?" I asked, pulling out the two CDs they had put out. I didn't want to break out the Converse box of pictures and little mementos from under my bed.

I pulled out the inside covers of the CDs and flipped to the 'Thank Yous.' 1,039 Smoothed out/Slappy Hours said 'Elanore Grace' which Tre said Billie put in for me. The second CD, Kerplunk, mentioned 'Gracie Gray' which Tre suggested and Billie wrote in.

"Grace?" Kelsey asked, and I nodded.

"My middle name. But that's what Billie Joe had called me since second grade."

Kelsey wore a look of disbelief.

"Fine. You know what? Come with me to work tonight."

I still worked at Amoeba, and today was Tre's designated day to visit.

Kelsey came with me at five, and I sat behind the counter as she paced around.

"I have to call and make sure he's not high," I told the girl, picking up the phone and dialing Tre's house number.

"Hello?"

I heard a distinct voice after three rings; one that didn't belong to Mike or Tre..

It was Billie.

I froze up, not knowing what to do.

"Hello?" he asked again, obviously annoyed.

"Is Tre there?" I quickly replied, trying to change the sound of my voice.

"Yeah, can I ask who's calling?"

"Tell him it's Lena," I said into the receiver.
"Ok, hold on a sec."

A few minutes later, I heard Tre's voice.

"What're you doing?"

"It's our day! I told my room mate about Billie Joe and you and Mike and she doesn't believe me, so hurry up and get over here!"

"Ok. Let me get rid of BJ, then Mike and I will come down."

"Kay, see you soon. Bye."

I hung up, leaning back in my chair, thinking about the voice that originally answered that phone call.

"Why'd you say your name was Lena?" Kelsey asked.

"It's a codename we made up so Tre and Mike don't get killed by Billie Joe."

Kelsey nodded, rolling her eyes.

I knew she'd need to see Tre and Mike to believe me.

Forty-five minutes passed, and the two hadn't shown up.

"Ellie, just tell me the truth. These guys aren't coming.. You're not really the girl Billie writes all those songs about."

"I can't believe you think I'm lying!" I snapped, and then the bell above the door rang as someone walked in.

"Hey Gracie, sorry we took so long. Beej insisted that he meet 'Lena' but we told him she worked here and he dropped it," Tre said as he came in and pulled me into a hug. Mike was next to embrace me, as Kelsey watched in awe.

"Grace, you had a close call. Billie said that Lena sounded familiar.." Mike told me.

"I know. But he answered Tre's phone! I did not see that coming, and I was really caught off guard," I turned and faced my new best friend, then looked back at my old ones.

"Guys, this is Kelsey, my room mate that wouldn't believe me when I told her that Billie Joe and I were intense."

Kelsey waved, and Tre stared her down.

"You need to have a little more faith in your so-called best friend," he told her sternly, then smiled,

"I'm Tre Cool."

"And I'm Mike. It's nice to meet you."

Kelsey smiled, nodding politely.

While Kelsey and Tre were talking, I pulled Mike away so we could talk in private.

"Is Billie Joe still.. Y'know?" I asked, wanting to know how my ex-boyfriend was doing.

"He still has hope that you're coming back.. But when every day goes by and you don't, I think his hope fades a little."

"Is he still on edge all the time?"

"He stopped yelling at us a few weeks ago. I told you that last time we saw each other. Billie mostly keeps to himself. We can tell when he's thinking about you though, which is a lot of the time."

"No new girls in his life?"

Mike shook his head.

"He won't so much as talk to a girl, let alone date one."

I mimicked Mike's movements by shaking my head.

"How are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm good, actually. Sarah and I had our eight month anniversary last week and she moved in with me."

"Oh Mike! That's awesome! And I really mean that.."

"I know you do."

"Ew, Ellie! Tre licked me!" Kelsey yelled from across the store, and I cringed.

"What? That's nothing Tre hasn't done before.. She's lucky that's all he did."

"I know. I just hate being called 'Ellie'."

Mike laughed, "What you have to go through to stay in the same town as Billie."

"Mike.. You know I couldn't leave Berkeley. I couldn't leave my dad, you, Sarah and Tre."

"I also know that you had to make yourself disappear so he wouldn't come looking for you," Mike nodded, and we rejoined Tre and Kelsey.

"Hey Gracie. You should come to our show tonight! It's gonna be much better than when we played at Gilman," Tre offered.

"Nothing will ever be better than when you played at 924. And as much as I'd love to, I don't think it's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Because, dude. You know Billie scans the crowd every night we do a gig! If he saw Grace, he'd jump off stage and tackle her so she couldn't leave," Mike reminded his friend.

"Ohh yeah. What about your friend then?" Tre turned to Kelsey, who turned beet red.

"I have to work tonight.. Sorry," she answered, a hint of false sadness to her voice.

"You're such a liar! You don't work tonight!" I laughed, knowing she wanted to go.

"Fine. I want to come," Kelsey nodded at Mike and Tre, who both laughed.

Tre told her the details, then the two left.

"Okay. If they introduce you to Billie Joe, please, please don't tell him anything about me. Don't mention Grace or Elanore or Lena. Oh, and please don't talk about where we live. Mike and Tre don't even know."

"Why not?"

"I can't risk Billie finding out that they knew, and have him force it out of them, alright? I'm not going to go through seeing Billie so hurt. I hated the way his voice sounded when he answered the phone.."

Kelsey and I continued to talk, then she left to go get ready for the gig.