Dreams of Tomorrow

6 am on a Sunday morning.

A girl was slowly walking down the stairs, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, a tired expression on her face, as if she was supporting the whole world on her shoulders. She had dark circles under her green eyes, her eyes that had lost their brightness. She walked past the mirror, looking at her reflection for a brief instant and closed her eyes, not wanting to see her reflection, not wanting to see how she had become.

But it was inevitable… Grief and nightmares tend to do that to a person.

She walked past the phone and stopped in front of it. That what she had been doing every morning and night. She would stand in front of the phone, wondering whether or not to take it and dialled a certain number. She had never dialled it, but she knew the numbers by heart for she had read it every night before going to sleep. Billie Joe’s number.

There were times when she just wanted to grab the phone off its base and hear his voice, for real, because she heard his voice every day through the speakers of her stereo, or through her earphones…

It’s been two weeks now since she had last talked to Jimmy, she still see him everyday, but never talk to him. Same goes for Michelle, Val, Matt, Johnny, Justin, Zacky and Brian.

Athalya’s grades were slowly improving, just as much as she was loosing weight. She was having an apple for breakfast. Lunch? She skipped it most of the time. She only ate a normal meal at dinner, trying not to worry her grandparents too much. But she was failing miserably.

You had to be blind not to notice Athalya’s state of mind. Every night, Suzan went to bed worrying whether or not Athalya would still be breathing the next morning. That was a biggest fear, to wake up and noticed that Athalya finally ended her life one way or an other.

Both Suzan and David knew how bad she missed having Jimmy and the others around, but Athalya wanted to dwell in the past and the memories of her mother instead of trying to see the brighter side of life.

Athalya looked away from the phone and continued walking, entering the kitchen, and stopped in her tracks as she saw her grandparents sitting at the table.

“What are you doing here?” she asked worried, afraid something happened.

“We have a late birthday present for you.” Spoke up David, putting an envelope on the table. Athalya sat down in front of them, her face expressionless.

David pushed the envelope towards her and then linked his fingers with Suzan’s anxiously waiting for Athalya’s reaction.

“What is it?” she asked, looking up at her grandparents.

“Open it.” Encouraged David as Suzan was getting anxious.

Athalya took the envelope and opened it slowly, taking out a piece of paper. She starred at it for a moment, her eyes scanning it anxiously.

“For real?” she asked, her voice just above a whisper but you could easily hear the emotions she was trying to contain.

“Yes Athalya, for real. We think it’s about damn time you get out of this house and have some fun.” Explained David, as Suzan let out a sight of relief when she saw the ghost of a smile on her granddaughter’s face.

“I’m really going? It’s not a joke, is it? I’m going for real?” she asked again, her voice become louder, no longer a whisper.

“Tonight.” Said David, nodding.

What happened next was clearly unexpected to both David and Suzan.

Athalya jumped of her sit and ran to their side of the table, wrapping her arms around her grandfather, kissing his cheek before letting go of him and rushing to her grandmother’ side.

“Thank you!” she said, her eyes whelming up. “This is the best birthday present ever.” She said, “I need to go get ready. The sooner I’ll be waiting in line, the closest I’ll be.” She said hastily.

“We kind of expected you to say that, that’s why we got up early, we knew we needed to tell you as soon as you’d wake up.” Explained Suzan, smiling as her granddaughter was jumping up and down, holding the ticket close to her heart.

“I’m going to get ready!” she said.

“We’ll be leaving at around 8…” said David. Athalya nodded and then ran to the stairs.

**

“Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!”

That’s what Athalya kept repeating since they had left their house.

“Oh my God!” said Athalya as she was now standing in front of the venue. She was the first one here, the first in line.

“It’s 9am Athalya, are you sure you want to wait here?” asked Suzan, anxious. David wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“She’s been waiting for this moment for a while now, let her enjoy it the way she wants. If she wants to sit there for hours, I think it’s only fair we let her do this her way.” Said David, watching Athalya as she dropped her bag where she decided to stay and wait.

“I know, I’m just scared something will happen to her while she’s waiting here all alone.” Mumbled Suzan.

“I won’t say I’m not scared, but it will be alright. You know why.” He said, looking at his wife who nodded slowly.

“I hope she won’t be disappointed or anything…” whispered Suzan, watching as Athalya made her way towards them.

“Thank you!” she said, wrapping her arms around her grandfather. “Thank you so much!” It was about the thousand’s times she said that. And she would keep thanking them.

“Take care Athalya, and have fun!» said Suzan, wrapping her arms tightly around her granddaughter.

“Oh, I’m sure I will!” said Athalya, letting go of her grandmother.

“We will be waiting for you tonight, at around midnight so you’ll have the time to go backstage if you feel like it.” Said David. Athalya nodded and waved at them as they slowly walked away, heading back to their car.

Athalya let out a deep sigh, as she watched her grandparents getting in their car and driving off. When they were out of sight, she turned around and looked at the venue. It was a pretty big one. Athalya took the small camera her grandparents bought for her, and took a picture of the venue, with the poster announcing Green Day’s performance. She walked over to the wall, next to the door and sat down, resting her back against the wall and taking her CD player and book out of her bag.

7 more hours to go…

**

Athalya was half way through her book when she decided to take a break.

She rubbed her eyes and looked up, only to see that a few people were making their way towards her. Frowning, she switched off her CD player, but kept her earphones on, so that she could pretend to be listening to music, while still being able to hear the person if they ever wanted to talk to her.

“I hope she won’t be mad at us…” mumbled one of them. Athalya kept focussing on her book until the sun was blocked from her view, she slowly took out her earphones and then slowly looked up only to gasp at the sight.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, shoving her CD player in her bag along with her book, not even bothering to mark the page.

“Hope you won’t mind us waiting with you…” said Brian, sitting down along with Jimmy.

“Why are you here?” she asked, beyond surprised as she starred at Jimmy.

“To see Green Day.” Replied Jimmy, simply.

“But you don’t even like them!” she replied, still shocked to see them at 10 am in Los Angeles on a Sunday morning.

“But we like you, we’re not here for them, but for you.” Said Jimmy, smiling at Athalya.

“How did you even know about the show?” she asked, “I only got the ticket this morning…”

“Your grandmother kind of told us about the show the day we ran into her in the mall, on your birthday. And we kind of thought it would be cool to share that experience with you…” explained Jimmy, rubbing his neck.

Adeline squinted her eyes.

“But after what I told you in the cafeteria…” she started, but Jimmy held up his hand.

“We bought the tickets way before that, and we knew you’d come early and I didn’t wanted to let you wait all alone, so I told Brian about it and he agreed on going with me.” Explained Jimmy. “Of course, if you still need time, we’ll just go back to the way it used to be, after the show.” He added.

Athalya choose not to answer to that, and Jimmy wasn’t expecting her too. Then, her attention drifted to Brian was had stay rather quiet. She noticed the huge case resting against the wall.

“What is it?” she asked, looking at the case that was weirdly shaped, the base was bigger than the top, and it kinda looked like a guitar.

“I brought my guitar with me, I figured we’d have a lot of time to waste, so I choose to bring it with me.” He explained with a careless shrug. Athalya’s face brightened at his words. He brought his guitar.

“Want me to play something for you?” he asked, raising an eyebrow and looked at her, waiting for her reply, one hand on the case, ready to open it. He hoped she’d say ‘yes’, but you never know with Athalya.

“Oh yeah!” she said, sitting up and crossing her legs, watching him attentively as he opened the case and took his guitar from it, laying it on his lap. He took a pick from his pocket and strummed lightly on his guitar, checking if it was in-tune or not. A satisfied smile made its way on his face and then he looked back up at Athalya.

“So, what do you want?” he asked.

Jimmy smiled at Athalya as she bit her lip, wondering the songs he knew how to play… so she wouldn’t ask for something he didn’t know.

“Here, look at that!” said Jimmy, taking a stack of paper from his backpack and handing it to Athalya, so she could have a look.

“What’s…” she was cut off by Jimmy.

“Tabs. Some of the songs Brian know how to play, just ask for something from there and he’ll play it.” Explained Jimmy.

“Really? You don’t mind?” she asked, looking at Brian with a mix of excitement and suspicion.

“I don’t mind…” assured Brian.

“He’ll be like your own personal jukebox!” explained Jimmy. Athalya took the tabs and looked at the title on each pages, as well as the band that performed the song.

A first, there was a lot of Metallica stuff, but as she got closer to the end, she saw something that caught her eyes.

“Really?” she asked, her eyes bright with surprise and happiness.

“Show me…” said Brian, trying to hide his smile, but with difficulties. Jimmy chuckled at Athalya’s eagerness when Brian looked at the tab and nodded shortly, placing his fingers on the neck of the guitar.

He played the first notes and Athalya’s face broke into a huge smile. She brought her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on top of her knees. Watching his fingers move flawlessly on the neck of his guitar while hitting the right notes with his other hand.

She loved guitar. A lot. And watching someone else besides Billie Joe playing a Green Day song was something new to her. She was playing the song in her head, comparing it to the song Brian was playing, checking if it was the same one, and if Brian wasn’t making any mistakes. And he wasn’t.

Jimmy was watching Athalya attentively, trying to read her face as she was looking at Brian. Instead of seeing her face expressionless like it usually was, he saw her go from wonder to being amaze before passing by the ‘is-he-making-any-mistakes’ kind of phase before going back to being amazed.

The song ended too soon for Athalya’s liking. She kept looking at Brian’s hands, even though he had stopped playing. Jimmy was still looking at Athalya, and much to his dislike, her face was expressionless once again.

Silence fell among them.

“Wow.” Was the single word that escaped Athalya’s lips after a few moment of silence.

“What?” asked Brian, hoping Athalya would share her thoughts with him. He wanted to know what she thought about him, about the way he played…

“You… you play… just wow.” She rambled, her eyes glued on his fingers.

“You know Athalya, this song isn’t hard.” Said Jimmy, “I saw Brian playing much faster and harder song…” said Jimmy. Athalya’s face snapped in his direction and she glared at him.

“Good Riddance might be an easy song to play, but he managed to keep the right rhythm and didn’t play faster or anything, and also, I’m really happy he learned to play it for me, so please do not criticize Brian’s skills, or the song…” she said, trying not to raise her voice.

Both Jimmy and Brian tried not to smile, it was exactly the reaction they were hoping for.

“We brought cookies!” said Jimmy, completely changing the subject. He grabbed his bag, opened it and took out a box of freshly made cookies. Athalya raised an eyebrow in wonder.

“You made cookies?” she asked, surprised.

“No, not me… Brian’s step-mum, Suzy.” Explained Jimmy, opening the box and handing the box to Athalya.

“She knew we were going to wait here, so she made cookies for us, she was afraid we would starve.” Explained Brian with a shrug as Athalya passed him the box not after she took one for herself.

“Damn, I love cookies…” mumbled Athalya, after taking a bit from it. “And those are really good.” She added, after putting the rest in her mouth. She was hungry and had skipped breakfast. She was so excited about the show that she had completely forgotten about breakfast…

“Thanks, I’ll be sure to tell Suzy.” Said Brian smiling.

“We also brought beers, and coke and ice-tea for you, we know you don’t drink.” Said Jimmy, looking inside his bag. “And Suzy made us sandwiches too, and we took some crisps.” He added.

She’d never admit it to anyone, but she really appreciated the fact that Jimmy and Brian came earlier just because they knew she would. It finally clicked that she could consider them as her friends, instead of simple acquaintances.

“The others should arrive soon…” commented Brian, looking at his watch.

“Huh?” asked Athalya, snapping out of her daze.

“The others.” Repeated Jimmy.

“Who?” asked Athalya, looking at them with wide eyes.

“Michelle, Val, Matt, Zack and Justin… You know, the others…” said Jimmy.

“Are they going to see Green Day too?” she asked, taking an other cookie.

“No, of course not. They are just coming to hang out with us for a couple of hours or so…” explained Brian, rubbing his neck and looking at Athalya. She nodded, took the last bit of her cookie and took an other one.

Jimmy chuckled.
“Hungry much?” he asked, amused.

Athalya blushed,
“I was so excited that I forgot my breakfast this morning…” she said quietly. Still munching on a cookie.

Jimmy frowned. She held up her half-eaten cookie.
“I’m eating now, see!” she said.

“FRENCHIE!”

“You’re early!” commented Brian as Michelle and Val both rushed to Athalya, followed by Justin, Matt and Zacky.

“The girls got ready at the speed of light for once.” Explained Matt and everyone sat down, completing the circle.

Soon the booze was passed and Athalya was drinking from her own bottle of Coke.

Only Brian and Matt were going easy on the drinking. They were the designed drivers. The guitar was passed from Brian, to Zacky and to Matt. Without any hesitation, Brian’s was the best in Athalya’s eyes. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that he played ‘Good Riddance’ for her.

Since the moment every arrived, to the moment the doors opened was a blur for Athalya.

Everyone stood up.

Athalya’s heart was racing. She showed her ticket and then entered the venue. She tried not to run towards the stage, but she walked fast.

Jimmy and Brian caught up with her as they reached the barrier. They stood next to her, on each sides, as Athalya was looking at the stage, her eyes glowing with tears. The boys noticed it but decided not to say anything and not burst her own bubble.
They both knew how much it meant for her to be here, in this venue, so close to the stage.

She was griping the barrier with both hands, her knuckles were losing their colours. She had her eyes glued on the mike, standing in front of her.

The crowd was noisy, they were all chatting loudly, trying to hear themselves amongst the mass, excited to see the band.
Athalya couldn’t even hear them. She was unobvious to the noise.

It was as if the time was moving at the speed of light.

Before she knew it, the lights were out and 5 people came on stage. That was the supporting band.
The crowd was wild, people in the back were trying to get to the front.
Athalya closed her eyes for a second, in pain, as she felt herself being squashed against the barrier.

“Stop pushing!” yelled Jimmy over the music just as Athalya felt two strong arms wrapping around her waist and the strong smell of alcohol met her nose.

“Don’t even think about it!” yelled Brian pushing the guy and placing himself between the crowd and Athalya. He put both hands on the barrier, Athalya was safely trapped between his arms.

Jimmy had left to go buy some beers.

The lights came back on, and the crowd quiet down.

Jimmy came back and handed a beer to Brian and a coke to Athalya. She drank it all in one swig and kept her gaze glued on the stage, not wanting to miss their entrance.

“Thanks Brian.” Said Jimmy, patting his best friend’s back.

“No problem” he said, just as the lights went off again.

“Good luck!” quickly yelled Jimmy just before the crowd went wild again.

3 shadows ran on stage.

Jason white, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool started their first song: nice Guys finish last.

The stage was enlightened and Billie Joe came on stage.
Athalya’s eyes were bulging out of her skull.

She let out a quiet gasp as he stood right in front of her, playing on his guitar and singing, his eyes scanning the crowd.

She felt her heart beating faster, the blood pumping through her veins as his eyes fell on her for a brief second.
Time seems to have stopped for Athalya.
She hold onto the barrier as the next song started and the crowd went wilder.

Brian had trouble protecting Athalya. Jimmy was arguing with a guy that had insulted his height.

During the next song, Billie Joe was glancing at Athalya every so often.

“Fuck off!” yelled Brian, pushing the guy from earlier, as he kept provocating him. He turned around and slammed his fist in the guy’s face, just as Billie Joe glanced worriedly in Athalya’s direction.

The guy pushed Brian, making his body stumble and collide with Athalya. She lost her balance and fell hard on the barrier.

“Wowowowow!” said Billie Joe in the mike. The music stopped.

“You guys break it off!” said Billie Joe, pointing at Brian, Jimmy and the other guy.

Jimmy helped Brian up and glared at the guy. A security guard grabbed the trouble-maker and escorted him to the exit.

“Is she alright?” asked Billie Joe away from the mike, looking directly at Brian and Jimmy as Brian was helping Athalya back up on her feet. Jimmy nodded and Billie Joe started the show again.

“Are you alright?” asked Brian as he helped her up.

“Yeah… I think so” she mumbled, holding onto the barrier.

The rest of the show went by fast. Too fast…
and before she could realise it, the stage was empty and the lights were back on.

**

“Athalya, do you wanna get backstage?” asked Jimmy.

She shook her head as she slowly got out of the venue, holding onto Brian as she was limping.
Her fall had been worst than she had thought. She twisted her ankle, and her ribs were hurting. She did fell pretty badly on the barrier.

She winced in pain and held onto Brian’s arm tighter.

“Hey, are you alright?” asked Brian worriedly as he felt something wet dropping on his arm.
He felt her nod against his shoulder.

“Do you want us to drive you to the hospital?” asked Jimmy.
She shook her head.

“I think she’s still under the shock” explained Jimmy.

“She’s crying…” mumbled Brian, stopping. He grabbed his jacket, draped it over her shoulder. He picked her up bridal style and let her soak his T-shirt with tears as he followed Jimmy back to the car.

Brian was driving. Jimmy and Athalya were sitting on the backseat. Her head was resting on his shoulder and he was rubbing circles on her arm, trying to give her some kind of comfort.
Brian was glancing at her every once in a while.

“Focus on the road Brian, focus.” Whispered Jimmy.

**

Athalya was lying on her back, starring at the ceiling.
The room was unfamiliar, and light snores were coming from her side.
She propped herself on her elbow and realized that Jimmy was asleep next to her, and Brian was on the floor, awake.

“Brian? What are you doing on the floor?” she asked.

“I was sleeping…” he said, not looking at her.

“What are we doing in your room?” she asked.

“We came back here last night.” He whispered.

“I’m sorry…” she whispered, lying back on the mattress.

“For what?” he asked, sighing.

“You seem mad at me…” she mumbled.

Brian sighed,
“It’s not you, it’s your face.”

Athalya’s eyes widened, but she stayed silent.

“I didn’t mean it like that!” he quickly added. He sighed, “Do you remember when you fell down?”

“Vaguely…” she mumbled.

Brian sighed and grabbed something from his side before handing it to Athalya.

“See for yourself.” He mumbled, not looking at her.

“Oh…” was all she said as she starred at her reflection in the tiny mirror. She brought her hand up to her face and lightly touched her cheek. She winced. She had a black eye, a pretty big and nasty one.

“It’s my fault…” he muttered, covering his face with his arm.
She frowned, threw the covers away and got up. She walked over to the other side and sat on the edge of Brian’s mattress.

“It’s not your fault I fell down and got a black eye, god knows how I got it…” she said, crossing her arms.

“I was supposed to protect you from getting hurt and I failed…” he mumbled, the sound of his voice was muffled by his arms.

She sighed, grabbed his arms and looked at him.

“You didn’t fail. I’m not that hurt! Stop being a drama queen.” She said. “It can easily be covered by make-up.” She smiled, ignoring the pain it was inflecting her.

He mumbled something incoherent and sighed.

“Don’t worry Gates, I’m not that fragile. I can deal with a black eye.” She said, patting his head and getting up.

“Can I use the bathroom?” she asked.

“Sure, first door on the left.” He whispered.

**

Jimmy had woken up around 7, they insisted on eating breakfast.

“You know, I just realised something the other day.” Said Brian as Athalya was doing the dishes.

“What?” asked Jimmy, finishing his coffee.

“Athalya’s backyard is located behind mine…” he said.

“Huh?” she asked.

“Basically, if you jump over the fence in Brian’s backyard, you’ll end up in yours.” Explained Jimmy.

“Oh, alright…” she whispered, nodding. “I think I’ll go jump over the fence real quick now…” she added, rubbing her neck as she looked at the clock.

7.30.
She wanted to go home early, and fall back asleep in her own bed.

She walked over to the hall and grabbed her jacket, bag and put her shoes on before slamming her forehead.

“It’s Monday!” she muttered. Her eyes widened. “I have school! Fuck!” she swore.

“Brian, Jimmy, thanks for coming with me to the show, I really appreciate it. I’ll see you guys soon. Bye!” she quickly said, waving at them as she walked to the backdoor, opened it and hurried towards the fence. She threw her bag over it and then jumped over the fence, she waved at the guys one more time and hurried to her house.

“I’m back! And I’m late I need to get ready for school!” said Athalya as she entered her grandparents’ house, kicked off her shoes and ran upstairs. She got ready at the speed of light, covered her black eye, grabbed her bag and hurried down the stairs, stopping in the kitchen.

“I already ate breakfast at Brian’s.” she explained quickly, hugging her grandparents. “It was the best night of my life, thank you so much!” she said, kissing their cheeks and then hurrying towards the hall. The door bell rang, she swore under her breath, and opened the door while still putting her shoes on.

When she lifted her gaze to the stranger, her mouth just about hit the floor in surprise.

“Do you need a ride?”