Dreams of Tomorrow

Lya avoided Jimmy’s gaze as much as possible.
She would drop her eyes whenever he would look at her, trying to catch her attention.

He knew.
She knew that he knew.
He knew that she knew that he knew. But she was also aware of the fact that he knew that she knew that he knew.

She frowned and rubbed her temples, focusing all her attention on Johnny as Brian and Joey were busy talking with one other. Brian was trying to teach Joey how to play guitar.

Billie Joe’s son learning guitar from a teenager. The guitar was almost as big as Joey…

She moved to sit closer to Johnny, catching up with him.

Jimmy stayed by himself, his thoughts running wild with his new discovery.

Lya’s mother’s best friend was Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day.

Now it made more sense to him.

He could put the puzzle together. Why she kept a picture of him and her under her pillow… Why she had a panic attack when she first met him, why she didn’t wanted to go back stage after the Green Day show, why she called him B all those time, trying so hard to protect his identity…
It made sense. It all made sense.
How easily she could go to San Francisco and back… Jimmy had wondered how easily she left her friends behind to go spend time in San Francisco… It didn’t made sense to him at first, why she would so suddenly leave like that and how going to San Francisco could make her feel better.

Simply because Billie Joe was there.

He knew from the beginning that Billie Joe held a special place in Lya’s life, the way her mood would lighten whenever Green Day was mentioned, her face when she sang every word of their songs at the show. How important their music was to her.
He admitted that he couldn’t quite understand her reactions when she first met her mother’s best friend, he had put her reaction as being due to the shock of loosing her mother a few months back. But it had been beyond that.
It had been the shock of being somewhat related to her hero.
Billie Joe had held such an important place in her life as being a “simple” member of a random band. Now not only did he have an even bigger part in her life, but he owned a huge part of her heart as well.

He knew Lya cared about Green Day and she was really sensitive when they were involved, but it got worse because she wanted to protect him, from them. To protect him from them.

That’s why she just had a panic attack. She got scared Joey would reveal B’s identity.

That band, Green Day and its leader, Billie Joe, had such a huge impact on her that even her body would react to protect his identity. That’s why she had a panic attack when Joey mentioned his father and his job. Billie Joe’s identity was about to be revealed and she panicked.

Jimmy sighed… He even had an impact on her health.

Too late, her secret was out, at least Jimmy knew.
He would have bet that beside him, no one knew. They were too busy worrying about Lya’s panic attack to care about anything else, let alone Joey’s last statement. It was forgotten.

Jimmy was torn. He didn’t wanted to judge her for that, but he couldn’t help it. His pride was hurt. He considered her as his best friend, almost like his younger sister, a part of his family, yet she hid something quite big from him. She should have known she could trust him with this. He knew how to keep his mouth shut when necessary.

Lya tried not to think too much when she was with Johnny, she listened more than she talked.

“Lya, I’m hungry…” whined Joey.

“I’ll take you back to the grandparents’” she said, moving to get up just as the door opened.

“I just called your grandparents, Joey will be staying here for lunch, is this okay with everyone?” asked Suzy. Lya starred at her with wide eyes.

“No problem” said Brian and Joey grinned. Brian held up his hand and Joey smacked his palm with Brian’s bigger one. Lya smiled at them and looked back at Suzy.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Roast chicken and mashed potatoes, how does it sound?” she asked.

“Yeah!” cheered Johnny. “Thank you Ma’am Haner!” he said. Jimmy nodded in approval.

She smiled at them and left, closing the door behind her.

And the way she was acting around Joey. It made him sick and happy at the same time. Happy to see her smile again, but sick to see how devoted she was to a kid.
Who was he to have Lya wrapped around his finger… Was it just because he was that singer’s kid?

Jimmy unconsciously tightened his fists.

Was that Billie Joe guy so awesome to make her react like that?
Because it was clear that when B was near, her friends were erased from her mind, at least temporarily.

As soon as he thought that, Jimmy wanted to slap himself as his eyes drifted to Lya. He shouldn’t be thinking like that, he was just mad. It was temporary.
Lya didn’t mean any wrong when she did that… Poor girl had just lost her mother and had no idea who her father was, he should just cut her some slack, she was doing quite well…
If that Billie Joe guy with his poor guitar skills could help her overcome her loss, then so be it…

He frowned, remembering all the time she had been there for him.

He really shouldn’t be mad at her…
It was her own thing, and he should respect that.
He would try to…

**

Lunch went well, and obviously, the food was great, like always, when Suzy was cooking.
Joey behaved well, and Lya couldn’t be happier. They were now back in Brian’s room.

Joey was drawing, sitting at Brian’s desk while the group of ‘teenagers’ were chatting about things, useless things. Jimmy was back to normal, kind of…

“Lya!”

Lya’s head snap in direction of Joey as he jumped off Brian’s chair and rushed to her.

“What if Santa Claus can’t find us?” he asked, panic evident in his voice.

“What?” she asked, as her friends were trying to stifle a laugh.

“What if Santa Claus can’t find us? Because, you know, when we wrote our letters for Santa Claus together, well we wrote our address… But we’re not home!” cried Joey, poor kid was going to have a panic attack.

“Don’t worry Joey, Santa Claus is really smart, he will find you.” Said Brian, trying to keep a straight face.

Jimmy and Johnny were having a hard time keeping a straight face, but when they saw that Joey had his eyes shining with tears that were ready to be shed, for some reason, it calmed them down.
Poor kid still thought Santa Claus existed, it would be cruel of them to burst his bubble…

Lya thought for a moment, Joey was really going to freak out if they couldn’t contact Santa Claus, well Billie Joe for that matter…

“Oh, I know!” she whispered, “Brian, can we use your phone?” she asked.

“Yeah sure!” He said, getting up and going downstairs, going to grab the phone, Joey following him like a lost puppy.

“Mum? We’re borrowing the phone for a moment.” He said, picking up the phone from its base in the kitchen.

“It’s to call Santa Claus!” said Joey, taking the phone from Brian’s hand and running back upstairs.

Brian just let out a nervous chuckle and rubbed his neck. He gave a small wave of his hand to his parents and went back in his room.

“Go on Lya! What if he had already left!” urged Joey.

Jimmy and Johnny were sitting on Brian’s bed as Lya was sitting on the floor, with Joey almost sitting on her lap as she had the phone in hands. Brian went to sit on his bed as well.

“Go on Lya! Hurry!” pleaded Joey, shaking her a little.

“Hey Joey, calm down for a minute will ya!” she said, trying to sound mad. He immediately shut up. She chuckled. “That’s better.”

She dialed a number and pressed the phone to her ear.

“Hello? May I speak to Santa Claus please?”

She heard her grandmother chuckling on the other side and handed the phone to Billie Joe.

“Hello?”

“Santa Claus! Good afternoon!” she said, glancing at Joey who had his eyes open wide, his mouth a little open. He was starring at her as if Lya was the best person in the whole world, well to him, she was at the peculiar moment.

“I’m Lya Relva and I have Joey Armstrong next to me. We just wanted to inform you that we aren’t home, you know, the address we wrote on our letters…” she said, trailing off.

Billie Joe chuckled on the phone and slightly slapped his forehead.

“What is your address then?” he asked.

Lya smiled, relieved. He had been quick to catch up…

“Oh, we are staying in Huntington Beach now. At my grand parents’ house. You know the address, right?” she said/asked.

Joey climbed on her lap and pressed his ear against the phone, trying to hear Santa Claus.

“Oh Mister Santa Claus, do you mind if Joey talks to you for a moment?” she asked.

“Yeah sure…” he said, changing his voice immediately and trying to sound like an old man.

And Joey grabbed the phone and jumped back on his feet, holding the phone to his ear.

“Santa?! It’s Joey! Don’t forget us, yes? I’ve been really good this year, I swear!...” and he started rambling.

Lya chuckled, a huge smile on her face as she looked up to glance at her friends.

“Is that really Santa Claus?” asked Johnny, his eyes wide. Jimmy rolled his eyes and smacked him upside the head. Lya held a finger to her lips.

“Joey! Santa Claus is a busy man…” she said.

“Oh yes! Sorry Santa! Lya’s grandmother will place a plate of cookies for you and a carrot for Rudolph. Bye Santa!” and he gave the phone back to Lya. “Oh and don’t forget Jakob! That’s my little brother! I told you about him in my letter! He cries a lot, but he sleeps a lot so it’s all good! Bye Santa!” and he gave the phone back to Lya.

“Thank you for your time. Joey was scared you’d forget about him…” said Lya in the phone.

“No problem Lya… That’s a good idea you had… I’ll see you for dinner? I’ll probably go take a walk around once Jacob will be up from his nap.” He said.

“Sure thing. Have a nice afternoon Santa!” she said with a laugh. “Bye” and she hung up.

“Woaw! I talked to Santa Claus!” he said, his eyes shining, looking at Lya with his eyes full of admiration. “Lya, I had no idea you knew Santa!”

“It’s because my mother was a friend of Santa.” She explained simply.

“ Wow! Wait until I tell my friends at school about it!” exclaimed Joey.

“No Joey, you need to keep this a secret, right?” said Lya, kneeling down to be at eye level with him.

“Can I tell Mummy and Daddy?” he asked.

“No, not even to them… Imagine what would happen if your Dad knew you talked to Santa? He would want to call Santa too…” she said.

“Oh no!” he exclaimed, covering his mouth with his hand, starring at her with his eyes wide. She tried not to smile, but seriously… This kid was just too cute!

“It’s a secret between us 5, all right?” she asked.

Joey nodded excitedly.

“Pinky swear?” she asked, holding out her pinky. Joey nodded and linked his pinky with hers. He hugged Lya, almost crushing her with his small arms.

“I can’t believe I talked to Santa Claus for real…” he beamed, before going back to his drawing. “Love you Lya! You’re the best!”

Lya turned to her friends and smiled, looking down at her hands.

**

“You know, that’s pretty cool what you did for Joey with the whole ‘Santa Claus’ thing” said Brian, as the 2 of them were standing by the door, Jimmy and Johnny were a few feet away, Joey holding on tightly to Jimmy’s hand.

“Ah thanks…” she said, rubbing her neck. “And thanks for putting up with him, he wasn’t supposed to spend the whole day with me really… But I guess he was worried because he’s used to see me 24/7 on weekends and before and after school.” She explained. “Really thanks for letting him tag along.” She said.

“It’s okay Lyn, it was fun. He’s a cool kid… Mc Kenna is the same too you know… Always wants to stay with me when Jimmy is over… I’m afraid she has a crush on him…” he said, rolling his eyes.

Lyn chuckled.
“Speaking of Mc Kenna, I haven’t seen her…” she said, trailing off.

“That’s ‘coz she was staying at my grand parents’ for the week end.” He explained, shoving his hands in his pockets awkwardly.

Lyn was supposed to go back to her grand parents’ now, and he was supposed to go hang out at Matt’s.

“Well, it was really nice spending some time with you. I missed you guys.” She said, looking away from the small group and back at Brian.

“We missed you too Lya… Promise to come see me again before you go back to San Francisco?” he asked.

“Of course Brian.” She assured, taking a step towards him and hugging him.
He hugged her back happily, wishing he could have spent a few more hours with her.

“Come on Joey, let’s go!” she called, as they made their way towards Jimmy, Johnny and Joey.

“Bye Jimmy, bye Johnny!” he said, waving at them excitedly as he took a hold of Lya’s outstretched hands.

“Bye kiddo! See ya Lya! Missed you!” said Jimmy, blowing her a kiss.

She smiled and waved at them.
“Merry Christmas!” she said and then turned left, deciding to take the normal way instead of jumping over the fence.

The guys waved and got in Jimmy’s old car. Seriously, it was a miracle that car was still working…

When Lya came back to her grand parents’ house, much to her surprised, only her grandmother was still there, busying herself in the kitchen.

“What the…” mumbled Lya, looking around the house for Billie Joe and everyone else.

“Don’t bother sweetie, they left to go for a walk, David and your grandfather went with Billie Joe, Adrienne and Jakob.” Explained Suzan, from the kitchen.

Lya made a disappointed face and walked back downstairs as Joey was ‘helping’ Suzan baking cookies.
She smiled at the sight.

“I’ll be in my room…” she said, going back upstairs.

She closed the door to her room and put a Mickael Jackson CD on.
As much as she loved Joey and her friends, she still appreciated having some time for herself every once in a while.

She stretched her arms above her head and let out a yawn as she took a glance at her bedroom, smiling at the American vs French side.

She let herself fall on her bed and instinctively reached for under her pillow, pulling out the envelop and taking a look at the picture.

Who would have guessed that in less than 6 months, so many things could have changed. Her life had been turned upside down, just by one small encounter, kind of.
Because what would have happened if she hadn’t met Billie Joe in New York, if he hadn’t helped her catch her flight…

She smiled at the picture of herself with Billie Joe and put it back in place before taking the teddy bear and holding it close to her chest, and rolling to the side, still holding it close.

She starred at the small replica of the Eiffel Tower and smiled sadly as her eyes drifted to a small frame she had put up when she got back, a small present from Adie. In that frame was a picture of her mother.

“Hey Mum… I love you and miss you, everyday… I know you’re here, somewhere, watching over me. Please watch over Billie Joe and his family, and David too… And my friends…” she trailed off, her voice just above a whisper. “It’s Christmas Eve Mum… I wish you could be here with me. I really do miss you a lot.” She said, her voice slightly cracking. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “And I want to take this opportunity to thank you for bringing Billie Joe and his family into my life… Really, thanks. I’m sure you’re the one who send it my way… He takes good care of me, doesn’t he?” she rambled, her eyes glued on the picture of her dead mother. “I wonder who and where dad is…” she added, before reaching out to touch the frame. “I love you Mum, always.” She said, her voice breaking as her fingers came in contact with the glass recovering the picture. “Thank you for staying by my side…”
And with that, she closed her eyes and turned back to lie on her back.

When she opened her eyes again, she was starring at the ceiling, fighting back the tears.

She had been fine, but it was Christmas time now… Her first Christmas without her mother, the first of a long list…
And so she let the tears flow, no longer caring…

__

Lya walked to the bathroom and switched on the light, she did her business, flushed the toilets and washed her hands, trying to avoid looking at her reflection…
She quickly dried her hands and switched off the light. She wiped her face, in case her makeup had smudge and she now looked like a panda. She wouldn’t know, she hadn’t seen her face…

She walked down the steps, and peaked in the kitchen, expecting to see Joey and her grandmother but no one was there, except for the two plates full of freshly baked cookies.

“Mamie?” she called, turning to head to the living room.

“Joey?” she tried. No answer. Frowning, she walked back to the kitchen. She went to grab a cookie and spot a note on the counter, telling her that they had left for a walk, hoping to find the other and head to the beach.

“Fan-tas-tic.” She said, scrunching up her nose, making a face. She would have rather not be alone right now… Sighing, she reached out for a cookie, when there was a knock at the door. She skipped and the front door and opened it a bit. The person on the other side pushed it open wide and took a step forward:

“Surprise!” he sang.

Lya blinked, being face to face with Jimmy. Well, more like face to chest, since that guy was freaking tall. She heard laughter behind him and tilted her head to the side, seeing Matt, Zacky, Justin, Michelle, Val and the Berrys, along with Brian and Johnny chatting at the back.

“Oh!” was the only sound that escaped her mouth as Jimmy walked past her, patting her head and made himself at home, going to the living room with everyone following him, greeting her and hugging her on their way.
She was taken aback to see everyone pilling up in her house, a little scared too, because she really hadn’t been expecting them to show up…

Brian was the last one to enter and he shut the door behind him, since Lya had made no move to do so, her eyes were glued to the living room. Brian wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple, before resting his head on top on hers. She snapped out of it and turned to hug him, mumbling something incoherent and then squeezed his hand before going to the living room, Brian following her.

“What do you guys want to drink?” she asked, rubbing her neck, praying her grandmother had done some grocery shopping.

“No worries, we brought drinks!” Matt Berry said, taking out various bottles and putting them on the coffee table.

Her eyes widened as she looked at Jimmy for help, but he was too busy cheering and acting as his own self while Johnny went over to the stereo and took a CD out of his pocket, and putting it in the player.

Her eyes found Brian, who was looking at his friends. He felt her eyes on him and turned to her with a smile, but it fell when he saw her face.
Silently, she looked back at the Berry’s and then back at Brian.

“Don’t worry, we brought mostly none alcoholic drinks.” He assured her.

She sighed in relief and a smile appeared back on her face. She walked to the kitchen to grab some plastic cups as music started to fill the house.

She nodded her head in rhythm and opened a cupboard, taking the plastic cups out and walking back to the living room, taking a plate of cookies on her way. Her grandmother must have known they would drop by.

“So Frenchie, how was your life in the bay?” asked Michelle, patting the armrest of the couch she was sitting on.

Lya put the plastic cups and cookies down and went over to Michelle to sit near her but Brian caught her by the waist and pulled her down on his lap, encircling her waist with one arm while Justin poured him a glass of coke. He handed to Lya without a word and held out another empty one for Justin to fill.

Lya said nothing and turned to look at Michelle who was grinning back at her after seeing Brian’s action. Lya paid no attention to that.

“It was pretty great Michelle, different from here though… I don’t know why but it feels different.” She trailed off, taking a sip from her coke.

“Are you going back there anytime soon?” asked Zacky, passing around the cookies. Lya almost choked on her drink and gave a nervous smile.

“Yeah… I’ll stay here for Christmas, and we’ll go back on Sunday afternoon I think…” she explained.

“We?” asked Matt.

“Yeah, she came with her best friend’s mother’s family… They have a kid, he’s rad. His name is Joey…” explained Johnny. And as always when Billie Joe’s family was mentioned, she smiled, looking down at her lap and unconsciously leaning more against Brian.

Brian had one arm wrap around Lya, firmly, while he was talking to Jimmy about some things, half listening to Lya’s conversation still.

“Bro, I have something to tell you…” said Jimmy in a whisper, his face going serious all of a sudden.

“What is it?” Brian asked, smiling as he felt Lya leaning on him and he happily rested his head on her shoulder. She didn’t seem to mind his affectionate gestures, so he might as well make the best of it and hug her while he still could…

“It’s about Lya and Joey’s father…” Jimmy whispered.

“Hmm?” he mumbled, resting his cheek on her shoulder blade, enjoying her warmth through her clothes. That’s when he realized that she was wearing one of his hoodie, she still had it. He smiled and completely blocked out Jimmy’s voice.

Lya was having fun talking with the group of Brian and Jimmy’s friends.
Well, they did came over to see after when she came back, so it was probably time to start considering them as her friends as well…

Her friends…

She smiled as Valary was trying to convince her to go shopping with her and Michelle before leaving to San Francisco again.

Lya opened her mouth to reply just as the front door open and Jakob came running in, shortly followed by Joey. Both of them ran straight to Lya and she immediately jumped off from Brian’s lap.

“Boys, hey!” she greeted them as both kids engulfed her in a hug. Lya’s grandparents came inside, followed by Adrienne, David and Billie Joe who closed the front door.

Lya was quick to react as she flew off the living room and she literally pushed Billie Joe in the kitchen before he could be clearly seen by her friends.

“What the…” he started, annoyed but shut his mouth when he saw the look on her face.

“They weren’t supposed to come here!” she panicked. Adie walked in and rested her hand on Lya’s shoulder as Lya still had her hands on his chest, gripping his T-shirt.

Lya looked over her shoulder and saw that all her friends were up on their feet, greeting her grandparents and also David, who already knew a few of them.

Her head snapped back to Billie Joe.
“Stay in there, I’ll find a way to make them leave or something…” she said, her mind running wild with thoughts.

“It’s okay Lya, we’ll just stay in the kitchen, don’t worry about us. Go back with your friends…” said Adrienne.

“All right…” she whispered, reluctantly leaving the kitchen. She kept glancing in Billie Joe’s direction every 2 seconds. Causing her to almost ran into the wall, missing the entrance to the living room.

When she went back into the living room, Joey had decided to settle himself on Zacky’s lap while Jakob was starring with wide eyes at Johnny’s colorful hair. Johnny chuckled and picked him up, settling him on his lap as Jakob reached out to touch Johnny’s hair. Lya smiled at the sight, forgetting about Billie Joe for a moment.

Jakob truly wasn’t a shy boy…

Jimmy and Brian were talking, Jimmy had a serious look on his face, trying to tell Brian about his new ‘discovery’. He finally had managed to catch Brian’s attention long enough, and since Lya wasn’t in the room, Brian couldn’t be distracted anymore. Or so he thought, because at that exact moment, he spotted Lya making her way to Matt, Justin and the Berry brothers.

She sat on the floor, facing them and they started talking about going on tour, to get some fans in the area. Lya listened quietly, giving her input every now and then, trusting Billie Joe for staying in the kitchen and not showing himself. She felt bad for him, but it was best that way…

“Just rent a van…” she said, “Perform in bars in Cali, sleep in the van and then tour in the states near So Cal… I think it’s the best way to gain a solid fan base…” she said, thinking back to Green Day’s early days at Gilman Street and then on tour in the ‘bibliobus’… They always had stories to tell about those days… One of the dozen reasons why she liked to hang out with the Green Day family.

“That’s so rock’n roll!” cheered Justin. Lya shrugged, taking a sip from her cup.

“That’s what Green Day did at first, besides playing regularly at Gilman…” she explained. “You’ll need someone to contact the bars and stuff like that… You can’t just jump up in a van and leave, you guys might need some preparations…” she added.

“That’s where my girlfriend comes into the picture, right Val?” said Matt, louder so Val could hear him.

“Hmmm?” Val looked away from Michelle and looked at Matt.

“You’ll help us book venues and sh-stuff like that if we go on tour this summer, right?” said Matt.

“What kind of question is that… Of course I will.” She said with a smile before turning to face her sister again.

Brian’s attention wasn’t on Jimmy anymore, it had been on Lya since she stepped a foot in the living room, almost bumping into the wall.

She had the same effect as a magnet, his attention was just drawn to her whenever she was in the same room as he was.
Brian rested his elbow on his knee and let out a quite sigh as he saw Lya making wide hands gesture as she was trying to explain something. She still had that cute accent of hers, mixed up with a fluent English.

Jimmy rolled his eyes and decided to just drop it… He couldn’t get Brian’s attention long enough. He’d have to talk to him in private later on, probably when they’ll leave Lya’s house… Brian just couldn’t focus when she was in the room, poor guy was completely smitten…

“When are you going to make a move on her, huh?” he asked, slightly nudging his best friend. Brian snapped out of his daze and blinked at Jimmy.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you know… Ask her out or something of that kind… You know, ask her to be your girlfriend…” said Jimmy.

Brian, who was drinking, started couching and sprayed some soda on his T-shirt. He tried to swallow down the liquid and started coughing.

Jimmy laughed at his reaction and Brian got up to go to the bathroom before Lya could ask what was wrong.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Billie Joe was sitting at the table, bored. Adrienne was helping Suzan with dinner, David and David were playing some kind of a cards game and Billie Joe was bored and annoyed.

He would have loved to be able to sit in the living room with Lya’s friends. But she’d just freak out… And he didn’t want that. He could understand her distress somehow, but she’ll have to let him meet them one day or another… He wouldn’t be able to avoid them forever. Groaning, Billie Joe ran a hand through his already messy hair and caught a glimpse of Jakob climbing on someone’s shoulder and Joey trying to give a proper high-five to one of Lya’s friends.

He sighed in frustration and got up, heading for the bathroom.

Brian was trying to get his breathing back to normal… Still half shocked by what Jimmy had said. He knew Jimmy was right, but it was freaking him out for some reason… He wanted to tell her that he liked her than more than a friend, but he was scared shitless of what her reaction would be… And he couldn’t afford not having her in his life… It was already hard enough for him to know she was in San Francisco and talking on the phone every now and then, but if she got mad at him and stopped talking to him, he wouldn’t stand it…

It was with a frustrated expression that he walked out of the bathroom, his eyes glued on the floor, not looking where he was going.

His head jerked up when he collided into someone, around the same height as him.

“Sorry.” He apologized, his eyes meeting the other man’s gaze for a brief instant.

“It’s okay, no problem.” Said the older man, lightly taping his shoulder before he started walking to the bathroom.

Brian frowned and watched over his shoulder as the man walked into the bathroom and locked the door after him.

Brian’s frowned deepened.
“I swear I know that guy…” he mumbled, rubbing his neck as he tried to remember. He really looked familiar to him.

“Fuck this shit…” he swore, going back to the living room with his friends.
“I’ve seen that guy before, but where…?”