Dreams of Tomorrow

Brian went back to the living room and sat back down, still frowning.

Lya wasn't anywhere in sight and Brian frowned some more. Looking around, he realized that Jimmy wasn't there either.

"Johnny, where's Lya?"

"Upstairs with Jimmy" he replied, playing with Joey.

Brian jumped up and hurried to the stairs. He, literally, ran up the stairs.

Meanwhile Lya was in her room as Jimmy had requested to talk to her.
"What’s up Jimmy?" she asked, pretending to fix some stuff on her desk.

"Lya..."he said, coming to her. She kept herself busy, pretending not to hear him.

"Lya, look at me..." he said, standing right behind her.

"Athalya" he whispered, touching her hair lightly in order to catch her attention. "We need to talk about it..." he whispered.

She spun around and faced him. "There's nothing to talk about Jimmy..." she said, her gaze glued on his T-shirt.

"Lya that's enough. My patience is wearing thin! When were you planning to tell me..." he said, trying to keep his cool.
He couldn't finish his sentence as Brian walked in, looking flustered as he saw that Lya and Jimmy where standing really close to one other.

"Tell you what?" asked Brian, running a hand through his hair.

"Hey Brian!" greeted Lya, smiling in relief as his interruption stopped Jimmy from saying anything else.

"Brian, why are you here...?" asked Jimmy, not even trying to be nice.

"I just..." Brian trailed off. Jimmy rolled his eyes and left the room, upset.
Lya frowned as Jimmy's back disappeared from her sight.

"Did I interrupt something?" asked Brian.

"Drop it" she whispered, sitting on her bed.

Brian raised an eyebrow and sat next to her. She stayed silent, frowning and looking down at her lap.
He looked around her room, his eyes falling on a poster up on her wall and his eyes widened in realization, his heart skipping a beat.

"Lya...?" asked Brian, trying hard to look away.

"Hmm...?" she said, her eyes following his gaze and she ended up looking at the poster too.

"How come Green Day's leader was downstairs...?"
She froze.

"That was him, wasn't it?"

She blinked and looked down.
"Please, get out..." she said, her voice just above a whisper, almost cracking.

Brian closed his eyes, letting out a shaky breath. He got up and walked away, afraid of saying anything he would most likely regret.

By the time Lya walked downstairs, her friends had left.

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

Christmas was today.
Lya was at the mall with BJ, looking through racks of CDs in a music store.

"Hey, isn't that Lya?" asked Johnny, and before anyone could stop him, he walked to her.

"Hey Lya!" he greeted, engulfing the poor girl in a tight hug as BJ was standing right beside her.

"Oh hi Johnny, what's up?" she said, giving a forced smile in the direction of her friend.
Johnny started chatting to Lya as jimmy, Brian and Matt joined them.

"Oh hey Lya. Hey... nice to meet you..., hum..." Matt trailed off, waiting for the man to introduce himself. Matt was living up to his reputation of being a very respectful kid when elders where involved, not that BJ was that old.

"Hey, I'm Billie Joe" said BJ, shaking Matt’s extended hand.

"You seem familiar..." said Johnny, finally noticing the man that was with Lya.

“I get that a lot…” he said, waving it off with a small laugh.

"That's 'cause he's famous... He's that singer from Green Day..." said Jimmy, his tone icy cold.

Matt and Johnny starred at BJ and then back at Lya, Johnny opened his mouth to speak but Matt stopped him by grabbing his elbow.

Lya was looking straight at Jimmy, an unreadable expression on her face.
That was a low blow, a freaking low blow... She clenched her jaw.

Jimmy looked straight back at her, his expression as cold as hers. Brian looked away, not bearing to see Lya's face at that moment.

Her secret was out, and it'd spray among her friends at the speed of light. Her biggest fear was becoming true, but yet, it wasn't turning as expected...
Before Jimmy had started opening his mouth, she had been thinking of a quick excuse, but damn... What Jimmy just did was just too freaking low...
Oh how she wanted to cry at that moment, but it wouldn't solve anything...

"Well, if you'd excuse us... We shall get going now..." she said, clenching and unclenching her fists. She grabbed a hold of BJ's hand. "Bye guys" she said, dragging a confused Billie Joe behind her. Just as she left the store, her eyes crossed Brian's. The look she gave him was enough to turn his heart into stone. He wanted to shout her name, to make her come back but his lips were sealed shut for some reason, and he could only watch, hopeless, as she walked off, pissed off : thanks to Jimmy's action.

"Was that necessary?" Brian managed to mutter, looking at him.
Jimmy looked down at his best friend,
"Yes it fucking was."

“Hey, isn’t that Billie Joe from Green Day? It’s him!” whispers could be heard as Lya marched towards the parking lot, dragging a confused Billie Joe behind her.

**

Lya had spent the last 2 days in her room, avoiding going out at all cost. The plan had changed and the Armstrong's had decided to celebrate New Year's here. She was patiently waiting to go back "home", in the bay area, where she, somehow, belonged.
She was in her room, listening to Mickael Jackson on repeat when there was a knock on the door. It creaked open and David, her step father, walked in.

"Athalya, do you have a moment?"

She grabbed the remote and lowered the volume, wordlessly.

David took her desk chair and sat down, facing her as she was sitting on the floor.
He let out a sigh and rubbed his hairy chin. His behavior was getting on her nerves, why was he here, disturbing her... She was about to give him a piece of her mind when he spoke up.

"Listen Athalya, I have to know... It's been eating me up... How do you feel here?"

"What do you mean...?" she asked, frowning slightly. David really looked uneasy...

"Are you happy here...? Do you like living here...?"

"Well yeah... Kind of... I guess I am... It's nice..." she trailed off, rubbing her neck and stretching her legs before pulling them up against her chest again.

"Do you plan on coming back to France anytime soon?"

"I don't know... Why?"
They looked at one other for a moment, no words were exchanged, they were eyeing-up one other, trying to read between the lines... Trying to understand the other's attitude...
When finally, David dropped the bomb.

"I've met someone..."

Her mouth made the 'oh' shape and then, she smiled.
"That's great David! I'm happy for you!” she said, tugging her legs under her, now kneeling on the floor.

"Thank you Athalya... she makes me happy..."

"That’s the most important..."

"The thing I wanted to tell you about... it's... well... I..." he reached out for her hand and held it between his 2 hands, on his lap. "I'm thinking of selling the house, because you see, she lives in Ireland, so it's not easy for us to see one other..."

"Oh... I see well that's cool, I mean it's your homeland and... Wait... sell the house...?"

"I'm planning on moving back to Ireland and it's painful to live in this house, so many things remind me of your mother..."

She cut him off,
"Her house... You're planning on selling it...?"

"Only if you don't plan on coming back..."
She pulled her hand back and ran it through her hair.

"You'll sell the house..." she trailed off. David opened his mouth to say something, but the door opened.
"We're leaving now, David" said Adrienne, glancing worriedly at Lya as she caught sight of the young girl on the floor, and the blank expression on her face. Her head snapped away from the floor and to David :
"You're leaving?!"

"I'll celebrate New Year's eve in Dublin, with June..." he explained, turning to look at Lya.
She pushed herself off the floor as David got up.

So many things were left unsaid between those two persons as Lya engulfed her stepfather in a tight embrace, both of them unaware of the fact that it was one of the last time they'd see one other...

"I'll call you soon."
Those were the last words he spoke to her before walking out of her room, Adrienne closing the door behind them.

She waited, her back resting against the door as everyone was leaving to the airport. Lya wasn't going, because David knew she disliked 'Good byes'. And so she was alone in the house again...
Time to dance.

__ __ __ __ __

It was the second day of the New Year...
Lya sat on the fence, her feet dandling in the air, as she looked at the skyline. Her head was buzzing with thoughts, some lighter than others. 3 were occupying most of the place though, they were the most redundant.

It was the fact that her friends had kind of turned their back to her, leaving her. Jimmy more than the others… She had seen him in the streets a few days ago, and he hadn’t even glance at her, not once. He had seen her, that was sure, but he had chosen to be indifferent to her presence. And that hurt her, more than she’d ever admit. Even Justin, who was with him at that time.

Then, the fact that David wanted to sell her mother’s house.

And last but not least, what happened on New Year’s Eve…

Flashback //

It was New Year’s Eve, Jakob was already asleep, he was just too young to stay up until midnight. Lya had put Joey to bed, a little after midnight, poor kid had a hard time staying awake until then.
The “party” was over and Adrienne and Lya’s grandparents were cleaning the table.

Lya was about to go change in her PJs when she felt a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from going upstairs. As she looked over her shoulder, she saw Billie Joe with his coat on, and car keys in hand.

“What’s going on…?” she asked, with a small yawn.

“We’re going for a ride…”

// Flashback

Lya sighed, jumped down the fence, on the sand and took off her shoes, despite the fact that it was January… She rolled down her jeans and put her socks in her shoes. The cold sand made her shiver but she kept on walking, towards the sea…

Flashback //

Billie was driving down PCH. The silence in the car wasn’t a comfortable one.
He sighed as he had glance at Lya for the 10th time in 3 minutes. He left the road at some point, turned right and somehow found a parking lot near a cliff. He turned off the engine and got out, slamming the door shut. Lya blinked and got out of the car as well, not before looking at the clock, it was almost 2am. She wrapped her scarf tighter, closed the door and walked on the parking lot. It looked kind of creepy there and she could have been scared if she had been with anyone else besides Billie Joe. Her trust in this man was beyond rationality.
She rubbed her nose and walked over to him as he was standing close to the barrier, looking at the crashing waves a few feet under. Sensing her presence, he turned his head to look at her, he turned his body as well and faced her.

“What’s wr-“ started Athalya, seeing the crease on BJ’s forehead but she was immediately cut off when he pulled her close to him. She was startled by the gesture but hugged him back none the less, enjoying his warmth.

“Athalya,” she frowned as he used her full name. “I’m sorry about your friends” he said, his head resting on top of hers, his eyes unfocussed.

“It’s not your fault…” she whispered. “It was bound to happen sometime… If it’s anyone’s fault, it should be mine.”

Billie Joe pulled away and held her at arms’ length, starring at her.

“Athalya, you have the right to hate me, scream at me or even hit me… Anything to make you feel better.” He said. She starred at him with wide eyes.

“Of course not!”

“Lya, stop trying to be strong, stop acting as if you’re not affected by what’s been happening you know…”

“But…”

“There’s no ‘but’. I thought we were past that, you know… I thought you were done pretending… You were doing so much better…” he whispered, tugging a strand of hair behind her ear, gently stroking her cheek.

“But I’m all right…” she whispered, trying to avoid looking at him in the eyes.
He kept starring at her… “I’m fine…” she trailed off. The more he kept starring at her, the more she wanted to cry, mumbling : “I’m fine…”

“No, you’re not fine Lya…” he said, “But I don’t understand why you keep doing that you know, why you keep pre-”

She cut him off, with 3 words.
“I’m scared.”

Billie Joe frowned and opened his mouth to ask for explanations when she jumped back in his arms.
“I’m scared, Billie Joe… I’m scared… What will happen…? What if everyone hears about me? What’s going to happen now that they know about you? What’s going to happen afterwards…” she rambled. “You can’t leave me… I’m scared you will leave… But you can’t leave me… I don’t want you to… I won’t let you.” She was now crying, clutching at his coat, holding onto him as if her life was depending on him.

“What…” he started.

She pushed him.

“What if the medias or something start weird rumors? I mean, the whole school is going to know… What about Adie, and Green Day? It could be something like a prejudice to Green Day… I won’t let that happen… I’ll kill them if needed…” she said, her voice getting louder as she was pacing in front of Billie Joe, who was speechless. It was like, as if something had snapped inside her, like he had triggered some locket from a door where she kept everything bottled up inside…
“I swear, they might be my friends, but if the media get a hold of this, I’ll kill them!”

“Lya!” cried Billie Joe.

“You don’t get it!” she yelled, facing him again. “You don’t get it! No one ever gets it!” she shouted, throwing her arms up in the air as she turned around again, her back to him.

“I don’t know why… I have no idea why but I fucking care about you! It has always been like ever since I started listening to Green Day, even when I had no freaking idea how you looked like! I’ve always been drawn to you. There was something…” she turned back to look at him. “For some reason, you spoke to me… Your songs, your melody, your lyrics, your voice… Your music, it meant something to me, as if you were speaking/singing to me, and only me. Every single song, I could relate to every single word…” she looked at her feet and let out a heartbreaking sigh. Billie Joe took a step forward, which made her look up.

“And then, when I thought my life was at a dead end, you showed up, out of nowhere, literally, taking care of me… I felt like I had a family again…” she stopped and slowly her eyes met his. “You were just as I thought you were, only cooler. You are far better than just a simple singer in a punk rock band… You’re a great man.” Lya’s heart was throbbing in her chest, thumping loudly. It was just the 2 of them, on a deserted parking lot, somewhere in SoCal… It was 2am, it was cold, but yet, here they were, not minding the cold, not minding the wind. Billie Joe could only stare at her as she was emptying her mind, letting him know just how much she cared, letting him now her deepest feelings. He could only keep his eyes on her, watching her every move as she was pouring her heart out to him. In the back of his mind, he kept the image of Shania, the 2 were so alike… It made his heart ache more. And so he waited, waited for her to finish her rant, to tell him everything she had to say…

“I felt like… felt like you treated me…” she trailed off, feeling as if her heart was about to stop. “You treated me as your own daughter.” She dropped her head, silent tears rolling down her cheeks and chin.

And Billie Joe’s breath got caught up in his throat at her words. He had thought about it, wondered how she felt towards him, but hearing her say it, and watching the pain on her face as she let it out, it wasn’t what he expected, what he wanted to see. He wanted her to be smiling while saying this, not crying.
“Lya…” he whispered.

“Yes I’m selfish, yes I’m paranoid… but it’s because I love you…” she cried. “I love you as if you were my own father…” she trailed off, griping her hair. “But you’re not! And that kills me!” she shouted. “We’re nothing to one other… NOTHING!”

She looked up and pointed at him with a shaking hand. “You… you have your own family, a loving wife and 2 great sons… You’re famous, you got thousands of fans worshipping the ground you walk on… You are someone.” Then, she pointed at herself, looking at him, but without really seeing him.
“Me…? I’m that French kid everyone feels bad for… A deceased mother and no father… No family and no friends… No future… I’m nothing…” She clenched her jaw, suppressing a sob as she looked away. “You, you’re the star… Me, I’m the hopeless fan… But for some reason, you seem to care about me… But I can’t wrap my head around your reason… I just can’t understand… It seems surreal…” she said. “We’re not even blood related…” she whispered.

Billie Joe froze and starred at the young girl in front of him. He had guessed some of the things she was saying, but hearing it directly from her was making it more real, more painful for the both of them. Her hair was a complete mess, he took a step closer, tears kept rolling down her already humid cheeks, another step, she was starring at the ground, her shoulders shaking lightly, one more step. As he finally reached her, he gathered her in his arms. She tried to fight him, she even started to hit him, hitting his chest repeatedly, but her hits were getting softer and softer until her hands fell limp by her sides.

“Athalya, look at me…” he whispered, slowly pulling back. She shook her head.

“Athalya, look at me…” he repeated, reaching to touch her face and gently wipe her cheeks. “Hear me out too…” he said, sighing. “I’m not as great as you think I am… I’m just human Lya…” he said, lifting her head so she would look at him. “I made mistakes, I still do… Just like everyone else.”

“No, it’s not possible…” she whispered, shaking her head lightly.

“Yes it is Lya… I’m not that great person you see in me you know, I did stuff I wish I could take back… I’d give anything I can to go back in time…” he whispered, looking away from her face and up to the sky for a second, he sighed deeply and then brought his attention back to Lya, obviously moved as tears could be seen at the corner of his eyes. “You know, I’d give anything… But what’s done is done now, and I can’t go back…”

“What are you talking about…?” she asked.

“Things I’m ashamed of…” he said, frowning, looking away.

“You never cheated on mu… on Adie, did you?” was her immediate reaction. He would have chuckled, if the situation was different.

“Of course not!”

“Then Billie Joe, let me tell you something… Whatever you did, it can’t be that bad…” she whispered, wiping her tears and giving him a small smile. “As long as you cherish, love and stay faithful to your soul mate, as long as you take care of your family and friends like you do… I’m sure that whatever you did, it can’t be that bad.”

Billie Joe looked down, closing his eyes and tightly and clenching his jaw before immediately looking back up at the sky, muttering something before hugging Lya against his chest. She hugged him back, closing her eyes as he began to swing them from side to side.
“About what you said…” he whispered. “You’re not nothing to me Lya, you’re not nothing in general, you know. You are something. And I do care about you, you’re family, you’re part of my family... And I wish I could tell you just how much you mean to me, but you know, as you might have noticed… I’m more of a listener than a talker, you know… But I want you to know, and you better keep that in your head, all right? I consider you as a part of my family, and I do care about you, you’re more than a fan to me, you never were just a fan to me…”

// flashback

She let out a small chuckle as she wiped her tears, facing the skyline, her feet now in the icy cold water. She let out a deep sigh and smiled, looking up at the cloudy sky, hoping it wouldn’t rain…

Flashback //

They were heading back to the car, but Billie Joe seemed uneasy and Lya noticed it. As they got back inside, BJ rested his head on the steering wheel. Lya sat down, her heart still not back to normal.

“B…?” she whispered, noticing his position, she rested her head on his shoulder. He lifted his head and looked at her, he looked tired and like he had a lot on his mind.
He leaned back on his seat and closed his eyes.

“This is complicated…” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“What’s complicated…?” she asked, frowning.

“The situation, what I feel…”

Lya froze on her seat and starred at him with wide eyes.

“No, no, no, no…that came out wrong… You know you’re part of family, and I love Adrienne…” he said, shaking his head, chuckling at her expression. His expression darkened suddenly. “I meant… I’m jealous… of your step father. There I said it!” he said, closing his eyes and pouting slightly like a small child.

“Jealous of David, ho-… wha-… I mean, why?” she asked in a whisper, surprised by his revelation.

“Well, you know… You lived with him, you’ve known him for a long time, a good half of your life, almost all your life… And you’ve met him before your mother’s death you know… It was under completely different circumstances…” he sighed. “I can’t help but wonder, you know, what if we had met before your mother’s death… Would you have the same opinion of me…?”

“Billie Joe…”

“David, you have memories from when you were still a kid with him, you know… You guys have things in common and you hug him and you call him ‘dad’ you know…” he trailed off. “You call my wife ‘mum’, because you needed a mother figure…”

“B… I…”

“And you wouldn’t believe how much it means to her, and to me too… But I’m a guy, and it hurt my feelings and my pride… Because, you know… You said you see me as a father figure, but yet, you still don’t call me Dad… And I feel like I’m doing a better job at taking care of you than David…” he muttered. “And every time I see you with David, it saddens me… And he can meet your friends and I can’t…”

“Listen B…”

“So I talked to your grandparents you know… And David was there too, because it was before he left for Dublin, you know… And we really don’t get on, you know…”

She smiled at his use of “you know”, he put that everywhere he could…

“You know… and David told me he was against my idea… And it upset me and then, what happened with your friends, you know… It was the last blow, I felt like, maybe I wasn’t doing a good job in taking care of you like I promised you mother, you know… So, Adie told me to gather up my courage and so I listen to her, you know… I’m going to suggest you something, but you don’t necessarily have to accept, you know…”

“What is it B…?” she asked, feeling uneasy at the distress in his voice, he was usually so sure of himself…

He took a deep breath and opened the glove box, taking out a brown envelop, he placed it on her lap.
She reached out to open it, but BJ placed his hands on top of hers, stopping her.

“You’ll take a look at it when you’re ready and when you are able to answer those 2 questions : are you ready to move on? And are you ready to let go…?”

“What do you mean B…?” she asked as he retracted his hands and started the engine.

“Just keep those in mind Lya, please… It’s important that you think about it through fully before looking at the content.”

She nodded.
He drove off and they were back on the road, on their way back to HB. The music was playing softly and BJ rested his hand on her lap, they were both silent. It had been an eventful night/early morning for the both of them, and they would surely remember that peculiar New Year’s Eve, they were too caught up in their own thoughts to even try to make small conversation.

// Flashback.

Lya let out a long sigh, her feet still in the sea.

Are you ready to move on…? She closed her eyes and took a step forward.

Are you willing to let go…? she took a deep breath, her hair floating around her face.

Was she ready to move on? What did he meant by that… Was she willing to let go? What was that supposed to mean, what was he implying?

The brown envelop was in her room, on her desk. She had yet to look at its content for she still needed the answers to those questions.

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

“And… back to school.” Said Justin.

“Back to hell you mean…” said Jimmy, yawning.

“It’s been 2 days already guys, it’s Wednesday… I know you guys don’t like being here; neither do I, but come on! At least try to be “up to date” you know…” said Val, chuckling as she slide on the bench, next to Matt. “How was your morning?”

“Boring.” They all replied as Michelle and Jason sat down at the table, unlike her twin, Michelle seemed uneasy, she kept frowning and looked half sick. No one even noticed it as a familiar figure made its way to them.

“Here comes my man, Gates! What’s up bro?” said Matt, waving his friend over. Brian was just in time for lunch as always.

“Man, you look like shit…” said Zacky, slightly smacking his back as a greeting.

“And I feel like shit…” was his reply as he sat down next to Jimmy, across from Johnny who was silent, strangely enough.

“What’s wrong?” asked Val.

Brian stayed silent and started eating the sandwich he had brought with him.

“It’s Lya… We haven’t heard from her for a few days now… Since what happened at the music store.” Said Matt, frowning as he recalled the event. “I still can’t believe it’s was that Green Day guy with her…”

“Yeah, it’s unbelievable... I feel betrayed…” said Zacky, before taking a bit of his pizza.

“Yeah, like she never trusted us or something…” added Jason. Johnny silently clenched his fists underneath the table.

“Hey, let’s just drop it… She had her reasons…” he said, looking at Jimmy and then at Brian.

“Oh yeah…? What reasons?!?” snapped Jimmy.

“You know damn well how she is, you, better than any of us… She kept this away from us because she felt like it wasn’t necessary for us to know…” he said, “And also, to avoid those kind of situations…” he muttered, nodding in the direction of a nearby table where a group of girls were gathering around a sitting girl.

“Hey Lila, is it true that you know Green Day?” “I mean, are you close to them? Are you related to Billie Joe? I want his babies! You’ll tell him that I love him, right?! Because I’m his biggest fan!”

Those girls were speaking loudly, addressing to a young girl who looked ready to commit murder, or suicide… The poor girl was only trying to eat her lunch in peace…

“It’s Lya, not Lila…” she said, trying to make them listen.

“We’re best friends now, right? Do you think you can take me to their houses?” “I want Tré’s babies!” squealed a girl.

“Hey, wait... isn’t that…” started Jason.

The girl who was being harassed slowly lifted her gaze from her plate and glared up at the group of girls.

Brian’s breath got stuck in his throat as he caught sight of familiar green eyes.

“She’s back to school?” asked Val.

Johnny let out a bitter laugh,
“Obviously… You were just too caught up in being mad at her that you failed to notice that one of your “friends” was back to school…”

“Hey, Johnny… Get off your high horses all right?” snapped Matt Berry, glaring at the youngest. “I don’t like the tone you’re using…” added Jimmy.

“She was in 2 of your classes this morning Jimmy… How could you not notice her presence?” he asked, his gaze still glued on the girl as she tried to stand up.

“She’s been struggling with groupies ever since she came back to school, on Monday… Because, for some reasons… The whole school knows.” He said, bringing his attention to the ones sitting at the same table as he was.

“And how did you know she was there?” snapped Jimmy, “Why didn’t you told us?”

Brian was still focused on her as she had finally managed to stand up and was now trying to make her way out of the cafeteria.

“Because she took the bus with me ever since Monday afternoon!” he replied simply, taking a quick glance at Brian and then focusing on Jimmy.

“And you failed to give us this information because…?” asked Matt, frowning. Unlike the rest, he was still fairly calm, trying to understand the situation.

“Because you’re all acting like stuck up assholes!” he said.

“Yo Shortshit, you…” started Jimmy, only to be cut off by Johnny.

“Oh you, shut your big mouth for once! You consider yourself as her “best friend” and all that shit but you’re the one who put her in this situation in the first place.” He snapped. “You should have talked to her in private inside of telling her secret out in the middle of the freaking mall… You guys fail to understand her, you just can’t pretend to be her friend after what you did…”

“Just ‘cause her mother’s dead, she has the right to lie to us?” asked Justin.

Johnny slammed his fist on the table, “That’s not it you big moron! And stop bringing her deceased mother into that! She wasn’t lying, she was trying to find a way to explain the situation to us, and you didn’t even give her the chance! You jumped to conclusion, like you always do! You go around, acting as if you knew her, but you fucking don’t, so stop that.”

Brian snapped his attention back to Johnny and frowned, he clenched his fist and opened his mouth but Johnny beat him to it.
“And you Brian, you say you love her, but when she needs you, you’re not even there… She asked you to leave? Big fucking deal… You should have stayed, try to understand her reasons… Like a real fucking friend would do! But no, she hurt your pride, didn’t she? The great Syn Gates felt like crap compared to the great leader of her favorite band, the band she’d give her life for…”

He heard a chuckle.

“Don’t you dare laugh, or even question her love and admiration for that band…”

Johnny turned to gaze in surprise as Jimmy had spoken out, taking Lya’s defense. He chose to ignore his intervention and kept going with his rant.
“You’re mad at her because she, for once, kept something to herself, right…? But think for a second, use your brain for something useful at least once today… Would you have believed her if she had told you she knew him? No you wouldn’t… Because you’d have judged her, some of you would have start thinking she was a groupie, or worse… Because you simply don’t want to understand, you say she should have told us, but what for? And would you have listened to her? I doubt so…” he said, glaring at the group of friends. “And personally, I fail to understand how this concerns us… So what if she knows him… I admit…” he said, sighing, “When I heard about it at the music store; I felt disappointed, I didn’t understand why she kept it from us… But I thought about it, calmly,” he added, glaring at Jimmy and Brian, “I’m happy she knows him… I mean, if you really are her friend, you’d know how much she loves that band, so it’s great if she knows them… I’m happy for her, because her situation isn’t easy… And no, her mother’s death isn’t to be use as an excuse again…” He shook his head and looked at Val, “Val, imagine you know your favorite band, would you brag about it?”

“I…” she trailed off, frowning, she was caught off guard by his question.

“Personally, I wouldn’t.” whispered Michelle. Johnny gave her a heart whelming smile before focusing back on the others.

“Seriously, I know that half of you probably didn’t even listen to what I had to say, but to those who actually care about her well being, she’s not fine. She came back to school and I don’t understand why… She truly isn’t well…” he whispered, looking at Brian and then at Jimmy. “So put your pride aside, and do something before she gives up…” he said, grabbing his bag and leaving.

“Johnny!” yelled Matt, but Johnny shook his head, walking out of the cafeteria, in search of Lya.