Dreams of Tomorrow

A few weeks had passed since Lya's successful return to the group.
As if her hair color had had an impact on her, she looked more confident, talked more freely, laughed and smiled more often.

She was getting on with Jason and Zacky much better now, joking with them from times to times, as if she had never beaten up Justin...
She was much closer to Michelle now too, since the 'pregnancy-scare' incident, everywhere Michelle was going, she'd try to drag Lya. And Val did the same thing. Lya was almost considered as the 3rd twin.

Matt and Val were still together, Michelle was still with Jason Berry. When they were going on dates, Lya would hang out with the "Dream Team" as she liked to call them, her dream team was consisted in Jimmy, Brian and Johnny. Sure, Johnny was never with Brian and Jimmy if Lya wasn't there...

The Green Day members were working hard on their new album, finally settling on calling it "Warning"... Lya still talked to Adrienne twice a week on the phone, but it had been about 2 weeks since she last talk to Billie Joe, and it was starting to upset her.

Lya was sitting on the windowsill, starring outside as the sun was setting already. It was February now, she thought as her eyes casted a quick glance on the calendar, stopped on the picture frame on her nightstand and landed on the sky again.
So much had happened since she first stepped in the USA, 6 months ago...
She remembered her first meeting with Billie Joe and Tré, her first meeting with Val, Jimmy and the rest. Her first meeting with Johnny, and then with Brian. The day she met Billie Joe as her mother's best friend, her first Green Day show with Brian and Jimmy, the day she went to B's house, the Halloween party at Brian's, when her step-father visited her, when she left to stay with the Armstrong's for a while, Christmas, New Year and now, it was February...

She chuckled as she remembered crazy things her friends did, the nights she had stayed over at one of their houses, the afternoons at the park... Small things that made each and every day unique in their own way.

She let out a deep sigh, trying to wipe the smile off her face as she took a glance at her room. Her nose scrunched up slightly... Lya walked over to her stereo and skipped the song before climbing on her bed and starring at the 2 flags hanging above her bed.

She mumbled something under her breath...

* *

"What's the matter?" asked David, looking at his wife as she was at the bottom of the stairs, looking at Lya's bedroom door with a slight frown on her face.

"Nothing... I'm just surprised she hasn't come down yet to go see her friends, she's been in her room ever since she came back from school, do you think she had a fight with them?"

"Suzan, darling... Lya's been out every day after school, maybe she's doing her homework now... Or she just fell asleep, I don't know... But I think you're worrying for nothing... Lya's been doing much better." he said, going back to watch TV.

Suzan was silent.

David sighed,
"But if it's bothering you so much, just go up and see what she's been up to..." he said, glancing in the hall just in time to see his wife rushing up the stairs. He let out a chuckle and rested his head on the headrest, going back to watch the documentary.

* *

"Athalya?" asked Suzan, noticing the door was cracked open. Receiving no answer, she tentatively pushed it wider, only for her to widen her eyes in surprise.

"Oh hey Mamie! Surprised, huh?" asked Lya, wiping her hands on her jeans.

Suzan starred in awe at the room. Lya had changed the decoration, taking things off and so on, but what was more surprising was the fact that she had moved the furniture around, changing the place of the bed and the desk. Almost all the posters were taken down, except for 2 posters on 2 of the closets door, the middle one staying bare. The flags were taken down as well.
The bed had been pushed into a corner, and the wall was plastered with pictures. The desk had been pushed to fit between the wall and the window. In whole, the room looked bigger and even though the French and American flags had been taken down, it looked more personal, more like Athalya. There were definitely improvements in her behavior...

On the mirror, Suzan noticed several sticky notes with words scrambled on it, surrounding the mirror and leaving little space to actually see your reflection...

"I thought it was time for a change, no? And plus, I feel more American than French now, the flags weren't necessary..." Lya explained, coming to stand next to her grandmother. "I kept the Statue of Liberty and the empty Starbucks cup though..."she said, pointing at those items on her nightstand. "That's what the guys bought me for my birthday... I put the posters and other stuff in a box I put at the bottom of the closet, in case I might need them again..."

"I took the posters down too, I like the color of the walls, purple is nice... I just put pictures above my bed... And yeah, that's all..." she stated, wiping the sweat of her forehead.

"It's too late to go see the boys now, and plus I need to study... I'm still planning on graduating from France and from here and I won't succeed if I keep hanging out with them after school... The weekends are enough I think, don't you think? I mean, I'll only hang out with them during the weekends from now on... If I don't graduate, Billie Joe said they won't take me on tour with them... Well, Mike said that they would take me with them no matter what, but still..." she trailed off, looking at the 2 Green Day posters on the closets doors.

Suzan walked over to Athalya's bed and sat down, patting the space next to her. Lya frowned slightly but came to sit next to her grandmother.

The 2 women looked at one other for a few seconds, before Suzan broke the silence.
"Are you really happy Athalya, or are you just pretending?" she asked.

Lya frowned, "What?"

"Honey, are you really feeling better now? Or are you just pretending, for everyone's sake..."

"Mamie, I swear on Joey's head that I am happy... Really. Well, of course I won't jump from joy just like that, but I do feel better, really... I think you were right, not everyone in this world is evil or wicked... I think they are some good people here, really genuinely nice... Michelle, Johnny, Jimmy and Brian are one of them... Let's not talk about Adrienne, Joey and Billie Joe..." she stopped and let out a small sigh before looking back at her grandmother. "I like it here, sure it's not France... But I don't think there is anything left for me in France now... There are things that you cannot forget, no matter how hard you try, you just can't... And I think you shouldn't forget them, I think you should just try to learn how to deal with them, make them a part of you are as a person... It's not easy, but I think that I should pity myself, people in the world are dealing with worst situations than mine... And also, and maybe most importantly, I'm not alone... No matter how much I wished to be alone at first, it's just not possible anymore... I have family and friends who care about me... I have you and I have Papy... I really shouldn't complain..."she said, nodding to herself. "So yeah Mamie, to answer your question... I'm definitely feeling better now, I think I'm getting there..." she looked at her grandmother, smiling.

* *

"No, I can't..." she said, blocking the door with her knee.

"But Lya..." whined Jimmy.

"No Jimmy, I told you I have to focus on my studies now... The only one allowed to enter is Brian, because he's the only one actually trying to graduate..." she said.

Jimmy kicked an invisible rock and shoved his hands in his pockets, huffing.
"Jimmy, you look like a kid... For real, try to understand me... I have to graduate Jim'..." she said in a sigh.

"Fine..." he grumbled, "but you better show up at Val and Michelle's party..."

"Of course I will Jim'... I wouldn't miss your birthday you dummy..." she said, letting go of the door as Jimmy kept pouting.

"Come here..." she mumbled, opening her arms for a hug. "There, you got your hug, can I please go back to studying?"

Jimmy kept swinging her from left to right before letting go of her.
"Okay, then... I'll pick you up tomorrow morning?" he asked.

"Sure thing!" she said, nodding.

He smiled, giving her a thumb-up before getting back into his car, just as Brian walked in the driveway.
Brian waved at Jimmy, smiling before trotting to the front door, just as Lya was about to close it.

"Oh hey Brian!" she said, opening the door wider and giving him a hug. "Come on in..." she said, she waved one last time at Jimmy and then closed the door behind them.

"So, what are you going to study?" asked Brian, taking off his shoes.

"Chinese I think... I'd like to improve you know... I'm tired of getting low marks..." she said, pouting slightly as she led the way to her room.

"Fine with me, should we do like last time? I held up those small cards and you tell me the translation?" he asked, dropping his backpack next to her desk before he went to make himself comfortable on her bed, looking at the ceiling.

She grabbed a stack of carton cards and walked to her bed, slapping his stomach. He jerked up and muttered something under his breath.

"You need to work out!" she retorted, sticking out her tongue and handing him the cards before going to sit on the desk chair.

"And you should be nicer to me! I could be out with my friends, instead of helping you, you know..." he said, grumpily.

"You know I love you Brian!" she replied with a smile. He let out a sigh and picked the first card, holding it so she could see it.

"I" she said, bored. "Don't" "Know." ... "You" "Drink" Tea"... "Yah! Come on Brian, it's in the same order as last time... It's boring..." she pouted.

"Should I try to make up sentences then?" he enquired. "The grammar might not be right though..."

"It's fine... Just try to make it more entertaining... I feel like falling asleep..." she mumbled, rubbing her forehead.

Brian spread the cards on her bed and thought for a moment before picking up the firs card.
"Ni... Bu, chu, jia..." She chuckled, "Brian, its Ni Bu Hui Jia. And is it a question or what?"

"It's not a question, I don't want you to go back home." he mumbled.

"Then it should be, Wo bu yao ni hui jia. Or something of the kind, but go ahead! It's entertaining!" she said, smiling.

A few seconds passed, Brian looked at the cards, turning them over to see the translations.
Lya smiled as he looked really concentrated.

"Wo bu yao ni chu faguo" she read. "I don't want you to go to France, is that what you meant?" she asked.

"Yeah, next sentence!"

And it went on like that for a good half an hour, Brian changing from sentences like: "Do you want tea?" to sentences that held a personal meaning behind it, such as: "Do you have a boyfriend?" or "You shouldn't go back home."
"Home" meaning: France in his language. Lya was having fun, she really had no idea what the next sentence was going to be.

She, unconsciously, let out a yawn, something that didn't go unnoticed by Brian.
"Come on Lya, you're tired. Let's stop there for today, okay?"

She frowned and was about to protest again but instead she just yawned again. Brian shook his head and gathered the cards.

"Ni hui jia ma?" she asked, seeing him standing up.

"No" he said, placing the cards on her desk. They both froze and starred at one other, before they both started laughing.

"I'm sorry" she apologized, still laughing, "I switch from English to Chinese..."

"That's fine, at least I was able to understand what you asked... No, I'm not going home. Not yet..." he said, sitting on her desk, watching her as she was lightly spinning on her desk chair.

She did look healthier now, and maybe livelier too... And damn, the black hair really did suit her.

The room felt silent, both of them immersed in their own thoughts.

* *

"Let me ask you again... Why am I here?" asked Lya, looking at Michelle's reflection in the mirror as she was choosing what clothes to wear.

"For Jimmy's birthday party..." she replied, frowning at her reflection and then throwing her clothes on the bed, missing Lya's head by an inch.

"I know that, I meant, here as in your bedroom while you're trying to find something to wear... I thought you were dressed already!" she said, leaning against the wall.

"But I am. That's not for me." she said, shaking her head and walking to her closet again.

"Then what the heck are you doing 'Chelle? Shouldn't we help Val?"

"Lya, come here..." she said. Lya pursed her lips as she realized her friend wasn't even paying attention to what she had been saying. She sighed and walked toward Michelle.

"It's not for me..." she said absent-mindly, "I'm trying to find something for you to wear." she said. But it came out muffled as she was half into the closet.

"What? For me?" asked Lya, praying she was mistaken.

"Yeah, for you Frenchie..." she said, more clearly as she now had her head out of the closet.

"But I'm dressed Michelle!" she retorted.

"Yeah, but it's a party Lya... Jimmy's birthday party, don't you want to make an effort? Didn't you tell me you would try to make an effort?"

"Yeah, but those were the best clothes I had..." she whispered, ashamed.

"That is why I'm trying to help you girly..." said Michelle, smiling at her friend. "And don't worry, I think I know your clothing style now, nothing slutty, I swear!" she quickly added, seeing the look of distress on her black haired friend. "All right, I think that will do..."

Lya looked at what Michelle was holding out for her.
"That's all?" she asked, unsure.

"Well yeah, your jeans' fine, your shoes too, I know you don't like heels. Just thought you could change your T-shirt, it's a plain black T-shirt, this one's better, no?"

"True..." she said, still a bit uneasy.

"Go on, try it!" she said. Lya wrinkled her nose and just turned her back to her friend, taking off her T-shirt and putting on the top Michelle had given her. It was a 'double' tank top. Grey and black, the grey part was underneath and you could only see a bit of it, otherwise it was just black. In the back, it was held with a small silver ring. It didn't look fancy, it just looked better than her plain black T-shirt.

Athalya turned around and glanced at her reflection in the mirror, a doubtful look on her face.

"That's good!" said Michelle, nodding approvingly. "It suits you". Lya gave a short nod.

"Now let's go on with your make-up..."

"What?"

Before Lya could understand what was happening to her, she was seated on the desk chair and Michelle was hovering over her. It only took a few minutes, but it felt like hours to Lya.

"I'm done!" Michelle stated proudly. Lya was hiding herself behind her hands, afraid to look at herself. Last time someone decided to do her make-up and hair, she couldn't recognize herself.

"Come on, I swear you'll like it!" she urged.

Lya took a peek at her reflection through her fingers, first looking at her lips. Same color, nothing weird on that part, thankfully. She took a deep breath and lowered her hands. She blinked.

"What did you do?" she asked dumbly.

Michelle chuckled. "See, you can't even see the difference. I only applied some powder, so you look less pale. A tiny bit of grey/black eye shadow, mascara and tadam! Nothing fancy, you can't even notice it." she stated, obviously proud of herself.

"And my hair...?" she asked, "Oh yeah, the pin." she said, nodding.

"Well yeah, didn't do much... You hair looked good the way you put it, only tried to get it out of your face a little." she explained simply, leaning against the desk. "So what do you think?"

Lya got up and looked at herself, then at her friend "Thank you." she said, smiling timidly at Michelle who just grinned in answer.

Both girls exited the room, after putting the clothes back in the closet.

Lya looked at her friend's attire and then at herself. Michelle did respect her choice and style. Michelle was dressed up, you could see it, and so was Val. Lya, not so much. You could see the difference, but it wasn't too obvious. It wasn't like she was wearing a skirt and heels, nothing that obvious...

She helped the girls finishing the last stuff before everyone would start crowding the place.
Michelle was in charge of the food, Val of the drinks, and Lya was in charge of the door... It was to work on her 'social phobia' as put it Michelle.

The door bell rang just as Michelle had put the stereo on. Lya took a deep breath and marched towards the door, she starred at the door knob for a second before opening it.

Her face immediately brightened up when she realized it was only Matt.

"Am I too early?" he asked, smiling sheepishly. Lya smiled in return.

"Nope, not at all. But you're still the first one to arrive" she said, closing the door behind him. Matt nodded and held out his arms. Lya made a face and hugged him. Michelle and Val were looking at the scene, amused.

"Come on! Am I that repulsive?" asked Matt, faking to be offended.

"No, that's not that..." quickly said Lya, afraid he would misunderstand.
Matt chuckled and let her go.

"I know... I was just joking. It one of the first time you actually hugged me to greet me, last time was just to say thanks." he stated. "You barely hug anyone besides Jimmy, Brian and sometimes Johnny and the girls. I felt left out..." he said. Lya looked down, her cheeks tainted pink.

"See... 'Social phobia'..." said Michelle, making air quotes.

"Am I going to have to hug everyone?" asked Lya, her eyes wide.

"Will I have to..." said Michelle. Lya bit her lip, "Sorry, will I have to hug everyone?"

Matt looked at Val for answer, confused as to why Michelle was correcting Lya's English.
"Chelle and Lya made somewhat of a 'pact', after what happened with the guys, Lya said she was willing to improve herself, so Chelle offered to help her... Hence was she's correcting her English and trying to get her more comfortable with people." explained Val quickly as Michelle was reassuring Lya.

The door bell rang again and Lya sighed, before putting a smile on her face and opening the door.
"Hey Zack, hey Justin!" she said, hugging them and then letting them in.

Seconds later, the door bell rung again.
Lya opened it and was almost immediately lifted off the ground, "Yah!" she yelped.

"Oh sorry Lya! I was expecting Michelle to open the door!" apologized Jason as he quickly let her down. Lya starred at him with wide eyes, not reacting as he gave her a quick hug, but snapping back to reality when Can and Matt Berry hugged her.

"Go inside guys, don't stay in the doorway..." said Lya, ushering them in the living room. She skipped back to the front door again.

"Hey Johnny!" she said, hugging him, then she was passed to Brian and ended in Jimmy's arms.

"Happy Birthday!" she said, hugging him tighter. He grinned and released her.

"Thank you Shorty! Damn, did you dressed up for me?" he asked, smiling teasingly. Lya smiled and nodded shortly before she was interrupted but the door again. More and more people started to come in and she gave up with welcoming everyone, she didn't know them anyway. Just like Val gave up serving everyone a drink.

"Drinks are in the kitchen!" she yelled, as Matt lifted her up so everyone could see her, before she touched the ground again and started dancing with Matt.

Athalya was trying her best to act normal, as if she actually belonged here... Seeing all her friends enjoying themselves, dancing to the music or chatting and drinking, she just couldn't be gloomy... And plus, it was for Jimmy's birthday... She'd hold on for a while, and then lock herself in her room for the next 3 days... She took the drink that was handed to her by one of the Berry's and made her way through the crowd, trying to spot any familiar faces to hold onto. She spotted blond spiky hair emerging from the mass. She smiled to herself and slide between the dancing bodies until she reached her destination and linked her arm with his, taking a sip from her glass with her free hand.

"Ah Lya!" he smiled, "Let me introduce you to Kate, Kate, this is Athalya, Athalya this is Kate."

Lya forced a smile on her face as she greeted the stranger. But she didn't had to force herself for long, she relaxed soon after when Kate let out a magic sentence:
"Oh, you're the Green Day fan?"

A true grin broke on Lya's face.
"Yeap, that'd be me!"

"Brian told me a lot about you, so did Jimmy." Kate explained, after taking a sip from her drink.

"I'm hoping it was all good things, otherwise, please do not believe anything they told you..." she said, trying to joke a little. She unlinked her arm from Jimmy's, trusted one hand in her back pocket and crossed her fingers, hoping she just hadn't made a fool of herself.

Kate grinned, "All good I swear, otherwise I promise I'll tell you..." she said with a wink. Lya smiled in return and took another sip.

They started chatting about school, until someone waved at Kate, asking her to come over. She excused herself and left the small group.

"My, my, my... Lya! You actually talked to someone you didn't know!" said Jimmy, impressed.

"Oh shush!" she mumbled, frowning at him. "I'm doing it for you, you know!" and she stuck out her tongue. Jimmy chuckled and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, bringing her closer to him. He kept his arm there and leaded her to where Brian was.

"Gates, you'll never guess what..." shouted Jimmy, plopping himself on the couch, bringing Lya down with him.

"Our Lya is becoming a social butterfly!" he added. Lya rolled her eyes, muttered something and downed the rest of her glass. Brian gave her an amused look but it turned to a frown as she got up from the couch and bumped into the armchair on her way to the kitchen.

**

"Lya! Come dance with me!" shouted Michelle, waving the dark haired girl over. Lya raised her glass and shook it, before hurrying to the kitchen. She wasn't feeling so well, her stomach was churning. She let out a deep sigh and filled her glass again. When she turned around, she was face to face with Zack.

"Oh hey Zack!" she greeted, before rubbing her forehead. Her stomach churned again. "Oh... Excuse me..." she said before rushing to the bathroom. She put her glass on the sink and leaned over, looking at her reflection. She did look a bit green, but maybe it was because of the lightening. She heard the door knob twist, and she realized she had forgotten to lock the door. She was about the tell the person that she was in there, when she opened the toilet lid and threw up, her knees dropping on the tilled floor. She winced as her stomach heaved again.

"Wow! Hey Lya, what's going on?"

She heard the door closing and then locking, before she felt a hand on her back and one on her forehead, holding her hair back. She was holding onto the toilet with both hands, emptying the content of her stomach.

"Where's you glass?" asked the voice.

"Sink..." she managed to let out, before choking on her spit. She reached out and flushed the toilets before letting herself fall in a sitting position.

Jimmy's face appeared in her vision.
"Lya, was it your first glass?" he asked, frowning slightly. She shook her head and then moaned, holding it in both hands.

He let out a sigh,
"How many?"

She held up her hand.

"3?"

She added a finger,
"4?"

"Mmmmh."

Jimmy emptied the plastic cup in the sink and threw it in the trashcan.
"Come on, let's get you out of here..." he said, crouching in front of her, putting on of her arm around him and putting his around her waist, supporting her. He unlocked the door and led her to the living room.

"Shortshit, make way."

"Hey, stop cal- Lya? What happened?" asked Johnny, jumping off his seat. Jimmy sat Lya down.

"Where's Michelle?" asked Jimmy, ignoring the Shortest's question. He pointed to the mass of people dancing. Jimmy cast a quick glance at Lya before walking in search of Michelle.

**

"Are you feeling better?" asked Jimmy, looking as the younger girl came and sat next to him outside. Jimmy was sitting outside on a bench, in the backyard.

"Yes, thanks..." she whispered, moving to sit closer to him.

"I don't know what went through your mind to start drinking without even eating something... And how could you not realize that it wasn't just plain coke?" he reprimanded her.

"I'm sorry Jimmy, I just grabbed the glass I was being handed, and I saw him taking the bottle on the table, so I just assumed it was Coke. It didn't cross my mind... And it didn't even tasted like alcohol..."

"We always mix the drinks before hands" he said, "It's never plain coke or plain fruit juice, it's always mix with alcohol." he stated, starring at the lamppost. Lya pouted and wrapped the hoodie closer to her.

"Thank you..." she trailed off.

"For what?" he almost snapped.

"For everything you did for me, not only tonight, just in general." she said, resting her head on his shoulder.

Jimmy's attention snapped on her. He couldn't stay mad at her, and it wasn't like she had done it on purpose. It just scared him when Zacky came to tell him that Lya looked green and that she had rushed to the bathroom. Jimmy sighed and pulled her hood up, hiding her face.

"Yah!" she yelped, lifting her head from his shoulder and pulling the hood down. She glared at him.

"Oh no little Frenchie, don't look at me with those eyes... I actually had to prepare some pasta for you in order for you to recover from your beginning of a hangover..." he said. "You better remember that, it should stay engraved in there" he said, taping his finger between her eyes. "Today is the day I cooked for you because you drank too much..."

"When you put it like that, it sounds as something dramatic..." she mumbled. "I wasn't even drunk, it's just that my body doesn't tolerate alcohol, I didn't even had the time to be really drunk, my body expulsed the alcohol..." she said, frowning slightly.

"True, I guess you weren't really drunk... You seem to have recovered quite fast." he said, nodding.

She chuckled and sat closer to him, taking his arm and wrapping it around her shoulder. Jimmy frowned slightly but remained silent.
"You know... In the future, no matter where I'll be, if there's someone I'll never be able to forget, when I'll be old and senile, it'll certainly be you." she confessed.

He chuckled, "And why would that be...?"

"Because... Your personality stands out from everyone else's. But not only because of that... You're different. I mean, everyone else, when I make a mistake, they say it's okay because of my situation, my mother's dead and blablabla... You, you tell me off when I do something I'm not supposed to do, say, or think..." she said, "everyone else, even Billie Joe, they're afraid to hurt my feelings it seem, so they don't tell me when I act like a brat, you, you do... That's what I appreciate about you. And I think I'll be forever thankful to you for that."

Lya was now sitting on Jimmy's lap, without any of them actually noticing it. Lya had wrapped her arms around him, and so did Jimmy, squeezing her to his chest as if she'd vanish at any moment.

"I'm still doing your thing with the sticky notes." she whispered, burying her face in his chest. "I can't even see my reflection anymore..."

"There are so many things I wanna do..." she said, moving her head slightly so she could see the sky.

"Nothing's stopping you from doing them you know..." said Jimmy.

"Except myself..." she muttered.

She sat up and pulled away from him.
"You shouldn't be here!" she said.

"What?"

"I mean, you should be inside partying with your friends, instead of freezing outside with me." she said.

"But you're here to keep me warm." he said. She chuckled and stood up, that's when the cold air hit his tights that Jimmy realized that she had been sitting on his lap.

"Come on, back to the social life or Chelle's going to murder me..." she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet. He followed her to the backdoor.

____________

"Ah! Fuck!" she yelled, jumping out of the cab after paying.
Lya ran to the studio, pushed the doors opened and walked fast in the corridor. She was leaning against each door, tiptoeing to see inside. She grinned, opened the door quietly, dropped her bag and jumped on the tall guy with spiky blond hair.

"What the fuck Tré!" he yelled, "Get off m-" but stopped when he saw Tré, sitting behind the drums, giving him a weird look.

Lya chuckled and let go of him, dropping back on the floor.
"Surprise!"

"Lya?"

She grinned in answer.
"Wow!" and she was engulfed in a hug, "You look good with black hair."

"Thanks Mike!" she said, smiling as she hugged him back.

Just as she let go of him, she tackled to the ground by Tré Cool.
"Lya! I missed you!"

She chuckled and tried to push him off her. When she got back on her feet, she gave him a hug.

"So, where is he?" she asked, looking around the room.

"Went out for a while, be careful, he's in a pissy mood... Keeps whining and groaning..." said Tré, rolling his eyes. "As if he hadn't gotten laid in days... But I'm sure he did, so I don't know what's wrong with him..." he said, trying to analyze the situation.

"Well, I think that his mood will be a lot better when he comes in." said Mike, smiling at Lya who was sitting on the piano stool, waiting for Billie Joe.

Just on cue, the door burst open:
"Fuck this shit! I think I'll ju-... Who left that fucking bag in the fucking way?!"

"Well, I'm happy to see you as well!"

Billie Joe looked at his left, and saw her, quietly sitting there.
"Lya!"

She smiled and jumped off the stool, running to him and embracing him in a tight embrace.
"Happy birthday!" she sang, kissing his cheek and letting go of him, grinning from ear to ear.

Billie Joe was smiling, looking at Lya then at his friends. Mike nudged Tré in the ribs,
"Told you his shitty mood would vanish..."

**

Lya stretched her arms above her bed, letting out a content smile as she was standing by the window, gazing at the night sky from her bedroom. Really, the view from her room in Oakland never ceased to amaze her.

She took one last look at her reflection in the mirror before heading downstairs to celebrate Billie Joe's birthday. She was standing at the top of the stairs and looked curiously at the crowd of people invading the rooms. Billie Joe sure knew a lot of people. She nibbled on her bottom before taking a trembling step down, and an other... She stopped midway, inhaled deeply and marched down the stairs like she was completely cool with the situation. She disappeared in the crowd of people.

The evening went by quite fast, the food Adrienne had prepared with Lya's help was almost gone, and so was the alcohol in the bottles.

Billie Joe was the center of everyone's attention as he and Tré were telling stories from old Green Day shows. Most of the crowd knew about it, but it was always funny to recall.

Lya was helping Adrienne putting the final touches to the birthday cake. She was concentrating on drawing the mike with the chocolate icing, it was supposed to be a guitar, but she gave up and transformed it into a beer bottle.

The lights were turned off, and everyone fell silent as Lya walked into the room, carrying the cake with the 'help' of Jakob and Joey. Both kids had a grip on her leg or arm.

She carefully placed the cake in front of Billie Joe, "Make a wish" said Tré, eyeing the cake while licking his lips.

He closed his eyes for a brief moment and blew the candles, everyone cheered and moved to get the presents. She took this opportunity to give him her present. She placed an arm around his shoulder, and gave him a small hug before whispering in his ear, only for him to hear "Happy birthday...dad."