Thinking Back to Those Days

-BJ
Mike looked from the paper with the green ink on it to my face. I folded it and put it in my pocket.

Then we both walked out the school building not giving a damn what anyone thought. We had just lost a part of us, a legit reason for not attending class in my opinion.

My window was always propped open, so we climbed in when we approached the house and sat on the bed without a word. We laid on my bed for a while and then I opened the drawer to my nightstand to take out the makings of a fresh joint. My hand hit the pack of cigarettes that belonged to her; she had left them at my house the last time we hung out. I was supposed to give them to her that morning. Instead, I placed the pack in front of Mike, who slipped one out, pulled out his lighter and ignited the tip. We passed it back and forth, letting our memories with our good friend float with the white smoke.

Paloma

As I sat in the car, all was quiet. The siblings snored and my mom just drove. I laid my head against the window and watched the clouds move past slowly. Billie Joe, his kiss, his eyes, his band, Mike, the music, all the nights we spent together, ran through my head at the same speed as the clouds. It was painful, leaving everything that had become whole in my life, everything that had not slipped trhough my fingers. Everything was gone again, broken again, and it hurt me to think about it. But I didn’t want the memories to slip away. I was torn.

For a while things felt awful. But I got adjusted to the beautiful weather, my school, and I made new friends I made in Seattle. I told them about Billie Joe and Mike, and Sweet Children. When I made a new best friend, I told her how I missed them, and about Billie Joe’s kiss. I even met a new guy who was sweet while it lasted. He was great, but didn’t have those stunning green eyes.

Life went on like that until graduation day. And then it changed a bit after I moved out.

22 came around and I was grown up. Had my own apartment, my own job, classes in college, though I still thought back to the glory days of high school in California.

**
One day I picked up my little sister from home, to take her to school. I kissed her cheek, then watched the curly haired ,brunette Emmy bounce out of the car, and into the building. With that I turned the radio station, to my favorite one, turned up the volume and listened. The DJ was talking of some band that made it big besides the fact that they had clearly been influenced by punk rock. I turned it up and listened a bit closer, for I was in need of a new band. Then DJ then announced, “And now here is Mike Dirnt, Tre Cool, and Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day playing Longview!”

I nearly crashed my car into a pole.

I gained control of my steering wheel, and parked in front of a house. The song blasted from my stereo. I had no doubt in my mind it was Billie Joe. His voice had changed only a bit, and fit perfect with the song. It was amazing. Everything I had expected, everything that I had wanted for them.

Every time from then on, when I heard a song by them, I smiled and my soul was in a way lifted, because I knew that they had made it, and that I was a tiny part of the song coming out of the radio.