Green Day, Why Am I In Your Room?

The door opened, revealing a medium height, slim red-headed woman in front of us. She smiled when she saw who it was.

"Hey, Tre," she said, waving in greeting.

"Hey Claud," Tre replied.

Claudia gave me a questioning look. I could tell what she was thinking: I was just some groupie who wanted him for his money. I didn't love him at all. I was just along for the ride.

"Oh yeah - this is Tash," Tre said, directing toward me. Claudia smiled.

"Nice to meet you," she said, shaking my hand. "Please, come in," she added, stepping aside from the doorway.

"Nah, we'd better not - we've gotta get on the road!" Tre replied, grinning. This made me even more curious to where we were actually going...

The sound of running came from behind Claudia. She turned around to rouse on the kids, where they stopped dead and saw their guests at the doorway. A young boy screamed "DADDY!" and ran forward to hug Tre's leg.

"Frankie!" Tre hugged his son back. So this was Frankito. His light brown hair stuck up in a similar way, and bore the spectacular blue eyes much like his dad. He turned around and looked at me - but not just a quick glance. It was more like an accusing glare.

I stood there, awkwardly looking back. His eyes gave the same feeling of uneasiness as though they were scrutinising my every move.

"Frank, this is Tash." Frankie continued to stare at me.

"Is she just your new rock and roll girlfriend?" I heard a sarcastic voice come from behind me.

"Aannd thats Ramona," Tre smiled. Ramona stepped forward. She looked to be about thirteen, and had obviously dyed her hair black. There was no eyeliner around her eyes, and yet I could see the strange similarity to Tre.

"Did your mum drop you off at Claud's?" Tre asked, hugging his daughter.

"Yeah," she answered. "She had some photography thing nearby anyway."

"So...shall we get going?" Tre asked. Caludia nodded, kissing Frankito goodbye and watching us head down to Tre's car. Ramona and Frank climbed into the back while I took my familiar seat in the front. It became awkwardly silent again.

"I'm sorry I haven't seen you guys much," Tre apologised, pulling out of the driveway. Frankie nodded and looked out the side at the scenery, while Ramona remained silent. She seemed like a pretty quiet girl.

I too looked outside. This was beyond weird. "You going to tell us where we're going?"

"Uh...maybe to buy you some drugs?" Ramona remarked.

I was trying desperately to be patient and not start getting bitter.

Tre smiled, trying to make light of the situation. "How does a theme park sound?"

"Aw cool!" Frankie exclaimed. I saw in the rearview mirror Ramona shrug her shoulders. God...depressed much? It was if this girl had never been happy.

The car ride remained pretty quiet most of the time, until Tre turned on some poppy radio station and tolerated the music for Frankie who seemed to be in ecstasy.

We pulled into the carpark. Ahead of us I saw a massive ferris wheel, among other rides. It reminded me of Luna Park back in Australia.

We paid our entry fees, and went inside. Tre held Frankie by the hand and walked ahead, while I hung back with Ramona. She folded her arms and hung her head low, her eyes pointed at the ground.

"So...what ride do you want to go on?" I asked.

She shrugged her shoulders.

I started to get annoyed. "You know, I'm trying to make an effort here. Why don't you talk to me instead of using sign language?"

"What do you expect? You're just another one of dad's girlfriends." She stopped to look at me. "What do you want off him? Money? Fame? Publicity?"

I felt taken aback. "What?" I gasped. "No!"

"Well, how do you think it feels when the only reason people wanna know me is cos my dad's a rockstar?" she asked, sounded furious. "'Hey Ramona, can I meet your dad? Like, he is soooo hawt'..." she mimicked. "Every day. Do you realise how hard it is for me to make genuine friends?"

"I - l-love your dad," I stammered.

"Really?" she laughed sarcastically. "Thats what every teenie says to me."

"Fine. You know what? You might not believe me, but fuck it." I realised I probably shouldn't be swearing, but oh well. "I don't care what everyone else thinks. I'm sick of it." I began to walk away, when I heard her call from behind me.

"I'm sorry," she said, running forward and looking anxious. "I ... its just I've learnt to be untrustful. Everyone just uses me."

"I understand." And I meant it. I'd seen how the teenies followed around like vultures. How horrible it must be for a teenage girl to live life with the label 'Tre's daughter' instead of 'Ramona.'

"So...friends?" I asked, holding out my hand.

"Friends," she agreed, shaking my hand. "You know, you'd make a cool stepmum. How old are you?"

"Thirty," I answered. "You?"

"Going on thirteen," she answered.

I grinned and led the way off to some rides. "You up for scary rides?"

"Scary rides? At this theme park? Pfft," she replied. I dragged her onto some of the best rides there. As the day went on, we got along better and better. She was becoming more like a friend.

At the end of the day we headed home, dropping them off back at Claudia's. While Tre talked to Claudia, I sat down with Ramona out the front.

"Uh, Tash, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

She fiddled with the hem of her jacket. "Whats going on with you and my dad?"

Wow. She sure got to the point.

"Um..well...we met in Australia - "

"Australia?" she interrupted. "I mean, I can hear your accent and everything...but why Australia? They haven't been there in ages..."

"Long story," I said quickly. She probably wouldn't understand that I woke up with a hangover and saw Green Day in my room and my poster empty, so I decided to not say anything. "I was engaged and he cheated on me," I said quietly.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Nah, don't be. He was a fucktard. But I loved him anyway."

She laughed. "But...are you guys getting married?"

"What?" Married? I had never given it a thought...

"Never mind," she said. Claudia called her from the front door. "I'd better go. It was nice hanging out today," she said.

"Ditto," I said, getting up. "Maybe we can do it another time."

"That'd be awesome," she replied. "Well, see ya soon!" She waved and went inside. I met Tre back at the car, who seems to have a satisfied smile on his face.

"What?" I asked indignantly.

"Oh, nothing," he said innocently, climbing into the car and starting it up. Taking one last look at Claudia's house, I got back in and headed back home.