Front Porch Story
Front porch
"So Dad, when exactly are we going back to California?" I ask exactly a month after Billie left.
"Oh trip was cancelled; they don't need me to go back until November." He says looking up from his morning coffee."
"But that's like three months away." I complain.
"I guess it is." He says picking up the newspaper not to concerned about the conversation between us.
"You said I could go back after one month." I say a little louder.
"Well too bad." He mutters
"No, if you don't take me back, I'll take a greyhound bus back." I say walking away from the table.
"Don't be ridiculous." He says still not looking up from his paper.
"I'm not kidding Dad." I say seriously.
"Fine, I'll buy you an airplane ticket." He says rolling his eyes, "I guess a promise is a promise."
"Thanks Dad, it means a lot to me." I say giving him a hug.
"Yeah, yeah."
***
"Bye, sweetie." Kathy says as she pulls me into a hug in front of the airport gate.
"Bye" I say finally.
"Oh wait, I almost forgot." My dad says grabbing my shoulder.
"What?"
"Here's a key to my apartment in case anything happens, you know the whole mom thing." He says quietly.
"Thanks." I say as I walk through the gate.
The plane lands in California a couple of hours later. I walk out onto the street and take the bus back to my street. I run past my mother's house and straight to Billie's. I knock on the door franticly and his mother answers.
"Mrs. Armstrong, is Billie Joe here?"
"Oh please, I told you before, call me Ollie. And didn't he tell you? He moved out."
"What? Where?"
"Near that Christie Cookie factory. I have the address here somewhere." She says as she digs through her purse. She hands me the piece of paper and I run off. I catch the next bus into the city. I walk up the street and find the correct address and make my way up the flight of stairs to the second floor. I find the right door and knock on it nervously. Billie Joe answers the door and I literally leap on him causing him to lose his balance and both of us fall to the floor.
"Nice to see you too." He laughs. He kisses me and holds the charms of my necklace in his hand. "My guitar pick."
"Yeah, you left it behind." I say grasping the necklace.
"She's back!" Tre exclaims as he runs up to me and hugs me tightly. "He wrote a song for you!"
"What song?" I ask looking at Billie with interest.
"2000 Light Years Away." Mike mutters as he walks out of his room with a girl by his side, "Welcome back Adie."
"So this is Adie?" the girl says fascinated.
"Yeah," I say nervously.
"Oh I'm Anastasia, but you can call me Ana." She says quickly. "You're all Billie talks about."
"Really." I say laughing as Billie blushes. "Well aren't you going to let me hear this song?"
"Oh sure." Billie says picking up his guitar nervously.
I sit alone in my bedroom
Staring at the walls
I've been up all damn night long
My pulse is speeding
My love is yearning
I hole my breath and close my eyes and dream about her
Cause she's 2000 light years away
She holds my malachite so tight so...
Never let go
Cause she's 2000 light years away
I sit outside and watch the sunrise
Lookout as far as I can
I can't see her, but in the distance
I hear some laughter,
We laugh together
"Wow," I say in awe.
"Do you like it?" Billie asks.
"Like it, I love it" I say throwing my hands around his neck and kissing him.
"Oh pooey!" Tre yells.
"What now?" Ana asks slightly annoyed.
"Everyone has a lovling except me."
"Loveling?" I ask slightly afraid.
"Yes, Billie has Adie, Mike has Ana and who do I have?"
"Mario" Mike snickers.
"It's just not the same." He pouts, "But still good!" Tre scampers into his room and brings out this disgusting Super Mario doll with a hole in the crotch and white crusty patches. Ana and I shudder at the sight of it which makes Billie and Mike laugh.
"I would like to take you on as charity case, find you a loveling, and see that horrible doll thrown in the trash." I say utterly disgusted.
"Not Mario!" Mike says sarcastically.
"I'll help you, this charity case needs all the help in the world." Ana says tilting her head awkwardly trying to figure out how the doll got so deformed. Mike and Billie are still laughing uncontrollably.
"Good luck!" They both yell out.
"Hey, I'm not that bad!" Tre yells, "I have a sexy butt! That's bound to attract someone."
***
That evening we drive around the Underground Café looking for a parking space.
"I really, really have piss." Billie complains.
"Well, I can't park in the middle of the street!" Mike retorts.
"Why don't you pull over, let us out and continue looking?" I suggest as I picture Billie's bladder bursting. Mike doesn't respond, he just pulls over near the café.
"Thank you!" Billie yells as he runs in. Ana, Tre and I step out of the pick-up and into the café.
"Hide me!" Tre yelps.
"What? Why?" I ask trying to pull him off me.
"It's her."
"Who?" Ana ask looking around the café awkwardly.
"This really awesome girl who works here." He mutters.
"Tre, why don't you just ask her out?" I ask finally pushing him away.
"Umm, she might say no." he says in a very twitchy voice.
"Wait are you talking about Lisea?" Ana asks.
"Yeah, that's her name." Tre says still trying to hide.
"We used to go to school together."
"Why are you being so shy? I mean you have no problem embarrassing yourself yet you can't even talk to this girl." I say rolling my eyes.
"Ahh the relief!" Billie says as he wraps his arms around me from behind.
"You didn't wash your hands did you?" I ask laughing as he starts to tickle me.
"No." he laughs as he smears his hand on my face. I can't help but laugh as well.
"I'll be back in a second, Ana and I have to take care of something first."
We walk up to Lisea who's sitting behind the counter reading her magazine. When she sees us she puts down her magazine.
"Hey, did you two come with that guy with green hair?" she asks in a twitchy voice.
"Umm yeah." I say looking at Ana.
"Is there a problem?" Ana asks trying to read her facial expression.
"No, I was umm just wondering if he was going out with anyone at the moment." I smirk at Ana. Both of us were thinking our charity case would be easier than expected.
"Nope, he's single." Ana says smiling.
"When your shift ends come sit with us, we'll introduce you." I say smiling.
"We'll have five coffees and ten of those jumbo cookie things." Ana says as Lisea scurries off to fill the order.
We carry the food over to the booth where the three guys are sitting.
"What did you say? What did she say?" Tre asks in a less than sane voice.
"Nothing, we just told her to join us after her shift." I say as I pass Billie his coffee and sit on his lap.
"You didn't tell I liked her?" Tre asks again.
"No, we just told her to come join us. I have the slight impression that she has a thing for you too." Ana says giggling.
"New topic." I say putting up my hands, "I've been in Minnesota for too long, tell me how'd you too hook up?" I ask Mike and Ana. Mike starts to blush and Ana rolls her eyes.
"Well, I work at Act 1 & 2 and I realized Mike started coming to see the same movie every day. So I asked him what he liked about that movie so much and he said umm wait I want to say it exactly." Mike cuts her off.
"I don't like the movie I like buying the ticket." He mutters as he turns a darker shade of red.
"Oh that's so cheesy!" I exclaim as I pinch Mike's cheek and he slaps my hand away.
"Hey, it won me over." Ana says smugly. Mike just laughs and pulls her closer. "Well what about you and Billie here?"
"Well she started taking off her clothes and I said, Adie would you like to be my girlfriend seeing you're already undressed." I slap Billie's arm.
"They needed me to play the drums for the gig they had that night and we went to the pool first, which explains Billie's explanation on how I was undressed." I continue telling Ana about how Billie asked me out. As I finish telling the story Lisea walks up to the table awkwardly.
"Hey Lisea." I say motioning her to sit next to Tre.
"Hi" she says nervously.
"Oh let me introduce Billie, Mike and Tre." Ana says pointing them out, "And guys this is Lisea."
"I like your t-shirt." Tre says in attempt to make small talk.
"Oh yeah, I love the Ramones." She says pulling at her shirt. The evening goes on and their conversation becomes a little friendlier. The evening comes to an end and we all say goodbye to Lisea. We pile into Mike's truck.
"Did you get her number?" I ask Tre curiously.
"Shit! Mike let me out of the truck!" Mike laughs hysterically as he pulls over. Tre runs back to the café, minutes later he comes back waving a piece of paper happily.
"Congratulations" Ana says patting him on the shoulder.
"So, ladies, would you like me to drop you off at home, or will you be so kind as to sleep over."
"I'm sleeping over." As I say this Billie pulls me closer to him, "Besides I left my bag at your place."
"Yeah, I'll sleep over too." Ana says nuzzling Mike.
"Mike pull over again so I can get Lisea to come sleep over too." Mike shakes his head laughing.
"Slow down, Tre, maybe you should actually spend more than an hour with her before asking her to sleep over."
"I agree." I say patting Tre on the head.
"Oh trip was cancelled; they don't need me to go back until November." He says looking up from his morning coffee."
"But that's like three months away." I complain.
"I guess it is." He says picking up the newspaper not to concerned about the conversation between us.
"You said I could go back after one month." I say a little louder.
"Well too bad." He mutters
"No, if you don't take me back, I'll take a greyhound bus back." I say walking away from the table.
"Don't be ridiculous." He says still not looking up from his paper.
"I'm not kidding Dad." I say seriously.
"Fine, I'll buy you an airplane ticket." He says rolling his eyes, "I guess a promise is a promise."
"Thanks Dad, it means a lot to me." I say giving him a hug.
"Yeah, yeah."
***
"Bye, sweetie." Kathy says as she pulls me into a hug in front of the airport gate.
"Bye" I say finally.
"Oh wait, I almost forgot." My dad says grabbing my shoulder.
"What?"
"Here's a key to my apartment in case anything happens, you know the whole mom thing." He says quietly.
"Thanks." I say as I walk through the gate.
The plane lands in California a couple of hours later. I walk out onto the street and take the bus back to my street. I run past my mother's house and straight to Billie's. I knock on the door franticly and his mother answers.
"Mrs. Armstrong, is Billie Joe here?"
"Oh please, I told you before, call me Ollie. And didn't he tell you? He moved out."
"What? Where?"
"Near that Christie Cookie factory. I have the address here somewhere." She says as she digs through her purse. She hands me the piece of paper and I run off. I catch the next bus into the city. I walk up the street and find the correct address and make my way up the flight of stairs to the second floor. I find the right door and knock on it nervously. Billie Joe answers the door and I literally leap on him causing him to lose his balance and both of us fall to the floor.
"Nice to see you too." He laughs. He kisses me and holds the charms of my necklace in his hand. "My guitar pick."
"Yeah, you left it behind." I say grasping the necklace.
"She's back!" Tre exclaims as he runs up to me and hugs me tightly. "He wrote a song for you!"
"What song?" I ask looking at Billie with interest.
"2000 Light Years Away." Mike mutters as he walks out of his room with a girl by his side, "Welcome back Adie."
"So this is Adie?" the girl says fascinated.
"Yeah," I say nervously.
"Oh I'm Anastasia, but you can call me Ana." She says quickly. "You're all Billie talks about."
"Really." I say laughing as Billie blushes. "Well aren't you going to let me hear this song?"
"Oh sure." Billie says picking up his guitar nervously.
I sit alone in my bedroom
Staring at the walls
I've been up all damn night long
My pulse is speeding
My love is yearning
I hole my breath and close my eyes and dream about her
Cause she's 2000 light years away
She holds my malachite so tight so...
Never let go
Cause she's 2000 light years away
I sit outside and watch the sunrise
Lookout as far as I can
I can't see her, but in the distance
I hear some laughter,
We laugh together
"Wow," I say in awe.
"Do you like it?" Billie asks.
"Like it, I love it" I say throwing my hands around his neck and kissing him.
"Oh pooey!" Tre yells.
"What now?" Ana asks slightly annoyed.
"Everyone has a lovling except me."
"Loveling?" I ask slightly afraid.
"Yes, Billie has Adie, Mike has Ana and who do I have?"
"Mario" Mike snickers.
"It's just not the same." He pouts, "But still good!" Tre scampers into his room and brings out this disgusting Super Mario doll with a hole in the crotch and white crusty patches. Ana and I shudder at the sight of it which makes Billie and Mike laugh.
"I would like to take you on as charity case, find you a loveling, and see that horrible doll thrown in the trash." I say utterly disgusted.
"Not Mario!" Mike says sarcastically.
"I'll help you, this charity case needs all the help in the world." Ana says tilting her head awkwardly trying to figure out how the doll got so deformed. Mike and Billie are still laughing uncontrollably.
"Good luck!" They both yell out.
"Hey, I'm not that bad!" Tre yells, "I have a sexy butt! That's bound to attract someone."
***
That evening we drive around the Underground Café looking for a parking space.
"I really, really have piss." Billie complains.
"Well, I can't park in the middle of the street!" Mike retorts.
"Why don't you pull over, let us out and continue looking?" I suggest as I picture Billie's bladder bursting. Mike doesn't respond, he just pulls over near the café.
"Thank you!" Billie yells as he runs in. Ana, Tre and I step out of the pick-up and into the café.
"Hide me!" Tre yelps.
"What? Why?" I ask trying to pull him off me.
"It's her."
"Who?" Ana ask looking around the café awkwardly.
"This really awesome girl who works here." He mutters.
"Tre, why don't you just ask her out?" I ask finally pushing him away.
"Umm, she might say no." he says in a very twitchy voice.
"Wait are you talking about Lisea?" Ana asks.
"Yeah, that's her name." Tre says still trying to hide.
"We used to go to school together."
"Why are you being so shy? I mean you have no problem embarrassing yourself yet you can't even talk to this girl." I say rolling my eyes.
"Ahh the relief!" Billie says as he wraps his arms around me from behind.
"You didn't wash your hands did you?" I ask laughing as he starts to tickle me.
"No." he laughs as he smears his hand on my face. I can't help but laugh as well.
"I'll be back in a second, Ana and I have to take care of something first."
We walk up to Lisea who's sitting behind the counter reading her magazine. When she sees us she puts down her magazine.
"Hey, did you two come with that guy with green hair?" she asks in a twitchy voice.
"Umm yeah." I say looking at Ana.
"Is there a problem?" Ana asks trying to read her facial expression.
"No, I was umm just wondering if he was going out with anyone at the moment." I smirk at Ana. Both of us were thinking our charity case would be easier than expected.
"Nope, he's single." Ana says smiling.
"When your shift ends come sit with us, we'll introduce you." I say smiling.
"We'll have five coffees and ten of those jumbo cookie things." Ana says as Lisea scurries off to fill the order.
We carry the food over to the booth where the three guys are sitting.
"What did you say? What did she say?" Tre asks in a less than sane voice.
"Nothing, we just told her to join us after her shift." I say as I pass Billie his coffee and sit on his lap.
"You didn't tell I liked her?" Tre asks again.
"No, we just told her to come join us. I have the slight impression that she has a thing for you too." Ana says giggling.
"New topic." I say putting up my hands, "I've been in Minnesota for too long, tell me how'd you too hook up?" I ask Mike and Ana. Mike starts to blush and Ana rolls her eyes.
"Well, I work at Act 1 & 2 and I realized Mike started coming to see the same movie every day. So I asked him what he liked about that movie so much and he said umm wait I want to say it exactly." Mike cuts her off.
"I don't like the movie I like buying the ticket." He mutters as he turns a darker shade of red.
"Oh that's so cheesy!" I exclaim as I pinch Mike's cheek and he slaps my hand away.
"Hey, it won me over." Ana says smugly. Mike just laughs and pulls her closer. "Well what about you and Billie here?"
"Well she started taking off her clothes and I said, Adie would you like to be my girlfriend seeing you're already undressed." I slap Billie's arm.
"They needed me to play the drums for the gig they had that night and we went to the pool first, which explains Billie's explanation on how I was undressed." I continue telling Ana about how Billie asked me out. As I finish telling the story Lisea walks up to the table awkwardly.
"Hey Lisea." I say motioning her to sit next to Tre.
"Hi" she says nervously.
"Oh let me introduce Billie, Mike and Tre." Ana says pointing them out, "And guys this is Lisea."
"I like your t-shirt." Tre says in attempt to make small talk.
"Oh yeah, I love the Ramones." She says pulling at her shirt. The evening goes on and their conversation becomes a little friendlier. The evening comes to an end and we all say goodbye to Lisea. We pile into Mike's truck.
"Did you get her number?" I ask Tre curiously.
"Shit! Mike let me out of the truck!" Mike laughs hysterically as he pulls over. Tre runs back to the café, minutes later he comes back waving a piece of paper happily.
"Congratulations" Ana says patting him on the shoulder.
"So, ladies, would you like me to drop you off at home, or will you be so kind as to sleep over."
"I'm sleeping over." As I say this Billie pulls me closer to him, "Besides I left my bag at your place."
"Yeah, I'll sleep over too." Ana says nuzzling Mike.
"Mike pull over again so I can get Lisea to come sleep over too." Mike shakes his head laughing.
"Slow down, Tre, maybe you should actually spend more than an hour with her before asking her to sleep over."
"I agree." I say patting Tre on the head.