All Alone Again.

I waltzed through the door, only to find that the two legal guardians, AKA my parents weren't home yet. Something told me they were out, probably drooling over the new scenery. I shrugged at the thought and pulled out my phone to check the time. It read, 5:45 P.M. My eyes slightly widened..Was I really out for that long? With a stranger that wasn't such a stranger anymore. But nonetheless, I surprised myself at how I tackled the day. 'Some jolt of motivation' I thought. I unzipped my jacket and threw it on the back of the sofa, while heading to my room. There was a lot to think about. And even though it wasn't very late, my body and mind felt completely drained.

As I opened my bedroom door and closed it to get a bit of privacy, even though I was the only one at home, I changed back into my casual lounge around clothes. I stared over to my bed and without a second thought I immediately sprinted to it.

I was now completely comfortable, and on an even better note I'm home alone. Peace and quiet. R and R. I adjusted myself and just stared at the ceiling and began to think 'where to begin' with my thoughts. Everything was just swarming around..loudly

It was going to be a long interesting ride..Pinole high school, that is. The school I will be attending, unwillingly. Accompanied by Tre, Billie will be there as well, along with the other boy, Mike. I wasn't sure if I was looking forward to it or not. I am definitely interested and somewhat shaken up about what will go on in the near future. That whole thought, school on it's own, just didn't sit well with me. My relaxation high had ended, short but sweet and worth it. Now I must come back to the annoying thing I like to call reality.

Tre also had some interesting information. Nothing that held any importance, but, it was certainly interesting. He was just an old little character, he was. Green hair and all. He only stood 5'3 and had the voice of a chipmunk and had a serious chase of the 'chatter box'. He also was extremely hilarious and very entertaining, definitely one of those people you should keep an eye on... I feel sorry for the nurses who will be taking care of him once he enters a mental home. That will be a handful.

After a very comedic lunch, Tre told me that he needed to take care of some business, and that I could join him or he would walk me home. Well, can you guess what I did? Here's a hint, the day was based off of impulse actions with no second thought, what so ever. So I only thought it would be appropriate to just go along with it.

I went with Tre...down to a street corner, Telegraph Avenue to be specific. He adjusted his pants and hiked them up just a bit. I didn't know what to expect. There was a little book store with a coffee shop inside, with tables and chairs on the outside to sit. So, Tre being a 'gentlemen' he offered me a seat and told me to 'enjoy the view' I laughed nervously and braced myself for what will happen next.

I started smiling imensly at the thought as I kept staring at the ceiling.

I thought about how he just stood there, on the corner, as he stretched his fingers forward and then cracked his knuckles. He inhaled, and in that moment he had this look on his face of...dare I say passion. Honestly, I thought he was going to kill me or someone. But, to my surprise, he started dancing. Dancing his heart out, as I began to laugh my ass off. He didn't care, he totally ignored me. His foot work was fast and his hand motions were careless. I'm pretty sure I saw an old women dodge a left hook from the little guy. But I couldn't do anything to stop him. This was one of the most remarkable things I've ever seen. This guy just has courage and so much confidence. I think so much in fact that I was jealous. Not the dancing, of course, the confidence.

After the whole 'show' was over, Tre earned a whopping eleven dollars, I loved how proud he was of his small winnings. He had a smile tapped to his face and nodded at his 'audience' even though there was no one around to watch the show except for me. I stood up from my chair as Tre caught his breathe and regained his 'composure'.

And that's pretty much how the day ended, he walked me home and told me how incredibly excited he was that I'd be attending Pinole High.

----------

Sure enough the days dropped like flies and Monday had arrived all too soon.

The night before I had set my alarm to 6:00 A.M., since school started at 8 and I needed a shower. But of course, nothing ever really goes right when you have set things up properly and specifically to your day, that's only a silly fantasy. In reality, that is, my alarm didn't go off until 7:46..why? Because it's shit.

I let the alarm ring for a few more minutes, until I got the strength the raise my hand to smack it off. As soon as the ringing stopped, I took a moment to wake up, slowly. Still having the erge to fall back asleep, since I didn't know what time it actually was, I was taking my sweet time. I turned my head to face the alarm clock that sat on top of my night stand. In slight confusion and disbelief, I leaned over, closer towards the night stand, and squinted my eyes, to see if they were deseving me or I was a bit groggy and didn't read the time right. Nope, it was right. "You've got to be kidding me." I slurred under my breathe. And with that, I let out a quiet groan of irritation, and sat upright and scratched the back of my neck while yawning. I looked outside, pretty gloomy today. I liked that.

I slumped out of bed like a sloth, but then quickly jerked my feet up once I felt the cold hardwood floor. Forgot about that. But I had to get to my bathroom to wash my face and and look decent for the day. Although the day can suck it for all I care. I quickly got up and out of bed, trying to ignore the chill that ran up my back, causing me to wake up even more.

After I washed my face, brushed my teeth and hair, I put on just a bit of make up, the usual: Eyeliner. Chap stick and a very very unnoticeable color of blush, just so I don't look so dead. Then, onto my wardrobe. Which wasn't that big of a deal to me. I threw on my gray faded Ramones shirt, Torri's old jeans she gave me, filled with holes due to various skateboarding accidents. My old red high tops, and I was done. Not glamours or exciting, but then again it's school, not a fashion show. And I could give a damn about both.

The house was pretty much dead, my mom didn't come in to say bye, thankfully, and I didn't hear my dad working out in the morning, a daily ritual for him and he would usually blast out jazz music while he did it. Weird but then again I didn't really take any serious thought into it, because I was pretty glad that they didn't bother me this morning and also because I was running late and I didn't have time to wonder where they are and why they have been so quiet.

When I walked through the living room to grab my jacket that I left on the couch from yesterday, I didn't see any notes on the front door from my parents, indicating where they are. I know my mom got a job in a chattering company and is working really hard on a 16th birthday, so maybe that's why she's gone. But nothing from my dad either, maybe he left early to make a good first impression on the new building he's working at. I don't know. But what I did know is that I was hungry, so I ran into the kitchen before I left and grabbed a granola bar instead of running someplace to grab something and save myself a few bucks.

It was 8:03 when I got in my car. My mind was still a bit foggy, yet so stuffed with mixed emotions and thoughts. What's it going to be like. Where's all my classes. Am I going to make any friends. Am I going to have to deal with upset teachers. And most importantly, do I remember where the school is. I paused for a moment as I began to drive down the street. 'Oh God...Where was it again?' I thought..I was too dumb to write it down, my parents had given me directions but I just can't remember where I had put the piece of paper, I was running too late to go back in the house to look for it. My panicked and frustrated thoughts came to a complete stop and vanished when I heard a car horn come from behind me. I looked through the rear view mirror, to see some old women behind me shooting me a look of death. God. I nodded apologetically and went down the street. 'I'm pretty sure the street name is...Uh, it was..East...12th street? Let's see if that's right.' I pondered as I drove through my dead head town. Damn, I noticed how boring it actually was, just a bunch of little shops, strips and little neighborhoods. Nothing interesting. And hippies, hippies were everywhere.

After about two stops to think, and try my very hardest to remember what street it was on, and a few wrong turns and detours, I decided to ask someone in a little restaurant called Rod's Hickory Pit. The parking lot wasn't crowded, it's a Monday morning, who needs BBQ at this time, as I parked the car I checked the time, 8:52. Goddammit! Not only am I late on the first day, I'm horribly lost. I ran inside the restaurant and saw an older women behind the little bar, who was rather short and had a very pleasent and welcoming smile, different from those rehearsed smiles they give you when you go into Carrows. But now's not the time to think about random shit! "Hi, dear. How can I help you?" she said in a kind tone of voice. "Hi, I have a question actually.." she nodded for me to continue, "-Well I'm new here, I'm late for school, do you know where Pinole Valley High School is..by any chance?" I held my breathe and waited for a reply. She nodded, and I couldn't be more thrilled, "Seven blocks up. Just go straight." she said. The huge stress and weight magically disappeared, "Thank you so much,-" I looked at her name tag, "Ollie." she smiled and nodded, "Oh, and could I get a muffin?" I asked, the least I can do. She did after all save my ass. Because if she didn't know where it was I'd have ditched. "No problem darling." She walked into the kitchen, and I ran my hand through my hair, and sighed in relief. Now that that's over, my next problem was to face all the teachers that noticed my absence. "Here you go dear." she rang me up quickly and I handed her the amount and rushed out quickly, though not without one more gracious thank you.

"Alright." I said quietly under my breath as I buckled myself in. I pulled out of the parking lot and now I was on my way to Pinole, finally.

-----------

Since I was smart enough to have left my book bag with my schedule in it, in the car, and ready for me to take to school, I was pretty much set. I found Pinole in a snap, and now here comes the churns and flips of the stomach. I parked the car on the side walk, by a park, across from the school. I noticed a few kids who had probably ditched classes hanging out there, and awkwardly walked past them. I knew I was going to be alone during my stay in high school. I love meeting people, I'm just hard to get to know. But I didn't care, after high school I'll do my own thing, not college, which is a sad thing to say, but not a priority for me. I wanna be in a band, that's as simple as that. Not to get famous, though it would be nice, but just to play and be happy. You only live once, and being happy is way more important than making money to me. I walked up the stairs to the doors oh my new school, passing tones of kids in the process, though I was in a bit of a daze and I'm sure I was pretty much invisible anyway.

The clouds were clearing up just a bit, and it was starting warm up, so I took my jacket off and threw it into my bag. I checked the time once more, 9:07. Great, late to another class. "I really need a new alarm clock" I muttered, probably looking like I was talking to myself..

Well, I missed Physics, great. I put my schedule back into my bag and sighed as I walked down a very depressing and quiet hallway, trying to find my locker. It sucked. Yes, I complain a lot. Wouldn't you?

Finally after, what felt like an endless journey, I found lock 603. Thank God, my bag was beginning to get unbearably heavy. As I set it down quickly, I heard giggling and incoherent words being muffled from around the corner. I rolled my eyes as I began putting books into my locker. Once everything was ordered alphabetically, yes, I must have it like that, otherwise I'd get stressed, I noticed how depressing my locker is. Dude! This school is the definition of depressing. As I looked at the door of my locker, I saw stickers that were scraped off of it...Maybe I should put some stuff in it to make it a little more appealing. The incoherent conversation was becoming a bit louder, and sounded like it was getting closer. I sighed nervously and tried to ignore it as I looked through my schedule once more to see what I have next... Music? Okay, cool. I grabbed my music book, which was called, Art of Music, and closed the door. This should be nice, and I won't be that late. I half smiled and tried to gain some confidence as I walked down the hallway to room... 12..Room 12? Fuck that's like on the other side of school. And do I really want to get lost again? And possibly end up later than I already am..Or should I just ditch. I stopped to think and sighed again. What to do...Lets go to Music, just to save myself from getting in trouble on the first day.

Out pops two gaggling girls from around the corner, probably the ones from earlier making noise. One of the girls looked like a punk rocker..I guess or maybe just some poser. She had blonde hair with red streaks in random places, heavy smudged eyeliner, sort of like mine only mine looked like I had nothing on compared to her, and she had a red plaid skirt on with like three different skirts under it, each with different patterns, it looked pretty cool actually. And she was sporting a Bad Religion shirt on, I was very much in love with that band. Her other friend on the other hand looked a bit plain compared to her, just had on some black ripped jeans and combat boots, black shirt and that's it. Oddly enough, they smiled kindly at me as I walked by, "Love your shirt." The blonde said. I looked down dumbly at my shirt, "Oh thanks. I really love yours." I said with an awkward smile. She smiled and the two walked away. Hm. well that's a start for my long road to social skills.

Soon enough I made my way to room 12, which actually wasn't that far. I opened the creaky door and walked inside, looking back at the door as I closed it..Cause I'm weird. As I looked to the class, which wasn't very big... Maybe only about 18 kids, but noticed a familiar head of green hair smiling at me. "Hey!" Tre said loudly. I smiled brightly, still scanning the room out of the corner of my eye, no teacher. "Hey Tre." I said as I walked over to him. The class room was really cool. No table...No chairs, well just a stool that was in the middle of the room. But there were a bunch of bean bag chairs everywhere. Tre was gesturing for my to sit next to him on his little seat, and I accepted. "So, how was the ride over hear?" Tre asked quietly, giving me his complete undivided attention, as if my answer was the most important thing in the world. I rubbed my eyes tiredly just a bit, still feeling a bit heavy. "Horrible." I muttered as I put my hands back down to my sides, and put my bag off to the side of me. "I got so lost and ended up asking for directions." I said tiredly. Tre began to laugh loudly, causing at least everyone in the room to look at us. "Dude, this place is like the biggest thing around this town. How could you not find it?" Tre asked, making me a bit annoyed. "Cause! I'm not captain direction keeper." I snapped. He quieted himself and looked at me with a confused expression. "I left directions at home that my parents gave me. But I was already running late, so I didn't have enough time to go back and look for them." I clarified. He nodded looked at the door, as the teacher walked in, who was dressed very casually, he was quite tall, wrinkles and crevices on his forehead, mouth and eyes, and he had short pepper coloured hair.

"Okay. So, I'm new here to Pinole Valley.-" The teacher began, with a very calm and relaxing tone of voice, the class nodded as 'hello'. I don't know why, but the class was just giving me a good vibe, making me feel a bit less uneasy and giving me a more relaxed feeling. "My name is Steven Evans and I'm your new music teacher." he said with a humble smile as he sat down on the stool with his guitar in his lap and looked to the class. Everyone said hello to him quietly and in unison. Tre and I sat off to the side and towards the corner, but the room wasn't very big but very open, so it was hard to be unseen.

"So what I want us to do today is..-" he paused, and looked at the door to see who was coming in. And look who came in... Billie.. My stomach flipped and my feeling of relaxation quickly left, like it always does. Billie walked across the room over to two other guys and dropped his bag. I tried my very hardest to not be noticed by him. "-I want to make a group of three to four kids." He said, with a pause, cracking a smile at some of the kids who whined under their breathe. I looked at Tre, who had the same look as I did. And telepathically we decided to be partners.

"Bill.." Tre whispered over to Billie, who hopefully didn't hear him. "Tre? What are you doing?!" I whispered back in an irritated tone. I mean, he was pretty close to the front of the class, and Tre and I were almost in the back. But of course, Billie turned around to see who was 'calling' his name. I sat perfectly still, statue like. Billie caught a glimpse of me when a classmate moved slightly, and flashed me a grin and got up to walk over to us. "Can I help you with anything?-" the teacher said, then he picked up a sheet of paper, "..Armstrong?" Mr. Evans asked Billie politely, as he set the sheet down. Hm, Armstrong, that's actually a lovely last name. Oh no. I'm just going over here." Billie said as he pointed in our direction. "Oh okay then. Well, as long as you don't go out there, there won't be any problems." Evans joked while pointing at the door. The class laughed at the teachers little joke. You know, I think I'm going to like this class. "I want Billie over here, that's my man." Tre said in a possessive tone of voice. I couldn't help but smile at his response. Oh well, I'll live if Billie sits with us. 'God, I'm 17, no need to act so dramatic June.' I scolded myself. He plopped next to Tre and gave me a nod of the head with a smile, "Hey. Pleasant surprise." he said. I looked at him with a half smile, and nodded.

"Okay, I want Sean Hughes, Billie Joe Armstrong, Dyanne Airleson and Erica Paleno. Over there please." The teacher directed. Billie looked disappointed but did as he was told and got up to go sit in the corner with his group. A bit bummed out that I couldn't choose my partner, I figured this would be a good way to interact with people. The forceful way. Yes, that's the way to go. As the teacher called names, Tre and I still found ourselves without a group but still unpaired. "Okay, Frank Edwin Wright, Liz Hamilton, Stacey Grissen, Devon Brown. Over there please." Tre got up, and to my confusion, he had such a strange name, and it oddly struck me in a way that I found it funny. "What you thought my parents were dumb enough to name me that? C'mon, I might be a basket case but my parents aren't...well yeah, but I'm doubly worse." Tre told me, to answer my confused look. I shook my head, "No I know..But I wasn't expecting a name of such..I dunno" I chuckled. He smiled and walked to his rightful place as I sat alone. "Dominick Ramirez, Hannah Quinn, Daniel Alts, and Juniper Alice Waldrun. Over there, please." I looked around the class room, almost everyone was in a group already, and I wasn't sure who my partners were. I walked past Tre and noticed, three people behind me. "And you say you weren't a name of such...I dunno." Tre teased. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean?" I asked honestly. "You said you're name was, Alice! That's your middle name." he said. I shrugged, "Everyone calls me that. I never liked my first name." I said and sat down, as the other three people did as well. Tre turned back around, and so did I. Now to face these kids and not look like a freak.

I smiled kindly to the three, almost trying to be accepted, you know, like how it is in the animal kingdom? Yeah, I've been watching too much TV. "Hi.' the Hannah girl said quietly with a smile. She had glasses, long silky brownish blonde hair and was wearing a pink John Lennon shirt. Despite my loner ways, I made myself contribute to conversation and overall talking. "Hey. I'm, Dominick, you new here?" the boy said, in a quirky happy tone of voice as he flopped his arm out for me to shake. He looked like a stoner...major stoner. Shaggy hair, tired looking eyes, he had nice skin though. My smile extended a bit, his voice was very bubbly, I shook his hand while nodding my head, "Yeah. Just moved here too." He raised his raised his eyebrows, as if I had just told him I was from Mars. "Oh nice.-" he began in a cheerful tone of voice, I grinned sarcastically as I looked down, "Not nice." he said in a much more serious tone. "Yeah..I actually...Really hated the idea...and I hate the outcome." I said in a sigh. He chuckled quietly, and looked down for a moment, while picking of his jacket sleeve. "Well. I think you might like it..." he said, in an optimistic calm voice, "if you don't, we'll make you learn to love it." he joked. I smiled an nodded, "Ah, yes. The sacred art of threatening." I said with a smirk. I looked over to the other person in my group who had just turned around to face us after a little chat with some guy in Billie's group. He looked at me and cracked a smile, as he leaned closer to shake my hand, which I accepted, "Hey. Daniel. Nice to meet you." he said in a laid back tone of voice. I shyly smiled back as I brought my hand back down to my side. "I'm Juniper.. and it's nice to meet you too." I said. When I first saw him, I immediately noticed his striking features, his hazel eyes were the most I admired. Not to sound creepy. But he was very cute..maybe even beautiful. He had, somewhat, shaggy messy hair that was dark brown and had a German type nose, which I held an odd attraction for ever since I could remember.

"Alright class..So..What I want for us to challenge today is..Teamwork.-" he began. The word 'teemwork' didn't sit so well with me. I shot a look to Tre who was too busy chewing on his pencil to focus on anything. "-I want you all to make a song. Okay? Write it, sing it, play it. It only has to be three cords, it can be as long as you want but the minimum is two minutes." Mr. Evans said, in his calm hippie voice. Well there goes my confidence, right out the door. "-Who here plays guitar?" the teacher asked, as he looked all around the room. More than half the class raised their hands, along with Billie, of course. Tre was glaring at me with this odd look on his face. I mouthed the word 'what' to him but the expression on his face only got deeper as he squinted his eyes. 'Raise. Your. Hand' he mouthed back. I quickly shook my head. No that is out of the question. Hannah and Daniel already raised their hand. So it's not like I was the only one. Tre leaned over to Billie and whispered something to him. He then looked over to me, and I shot him a confused yet annoyed look. He smirked at me and looked away. "The lovely Juniper, knows how to play guitar as well." Billie muttered, loud enough for the teacher to hear him. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow of authority. God that sounded lame. And now that his eyes were on me, I felt obligated to give in and raise my hand. And so I did, as Daniel smiled and me and chuckled. "Alright. Choose who will play the guitar and once you've decided that, go grab a guitar." the teacher directed. We all looked at each other with a blank look. "I've only been playing for a year..On and off..I'm not the greatest." Daniel said. "I think you should play." Dominick said to me, pointing his long bony finger towards my face. I smiled, and felt myself blush, only in embarrassment. "No. Why me?" I said with a sigh, and a slight grin. "How long have you been playing?" Dominick asked, as he leaned back. I looked away for a moment, then back to him, "A few weeks." I said. "Oh bullshit." He said as he laughed. "Well something like that." he rolled his eyes, maybe he's as talented as Torri was at smelling bullshit. "Really?" I nodded, "Oh yeah..Maybe like...seven or eight years." I said sheepishly. He began to laugh loudly, along with Daniel and Hannah. Okay, so they we making me feel a bit more welcome and easier to warm up. I was beginning to feel like me once again. "Yeah..I just don't want to play." I began with a sigh, "Why not?" Daniel said. I shrugged, "Well, I'm...I'm a horribly shy person." I confessed. The two boys shrugged and smiled at me, which made me feel a bit better sharing that bit of information. "Don't worry about it." Daniel said, in a relaxing tone of voice. I shrugged. "It'll be good for you. Play, we wanna here you." Hannah said with an encouraging smile. I scratched the back of my neck and rolled my eyes, "Alright." I sighed. "Now get your ass up and grab a guitar." Dominick laughed. I rolled my eyes and sluggishly walked over to grab a guitar.

A few other people were standing around the small rack of guitars, tuning them to get it to the sound that they liked best and others were just playing a few cords while tuning. As I squeezed through, I saw Billie a few feet from me, off to the side, jamming out a few cords, giving all his attention to the guitar he was holding. I casually walked by him, to my luck, I grabbed the last acoustic guitar. I strummed a few cords softly, somehow bringing Billie out of his trance as he looked over to me. He smiled lightly, looking like a smirk, and walked over to me. My stomach flipped, funny I didn't feel nervous... And I looked back to the guitar and tuned it slightly, and strummed it once more. "Hey." Billie said as he stood next to me, a bit too close for my comfort. I looked up at him and half smiled, "Hello." I said and looked back to my guitar. "Whatcha been up to?" he asked as if he had known me forever and we hadn't talked in ages, he leaned over my shoulder, watching me tune my guitar, and the awkward part was, I really loved the way he smelled. I sighed in a bit of irritation, but it was just a harmless question. Maybe I shouldn't so uptight. "I've been alright." I said simply as I turned to look up at him, although, he wasn't very tall, but compared to me there was a bit of a difference. He smiled and nodded, "Oh, I've been good too. Thanks for asking." he teased, though in a very casual tone of voice. I gave him a smirk, trying to look somewhat irritated, he chuckled and looked back to his guitar. "Well that's good to know." he nodded, and the awkward silence was about to take over, I could feel it, so to dodge such a moment, I made an attempt to start a conversation with the boy, "So have you been practicing for your gig a lot?" yeah it was a dumb question, but it was the first thing that came to mind. He looked at me, with a slight surprised look on his face, "You remembered about that?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow. I rolled my eyes, "Yeah. I've been counting down the days." I sarcastically said. "I'm sure you have." he said with a smirk, feeding back into my sarcasm. I rolled my eyes and smiled, as I looked back down at the guitar, maybe having a conversation with him was a challenge, after all, I did basically meet him by yelling at him in the middle of the night. "But anyway, yeah I remember." I said quietly. He laughed, "Awesome. You coming?" he said as he rested his arm on the guitar. I shrugged as I looked at his shirt, "I might." I said with a smirk as I looked back at the guitar for the umpteenth time, mostly because I'm horrible with eye contact. He walked over to the wall and leaned against it as he placed the guitar carefully off to the side and crossed his eyes. "I didn't say no!" I laughed, as I stepped back a bit. "Well, that's basically saying no." he said with a smirk. I rolled my eyes and held in a laugh. Since this was beginning to get a bit humorous, "I barely know you..let alone this town or anyone in it. Why the hell would I go to some place by myself?" I said calmly. He looked to the side and shrugged, "C'mon. You know Tre, he'll be there. I'll be there, you know me-" he said, "Yes, but you will be the ones playing." I corrected. "It's a cool place. Cool people..." he said with a shrug. He had a point, I nodded and thought about it. "Alright class. Get your guitar and head back to your group." Mr Evans said, calmly, non teacher-like, which is what I really liked about this class. "So hopefully you show up. You never know what could happen...or couldn't for that matter." he said as he picked his guitar up and half smiled at me as he walked over to his group. I looked down at my guitar and thought for a moment, what did he mean by that. I shrugged it off as I walked back to my group. I'll think about going later, because, at the moment, I have class to deal with.

"Cos I love feeling dirty. And I love feeling cheap!-" Tre, jokingly sang loudly, knowing he was disrupting and annoying people in the room, though there was a good amount of giggling and cheering. "Frank, keep it to yourself." Mr. Evans said with a smile and went back to helping a student with guitar. Tre looked over at me with a devious smile, I smiled back and shook my head as turned back to my group. Hannah pulled out her binder and ripped a piece of paper out of it. She placed it in the middle of our circle we formed, and the four of us stared blankly at it for a moment before Daniel spoke. "So, what do we all want to write about?" he asked, looking at all of us to see if we had anything to say. Truth be told, I didn't have anything to say. I was still a bit down about trancering schools. I just wanted the day to pass by as quickly as it possibly could. I shrugged, as I looked to Hannah and Dominick, who both had the same look as I did. Daniel looked at me and smirked, "C'mon, you must have something to write about." he said, looking directly at me. I blushed, and felt my stomach to a flip. "Me?" I said dumbly. He smiled and nodded. I shrugged, "I dunno. Can't I just play guitar. I'm sure you guys can think up something great." I said sheepishly. He laughed, "Oh so you want us to do all the heavy lifting." I grinned, and rolled my eyes, looking away, over towards Billie's direction. I looked back at Daniel and chuckled, "Yeah pretty much." I teased. He shrugged, "Okay cool." he said with a straight face, and for a second I actually believed him, "Not going to happen." I sighed, "Alright." I said, to save myself an argument with this cute guy on the first day of school..Wait cute? "There must be something we can all think of and write." Hannah added, who was a very quiet person. "War. Peace. The President.... Happiness. Sadness. Loneliness. Boredom. Frustration. Anger." Dominick spit out. Those last six suggestions nawed at my inner being. It really did. I didn't wanna hear anymore subjects, mostly because I didn't want to hear more about how I feel, as dramatic as that sound, but also because I think we can figure something out, out of one of those things. He looked at all of us, "What about we do...war...?" Daniel suggested looking around to see if we had another suggestion. We didn't, and then it was so. We were going to write about war. It was a good subject, and I was cool with it, I just didn't really care if I failed or not.

"We're running.." Dominick began to sing quietly, it a very very good tone. I was surprised at how nice his voice was, after just hearing only two words. Hannah and I looked at each other, both surprised. He didn't seem like the serious type, more like a pot head jokester. He looked at the three of us, and we all encouraged him to go on. He looked down, and wrote more, and began to sing more. It was beautiful. And then, strangely, I felt confident that we were going to do a good job, again, not that I cared if we failed, at least if we failed we wouldn't sound so shitty.

"Wow, man. I'm blown away." Daniel said, as he patted Dominick on the back, who lifted Daniel's hand off of it and smiled, "Thanks, pretty boy." he said. Daniel laughed. "So, does this sound good." I played a few chords, using a rhythm I made up in my head while Dominick was singing. His eyes widened, "Yeah. That's gnarly!" he said with heavy enthusiasm. I laughed and rested my hands on the guitar. Though I was doing a pretty good job at focusing on my guitar playing and keeping conversation flowing, Billie's little comment was still rattling around in my head. Should I go. I mean I have a few days to debate about it. I could just stay home and tell him I wasn't feeling well. Or I didn't have to lie, I could just tell him no. Though I did really want to go, I just didn't want to be alone. "Sweet." I laughed quietly as I scratched the back of my neck. "Can I?" I asked, as I picked up the piece of paper that Dominick and Hannah were writing lyrics on. No one had officially written a song yet. Nothing was complete. Dominick kept singing full verses but kept forgetting them as he wrote them on paper, and Hannah was too shy to write anything more than what she had down. He nodded, as I looked at all the words on the paper. Things were scattered everywhere. I flipped the piece of paper over and began to write. I don't know what hit me, but I just felt all this inspiration come out, I wrote one verse and placed it back down in the middle of the floor. As soon as that short burst of confidence came, it ended. Maybe I was bipolar or something. "Dude, this is amazing!" Daniel said, as he had his eyes glued to the sheet of paper. I blushed like an idiot but smiled at him, "Yeah?" I said honestly. "So..Not only can you play guitar, but you write amazingly and you're quite cute." he said. God, I hated cheesy shit like that. I rolled my eyes, "Thank you." I wasn't writing to be good, or prove something, or to show off. I wrote it..to write, and so I didn't expect that kind of reaction. He passed the piece of paper to Dominick and Hannah, who both had the same expression, "That's good. Very good." Hannah said, as she smiled at me. "Alright. Now we have something to work with." Dominick said excitedly. I really didn't understand the enthusiasm in this 'project', it was just school so it's not like it's going to be some big deal after we complete it, I was still really pleased to have these guys as my partners.

Class had finally ended, but before we stood up, Mr. Evans sat back down on his stool, "Alright class. Good luck on your songs. Bring them back to me next Monday..So this means, you'll have a week to work on this. So please, keep up the good work." I smiled. He was a cool teacher. Everyone stood up and slowly left class, some wanted to talk to the teacher for a moment, while others were practically scratching on the doors to get out.

"Awesome meeting you, Juniper." Daniel said to me, as he stood up, offering me his hand to help me up. "Thanks. You too." I said, slinging my bag over my shoulder. "What class do you have next?" I grabbed my schedule and looked through it, "History." I said, shoving my schedule back in my bag. All of a sudden Billie came up from behind me, which scared the crap out of me. "Hey man." Billie said to Daniel. He smiled, "Hey." he said, as he looked back to me. "So Billie, first show besides Gilman's." Daniel began. He smiled, and nodded, "Yeah. We're all really excited to be playing somewhere besides 924 and at peoples parties." he said, as he looked down at me, and I ignored his look. "I am too." he said. Billie raised an eyebrow, "Oh sweet. Then we'll see you there." Daniel nodded. I looked away, and thought of how I could leave without just walking away like a weirdo

"Hey, Juniper." Tre teased as he walked up from behind me, scaring me for the second time in less then five minutes. I rolled my eyes, "Hi Frank Edwin Wright." I squinted my eyes. "So, Juniper.-" Daniel said, "You can just call me Alice." he shrugged with a smile, "Alright then. So you going to Billie's show?" I was hoping we wouldn't say that in front of Billie. "Um, I'm not too sure.." I said, as I gripped onto my bags strap a bit tighter. "She's shy." Billie said. I looked up at him, "Oh really? How long have you known me for?" I asked. "Long enough to figure out one and one makes two." he said sarcastically. I smirked at him, "Oh wow I had no idea you known me that long. Where does the time go?" I said, feeding back into his sarcasm. He chuckled, and Daniel laughed a bit before coughing awkwardly. "So do you have a ride...Or you just don't want to go alone." Daniel said, as if he read my mind. I looked away and thought of an answer to give him. "No, it's not that.." I said, still trying to make up a believable answer. "Then do you want me to take you? And we can go together." he offered kindly. My stomach did a deep churn, and my heart beaten a bit faster for a moment. It was very kind of him, thoughtful too, but I didn't exactly know what I should say. I smiled sweetly at him, "I have a car." 'Alice, this might be good for you. You now have an actual chance to meet new people and have things to do. And, even, possibly have some fun' I thought to myself. "We can meet up at.." I said, trying to remember the name of the place Green Day would be playing at. "Berkeley Square." Billie said with a smile. "Alright. I'll go." I said, looking up at Billie, who looked rather happy about my decision. "Alright. Sounds good." Daniel said, "I need to head to chemistry, I'll see you later. Oh and lets work on the song after class?" he said, I nodded, "Okay..?" I said in a confused tone, "Meet me over at the park." he said as he walked out of the room. "Okay." I muttered.

"So do you really want to go?" Billie asked me, I looked up at him and began to walk towards the door, "Yes. I do. Now I just have someone to be with." He rolled his eyes and smiled, as he looked away, almost as if he were in a trance. I looked in the direction of where he was looking, and of course, at a girl. Who was very petite, waiting for him at the door I assume. "Cool. I'll see you around, I gotta get going." he said as he walked slowly walked past me, "You smell good, by the way." he whispered into my ear as he brushed past me. As he walked by I smiled inwardly, "You do too." I said under my breathe. "I heard that." Billie smirked back at me as he walked to the girl, I was right. And they both walked out the door. "Fucker." I said, with no response. I turned around, Tre was no where to be seen, I hadn't decided if that was ever a good thing or a bad thing yet.

"Juniper!" Dominick called out. I turned around and he was standing over by the door way, gesturing for me to come over. I smiled slightly and walked over towards him, "Hey, I thought you left class already." He shrugged, "Nah, this is one of my favorite classes, I always hang around for a bit." he told me. I nodded, "Oh okay. Did Hannah leave?" I asked. He nodded in response, "You'll have you excuse her, she's.." he paused, "Shy?" I said raising my eyebrow, he nodded. "She's always been like that." I nodded and looked away for a moment, still trying to see if I could spot Tre. No luck, I turned back to him, "Did you see a kid with green hair leave too?" I asked. "Tre? Yeah, he jolted past me while I was talking to Mr. Evans" I shrugged, "Guess I'll have to catch up with him later, he's really the only one who has been showing me around." I said with a chuckle. He smiled, "Sweet. Well, Daniel told me, that we should meet up at the park and write more,-" I nodded, "And I also told Hannah before she left." I nodded, for the umpteenth time, "Alright cool."

"Well, I gotta get to my next class. See you around June." he said before he slipped around the corner.

Alright, onward to History. Great.