Billie Joe Armstrong Is My Step-Father...and I Hate It

“Do we have everything? Grace, check if we have everything...” mum counted up the bags. “Where’s Hollie? Where’d she go? Hollie?!”

“I’ve got her” Billie said, with Hollie scooped up in his arms as she constantly asked him questions about his house.

“Where is your house? Why aren’t we going to your house now? Why are we still here? Is your house big?” Hollie asked, a wide grin plastered over her face in fascination. Billie tried answering her questions after she asked them, but others just kept coming. Much to his frustration, Hollie was born with our dad’s sense of curiousity. It’s either answer her questions, or throw her into a tantrum. And Hollie’s tantrums are rare for a reason.

“Mum, Kevin has a dog, can we get one?” Kage asked, looking over the fence at our neighbours five year old son, with his new puppy.

“No, we can’t” mum said. “Because remember when you were three and we had that puppy?”

“I didn’t mean to kill it!” I fought back. “It was just really pissing me off, mum!”

“YOU killed Scruff?!” Kage asked, his face covered in horror.

“Look, enough about Scruff, I think we’ve had enough talk about... death to last us a lifetime.” Mum said the word death quite quickly. In a matter of fact, she said the whole sentence quickly. Billie glanced at her, obviously over-hearing my mum.

“Sammie, don’t think about it” he soothed her from two metres away. Hollie looked confused.

“What are you talking about?” she asked him.

“Wha- oh, nothing” he said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, stretching out the word sure.

“Right, have we got everything?” mum called out, before Billie could answer Hollie’s question. Mum locked the door, grinning. “Alrighty, let’s get going.”

“Woohoo” I said, sarcasctically. I pulled my zebra print suitcase into the car. I knew Billie didn’t live too far away from us. It always used to thrill me before he started dating my mum. I used to wander the street, trying to make it out. I never did. And mum was far too depressed to take anywhere.

Now she was over the moon every day because of Billie Joe.

The trip wasn’t that long. Billie drove his own car with Joey and Jakob in front of us, and mum follwed in her car. Hollie took fascination in Kage’s video game, her eyes wide with interest. I just looked absent mindedly out the window.

“Why did you hit that guy?” Hollie asked.

“Coz he’ll kill me if I don’t” Kage said.

“Oh... why will he kill you?”

“Coz he’s evil, Hollie” Kage said, pressing buttons frantically.

“But why?”

“Hollie, shut up” Kage hissed.

“MUUUUM! Kage told me to shut up, that’s not nice!” Hollie whacked him with her teddy repeatedly.

“OW! HOLLIE, STOP IT!”

I glanced over, trying to get some form of amusement from this. Although I got none. So I glanced out the window again. My life was like a living nightmare. Someone up there has it in for me. I glared up at the sky. So much for guardian angels. When we got there, I noticed that Billie was right and it was much bigger than our semi-detatched house. Mum looked at it, as if it were the golden gates to Heaven.

More like the black spiked barbed wired fence to Hell.

I looked at it, grimancing at it. I was going to live here. This was where Billie spent his whole life with his former wife. Well, maybe not his whole life with her. But it’s where I could possibly spend the rest of my teenage years before I could move the hell out of California. I mean it. When I can move out, I will. And I’ll move as far away as possible. I climbed out of the car, Kage following me out.

“Whooooa, nice crib...” I heard Kage mutter. I turned my head to give him a look of pure confusion. Who even uses that word...?

“Well, this is it” Billie said, wrapping an arm around mum, who kept her eyes on the house. “What do you think?”

“It’s hu- why haven’t I been here before?!” she hissed.

“Coz Adie was still living here at the time. I just got some flat somewhere before you invited me in” Billie said. Mum nodded.

“Right... yea... I forgot” she said.

“Look, Kage” I said loudly, pointing at the house. “It’s Hell!” Kage actually burst out laughing. Everyone else, excluding Hollie, gave us awful glares. That included Billie Joe.

At long fucking last.

I grinned evilly at him. Kage on the other hand shut the hell up when he realized he crossed the line and looked down shamefully. My grin faded slowly when no one actually stopped glaring at me. I hung my head in embarrassment.

“So... um... we going in or not?” I growled.

Once we were let it, Hollie got a bit too excited.

“It’s so big!” she squealed, jumping up and down in excitment.

“Stop it Hollie, you’re gonna trip” mum said, lookign slightly worried. She had a point. When Hollie bounced around too much, she falls. She grabbed Billie’s leg.

“You’re house is cool!” she said, grinning wildly.

“Thanks, Hollie” he grinned, tousling her hair. Hollie giggled before detatching her self from Billie and running towards mum.

“Let’s look around, mummy!” she squealed, trying to pull her away.

“Alright, jeez...” mum said.

“Yea, I have something I wanna show Kage” Billie said, grinning at the now interested ten year old.

“Really?” Kage asked. “Awesome!” He followed Billie to... where ever he was taking him. I turned to get some things from the car until I banged into Joey.

“Ow! Move” I hissed.

“I wanna talk to you about something” he said.

“I am not...” I narrowed my eyes and jabbed my finger into his chest, “talking about that. So leave me the hell alone.” I tried walking around him but he blocked my way. “I’m literally warning you now...”

“Grace... Gracie, c’mon-!”

“I will kick you somewhere where it hurts and God knows I can kick hard!” I seethed. “I do Irish dancing!”

“... Has anyone elver told you that you have a very cold heart?”

“No, but I’m sure your daddy dearest thought it tons of times” I said, raising an eyebow. “Look, I never wanted to end up...” I scanned over the house with my eyes, “... here. So don’t force me, Joey.”

“I’m not forcing you at all, but I really need to tell you something” Joey said.

“I have nothing to say to you” I said. “And I have nothing to say about the subject.”

“Grace, you can’t just forget about it” Joey said.

“Watch me” I hissed. “What I did to you last night was nothing, it was just to shut you up.” Alright. Maybe that was a lie, but I was trying to start fresh. “Now, if you’d just let me past...”

“Grace” he sighed, as I pushed past him.

“Leave me alone” I snarled. I ended up walking past the car, trying to get away from Joey, who was following me. “I said leave me alone!” I ended up on the sidewalk. “Stop following me!”

“Gracie!”

“Joey, you heard her, back off!” I turned to see a blonde boy standing there, with a girl with black hair with red streaks in it. But I kept focused on the blonde boy. It was like looking at chocolate cake... he looked fabulous. The blonde hair was slightly floppy but other than that, it was cut short like usual guys hair. He wore jeans that complimented him perfectly and a shirt that looked like it had been pulled through the mills, completed with a leather jacket. And he had a Brooklyn accent. A freakin’ Brooklyn accent. And it made him sound awesome. I just stared at him.

“Stay out of this, Aiden” Joey said, glaring at him.

“Leave the girl alone, I heard her shouting it at you three times already” the boy, Aiden, fought back. He didn’t look angry. Just stern.

“Aiden, chill out, would you?” the girl said, rolling her eyes. Aiden looked back at her.

“Would you want someone to save you if you were being stalked?”

“I wasn’t stalking her!”

“Yes, you were” I snarled.

“Are you alright?” Aiden asked me.

“Yea...” I said. His soft chocolate brown eyes nearly melted me where I stood. I hadn’t felt this way since that night Joey comforted me on the sofa. Or when he kissed me.

Shoot.

“I’m Aiden” he smiled.

“Grace” I said, remembering my name before it was too late.

“I’m Emily” the girl perked up behind him, grinning. I raised an eyebrow. “No, I’m nothing to do with his band...” She smiled and gave a curt nod at Joey behind me.

“I’ve never seen you around before” Aiden said, smiling softly at me.

“I-I... just got here” I said, gawping back at his wonderous smile.

“Oh... nice to meet you. Where’d you come from? Heaven?”

“W-wha?”

“Considering you look like an angel... just wondered if you wer ea fallen angel” Aiden said, shrugging, smiling.

It was so cheesy. But he pulled it off beautifully. I ended up giggling hysterically and embarrassingly.

“Oh, ok” I spluttered, smiling shyly and rubbing my arm nervously.

“Fuck off, Aiden, she’s not interested” Joey hissed. I looked back at him. Suddenly, I felt like Bella Swan. But one of them had to be Edward.

“Maybe later, I could show you around if you want” Aiden said, ignoring Joey completely.

“I only came from down the street...” I said. He shrugged.

“Still” he said, grinning, “Maybe we could meet up?”

“Y-yea... fun” I said.

“Where’d you move into, Grace?” Emily asked.

“His house” I said, jabbing my thumb back at Joey.

“Really?” Emily asked. “Why? You ran away from home or something?”

“Nah, my mum is getting married to his dad” I said, almost shamefully.

“Your mum is Samia?” Emily asked, her eyes wide in shock.

“Yea she- wait a minute... how’d you know my mum?!” I asked.

“I read it somewhere” Emily said, shrugging. I blinked. But before I could ask where she read it from, she kept talking. “Do you two get along?”

“What?”

“You and Joey. Do you get along? Or have you only met?”

“Stop asking her so much questions” Aiden said. “Jesus Christ, Emily, must you be like this to everyone?”

“I’m just curious!” Emily said, glaring at him.

“Um... we get on alright...” I said, shrugging. “We met a few days back.”

“I’ve known him 'bout a year” Aiden said, looking at him. For some reason, I could fell a sense of coldness shared between the two boys. Was it jealousy... over me?

God. It felt weird.

“Aiden is our neighbour” Joey explained, with some attempt to hide his seething tone of voice.

“So, when can we meet up?” Aiden asked, smiling. “Can I come around for you at four?”

“Actually, we-”

“Sure, four is good” I said, smiling cheesily at the Greek God standing in front of me.

“Awesome, I’ll walk you around, it will be fun” Aiden said. His Brooklyn accent sent chills of pleasure down my spine, despite how cheesy the accent usually sounded.

“Fun yea be it will” I replied, stupified by his smile. He gave me a look of confusion, as did Emily behind him. I blinked. “I-I mean... yea, it will be fun.” Aiden grinned again.

“See ya later” he said, backing off, giving me that heart melting smile.

“Yea... see you” I said. I didn’t take my eyes off him until he turned the corner.

“What the fucking hell was that?!” I turned to see an exteremly pissed off Joey Armstrong.

“That...” I said. “... was a male Aphrodite.”

“Do you have no heart at all?!” he hissed. “I tell you everything, everything. I told you that I loved you and then go flaunt yourself to Aiden?!”

“Yea, coz unlike you, he isn’t an offspring of a dickhead” I said. “And he’s got a kickass personality... and face... and ass...”

“... Grace, I did not need to know that last part” he said, shuddering.

“Well, he does! Or... maybe that’s just his jeans. And he’s got an accent. And he has nice hair and he seems like a really nice guy” I said.

“But Aiden... Aiden is... he’s just... oh Jesus, why would you do that?!”

“Why?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with me hanging out with Aiden?” He stared back at me.

“Y’know, I’m not surprised” he snarled before turning around and storming away from me. I laughed loudly.

“Yea, whatever, you take a hissy fit, see if I care!” I fought back. “At least I know Aiden isn’t the type of person to do that!” I grinned evilly but frowned when he disappeared.

Somehow, I knew things were going to get more complicated than before. With me, it always does.