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

We pulled up on the kerb. Loud music pumped through the air, and the street was lit up in multi coloured strobe lights from the clubs. We all climbed out of the car, the air smelt of smoke and chips. On the pavement, a prostitue lay across the ground, her dress torn, a bottle of vodka lying in her limp hand. She wasn’t the only one on the street. A guy, in a long trench coat, his hands dug into his pockets, stood on the other end of the street, his eyes stuck on the passed out prostitute. And a pair were making out savagely by a lamp post. And there other bizarre people on the city street such as drug dealers, alcoholics, peolpe high on drugs... and there was this one guy lying across the ground, I didn’t know if he was alive or not. But none of the guys even seems aware of what was around them, not even any of my friends.

“WOO!” I looked back to see Lisa dancing away on the street the the sound of the music, which was making the ground vibrate slightly. “The party animals are BACK!”

“Sweet,” some strange boy yelled back, who was wearing a leotard and some heeled boots.

“It’s normal,” Don whispered in my ear. “Apparently, he always dresses like that since his parents ditched him in Alton Towers.” I didn’t bother asking him how he knew that. This city was the city of whacks, I could tell. The drunk prostitute looked up to see who had yelled, but barely lifted her head before she passed out again.

“You think I could bag her?” Don asked, looking at her. “I mean... she’s as drunk as-!”

“Don, you’re seveteen and she’s... what... twenty seven?!” Emily hissed.

“Ten years, big whoop,” Don scoffed. Tord shrugged.

“Go for it,” he said. Don seemed to be considering it before shaking his head.

“Nah. I wanna get some adrenaline pumping in me before I have any sex. After all, there’s bound to about fifty drunk bitches on the street at about eleven,” Don said.

“True that.” Lisa said. “One of them will probably be me.”

“Hey!” Jason yelled loudly. “Why are we still standing here?! Everyone... DISPERSE!” He grabbed Lisa’s wrist and pulled her away with him, and Tord left with Emily. Don skipped away somewhere and Idina left with Jordan, leaving me and Aiden behind.

“Come on,” Aiden said, grinning, grasping my hand. “Let’s start with some clubbing!”

I laughed, letting him pull me away. He pulled me into a club house, where the ages ranged from fifteen to thirty seven. Possibly more, but there was so many bodies, I couldn’t count them all. He pulled me into the huge crowd of people, and, with no doubt, it would turn into a riot by the end of the night. But he pulled me straight up to the counter derving drinks. I tried not to frown or look scared. He ordered two drinks. Vodka and coke.

“Aiden,” I said, softly. “It’s only nine, you don’t wanna start too hard.”

“Fuck, sure we do,” Aiden said, taking the drinks. “How else are we gonna get wasted? On water?” he handed me the drink and I looked at it. Aiden frowned.

“I’m being inconsiderate, aren’t I?” he said. I stared at drink, remembering how it made me feel... I was here to have fun. And that was just what I was going to do. No shit will happen to me.

I took the drink.

“No way, you’re totally right,” I grinned, gulping it down. Aiden watched me a while before he downed his own drink. And then he got another two. And another two. And another two. After the fourth, we decided to dance our souls out before ditching the club for a while. So, we trashed it out to rave songs the DJ blasted out.

She said she likes to dance all by herself

Coz she’s a party girl.

She don’t care for no body else

She’s in her own world

I love this little party girl

She’s such a little party girl

I didn’t even know the song, but I seemed to be acting like I did. My hair was whipping across my face, and I felt wonderfully free. I couldn’t feel my lips or my fingers (which were curled up into fists anyway), but I still felt free. The bodies around be all seemed to have a partner, but as did I. Aiden somewhere around me, but I couldn’t see him. It was then I collided into him, he was behind me.

“Boo,” he whispered in my ear, kissing my neck. I let him. “Come on, I’m getting bored here.” I nodded and I felt myself being pulled away. The street was more crowded now, it was half eleven. I noticed Don, who was either high on happy pills or just drunk, skipping down the street, singing a very happy song.

But other than a high Don, there was no one I recognized. Strobe lights light the city, so everyone was green or blue or red... or maybe it was my drunken vision... I’ll never know. I smiled awkwardly, swaying on my feet.

“Come, my dear!” Aiden said. “Let us wander the city!” He pulled me down the street, stepping over the bodies on the ground. I stumbled over them too. Normally, music this loud would annoy anyone, but not me. Right then, it seemed to go into one ear and shoot straight out the other.

I peered into an alleyway to see Jordon screaming his lungs out at a few lobsters who were crawling up the road, along with other weirdos. But Aiden pulled me past. And on the road, I swear there was almost a male version of Lisa, slumped up against the wall, a girl cooped up under his arms, who looked as wasted as hell. He was saying something to her. I paused, causing Aiden to stumble back a bit.

“What the fu- EDWARD!” he yelled, suddenly. “You’re at the city?!”

I turned my head to look at this Edward person, who looked up with glazed eyes.

“I nots gonna miss za foam,” he mumbled. “And the... the paint... it’s gonna fall from the skies.”

“What?”

“At midnight. Th-the party...” he cut himself off to gulp down something before continuing, “Its gonna come to the streets... foam and... and paint and... water balloons...”

“Awesome!” Aiden grinned. “You’re not joking?”

Edward shook his head. “Ever’ones on ‘bout it... maybe they’re all lying, I dunno, I’m not fucking superwoman,” he mumbled.

“Superman” I corrected him.

“Fuck off,” he muttered, cuddling the wasted girl closer. So we left him in peace.

“Arcade,” Aiden said, pointing at it. “I’m gonna teach you to steal some coins once I get another drink.”

He got another drink from a bar, as did I (actually, I had two) before stumbling acorss the street to the arcade (or mini-theme park thing... I dunno...), pushing the door open. A girl lay slumped over some motorbike game, asleep whilst a few drunk boys were trying to break into a vending machine. Aiden dragged me towards one of those stupid coin game things. You know. You put a coin in and hope about thirty coins pour out in return but nothing ever does. He kicked it, stumbling back. He kicked it again, and stumbled again.

“Lemme try,” I said, stuttered forward before slamming myself against it. There had to be about fifty coins that fell out. I smiled woozily. “Look Aids. We’re rich.”

“You’re so strong,” Aiden said, leaning me against the machine, kissing me savagely and drunkingly. His hands wandered down my back, fumbling with my skirt and fishnet tights before slipping his hands down there anyway. I opened one eye when I heard a familar voice.

“Aidi! Oh, AIDI!” someone cooed. Aiden stopped attacking my mouth with his and looked up to see Jason and Lisa. Lisa was dressed differently. She wore some form of slutty cat costume, wobbling on her feet but still full of drunk energy. “There’s this awesome fucking spot!”

“No one saw us, right Jas?” Lisa slurred.

“... I wouldn’t say that, let’s hope not,” Jason said, equally as fumbled in his speech.

“We’re heading down the the beach down there, you coming?” Lisa asked.

“And watch you fuck in the ocean? Ha. Piss off” Aiden said.

“If you change your mind... you know where we’ll be,” Jason said, pulling Lisa away, out into the city again.

“Let’s trash something,” Aiden said, slowly. “I wanna trash something... and then we’ll go to the riot on the street.”

“That, my friend...” I slurred. “Sounds fun.”

“Then we’ll have some awesome sex...”

“Better.”

So we trashed a small shop. Aiden toppled over a shit ton of things and I let the slushie machine go an haywire. And I know what you’re thinking... but the shop attendant was too high on drugs to care. Ah, the city. Even the shop attendants get high. I knew if mum or even if Billie saw me now, I would probably be slaughtered. But they didn’t. So I didn’t give a shit. So, free slushies. I noticed Aiden looking at a collection of alcoholic drinks.

“Pass ‘em,” I asked. He chucked one but I didn’t catch it. Instead, it thudded to the ground, rolling to my feet. I was about to pick it up, but my phone rang loudly and obnoxiously. I slipped it out of my pocket.

On the screen flashed the word: BILLIE

I was too drunk to know why the fuck I had his number, but I picked up. “'Ello gorgeous.”

“Grace? Where are you, are you alright? We rang you five times!” Billie yelled over the phone.

“I’m peachy,” I said, before bursting into fits of giggles. There was an odd silence for about two seconds.

“How’s the camping?” he asked.

“Oh... yea, squrriels and rabbits and ponies, your...” I stopped for a while, trying to regain my train of thought, “average camping stuff,” I said, hiccuping slightly.

“... ponies?”

“Sure. A horse of a different colour. White, purple, green, red, yellow, blue...” I said.

“Are you... you are joking, right?” Billie said, slowly.

“Nah, why would I kid about Oz?”

“... Can I speak to your friends?”

“Suuuure!” I held my phone out to the high shop attendant, who was filing her nails rather agerresively. She snatched the phone.

“Hey shug, talk to moi,” she said, a bit too quickly. I heard Billie say something. “Aw, shug, don’t get your hair all messed. We ain’t in no dangerous woods. Yeppers. Who?”

I took my phone back. “See you later, give all my hugs and kisses to the boys, bye.”

“Gracie, but I need to kn-!” I hung up.

“Was that Jesus?” The shop attendant asked, in her brittle, nasal voice. She was about nineteen. She was wearing was looked like a sixties cherry dress and she had long blonde hair. I shook my head.

“Billie Joe Armstrong. He’s a dick,” I said, laughing. I started snorting as I laughed, wobbling on my feet. I picked up the can that Aiden had threw and opened it. Don barged in.

“Guysssshhh,” he slurred. He was probably more wasted than any of us. “There you are...” His eyes fell onto the shop attendant. He smiled in a weird way. “Hey babeh...” He tottered over to her, tripping on his way, but he made it. Instantly, they grabbed each other in a savage make out session.

Suddenly, screams of enthusiasm and partying filled the street and muscis shook the ground. “Come along Gracie, the party awaits!” Aiden said, pulling me away. He pulled me out, leaving Don and the girl he would clearly be fucking alone in the tiny shop.

We met up with Tord and Emily in the crowd. They had obviously had a good knock out with each other, because Emily’s hair looked like a bush and she was wearing Tord’s usual red hoodie, and Tord was wearing a shirt that obviously wasn’t his. Emily had her arm laced around his, and they were both utterly... drunk. Tord kept yelling out things. Things that started a fight between two hippies on the sidewalk. Emily, on the other hand, trashed out to the loud rock music blasting from the street speakers, strobe lights making the highlights in her hair flash different colours. I didn’t know they were neon... but they were.

Aiden stood by me, shooting threatening and drunken glares at any boy who felt like they should come onto me. But I didn’t care. I was also giving it my all with the dancing. I had gotten my hands on a bottle of vodka. BIG mistake, and I wouldn’t have glanced at it if I was sober. Vodka was pretty damn strong. But I had to whole bottle, holding up in the sky, screaming the words to the song along with Tord. I took a swing out of the bottle, feeling the hot liquid pool down my throat into my stomach. I grimaced, shaking it off.

My phone rang for the third time since Billie called. I slipped it out of my pocket.

Joey calling.

“Leave it,” I heard Aiden say.

“But Joey will get worried,” I said, bluntly and dully.

“So?”

“Yea... so...” I smiled wearily. “But what if-?”

“Grace, this will be a night to remember...” Aiden said, wrapping his arms around me. His breath stunk of alcohol, but at that moment, to me, it smelt beautiful. I inhaled it deeply, closing my eyes, letting my mouth wander along his neck. “We’re gonna look back at this and say: ‘Remember that trash crowd?’ We’ll be able to say we were there. Now, hang up on him.”

I pressed the red button on my phone, cutting off Joey’s call. Suddenly, Tord screamed.

“I FUCKING KNOW THIS SONG, GRACE WE KNOW THIS SONG!” he screeched. I listened.

Coz I gotta feeling, that tonights gonna be a good night, that tonights gonna be a good night, that tonights gonna be a good good night-

I roared out the words with Tord, Emily and Aiden joined in at some point. The people around us joined in. The people around those people joined in. Suddenly, the whole crowd seemed to be screaming the words, drowning out the actual song. The street was alive. And all of a sudden, paint fell from the sky. Paint, in huge balloons. They splashed to the ground, leaving the ground looking like a unicorn threw up all over it. And not just the ground. Rioters were covered with sparatic colours, neon paint. It must have been pretty fucking awesome to look at the neon people dancing on the street from above. Through the little shop window, Don and the high shop attendant were no longer in view, as they were obviously having a massive sex fest behind the counter. And somewhere on the beach, Lisa and Jason were doing the same. And God knew where Idina and Jordon disappeared to.

I finsihed off a full bottle of vodka and my head was starting to spin. I was wobbling more than I was before. My vision was becoming blurred.

“I don’t feel so good...” I said. I threw up on the road before passing out.