I Left My Heart in San Diego

Beepbeepbeep! Beepbeepbeep! Beepbeepbeep! Slam! "Shut up!" I groaned. "Stop reminding me that I have to go to school today."

My mom then came into my room, light from the hallway spilling in, making me pull my covers over my face. "It's time to get up, Arizona. First day of senior year!" she said quietly, flipping on the light. I groaned, again, louder. Not seeing that I was rising from my bed, my mom rudely ripped my covers from my hands. The bright light seared my eyes, making me squint and rub my eyes. "Come on, Arizona," she said, a little firmer.

"I'm getting up, I'm getting up!" I whined, batting her hands away.

"Goodness, Arizona, you've certainly been very moody lately," my mom observed.

"Yeah, well, it's for the same reason you've been," I said, subtly hinting at my pregnancy, which neither my mom nor Aran knew about.

"Sure, Arizona. I'll see you downstairs." She turned around and left my room, chuckling.

I sighed, absentmindedly placing a hand on my stomach. I smiled, looking at down at the baby growing underneath my skin.

Yeah, I was excited. Yeah, I was happy. But, at the same time, I was scared as fuck. I didn't know shit about raising a child, and I was still in high school, so I was afraid that I wouldn't see the baby very much and would have to leave it with Billie. But then, at least, babysitting was taken care of. I smiled at this to myself as I climbed out of bed and walked to the bathroom.

When I came back to my bedroom, I opened my closet, wondering what I was going to wear for my first day of my senior year of high school. I couldn't decide between a pink blouse with a white tank top underneath or a black t-shirt I had stolen from Billie, both with navy blue skinny jeans. Picking up my phone from my nightstand, I opened it, surprised to find a text message from Billie dated ten minutes ago. 'wake up, babe. and in case you were wondering, wear my t-shirt <3' it read.

I grinned, sending a good morning text back. When it sent, I closed my phone and threw it on my bed, yanking Billie's t-shirt off of its coat hanger and pulling my skinny jeans out of my dresser. I quickly applied some black mascara and eyeliner, throwing my light brown hair into a ponytail.

Picking my phone up off of my bed, setting it to vibrate and shoving it in my pocket, I headed downstairs, turning lights out behind me. Bouncing around the corner, my mom handed me a hearty bowl of oatmeal, a generous amount of brown sugar mixed in. "Thanks, Mom!" I said happily, spooning a large amount into my mouth.

We heard the door open, and someone walking across the wooden foyer. I turned around with my oatmeal to see my boyfriend strolling toward me, an unknown strange red flower in his hand. "Hey, babe," he said, kissing me. I quickly set down my bowl of oatmeal, kissing him back. "Hey, Ms. Willows," Billie said to my mom when we pulled apart.

"Oh, hello, Billie Joe," she said, taking a sip of her coffee. "I didn't know you would be stopping by."

Aran walked down the stairs a few minutes later in a fancy navy blue suit. "Good morning, Nat," he said, kissing her. She smiled, taking another sip of her coffee. Aran turned to me, noticing Billie standing behind me. "Good morning, Arizona."

"Hey, Aran," I said, waving with my spoon in my hand. Billie chuckled, kissing the top of my head.

"Hello," Aran said to Billie. "It's Billie Joe, right?"

"Yeah," Billie answered.

"Well, good morning. Come to see Arizona off to school this morning?" Aran asked.

"I was actually planning on taking her to school myself," Billie replied. "I have something I want to tell her."

"Oh," my mom said, sounding slightly surprised.

"Is that alright?" Billie asked.

"Yes, yes, that's fine."

"Okay. Izzie, babe, we should get going. Don't want to be late, do we?" Billie suggested, looking down at me.

I set my almost-empty oatmeal bowl on the kitchen table and looked at the time display on the stove. "Yeah," I said through my last mouthful of oatmeal. "Let's go." I walked over to my mom, hugging her. "Bye, Mom, love you."

"Love you, too, sweetheart. Have a good first day!"

"Later, Aran."

"Goodbye, Arizona."

"Come on, let's go," I said to Billie, taking his hand.

"Goodbye, Ms. Willows, Aran!" Billie called as I whisked him out my front door.

When we were in Billie's car, there was a moment of silence as we kissed passionately. "How's the baby?" he asked, sitting up in the driver's seat.

I sat up as well, watching Billie as he started his car and backed out of my driveway. "It's fine," I said.

Billie sighed, making a right off of my street. "I hate that we keep calling the baby 'it'," Billie commented.

"I know, I know," I said. "But we don't know the sex of the baby yet, and we won't for a while."

"Yeah, I know. So listen, Arizona."

Oh, crap. I know something's about to happen when Billie uses my full name. "Yeah?" I asked, trying not to sound scared or concerned or anything.

"Green Day is going on its first mini-tour," Billie said.

"That's great, Billie!" I exclaimed, smiling. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks, babe," Billie said. "But the thing I wanted to tell you is that we're leaving on Friday."

"Yeah? And when are you gonna be back?" I asked.

"We'll be gone for two weeks," Billie said.

"That's the downside of dating a rock star," I said reasonably.

Billie pulled into the drop-off loop of school, taking his place at the back of the line. "Glad you're not, like, freaking out," Billie said, pulling up.

"I'm fine. But you better call me, like, whenever you can," I told him, unbuckling my seat belt and shouldering my backpack.

Billie pulled up to the crosswalk. "Have a fun first day of your senior year, Izzie," he said, leaning over the gear shift to kiss me. "I love you."

I kissed him back and opened the passenger door. "Thanks, Billie. I love you, too." I shut the door behind me and turned around, facing my school for my last year there.

I took a deep breath and started across the crosswalk. "Hey, Arizona!" I heard Zie call.

"Hey, Zie!" I called back, walking over to her.

"Ready for our last year here at Central Coast?" she asked, a huge smile on her face.

"Fuck yeah! Let's make this the best year ever!" I exclaimed, raising my hand for a high five.

Zie slapped my hand in a high five. "Let's do this!" she yelled.

She opened the door, letting us inside the blue-and-cream-tiled building for our last year of high school. This is going to be the best year ever, I thought, walking through the hallways and seeing all my old friends in the hallways. Even without Billie here. I smiled as Zie and I parted ways for our lockers.