Our Little Secret

The next day, Mike and Tre were sitting in study hall making themselves look busy. The two of them, along with Billie, had chatted a little the previous hour, but the teacher had quickly separated them for "disrupting the class." They hadn't thought they were being that loud.

"So, anyways, like I was trying to tell you guys in lit.," Tre said, "My parents suggested that I needed a 'new environment,' which I'm pretty sure is just their way of saying the neighbors were complaining again. You'd think living miles away from anyone would get rid of that problem, but I guess I'm just too obnoxious for my own good." To prove his point, Tre flashed Mike the most obnoxious smile he could muster.

Mike just laughed at Tre's story. It was quickly becoming obvious to Mike that Tre could make even the dumbest, most boring story entertaining. Mostly with his stupid commentary. "So they just packed up and moved out here?"

"Well, we probably wouldn't have actually moved. It was probably more of warning than anything else. I think they just got fed up 'cause I kept bugging them about moving out to Berkeley for a while; they've got a ton of great bands out there. I guess my parents just finally gave in."

"Yeah, our band goes out to Berkeley all the time to play, and then when we can't play, Billie and I try to go out there as often as possible just to watch any band that's performing."

Tre's eyes lit up. "You're in a band?"

Mike nodded. "Green Day. Me and Billie and this college guy. We used to play as Sweet Children, but we got high this one time… so we ended up changing names. Kind of a stupid story."

"Oh, I've heard of you guys. Hell, I've probably watched you guys perform sometime. Larry gave you a record deal, didn't he?"

"Yeah. You know him?"

"Yeah, he's the singer for our band."

Mike knew Larry's band. He and Billie had seen them play quite a few times. 'I guess I didn't put two and two together.' Tre did look a little familiar, but Mike had never really known him that well to begin with. All he knew was that Tre was supposedly quite the character. And after properly meeting him, Mike wasn't going to argue. "You're in The Lookouts?"

Tre perked up once again. He thought it was pretty cool whenever someone had heard of them. Not too many people knew about these "obscure" bands. "Yeah, I'm on the drums."

"No fucking way," he said louder than he had intended, earning him a glare from the teacher. He shrunk back in his seat and started talking more quietly. "Small world. Billie and I have seen you guys play a few times. You're pretty fucking good."

Tre shrugged. "Yeah, but I don't know how well the band's gonna work out. Everyone else still lives out in Willits, and I live down here. It'll be hard to keep up practice and write any new songs. And plus our bassist isn't sure if he really wants to keep working. He's dating some hot chick and wants to get married, so we don't really know how everything's gonna work out."

"Well, that sucks. I guess some things are destined to be shot to hell."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure where this leaves me. If we break up, I'm screwed. I kind of counted on just being in this band for life. I don't want to get stuck in some nine to five job flipping burgers or anything. And I definitely can't see myself in corporate America or anything. I wouldn't be able to take myself seriously. I don't think anyone else would be able to either, for that matter."

Mike chuckled. He'd known Tre for less than a day, and he knew for fact he wouldn't have been able to take him seriously if he was his boss. "Well, I know Billie feels the same way you do. That's why he wants to drop out of school—he wants to focus on our music. School just gets in his way." Tre nodded in understanding. "A lot of people just think he's lazy or something for wanting to quit school, but he's really not. He's probably a harder worker than anyone else here. He's a lot brighter than he lets on." Mike chuckled at what he was about to say. "That's not to say he can't be a thick-headed asshole at times, and he's got a hell of a temper. But yeah, he usually knows a lot more than people realize."

"You know him pretty well, don't you?"

Mike nodded. "We've known each other since we were about ten. He's like my little brother… even though he's older than me."

"Billie's older than you? He looks younger."

"Yeah, we're both seventeen. He's only a couple of months older than me. His birthday's in February; mine's in May."

"Ooh, mine's next Saturday."

Mike didn't seem to mind Tre's eager interruption. "The second or the ninth?"

"The ninth."

"So, you're older than us?"

"No, I'll be seventeen then. I'm only sixteen now."

Mike smiled again. "So I'm not the youngest anymore? Nice, I'll have to let Billie know." Billie constantly joked about how Mike was the youngest between them. He had really started the teasing when Mike started getting taller than him. And Mike didn't have any expectations that the teasing would stop anytime soon. Of course, Mike's response was always just to remind Billie of how much taller he was and that would be that.

"Why does Billie have to know I'm younger than you?" Tre asked somewhat cautiously.

"No reason. Billie's just a prick at times," he joked.

The teacher glared at him again. "Mr. Pritchard, watch your mouth."

Mike glanced at her and gave a weak apology. "Sorry." He turned to Tre again. "Maybe tomorrow we should sit in the back," he whispered.

Tre nodded. "But it's not like anyone is trying to work anyway. Except those losers." He pointed to the front corner of the room at a bunch of people huddled over a desk studying for some test. After he said it, he thought twice about it, hoping Mike wasn't friends with any of them or anything.

Luckily, Mike seemed amused at his joke and laughed quietly to himself. "Your mouth's gonna get you in trouble someday."

Tre smiled. "That's what everyone keeps telling me, but it hasn't happened yet."

The two fell into a semi-awkward silence, which was quickly broken by the teacher berating them for not working on any work.

'How ironic that she'd start yelling at us right when we start being quiet.' Mike thought it'd be a bad idea to piss her off anymore, so he just pulled out a literature book and started to read it. He noticed Tre out of the corner of his eye follow suit and get started on some of his own homework.



Tre and Mike were already seated at the lunch table when Billie finally walked in. He'd had to talk to someone in the hallway, so he left Tre to find the lunch room all by himself. Surprisingly, Tre actually remembered how to get there by himself.

"Hey, guys. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing. We were just complaining about Miss Shick. She yelled at me and Tre in study hall and then she split us up."

Billie slid his lunch over to himself from across the table and smiled. "We've been getting in trouble all day, haven't we? Tre and I got yelled at in algebra. He said if we didn't shut up, he have to make us move. I took the opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep." He took a bite out of his sandwich and took a few moments to eat it. All of a sudden, a serious look crossed Billie's face. "Hey, Mike, what the hell are we gonna do about John for the week?"

Tre was about to question who John was, but then decided it was probably none of his business. If he had known Billie and Mike better, he probably would have just butted in, but he didn't want to jeopardize his new friendship with the two of them by asking about something that seemed so serious.

"Well, I don't know. What the hell do you suggest we do? If he can't make it, we can't really have a proper practice, unless you happen to know of some drummer whose going to want to waste his whole afternoon helping us practice."

Tre looked over to Mike. He was trying desperately not to interrupt their conversation—a difficult task for him—but he was a drummer and he was willing to waste his whole afternoon practicing with Billie and Mike. And it might be cool to see Green Day a little more up close.

Mike noticed Tre looking over at him. His eyes widened in realization. "Hey, Billie, maybe Tre could help us out."

Billie's whole disposition changed. He looked so fucking excited. "You play the drums?"

Tre nodded. "I'm in The Lookouts."

"You're in The Lookouts?!" Now that it was pointed out to him, Billie could make the connection. "Mike and I have seen you guys play before at Gilman. We know Larry pretty well. He gave us our record deal." He took a breath. "Do you think you could maybe come over to our house after school—and maybe the rest of the week, for that matter—and help us practice a little?"

He had nothing better to do. Hell, it'd probably be fun. "Sure. I might have to check with my parents, but I'm sure they'll let me." He thought about what Billie had just said. 'Wait. Our house?' "Do you guys live together or something?"

Mike looked at him a little uneasily. "Yeah… How exactly do you know that?"

"Well… Billie just said… 'our house…' like you live together or something," he answered hesitantly. 'Great, finally stepped on some toes,' he thought sarcastically.

"Oh, yeah we live together," Billie said. He didn't seem pissed at all; he was probably still happy they found a replacement drummer. Actually, Mike didn't seem all that bothered either. Thinking about it, Tre figured he was probably just being a little defensive at first. "Mike's family moved away about a year ago, and his mom let him stay with us for the sake of the band."

Tre felt a little awkward hearing Mike's whole life story from someone other than Mike. Mike didn't seem to care, though. He seemed like a pretty laid back guy. Maybe Billie just knew him well enough to know what bothered him. Mike had said they were practically brothers, after all.

"So we'll meet up after school?" Billie continued.

"Huh?" Tre asked, lost in thought. "Oh, yeah, sure."