She. [Billie Joe Armstrong]

Cemetery Drive

I woke up the next morning, my face wet from tears. I must've had a terrible dream. I stared at my ceiling for a while but then decided to get out of bed. I looked in the mirror and pulled my hair into a ponytail. I walked over to the chair next to my bed. I picked up an inside-out sweatshirt. I pulled the sleeves out and slipped it over my head. I watched in the mirror as I straightened it around my waist.

I ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. It was a Sunday morning so dad was at church. He apparently didn't think it was necessary to bring me with. He had a habit of ignoring me when he was mad at me. Never mind the fact that I was his daughter.

I opened the fridge to find some breakfast. I didn't find anything that looked particularly appetizing, so I grazed on some lunch meat, yogurt, leftovers, and other things of that nature. I washed a few dishes and then walked into the living room. I sat down on the couch and turned on the television. I flipped through the channels, nothing was on, so I just left it on MTV. I ran up to my room and grabbed my phone. I went to my call history and called Mike.

It rang.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Mike!"

"Oh, hey!"

"How are you?"

"Better than yesterday, but I'm not feeling great."

"Do you wanna come hang out with me?"

"Sure, can you come pick me up?"

"Yeah, I'll be there soon just text me your address."

"Okay. And thanks Mike."

"No problem."

"See ya."

"Bye."

I hung up and quickly sent him my address. I brushed my teeth and slipped into my tennis shoes. I ran downstairs and packed a bag. In the bag, I put a notebook, three pencils, a black Sharpie, and my laptop. When I walked outside to wait for Mike, he was already there. I approached the car and opened the door.

"How'd you get here so fast?"

"I live pretty close."

"That's good! We can hang out more often."

"Yeah."

"So where are we going?"

"It's a secret."

"O...kay?"

"Just bear with me."

"Alrighty then."

He pulled out of the driveway and we were off.

"So you're really not going to tell me where we're going?" I asked.

"Nope."

I sighed and slouched down into the seat. The sound of gravel and rocks under the tires began to annoy me.

"Don't you have any music?" I asked

"Yeah, what do you like?"

"Anything."

"Do you like My Chemical Romance?"

"Who doesn't?"

We both smiled. He reached behind his seat and pulled out Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge. I squealed in excitement.

"AH! Put it in! Put it in!" I shouted, unable to wait.

"Yes, ma'am." He smiled and slid the disk into the CD player.

The first track began to play and I sang along to every word. Mike only sat and smiled while keeping his eyes on the road.

After a while, we pulled up in front of a very small house. Through the window, I could see many people inside.

"Mike, is this a party?" I asked.

"Yeah, you excited?"

"Not exactly...I don't normally associate with...humans."

Mike just laughed and dragged me inside. We were greeted with several drunken hellos as we made our way through the steamy crowd of teenagers. Each time I was sure I'd been lost, I looked down at my wrist which was held tightly by Mike's strong hand. Every so often, he would look back to be sure I was still with him.

When we finally made it to the back of the house, I was pulled into a disgusting, sweaty hug. When I was released, the boy asked my name.

"I'm Avery." I said shyly.

"Mmmm...you're pretty." he slurred.

I stood awkwardly. Mike patted the boy on the shoulder and grabbed the beer from his hand.

"That's enough for you, Jason. Why don't you go sit down." Mike suggested to the drunk boy.

Mike dragged me into the kitchen where he put the boy's beer in the sink.

"Drink?" He offered.

"Um, sure. What've you got?"

He snickered and tossed me a can of beer. I was nervous. He expected me to drink it? But I couldn't! What if I died? Or worse! What if I got caught? My dad would definitely kill me. But I had to do it, there was no question there. I opened the can and took a long sip of the drink. It didn't sting like I thought it would, but it didn't taste good. My first few sips went down easily and if appeared that I knew what I was doing when it came to alcohol.


Three beers later, I was losing awareness of my surroundings. The world around me seemed to blur into a nice painting. If I focused really hard, I could definitely tell what things were, but why would I want that? It was all so pretty! Sometimes, I was so enthralled by my surroundings, that I would lose my balance, but it was okay because Mike was there every time to catch me with his strong arms. I was having the most fun that I'd had in a long time. Mike seemed to be having fun. He must've had two drinks for every one of mine. It was safe to say that he and I were equally intoxicated.

After a while, the party became less and less fun. I was sitting with Mike talking in a circle of kids just older than me. Suddenly, I felt a warm hand on my knee, working its way up and down my thigh. I followed the arm up to meet with Mike's face. I flashed a friendly smile at him and he reached a hand up to my face. He leaned in and I did the same. When our faces were close enough, I leaned forward and captured his lips with mine. This only lasted less than a second because his mouth brushed passed mine, settling near my ear. I frowned but then he spoke up.

"I need to tell you something," he whispered in a low voice. His hot, alcohol scented breath immediately warmed my neck. I masked the urge to shiver with a vigorous shaking of my head. I looked at him expectantly.

"Not here," he added. His hand that was rubbing my leg slid up my thigh and eventually met my hand. He took it in his own and helped me to my feet. I followed him to the front of the house where we had entered. We made it to the front door and I was suddenly very sad. I was having such a good time at this party and I didn't want to leave. But the look in Mike's eyes was enough to convince me to follow him.

We left the house and walked towards the road.

"Where are we going?" I inquired.

"Away," was all he said.


When we eventually reached our destination, I was surprised to find that it was a cemetery. I was more than a little confused. I turned to Mike in search of answers, but he ignored me, busy with trying to open the gate. I had no option but to quietly watch. Once the gate was open, however, he took my hand again.

"We can be alone here," he said simply.

I accepted his answer and we walked in. He lead me to a large tombstone that was placed just near the mausoleum. We sat down with our backs against the stone structure. I leaned forward for another kiss, but I found that my lips had been caught in Mike's hand.

"I had to tell you something, remember?" He asked.

I frowned and replied, "Oh yeah."

Mike rest his gaze upon his knees, thinking.

"You don't know Billie," he said finally.

I looked at him, confusion plastered evidently on my face. "What do you mean? Of course I know him," I insisted.

"No, you don't. You've known him for a couple of days."

"But I know him. What are you trying to say?"

"He's not a good guy, Avery."

"Stop. You guys are friends how can you say this?"

"Listen, I love Billie. I didn't want to have to tell you, but he's had a pretty rough go of it...he's a little messed up from when his dad died. He has some pretty warped ideas and he might try to change you. I guess I'm just warning you...just be careful with him, he might try to make you do something dangerous."

I looked at Mike, shaking my head in disbelief. It's not like he was wrong. In fact, he was spot on. Billie had done some pretty drastic things with me. He'd convinced me to leave school, disobey my dad and he'd shoplifted as well. But he couldn't be a bad guy, I mean, he treated me so well. When I was feeling depressed, he told me that I mattered. Nobody had ever done that. Nobody ever reached out to tell me that they cared. At school, when a guy bumped in to me, Billie made sure he apologized. He would never do anything to hurt me.

"He's not-" I began to speak but was cut off by the sound of footsteps coming towards Mike and I.

I turned my head towards the sound. I was startled to see that it was Billie and he looked sad.

"What's going on here?" He asked, gesturing at the way Mike and I were sitting so comfortably close.