Hold My Heart Like A Hand Grenade:

Air-Concert Loser

BEEEEEEP!! BEEEEEEP!! BEEEEEEP!! My alarm clock screamed in my face at 6am. It was as if it knew I was going to be tortured today and just wanted to rub it in. Finally I rolled over and smacked it to shut up, groaning the whole time. Slowly, I got to my feet and, after tumbling over some unpacked boxes on the floor, (and gracefully too if I may say so) I picked out what to wear. 'I've gotta wear what I am' I thought to myself simply, but it wasn't that simple. 'If I wear this the emo kids will talk to me, this will attract nerds, oh god...why do I even own this?! It's perfect bitch material.' As I dug through my closet time ticked away until I found my favorite outfit. It was perfect, slightly torn black skinny jeans with a studded belt and my favorite Green Day shirt. I had a bunch, sure, but this one was from my first Green Day concert. That's why it was my favorite. I got dressed, shoved some food in my mouth, and with no time to spare slipped on my black converse and checkered hoodie. I threw the hood up, plugged in my headphones, and began my walk to the bus stop.

'Oh great' I thought to myself as I approached the stop. I quickly scanned the group looking for someone semi-ok to talk to....Or at least stand by. 'Looks like we've got the populars and bitches over there, the jocks there, and some nerds there....I'm screwed.' I finally stopped walking when I came to the stop and, yes, I stood there by myself like a loser. Music blasting, I daydreamed about actually having a life here. Like that was gonna happen! Anyways, I'm all in my own world when one of my all time favorite Green Day songs comes on, St. Jimmy. Whatever you think you know about music is all wrong unless you've heard that song. If you have then you know, you can't just listen to it, you gotta do something! So, forgetting where I am, I blast out into this sweet air-Billie gig. I can see the crowd of fans screaming his name and then, he calls me on stage. Of course I graciously accept his offer and he hands me a guitar, his guitar. I burst out into a dramatic air-guitar tune and start playing and singing along. Me and Billie are rocking out to the chorus when all of a sudden....The bus comes. I've officially ruined my chances at making friends here.

Already dubbed the 'freak new kid' I slowly board the bus with my hood pulled lower than before. I turn down my music just enough to hear some of the preppy girls' comments. Of course they include things like 'what a freak' and 'I hope she's not contagious.' Turning it back up to tune them all out I sit in the first empty seat I see. I don't wanna risk sitting near anyone else. The bus slowly drives down Sassafrass Road which, of course, reminds me of a Green Day song. Taking in the sceanery of my new town I look for a place to hangout when I need to get out of the house. We cruise past a strip mall with a pizza place and arcade in it, it has potential. So lost in my exploration I don't even notice the girl standing next to my seat. "What?" I ask, pulling my headphone out of my ear. "Can I sit here?" She asks in a tone of voice I can't take serious. 'Someone wants to sit next to me?' I think to myself. Quickly, before she has the chance to leave, I reply in a calm yet surprisingly glad tone. "Sure." I say as she sits down next to me. "Hey, my name's Sara" she tells me and continues with "you must be new here." I try to keep totally calm but to be honest, I've never been in this situation before and I'm kind of nervous. "Uh, yeah" I say, stumbling through my sentences. "My name's Sammi and we just moved here from Chicago." Suddenly Sara's seems to notice something for the first time, my shirt. "I love your shirt! Green Day's a good band and it's cool how they're from here. Do you listen to them a lot?" She seems so excited I hardly want to speak but, I do. "Uh, thanks. And yeah they're my favorite band" I begin to say but, getting so caught up in it I can't seem to stop. "There's just something about them I love. The music they play is so political, so powerful, it's amazing! Plus they're all so cool. I mean their music has saved my life a couple times and when I read some of the things Billie amd Mike say it pulls me through. Tré just makes me laugh like no one else! It's like they're my best friends even though we'be never met and-" I stop because she's just staring at me now. Suddenly, she busts out laughing. "It's fine, don't stop. I've never met someone with such a strong opinion on anything! Now I know why you love them so much and it's just funny to see you ramble like that." She pauses for a moment as if considering something then says, "I think your gonna like it here."

And then, we were there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~