The Innocent Can Never Last

Gilman Street

Billie's POV

"Billie, calm down, man. I can't have you passing out on me right before the show. It's not like we have a back-up lead singer slash guitarist," Mike said.
"Aren't you nervous, Mike?" I asked. "This is our first show in like, six months. What if they don't like us?"
"Then we'll go somewhere else to play," Mike replied.

I shook my head a bit. Mike and I were standing in the small dressing room slash bathroom of the Gilman club, as I tried to keep myself from freaking out. I was standing in front of the sink, gripping the edges of it so hard that my knuckles were turning white, as I stared fixedly at my reflection in the mirror.
Mike, on the other hand, was sitting on the floor up against the wall, contentedly puffing on a joint, looking like he didn't have a care in the world at that moment. "It's just like you, Mike, to be freakishly calm about this, while I'm standing here about to have a breakdown," I said.

"What, do you want me to feel bad because I'm not freaking out like a little girl? You're getting worked up over nothing, Billie, just relax," Mike said.
"I can't calm down. This is a defining moment of our career. Larry said that we have to do well tonight, or we'll be cast out of the punk scene completely," I replied.
"Oh, whatever, Billie!" Mike said. "He did not say that!"
"Well he did say that people would be judging us!" I retorted.
Mike rolled his eyes, just as we heard a sharp tap on the door, and Ruby entered the room, flashing me her dazzling smile as she came in. "Hey, baby," she said, in her husky voice. "I told you I would be here."
"I didn't say you were lying," I replied, as Ruby came up to me and gave me a long kiss on the lips.
I reluctantly kissed her back, wishing longfully that it was actually Emma that I was kissing instead. "God, baby, you're shaking all over," Ruby said, once we had pulled apart. "What are you so nervous about?"
I moaned, and said, "I'm going to screw up so bad, I know it."
Ruby ran her hands through my hair, and said, "No you won't. You've practiced the stupid songs like, fifty times. That's pretty much all you ever do. You'll be fine."
"Stop saying that," I moaned, sinking slowly down to the floor to sit against the wall.
"Well, it's true," Ruby said, sitting down next to me.
"Have a joint, dude," Mike said, pulling a bag of weed out of his pocket and handing me a joint.

I took it from him, pulled a lighter out of my pocket, and lit it. I took a long puff on the joint and exhaled slowly. I instantly felt myself start to relax, as a warm, sleepy feeling passed through my body. "Can I possibly nick one of those from you, Mikey?" Ruby asked, pointing to the bag that was hanging limply in Mike's hand.
"Sure," Mike said, with clenched teeth.
He hated Ruby, and she knew it. That was why she was always giving him stupid pet names and being really super-nice to him. Mike pulled a joint out of the bag and handed it to Ruby. "Thanks, babe," she said.
"Sure," Mike replied, as I lit Ruby's joint for her.

It didn't take very long to get through Mike's whole bag of weed. I stopped after one, but Mike and Ruby continued puffing away until the two of them were so high that I was surprised they weren't stuck on the ceiling. I was just about to suggest that the two of them slowed it down a little bit, when all of a sudden, Tre came busting into the room, saying, "Hey, Bill, your girl Emma is out here..."
"Tell her I'll be right there."

Emma's POV

"I'm here to see Billie Joe Armstrong..."
The pot-bellied, self-proclaimed security guard gave me a scrutinizing look, before sighing deeply and pushing me through the back entrance of the Gilman Street club. "Down the hall and to your left," he said, as I gave him a frightened look and hurried off down the hallway. It had taken me almost an hour to find the place, and I hadn't anticipated being pushed around by a rough-looking security guard as soon as I got there. Nonetheless, I walked down the hallway until I came to the first door on my right, and without hesitation, I knocked heavily before entering. I had come into a large, brightly colored room, that was oddly assorted with many different couches, a mini-fridge, a pool table, and other such nonsense items.