Thank You

Ch.78 Stop Drop and Roll!!

So about six-seven hours later Anna was the first to wake up and everyone was still out cold,and she figured everyone would be hungry so she grabbed little Billie and headed over to Tony's and saw her dad and told him how Saint Insomnia night went and then headed back home and found Billie awake and when she walked in the door Billie smiled at her
"Hey Youngblood"
"Hey Billo"and she set the pizza down on the table
"I figured we'd all be hungry after the show"and he grabbed some pizza
"Thank Youngblood"
"Yep"she said smiling,so they just chilled in the kitchen and ate pizza,while everyone was still passed out and Anna being Anna,her head was swimming with ideas,in a good way and had her hand bent at her mouth,like that weird thing that Billie has done since the beginning of time(look at picture above) and Billie noticed
"What ya thinking about Youngblood"
"Um what does 80's singing voice sound like"and Billie had that goofy smile on his face
"Uh angels,why"
"Just I've never heard her sing and hell maybe me,her, and Joan could put on a show and it just be us,no guys allowed,well technically, it could be fun"and Billie spoke
"How many ideas can you possibly have"
"I honestly lost track"she said laughing a little
"Well that would be awesome and I think 80 and Joan would love that"he said smiling
"So it's like eight,what sound we do"
"Wanna just go drive around"
"Sure lets go get lost"so they left a note and headed out and just drove around town,listening to music, loving the city at night,got lost downtown and they ended up in the hood,well where it started anyway and Anna had that familiar,bad, nostalgic feeling again and spoke
"Billie turn around, this isn't a good area"and he saw the look on her face,so he turned around and they went and got lost somewhere else,so they went back into downtown and Anna was sick of what was on the radio,and she knew where Billie kept the Cds,so she went in the glovebox and rummaged around for a Ramones Cd and ended up pulled out a different Cd it read 'Foxboro Hottubs, Stop Drop and Roll!!' and Anna spoke
"Billie what's this" and he glanced over at it,and he knew that Anna was gonna find that either one day or another
"Pop it in"and the first song,Anna heard the voice and she knew it anywhere,it was Billie
"Billie that's you"
"Yeah"and they listened to it all the way through and Anna loved it
"How have I never heard that before,that was awesome"she said smililng,so eventually they pulled over and got out and walked aimlessly around the mini New York like city and it was literally a breath of fresh of air and Anna spoke
"Where we were before was um not that far from my old house and that area's filled with gunshots,sirens,car crashs,death and tragedy and just isn't good"and the only person who really knew about the area that Anna use to live in was her dad,the guys,Adrienne,and Joan didn't know and Billie had a shocked look on his face
"Youngblood,you really use to live around that"
"Yeah,everyday,hell one time I was riding my bike and these two cars crashed into each other and both went up on the the sidewalk on both sides of the street and one car almost hit me,right in front of my house on the sidewalk"and now it made more sense to Billie why she's use to bad stuff happening
"And we use to have gunshots bounce of the house and a bunch of other bad shit"and Billie stopped and hugged her,he never knew that and also knew another reason why she is so mature for her age
"I'm glad you got outta there Youngblood"and Anna just shrugged her shoulders
"It went with my personality though,I remember it was like seven in the morning and I stayed up all night and I was sitting on the counter with a big ass cup of coffee, listening to Jesus of Suburbia and,this is stupid but I just remember thinking I wanna write something like that and that's how Saint Insomnia actually became a thing"
"Youngblood that's not stupid"he said smiling,so by now it was around like ten and Billie spoke
"That Cd is from 2008 when me,Mike,Tre,and some other people formed a side band just so we could get wasted and have fun,back when I wasn't okay"aand Anna's face fell
"Oh"and now she kinda felt bad for liking the album so much
"I knew you were gonna find it one day,digging around looking for a good Cd and don't feel bad for liking it,it was a fun album for sure"he said laughing a little and he pulled out his phone and went on YouTube and looked up a Foxboro Hottubs show and showed it to Anna and she watched it,and Billie was wasted,and thank god he only showed her a few minutes,because seeing him like that made her wanna cry and he spoke
"I didn't want you to find the Cd and look it up and find any shows like these,because I didn't want them to make you upset or hurt you"and she just hugged him and cried a little and spoke
"God you are so sweet"
"Look who's talking Youngblood"he said smiling,wiping her tears away and so they kept walking and Billie spoke
"Don't be worried or anything when I say this,but if you were old enough I would so hit a bar with you,you being Scott's kid I can only imagine"
"Yeah,all I wanna do is it be freezing and standing outside in the cold smoking,I would kill for a cigarette right now,jesus christ"and Billie sighed
"Youngblood,you have to promise me something,because it can't happen to you,I need you to promise that you will not go down the same path I did,will booze and pills,and I know you want to numb all those thoughts,those sleepless fucking thoughts,but you cant do that to yourself, and I won't let you and I know if you did you would feel guilty as fuck how it affected everyone else,sure you can have a couple drinks to celebrate and smoke,just don't go to my extreme,and please just please don't do that to yourself,please"and his voice cracked at the end and Anna just hugged him and she had tears in her eyes
"I promise Billo,I promise that I won't ever do that,I promise"and he looked down at her and smiled
"I love you Youngblood"
"Love you too Billo"and Anna held out her wristband hand and Billie took it in his
"C'mon Youngblood,lets go get some coffee"so they walked around and arrived at a random coffee shop that was still open this late,so they headed in and it was really cozy,so they got some coffee and sat down at a table and Anna sighed and spoke
"There is still some stuff that you dont' know about me Billie and I'm sorry"
"Youngblood it's okay you don't have to be sorry,we all have a past"
"The few times that my mom and I went back to the old house,I was reminded of what my life was,it's where my story started and my grandpa would always ask if it was weird and it honestly was ,because we would show up and I expected everything and everyone to be where it was and when I went upstairs it was completely abandoned and empty and it was like my childhood was just ripped away from that place,and I understand that it was too dangerous to live there anymore,but it also wasn't really a home after what I found out what it really was and I never felt at home there,or at my dad's or at my mom's house and I realized if home is where the heart is then I'm just fucked and I realized that it was McKinley and it's my Christie Rd."
"I get it Youngblood"
"It's just a lot of stuff has a way of bring up the past for me and I hide it because back when my mom was still alive I figured no one even cared and when I did talk about, it always turned into an argument,the thing is that I got so use to the mind set of people not caring if I wasted away,or me hiding it,or not caring if people saw it,whatever it was I got so use to it,so it trips me out a little bit and I know you,the guys,80,Joan,and my dad care about me,but it's just weird a little bit and it's really hard for me to be proud of myself and beat myself a lot and I know it hurts you to hear that,which results in me feeling guilty and when all the attention is put on my when I'm not around people that I'm comfortable with,I stutter and I am a ball of anxiety and all the stuff from when I was five years old and up has messed me up,I never knew how to be happy,genuinely but then I met you,80,and the guys and I actually was happy for once"and Billie was just looking at her with a smile
"And it's okay Youngblood,we all have stuff like that,I mean look at me, I have had panic and anxiety attacks all my life,still do sometimes,but I worked through it and I totally understad the anxiety part"
"Yeah,back when I was in school,that's when it was the worse,when we would have to read out loud to the class and I would mess up and stutter and everyone would look at me,or when I was answering a question because I had the worst fear of teachers taking it the wrong way,or I would over think my answer and put myself on the verge of an anxiety attack,basically just being a ball of anxiety mostly the whole day and being so under the radar and keeping to myself to where I was so invisible,people thought I was absent everyday and yeah"
"And I can help you through all that stuff,because I can tell you still have some anxiety,not as bad as it was but still and y'know how you were in school, just stay under the radar and keep to yourself"
"Yeah"
"Well I use to be like that and I get it, stuttering in class, beating yourself up about stuff,being a ball of anxiety"
"Yeah I use to mentally beat myself up if I talked to anyone at school during one time and Nathanial thought I was doing it as a joke,and one time in science I realized that you guys had something in common because I had Wake Me Up When September Ends stuck in my head and I started crying a little and after class I grabbed him by the arms and shook him and told him to never listen to hit because I didn't want it to make him sad and about a week later we walked into science and he said 'I listened to that song,it's about the lead singer's dad dying right' and I just looked at him with tears in my eyes and I said yeah and he said relatable or something like that and I just wanted to hug him after that and it just, I put everyone else before myself because that's just how I am and apparently I have to start putting myself first but then I feel selfish if I do and I don't know"
"You really tried to protect your friend,so he wasn't sad and just you are the sweetest kid ever,and it's not wrong to put other people first that just means you're a good person"he said smiling
"Like back when I wasn't okay kids were yelling at me to do self care and I thought it was corny and plus I don't like it and don't really know how to and I am not use to having it good so it's really weird and I don't feel that people should spend money on me and when they do I feel guilty and stuff like that and that I don't deserve nice stuff and if I talk a lot I feel bad and I don't really know"and Anna just sighed,it felt so good to get all of that out
"It's really nice to have someone actually listen and not judge what I'm saying for once,thanks Billo"
"Of course Youngblood,I'm always here'' he said smiling,so they left and made their way back to the car and Billie spoke
"So what should we do now Youngblood,it's only like midnight and our sleep schedule is all fucked up"
"I know an amazing place to star gaze"so it was more out towards the country and Anna was right,Billie was blown away by how bright and how many stars there were,they were nothing like city stars and Anna passed out and Billie just looked at her and smiled and took off his coat and put it on her, so she wouldn't get cold,and he was just thinking about what Anna told him and stayed up,while she was passed out,thinking about how he was gonna help her through some stuff ,and he already knew that she didn't want her dad to know,so he turned up the heat a little bit and put the radio on low and just looked up at the stars and just thought,about a lot of stuff,so about five-six hours later,Billie woke Anna up to see the sunrise and it was breath taking,so they drove around and found a Starbucks and got coffee and Anna watched the sunrise,as they drove and Billie was smiling at her because he thought,she was cute,when does he not,so they headed over to the football field and sat up on the blechers for a little bit,then walked around Billie was holding Anna's wristband hand and they both has a smile on their face,so that was good and like and hour or two later they headed back to Scott's to find everyone actually awake,so today was a chill day,since they played a 15 hour show yesterday, and Anna couldn't get that album out of her head,she wanted to listen to it again,but she did feel a little bit bad about it, even though Billie said it was okay, and she honestly thought that Billie protecting her from it was one of the kindest things ever,and Anna being Anna,wanted to go skate,but it's fucking cold out and she didn't know where she could go to skate,and just then Rodney called her
"Hi Rodney"
"Hi Anna, since it's cold over by you right now,I found an indoor skatepark that you'll really like"and those words made her smile to death
"Thanks,Rodney"
"Yep"and she hung up and Billie saw how much she was smiling
"Hmh Youngblood"
"Rodney found a really cool indoor skatepark around here"
"That's awesome,now you won't freeze to death"
"Yeah"and Rodney sent her the info about it and where it was at and stuff,and she went and grabbed her board
"Fuck yes,lets go"and Billie just laughed a little and smiled at her,so her and Billie headed over there and it was like only 10 minutes away,which was awesome and they walked in and Anna was just in skate heaven right now,and the dude behind the counter gave them a look of shop and spoke
"I never expected members of Green Day and the kid that all of Bones Brigade is talking about"and Anna laughed a little
"Yeah,Rodney found this place for me"
"Wait Rodney as in Rodney Mullen"
"Yeah,he's mentoring me"
"Damn kid,you can skate for free just for being able to say that"
"Really"Anna said smiling
"Hell yeah"
"Thanks,and do you know Scott Kushner,use to skate up at Red Arrow Park, with Moonie"
"Holy shit your Scott Kushner's daughter aren't you"
"Yeah"Anna said laughing a little bit
"Now it all makes sense,so wait are you waiting for go skate it up"so Anna and Billie went intot he skate area and Billie chilled up on a bank and was recording Anna rip it up and she spoke
"It's slick as fuck though,damn"and she was just skating around,not really trying any tricks because of how slick it was and she stopped and looked at the speaker that was playing music
"Damn,I need some skate music,and Stop Drop and Roll!! is honestly some good skate music"so she went back by the dude and he legit let her play anything she want so,of course it ends up with Green Day,and then she really skated it up and it was awesome and Billie was glad that she liked the album but it was kinda just a bad reminder of when he wasn't okay,so after some good,hard skating, Anna chilled out and sat up on one of the banks and stuff,with Billie and she spoke
"I kinda feel bad for this,but I can't get those songs outta my head,what if we played a Foxboro Hottubs show,completely sober,like then instead of when you think back on those shows,they aren't bad memories,you think of the ones now"and Billie just smiled at her
"Don't feel bad Youngblood and you love it,don't you"
"Yeah"
"Well I think it's awesome that you wanna play those songs live and help me say fuck it to the bad memories,and that actually would and could be a lot of fun,ah fuck it, lets do it"he said smiling and Anna gave Billie a hug
"Well this is gonna be fun as fuck then"so they headed back to Scott's and Billie talked to Mike and Tre and they seemed to be onboard with it,so that was good and Adrienne was giving Billie a concerned look,so he pulled her aside
"What's with the look"and Adrienne spoke
"I just don't want Anna to see you like 'that'"
"I know,and niether do I,that's why we're are playing the show,completely sober,I could never let her ever actually see me like that,because I know it would break her heart"and Adrienne smiled at Billie
"Okay,I was just a little woried,that's all"
"Okay,well don't worry,we got Youngblood to keep us in check"and Adrienne laughed a little
"I know,shes got a skateboard and a gutiar,so yeah don't do anything stupid"and Billie laughed
"I won't 80,I promise"and he gave her a kiss and he went back over by Anna
"So you excited Youngblood"
"Yep"
"Well we should probably practice"so that's what they did, Billie taught Anna the songs and you could tell that Billie was a little nervous to sing,so Anna just jumped right in, with the song Strop Drop and Roll!!, with one of her favorite lyrics
"16 and a son of a bitch"and Billie just looked at her and laughed and little,then started singing with her,so they ran through the album,and the guys had forgotten how fun that album was,so they packed up,relaxed and headed out and of course the venue was downtown,it was at the Maramar Theater,it was kind like the Rave a little bit,so they did the usual,set up,soundcheck,all that and in the meantime, Anna just skated around the place,because the entire floor was open and Billie was just sitting at the edge of the stage,wathcing her and was laughing at what Adrienne had said before and Anna spoke
"What's so funny"she said smiling
"Something 80 said"
"Which is"
"She was worried about the show because just like me,she never wants you to see me like that and I told her not to worry,that we got you to keep us in check and she was like yeah, you got a skateboard and a gutiar,so I shouldn't do anything stupid"he said smiling and Anna was laughing
"Well she does have a point"and Billie just smiled at her and looked at the time
"C'mon Youngblood,people are gonna start showing soon"
"Okay"so she went over by him and they just went back stage and chilled,and next thing they know is that they're walking across the stage and Billie spoke
"How the hell you guys doin"and he got cheers back
"Well this show was Youngblood's idea,since she can't get Stop Drop and Roll!! outta her head"he said laughing a little
"This show is completely sober, cause or else Youngblood and 80 would kick my ass"and Anna spoke
"Just no hanging from pipes,upside down Billie"and the guys laughed a little
"So welcome to the first new and improved Foxboro Hottubs show,you guys ready to have some fun"and all it was,was cheers,so they jumped into Stop Drop and Roll!!, the song and Anna had a smile on her face,which made the guys happy,then Mother Mary,Ruby Room,Red Tide, Broadway,She's a Saint Not a Celebrity,Sally,Alligator, The Pedestrain, 27 Ave. Shuffle, Dark Side of Night,and Pieces of the Truth and the show just flew by like nothing and Anna loved it and Billie spoke
"Congrats Youngblood,you are now officially part of the new and improved Foxboro Hottubs"he said smiling and she spoke
"Well that was fucking awesome"so they just messed around,joking and playing covers and stuff for about another hour and a half until they were done,so they headed back stage and chilled for a little bit and Billie spoke
"So how'd you like your first Foxboro Hottubs show Youngblood"
"That was fucking awesome and kick ass,I loved it"and Billie was smiling
"I'm glad and that was fun as fuck"and Mike and Tre thought the same,so Mike,Tre and Adrienne eventually headed back to Scott's and Billie and Anna just wandered around downtown and Billie was all smiles
"Hmh Billo"
"Nothing I'm just glad we played that show,gave me some piece of mind"he said smiling
"That's good"so after about another hour,they made their way back to Scott's and everyone just had a good time,relaxed and eventually passed out,so a good day.