Chapter 16: Jailbreak

Earlier that day...

Billie's POV

"Billie Joe Armstrong!"

An angry, disappointedly familiar voice's booming call startled me out of sleep. I blinked awake and sat up with a start, rubbing my eyes and sighing. It had had a really good dream, and I was trying to get my foggy mind to remember some sort of detail from it when

"BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG!"

I groaned, resisting every urge to throw myself back down on the bed. I could hear his obviously pissed off footsteps (his walk always sounded different when he was out for blood) and counted the seconds before he burst into my bedroom, practically frothing from the mouth.

"Do you mind telling me what the HELL this is?"

He raised a large fist which had a brown paper bag crumpled in it. I knew immediately, but decided to beat around the bush just to get him annoyed.

"A bag, sir?"

His eyes narrowed and I practically could hear him growl like the dog he was.

"Very good. You're not as dumb as you look. Now, do mind telling me what these are?"

And in went one gorilla hand to retrieve a bunch of freshly-rolled joints. His eyes were glinting in between rage and some sick satisfaction. 

"It's weed sir."

He ground his teeth again and met my innocent stare with a venomous one. I was starting to wonder if toying with him was worth the shit I was going to be in.

"Can I ask you why I found it in your backpack?"

"Can I ask why you were looking in my backpack?"

I knew he had enough at that point, and in one stride he had crossed the marginal distance between us to loom over me, a deeply set snarl contracting his face. I refused to flinch, I knew it would be worse if I showed fear.

"I have to go out. I'll deal with you when I get back." Were his parting words as he scrunched the bag back up in his hand and stormed out. I waited until the front door slammed and I could hear the car screech out of the driveway before I clambered out of bed. 

"Like I'll be here when you get back you sonava bitch." I muttered to myself before pulling on a shirt and some jeans and venturing out into the house.

It was 9 already, so Mom and Anna had gone to work, meaning the house was relatively empty. The basement door opened abruptly as I was starting to hunt around the mostly hollow cupboards for breakfast, revealing a seriously dishevelled and uncommonly depressed looking Mike. 

"Wow, what's up with you?"

He didn't answer, only shuffled into the kitchen and plopped himself on the counter next to me. His silence confirmed that something was definitely up. I tried to lighten the mood.

"You better get ready for your date with Annabel. I mean, you're still a sexy bastard as you are but maybe a shirt would be the way to go. Then again, it's gonna end up coming off anyway."

I smirked at him and waggled my brow. His frown hardened, and he began picking at the chipping paint on the countertop.

"She cancelled."

"What?"

"She cancelled. She said her step dad grounded her."

Disappointment was evident in his voice as a tidal wave of thoughts and emotions tumbled through me. On one hand, as a faithful best friend I felt genuinely sorry for Mike. On the other, I couldn't deny a sense of contempt, a strange relief, that swept through my head, clouding it. I dropped the spoon I was holding, and fumbled to pick it up. Thankfully, Mike didn't seem to notice.

"That...that sucks. I'm sorry man."

Mike shrugged and sighed, shaking his head and giving a look to say "oh well". He was always the rational one. 

"Did...did she say why she was grounded?"

"The Op Ivy gig apparently."

Guilt then decided to accompany this strange and uncommon influx of feeling that had conjured inside me. Me and my stupid ideas. I hadn't realised Mike had asked a question until he said my name in a way that showed he knew I wasn't listening.

"Sorry what?"

"I said maybe we could rehearse today and then go to Susie's party?"

"Yeah, yeah sounds good."

Idle chatter drifted between us as it always did until Tré came around for practice, but we both knew my mind was preoccupied. 

"God Billie, what's going on?"

I shook my head and shrugged, running my hands up and down Blue in frustration. I had been missing a lot of easy chords and forgetting words, and I knew this was because of an idea that had begun to circulate in the back of my mind, stabbing at my concentration.

"Sorry, let's do At The Library again."

The three of us decided to grab burritos at around 6, thinking we'd head to the party for 10 after getting a few drinks and things. Brad would be home about half past 6, so I knew that going home now to practice some more or anything wasn't an option. And that idea, that stupid, selfish, tempting idea was churning away as it had been since that morning.

"Bill, what's going on with you today?" Tré finally piped up through a mouthful of burrito. I felt myself tense, but then relaxed as an easy response flew out of my mouth.

"Just Brad being a dickhead as always."

"Yeah I heard it this morning. He didn't find the entire stash did he?" Mike asked, his mood having improved amazingly since bass and burritos. I grinned, and pulled a bag out of my coat.

"Billie boy's always prepared!" Tré clapped. 

We then began to meander back to the car, deciding that we had a few hours to kill before the party. 

"Where do you wanna go?" I asked Mike, deciding that he should have the decision tonight.

"Christie Road." He answered immediately. 

We sat up on the roof of the car, out in the abandoned field on the wrong side of the train tracks, smoking pot and drinking booze. It was one of those great kind of moments, the air was pretty cold and there was no moon so all you would see was stars, and we were too drunk and high to worry about Brads or school or girls. Tré began singing that stupid song.

"Roll, roll, roll a joint, twist it at the ends. Light it up and take a puff and pass it to your friends!"

But instead of shoving him like we usually did we joined in, laughing harder and harder as we sang louder and louder. You could begin to see the lights from the refinery, and it was about 9 when I that idea finally burst out.

"I wanna get Annabel."

The guys looked at me, trying obviously to process what I just said. I decided to repeat it.

"I wanna get Annabel and take her to the party. It's my fault she's grounded. It's the right thing to do."

Tré was the first to answer.

"ANNA BANANA! Let's go!" And he clambered into the back seat.

Mike, who was by far the most sober, gave me an unsure look.

"I don't think that's a good idea. You could get her into even more trouble."

"I just wanna make it up to her." I mumbled, starting to realise he was right. When I met his eyes again the emotion in them took me a bit by surprise. He gave me a look that said he understood, he knew what I felt, and he knew we had to go get her. I didn't quite put it together until later; he knew I cared for her in a way he obviously didn't think I could.

"Alright let's go."

........

"Coral Drive, this is it."

Mike pulled up stealthily at the all too familiar house. It seemed quiet, the lights dark, all except for one I realised. One towards the back, by a big oak tree. I got out of the car and begun to creep towards the light. That's when I could hear it; The Beatles.

I started to scale the tree, which proved a lot harder than it usually be due to the fact I was intoxicated. I had to continuously pause to shift my weight and grapple and branches to prevent myself from falling. I managed to get high enough to clamber onto the roof, hoping I wasn't making much noise.

I could see the window then and the room that lay behind it. Shelves lined with books and a record player with a stack of vinyls at its base. Some photographs, purple walls, a soft yellow glow coming from the corner of the room I was blind to. I did see, however, the foot of a bed, and a pair of slender feet to accompany it.

I knocked. Once, then twice. First there was no movement, until I heard some rustling and was then face to face with Annabel in the Sky with Diamonds. 

She was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a Lou Reed tee which dwarfed her slight figure, her chocolate hair a mess and her big blue eyes glossy with sleep. She looked at me, and then her eyes widened, almost as if snapping her awake, before she looked around to ensure she was alone and opened the window. 

I slid into the bedroom to stand in front of her, grinning from ear to ear like a cheshire cat.

She was the first to speak.

"What the actual fuck?" Her voice was a frantic whisper, her face mirroring panic.

"Hello to you too."

"What are you doing here? If Jeremy..."

"No car's in the driveway. He's gone."

"Billie. What the hell..."

"We're busting you out Annabel. This is a jailbreak."

She laughed then, it flooded my senses and for some reason made me want to hug her.

"You're drunk. Or high. Or both."

"I'm sorry I got you grounded. I want to take you to Susie Bellinger's party with the guys. Please say you'll come."

She thought about it for a second, those hypnotising sapphire eyes boring into mine. I couldn't tell if they were glistening with annoyance or excitement. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, myself on the brink of a heart attack, a smile began to creep across her face.

"Give me 5 minutes."

A/N Sorry it's been a long while- had school and a bit of a writer's block. Back on it now though! Thanks for reading!