Jimmy was one of the first person in class and waited attentively for the students to fill in the classroom.

“Oh my…” whispered Val, seeing her crazy best friend sitting in class. “I thought you skipped. What are you doing here so early?” she asked, sitting down next to Matt.

“I don’t know, woke up early I guess.” He said with a shrug, his book and notebook already opened.

“Are you actually going to listen to the lesson?” asked Matt, not being able to hold back the small smile on his face.

“I might…” said Jimmy, still looking at the door just as the bell rang and a couple of seconds later, the teacher walked in, closing the door behind him.

Sighing, he focused on the black board, trying to pay extra attention to the class as he had skipped the last couple of lessons.

Before he knew it, it was lunch. Jimmy kept looking around, not really paying attention to whatever was being said at the table.

“She’s not there.” Said Matt, lightly nudging his friend.

“Oh… I thought that maybe she was running late.”

“Val got her homework for biology.” He said, picking up Val’s bag. “Here…” he added, handing Jimmy a few worksheet and notes.

“Thanks.” He whispered, putting everything in his own bag.

“You’re going to her place this evening?” asked Matt.

“Yeah, probably. She will need to catch up.” Said Jimmy.

“That’s nice of you” piped in Val, giving her friend a smile before focusing back on her argument with Justin.

---

Well I’ve got some scattered pictures laying on my bedroom floor, reminds of the time we shared. Makes me wish that you were.
Cause now it seems I’ve forgotten my purpose in this life

She tried to stifle her sob, listening to Billie Joe’s voice coming from the speaker. His voice somehow always managed to sooth her. She had been raised in music, since she could remember, there was always music, whether it’d be in the car or at home. Green Day seemed to always be there, in the background.

She sniffled, hugging the brown envelop tighter against her chest as she tried to contain her sobs.
She grew up with them, with their music. She grabbed the small remote and pressed skip, listening to the first three seconds and then skipping again. It was on random mode, her favorite mode. When the first notes hit her ears, she cried hard, letting herself fall on her back.

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Times grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don’t ask why

She sang the lyrics, her breathing still raged from all the sobbing.

// “Maman, maman!” she shouted through the house, rushing in. “I got it, I got it!” she said, jumping up and down. “It’s called ‘nimrod’ with a dot at the end” she said, cheeks hurting from smiling so much.

“Well what are you waiting for, put it on!” said Shania, stopping whatever she had been doing previously to go sit next to her daughter. Athalya quickly unwrapped the CD and respectfully took it out of its case, turning on the stereo and putting the CD in. She pressed play, her heart drumming in her chest.

“It’s starting” she whispered, sitting next to her mother, on the carpet in the living room. Shania looked at her daughter lovingly as she started nodding her head to the music.

Nice guys finish last
You’re running out of gas
[…]

At some point, both women found some cushions and were laying on their backs, starring at the ceiling, listening to Green Day’s newest album.

“Maybe they’ll come to France this time” said a fourteen year-old Athalya.

“Probably.”

“Can we go? I mean, I’m old enough right? I promise, I’ll behave, be nice and get good grades.” She said, plopping on her elbow and looking at her mother.


Shania chuckled and turned her head to look at her daughter.
“Aren’t you fed up with listening to them? You listen to them everyday, you got their cover printed as posters in your room and now you want to see them live?”

“That’s the continuity, isn’t it?” asked Athalya, a huge smile on her face. She batted her eyelashes and her mother just laughed.

“Like mother like daughter. I want to see them too, I guess I wouldn’t have a choice but to take you with me, right?”//

And to this day, she could still feel the burst of joy she felt at that peculiar time. Making plans with her mother to go see their favorite band.
February 3rd 1998, that was the day they were supposed to go see them. But it never happened.

She wiped her cheeks angrily, before opening the envelop and taking out the out-of-date tickets. Two of them. The Christmas card fell out and she looked at her mother’s handwriting, longingly.

Memories flashed in her mind, the next more painful than the previous. She shook her head, trying to shake them out and slowly got up, her head dizzy. She put the envelop back on her desk and went to the bathroom to wash her face before going downstairs. Her grandfather was on the couch and she joined him, snuggling close to him.

**

Athalya a while sitting on the couch, puffy red eyes, hugging a pillow to her chest.
There was a knock on the door and her grandmother went to open the door.

Good afternoon Ma’am! Is Athalya here? I got her homework.

Suzan briefly looked at her granddaughter and nodded, welcoming Jimmy inside.
“Would you like something to drink Jimmy?”

“Oh yes please, do you still have ice tea?”

Suzan chuckled.
“Yes, hold on.”

“Awesome!” he said, following Suzan inside the kitchen.

David kept on rubbing his granddaughter’s shoulder.
“Your friend is here, shouldn’t you say ‘hello’?” he asked in a soft voice.

She sniffed and hurried upstairs. David waited for a short moment, trying to hear if she had locked herself up in her room or if she was just washing up. He heard the sound of water running and sighed in relief, making his own way to the kitchen.

“Jimmy, this is my husband, David.” Introduced Suzan, fetching the box of cookies for Jimmy.
“Hello sir!” said Jimmy, wiping his hand on his jeans before shaking the man’s hand.

“Nice to meet you Jimmy, and thank you for bringing Athalya’s homework.” Said David, taking a sit at the table.

“No problem, gives me a reason to pay attention in class.” He said, his eyes widened, realizing his mistake. “I mean…”

David laughed it off “I was a teenager before you, Jimmy.”

Jimmy nodded, relieved and reached out to grab another cookie when Athalya showed up. She was wearing jeans that were too big for her and a Green Day t-shirt that seemed to be older than her. The inscription was completely faded, it was too loose and the hems were slightly torn.

“Hi Jimmy, thank you for the homework.” She said, seeing the small pile of paper he had placed on the table.

“No problem.” He said, his mouth still full. He quickly swallowed it down with a sip of ice tea.

“Are you feeling better?” he asked, concerned. “Matt and Val said ‘hi’.” He added.

“Thanks.” She replied, avoiding the question, as she stood awkwardly in the kitchen.

“Honey, could you give me a hand with the laundry outside?” asked Suzan.

“I can help!” said Athalya, about to follow her grandmother.

“Sweetie, keep your friend company, we’ll only be a moment.” Said David, already up. He squeezed her shoulder lightly before heading off after his wife.

“Jimmy is a really nice kid, I hope he will stick around.” Said Suzan, touching the towels to see if they were dry enough.

“I hope so to. Maybe he could help her get over the loss.” Said David, extending his arms in front of him as his wife took off the towels and set them on her husband’s arms.

Meanwhile, Jimmy had managed to make Athalya sit down next to him.

“You just move to sunny California, you look as white as… as… snow! Just eat something.” And she ended up with a muffin in her hands.

“Come on, come on eat quickly. We need to go see Brian now.” He said, pouring a glass of ice tea and forcing her to drink. She pushed his hand away and took the glass in one hand, while still holding the muffin in the other.

“Brian is my best friend, I told you about him. He’s not going to our school, but it’s ok. Oh you’re done eating? Cool! Let’s go!”

Without having the time to protest, she was pulled off the couch and towards the front door. Her grandparents were walking back at about the same time.

“Ma’am, me and Athalya are going out for a while. To hang out with my friends, is it ok for you? I’ll bring her back before dinner.” He said, taking Athalya’s hoodie from the pattern and throwing it at her.

“Sure thing Jimmy. Have fun kids!” she said, while Athalya barely had the time to tie up her shoe lace that Jimmy was already pushing her out.

“Come on, it’s just a few houses down.” Said Jimmy, while she struggled with her shoes. She huffed and kneeled down, taking the time to properly tie them up while Jimmy kept walking. He turned around after a while and saw her jogging to catch up.

“What were you doing?” he asked, frowning.

“Shoelaces.” She explained, trying to catch her breath.

“Just tie them once and then no use to tie them again.” He said, “I’ll show you.”
She nodded and Jimmy grabbed her wrist, crossing the street.

He walked up to one house and knocked on the door, Athalya tried to hide behind him but Jimmy caught on and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, making sure she’d stay by his side.

The door opened and a young girl opened the door.
“JIMMY!” she squealed, and ran to him, hugging his legs. He chuckled and picked her up with one arm, keeping his other arm around Athalya.

“Mummy! Daddy! Jimmy’s here!” she called.

“Jimmy! Nice to see you son!” said a man as Jimmy let the young girl go and shook the man hand, still not letting go of Athalya.

“Aww Jimmy! I’m glad you came!” said a woman, she took a step forward and opened her arms. Jimmy reluctantly let go of Athalya, not before giving her a warning glance and hugged the woman.

“And who’s the pretty lady?” asked the man, smiling at Athalya who just blushed and smiled shyly in return. She looked like hell but the woman was kind enough not to say anything. She would have chosen a different T-shirt if she knew she would meet adults.

“That’s Athalya. She just arrived so she’s kinda new.” He said, making the couple chuckle lightly.

“I’m Suzy Haner, Brian’s stepmother. But you can call me Suzy.” Said the woman, holding her hand to shake Athalya’s. Athalya shook it, mumbling a ‘hello’ in a weak voice.

“And I’m Brian, Brian’s father.” Said the man, holding out his hand as well. Athalya gave him a quizzical look before looking back at Jimmy.

“Oh yeah… Sorry. That’s Brian’s father, whose name happen to be Brian too. But we just call him Papa Gates to make the difference.” Explained Jimmy, wrapping his arm around Athalya once again, she took a step back, embarrassed.

“Papa Gates?” she asked, unsure.

“Yeah, Brian once came up with a random nickname… He was dr… He wasn’t himself and he started shouting: ‘I’m Synyster f-word Gates, and I’m awesome.’ So yeah, that’s Papa Gates.” Explained Jimmy. Athalya rubbed her neck nervously. F-word? Then she remembered that the little girl was within earshot.

“Okay…” she whispered, feeling nervous about meeting Jimmy’s best friend now. She wasn’t even friend with Jimmy, why was she here?

“Yo Gates! Get you as… get down here already!” shouted Jimmy.

“And that’s our little girl, McKenna.” Explained Papa Gates as the young girl from earlier came back and tugged at Athalya’s sleeve. “I have another son, Brent, but he’s not home at the moment.”

“Are you Jimmy girlfwiend?” she asked in a small voice. Athalya’s eyes widened a little.

“Huh… no. He’s my classmate.” She explained. McKenna let out a sigh of relief and ran back in the living room, playing with her dolls.

“What’s up Gates?” asked Jimmy, letting go of Athalya and taking a step forward to do the man hug thing with a guy that was a bit shorter than Jimmy, with dark hair and brown eyes.

“Brian, Athalya. Athalya, my best friend Brian Junior.” Introduced Jimmy solemnly. Athalya awkwardly waved at him and crossed her arms across her chest, feeling out of place.

“Nice to meet you!” said Brian, smiling as he waved back.

“We’ll leave you teenagers alone, if you want anything to drink Jimmy, help yourself. And same goes for you Athalya, make yourself at home.”

She watched in distress as the adults left and she kept standing in the hallway, awkwardly.

“Take off your shoes, up we go.” Said Jimmy.

“Wh-what?”

“Brian’s room.” Said Jimmy, as if it was obvious. He had already taken off his shoes and threw them across the hall. Athalya slowly took hers off and picked up Jimmy’s, placing them along the wall. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she followed the two guys upstairs.

Brian walked in his room, followed by Jimmy. Brian sat back on his desk chair, picking up his guitar that he had placed on the desk when he had heard Jimmy downstairs. Jimmy jumped on Brian’s bed, sitting comfortably while Athalya just stood by the entrance, hugging herself.
Jimmy patted the bed while Brian started playing some riffs. She sat down on the edge of the mattress, feeling out of place now more than ever.
Just why was she in a stranger’s bedroom? With two persons she barely knew. Her eyes quickly scanned the room. It was a teenager’s room. Posters of metal bands hanging on the wall, an impressive collection of CDs, two guitars, one hanging on the wall and the other on Brian’s lap. The bed was unmade, clothes scattered on the floor. Yes, typical.

She wasn’t listening to anything, her eyes stopped on her socks and they stayed there for a while, until she felt the bed move and Jimmy left the room. The music stop and she briefly looked up, only to see Brian looking at her, curiously.

“How did you met Jimmy?” he asked, still looking at her.

“In class.” She said, her voice hoarse.

“Oh, so you know the rest of the group I presume.”

“Yes…”she said, nodding to herself and recalling her last conversation with Michelle.

“Cool, we should hang out sometimes.” He said, smiling at her. She blinked at him and nodded, before looking back at her socks.

Jimmy showed up and handed her a glass of water.
“Thanks” she whispered, before bringing the glass to her lips and taking a long gulp.
From the corner of her eyes, she saw Brian putting back his guitar on the stand while he kept on chatting with Jimmy.

She zoned out, her eyes still on her socks and the carpeted floor.

“Damn, I should get going. I promised to bring back Athalya before dinner.” Said Jimmy.
At the mention of her name, she looked up, shaking off the daze.

“See ya later Brian!” said Jimmy, getting off the bed.

“Thank you Brian, good-bye.” She said, barely looking at him and following Jimmy down the stairs. Jimmy took both glasses to the kitchen while she put back her shoes.

“Bye Suzie, bye Papa gates!” called out Jimmy, quickly slipping on his shoes and heading out, waiting for Athalya. “Bye McKenna!” he said, louder so she would hear him.

“Bye Jimmy!” she yelled. “Bye Athalya!” she said, appearing at the door and waving at them. Athalya waved back, with a small smile and followed Jimmy outside of the house.

**

When the door opened and she saw the two teenagers walking in, what surprised her the most was the slight colors on her granddaughter’s cheeks. Her eyes weren’t red or puffy as they had been the last few days. She looked better and Suzan sighed in relief.

“… I’m telling you, that’s what happened!” said Jimmy, while Athalya shook her head at him. She reached down to untie her shoelace but Jimmy lightly pushed her and she ended up falling on her ass, while Jimmy untied her shoelaces and tied them up again, not as tight. He proceed equally with the other one.

“Now take them off.” He said. She frowned and took one off with her feet and then did the same with her other feet.
“Now put one back on.” He said.

She looked at him, one eyebrow raised in a ‘what-the-fuck’ kind of way. He chuckled and grabbed the shoehorn that was hanging on the wall.

“Use that.”

She stood up and tried putting her shoe on with the shoehorn.
“Awesome…” she whispered.

Jimmy chuckled, pushing himself up.

“High five?”

She complied and smacked her palm with his, before taking off her shoe and wandered to the kitchen in socks, closely followed by Jimmy.

“As promised ma’am, she’s back in one piece and just in time for dinner.” He said, looking at the clock, mentally congratulating himself for his punctuality.

“Thank you Jimmy, we appreciate that. Would you like to stay for dinner?” asked David, as he finished setting the table in the kitchen.

“No thank you, I’ll head back.” He said, rubbing his neck. “Bye-bye Frenchie!” said Jimmy, ruffling her hair as she moved to open the front door.

“See you tomorrow at school!” he said, swinging his bag over his shoulder.

“Bye!” she said, waving. She watched as he got into his car and she closed the door, locking it up. She said nothing as she walked over to the sink to wash her hands as her grandparents looked at each other, relieved.

“What?” she asked, feeling eyes on her as she poured water in all the three glasses.

“He is really nice.” Said David, nodding to himself.

“He wouldn’t take no for an answer and took me to meet his friend.” Said Athalya, trying to sound mad, her grandmother knew better.

“What’s his last name?” asked Suzan, taking a sit at the table.

“How am I supposed to know?” mumbled Athalya, grabbing her glass. “I told you, we’re just classmates. He brought me my homework, dragged me to his friend’s house. That’s it, probably never going to see them again.” She added, grabbing her grandfather’s plate as Suzan started to serve dinner.

Dinner went well, Athalya actually ate more than the previous days and Suzan mentally thanked that Jimmy kid for taking her granddaughter out of the house for a few hours.
After cleaning the table, Athalya grabbed her homework that Jimmy had brought and went to her room. She set everything on her desk and turned on the small lamp, grabbing her pencil and looked at the pile. There was a small drawing on the first page. It was a little sun with sunglasses that said See you tomorrow Frenchie.
She smiled to herself and read the exercises sheet.

**

“You weren’t there yesterday, nor the day before.” Said Johnny, plumping on the seat next to hers.

“Sorry, wasn’t feeling well.” She said, looking down.

“S’okay, it happens.” He said, shrugging.
Johnny kept making comments, about the conditions of the bus, how the lockers weren’t big enough at the school and so on, which required little acknowledgement from her. A simple “You’re right” and “that’s true” every now and then was enough for him to keep going.

The drive seemed short and it was time to get out of the bus. Once again Johnny waved at her happily and went his own way.

She just had the time to reach her locker when she felt an arm over her shoulder.

“Yo Frenchie’s in the house!” said Jimmy, squeezing her to his side before holding up his hand.
She rolled her eyes and smacked her palm with his.

“Smile sunshine, today is a new day!” he said, before running off his own way, cackling to himself. She shook her head and put some books in her locker, then headed to class.
Morning went by fast and it was time for lunch. She grabbed something light and found herself once again sitting with Val, Matt and Jimmy as the others had not arrived yet.
Jimmy was shoving his face with food, stealing fries from Matt’s plate as he was too busy looking at his girlfriend.

“Forgot to tell you last night, your parents are pretty cool.” Said Jimmy, making a pause, reaching out to drink some water.

She dropped her fork, her eyes meeting Jimmy’s.

The look on her face.

It made his heart slow down as she kept her eyes on his. He watched, hopeless, as her eyes filled with tears and she grabbed her tray, getting up without another word.

“What did you do?” asked Matt, finally looking back at the table and noticing Athalya’s absence.

“I don’t know! I was just talking an-…” he trailed off, his eyes following as Athalya dropped her untouched tray and rushed out of the cafeteria.

She found refuge in the bathroom for a while, waiting until the bell rang to make her way to class. The afternoon went by in a blur as the only thing she could think about was going home.
The bell rang and she gathered her stuff, following the flow of kids to the buses.

She noticed Johnny in the small crowd and made her way to him when she was stopped by Jimmy.

“Listen Frenchie, whatever I did, I’m sor-” she violently shrugged his hand off her shoulder, holding her books to her chest.

“Leave me alone.” She said, taking a step back. Jimmy grabbed her by the shoulders, not quite understanding her reaction. “Look at me Frenchie, what’s going on? I’m sorry, whatever I did or say…”

She dropped her books to the ground and violently pushed him “Get away from me!” she screamed, tears in her eyes before she crouched down to hurriedly grab her books and stormed off towards the bus.

“What the fuck happened dude?” asked Justin, slightly laughing as he saw the new girl rushing to the bus.

“She doesn’t seem friendly.” Added Zacky, snickering.

“Oh shut up…” mumbled Jimmy, frowning as he headed to his car. He went straight to Brian’s house, complaining about how that new girl blew off at him for no reason while he was just trying to be nice to her and shit. Brian listened halfheartedly, strumming on his guitar, thinking to himself that she did seem weird.

Meanwhile Athalya was curled up on her bed, holding a picture of her mother to her chest, crying.

Notes

Thank you for the comments and susbcriptions! It means a lot.