“Where is she?” Billie asked looking down at his watch. He had flowers in one hand and ring in the other. Billie walked back and forth thinking about her. The woman that he wanted to marry, Erica. All the sudden he felt the vibration of his cell go off in his pocket. He picked it up and answered.
“Hello?” He said looking down at the diamond ring in his hand.
“Hey Billie.” A familiar voice said.
“Erica! Where are you?” Billie asked.
“Billie, I have something to tell you…..” Erica sighed. “I don’t think this is going to work.”
“WH-what do you mean?”
“I mean, I really want a guy that has….”
“Has what?”
“…money.”
“What!”
“I’m sorry….”
“So are you trying to say that these last 2 years we’ve been together meant nothing to you?”
“Billie….I”
Billie was about to cry at this point. His voice was low and scratchy. “Here I am with a wedding ring in one hand and flowers in the other, waiting for you to come so I could tell you that I love you and I want to marry you…..”
“Billie, I’m sorry. I’ve got to go.”
Before Billie could get a word in Erica hung up. Billie slid down to the ground, burying his hands into his head, and let the tears fall.
----
“Adrienne,” Audrey, Adrienne’s friend shouted running over to her. “I can’t believe you’re getting married!”
Adrienne looked as if she were to drown in her wedding dress. She turned around, looked at her friend and smiled.
“I know! I can’t believe it!” Adrienne cried looking at herself in the mirror. “Do you think I should call Billie to tell him?”
“You’re not talking about the boy that lives in Cali. do you?” Audrey asked, fixing the bottom of Adrienne’s dress.
Adrienne looked down at her friend. “Actually, I was.” Audrey gave her a weird look and stood back up. “You’re kidding right?”
Adrienne shook her head no. “I think he deserves to know. He’s one of my best friends!”
Audrey looked at Adrienne and shook her head. “If you don’t want to marry my brother you should just say so.”
Adrienne looked at her. “Really?” She asked unsurely.
----
Billie pulled himself together and stood back up. Why should he want to be with Erica anyway? The one person he’s ever thought about was……Adrienne. Billie smiled at the thought of her and walked out of the restaurant, heading for home.
“Hey Zero.” He said to his cat exhaustedly, walking into his home. Zero meowed at him and jumped down off the couch, and began to rub across Billie’s leg wanting attention. Billie sighed and sat on the couch, Zero following him. He began to pet him, staring at the floor. He always knew what he wanted when he felt bad. He got up and walked into his kitchen, opening his fridge to get a beer, then went back into the living room to watch TV.
“Ringggg ringgg ringggg!” Billie looked over at his phone and picked it up.
“Hello?”
“Hey Billie!” A cheerful voice said.
Billie smiled at her voice. “Hey Adie, what are you up to this morning?”
“Well…..I’m getting married!”
Billie’s heart skipped a beat. Well, maybe two at those words. “What?”
“Me, Billy, married?” Adrienne paraphrased.
“Wow…um-“
“Oh Billie, I wish you could be here!” Adrienne added. “I really miss you; maybe I could come over to Cali. when you and Erica get married!”
“We’re not getting married…” Billie said in a low voice.
Adrienne gasped. “You’re not? Why?”
“She said that she wanted a guy who has…..money.”
“Oh, that is terrible! Billie, you don’t need a girl like that anyway! You need someone-“
“—like you?” Billie asked.
----
Adrienne stood at the beginning of the red carpet, her father next to her. Her heart began to beat fast, remembering what Billie had said on the phone. She heard the music start and she was off. Right foot step, left foot step, right foot step, left foot step. She could see her little niece throwing flowers on the carpet. She looked at everybody standing in the audience. Her family, his family, her friends, his friends. She began to question if this is what she really wanted.
Finally she was at the end, looking up at her fiancé. She turned to face her father who pulled over her veil and kissed her on the cheek. She stepped up onto the stage and stood beside Billy.
“We are gathered here today……”
---
Billie sat in his couch, completely ignoring the TV. Adrienne’s getting married? Why? How? Billie sighed. The woman he’s always thought about, the woman that he’s always loved is slipping right through his fingers. Why couldn’t he just tell her how he felt a long time ago? Maybe then all of this wouldn’t have happened….and he wouldn’t still have a $500 dollar ring which he saved up all of his pot smoking money for, laying there on his coffee table. He didn’t even fell like smoking anymore since he’s gone months without it. He didn’t want to talk to Mike or John. He just wanted to be left alone.
Billie sat up and grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper and let his thoughts flow.
Princess in a school girl’s dream
May I please speak to you?
I’m having troubles with control
And it’s all because of you
Today I kept on falling down
I thought it was the street
So I look down at my shoes
They were on the wrong feet
I find it hard to be myself
(Can you please explain?)
I do not think it is my health
(You’re the one to blame)
You’re the one I wished I had
And now my girlfriend’s getting mad
(I cannot call this sane)
Today as I was walking down
You bumped into me
You said excuse me and walked away
As I dropped to my knees
I prayed to the being in the sky
That my parents told me of
I asked about you by no reply
No clues about your love
I find it hard to be myself
(Can you please explain?)
I do not think it is my health
(You’re the one to blame)
My girlfriend left me on the phone
I’m pathetically left here alone
(I cannot call this sane)
Can we find a way?
So that you can stay
I think I’m gonna pop
----
“…. Repeat after me,” The priest told Billy. “I , Billy, take Adrienne Nesser to be my loathly wedded wife--”
“I Billy, take Adrienne Nesser to be my loathly wedded wife-” Billy repeated, facing a red faced Adrienne Nesser smiling.
“-I promise to love, cherish, and take care of my wife, in sickness and in health. I will not only be a husband but a friend to her as well, as long as we both shall live.”
Billy again repeated those words.
The priest turned to Adrienne
“Repeat after me, I Adrienne take Billy to be my loathly wedded husband—“
Adrienne’s mind went blank. She looked at her fiancé. She could have sworn she’d seen Billie Joe instead, standing right in front of her. She smiled at him.
“I Adrienne take Billie Joe Armstrong to be my loathly wedded husband.”