Our Story, chapter 2
At 4 our shift ended and Jill and I walked back to our dorm room. I talked non-stop the whole way home about how much fun we were going to have that night and how exciting it was going to be to go backstage.
"Can you even begin to believe that in a few hours we will be hanging out backstage with Green Day?!" I asked beaming.
"Correction kid." She said rudely. "You are the only one that's going to be hanging around backstage with Green Day. He only gave you one pass."
I felt awful. I had completely forgotten that he had only given me one pass.
"Oh... yea." I said awkwardly. "So what are you wearing tonight?" I desperately wanted to change the subject.
"My jean miniskirt, that pink sweater I got at the mall the other day, and those new heels you have." She said dryly. This was Jill's first real concert. Sure she had been to a few before. She saw New Kids when they came to Boston, but this was her first concert where there would be moshing and crowd surfing. "How about you?" She asked.
"Umm I was planning on wearing something similar." I lied. I didn't want to tell her that her outfit was completely inappropriate for a Green Day concert. I already felt bad about talking about the backstage pass. A few hours later we were on our way to the club. She was wearing the outfit she had described earlier. I had on jeans, a tight fitting black tank, and my white on black shell toes (my signature sneakers). I had also lightly rimmed my eyes with black eyeliner and straightened my long blonde hair.
"Well you look fancy." She said sarcastically. She would realize shortly that she was the one that was going to stand out. We walked into the club out of the cool October air and handed the guy our tickets. As we walked through the narrow hallway into the main area my heart started to race. The smell of stale alcohol and weed hit us fast. The club was already packed and we were an hour early. We pushed our way up to the front. We were only a few feet from the stage. As the opening band, a local group, started to play a few mosh pits formed. We were just on the outside of one. Some kid with blue hair and an immense amount of piercings rammed into me from the side. I pushed him back into the pit so he wouldn't fall.
"Oh my God this is crazy!!" Jill shouted, trying her best to be heard over the music.
"I know" I yelled back "Isn't it fucking great?!"
"Yea... I guess so." She said unenthusiastically. Just as the words left her mouth she was knocked to the ground by a crowd surfer. I couldn't help but laugh. She quickly got up, dusted herself off, and shot me a dirty look. The band stopped playing and walked off stage.
"Oh my God this means they're coming on soon!" I screamed.
"Finally." Jill said as she rolled her eyes.
Tré walked out first and sat down behind his drums. The crowd went crazy. Mike walked out next, picked up his bass, and put the strap around his neck. It seemed like an eternity before Billie finally strolled out onto the stage. He picked up his guitar and glanced over at Mike who instantly began to play the bass line from Longview. Everybody in the club screamed.
"Sit around and watch the tube, but nothings on... " Billie confessed to the microphone. "Change the channels for an hour or two. Twiddle my thumbs just for a bit. I'm sick of all the same old shit. In a house with unlocked doors and I'm FUCKING LAZY!!!!" It was incredible. After they finished Longview they played Chump, then Having a Blast, followed by Coming Clean. They played every song off of Dookie and some from Smoothed Out Slappy Hours. They ended the show with Welcome to Paradise. By the end of the show Jill and I had been knocked over by moshers at least 6 times, but at that point she didn't care anymore. We were both having way too much fun to care. After the show ended I told Jill I'd see her back at our dorm room and made my way through the crowd to a security person.
"I have a backstage pass. Where do I go?" I asked. He grabbed my hand and led me through a labyrinth of small dark hallways. They were all signed and spray-painted with the names of bands that had played there before. We stopped in front of a door. He told me to wait outside as he knocked and went in. When he reopened it I expected to see a crowd of people all packed into this little room. I expected to see tons of other girls like me, maybe even a few groupies. He stepped out of the doorway and motioned for me to go inside. I walked in and saw Billie, Mike, and Tré sitting on a couch drinking bottled water. They were all sweaty and looked tired.
"Hey! Glad you could make it." Billie said with a smile. "It's Emily, right?"
"Yea." I said shyly. "I didn't think I'd be the only one here. I kinda expected a crowd."
"Nope, just you." Billie said laughing. "Have a seat. Did you like the show? I saw you and your friend. You guys fell a lot. It was funny."
"Yea." I said kinda embarrassed. "We were surrounded by massive kids. They kept knocking us over." I looked up to see him laughing. "The show was great though, you guys were amazing. You like didn't stop the whole time. It was incredible."
"Great. I'm glad you liked it." Mike said beaming.
"Wait!! You're that girl from the restaurant earlier!!" Tré said as he pointed at me.
"Yea." I said turning pink. "That's me."
"Jesus Tré." Billie said laughing. "Sometimes I swear you're fucking retarded." Everyone started to laugh, even Tré.
"Yea, sometimes I think the same thing myself." He said, putting himself into hysterics.
"Wanna go take a walk?" Billie asked, looking up at me from his seat on the couch. "It's kinda stuffy in here."
"Sure." I answered. "Why not." We got up from our seats and walked down a hallway to a door marked Emergency Exit. We went outside and stood in the cool air. It felt nice after being cooped up in such a small space with so many people. Billie and I talked for a while. After a half an hour he noticed that I started to get cold. He proceeded to rub my arms with his hands to help me warm up.
"Thanks." I said awkwardly. I had just met him we barely knew each other and he was already... rubbing me!
"I hope you don't think I'm a creep or anything." He said. "I mean sometimes I come on kinda strong. Like how I invited you backstage and how I'm now rubbing you." This made me laugh. "When I saw you today at the restaurant I thought you were beautiful. Honestly you're not the kind of person I would normally be attracted to, but I just saw something in you that I really liked." He was referring to the fact that I was 5'3 with long blonde hair. I was very petite and looked like I was still 15, even though I would soon be 19. People often told me that I looked like a future trophy wife. The kind of girl that would move to the suburbs of Connecticut and marry a rich lawyer. I was anything but that girl.
"We aren't leaving here until Sunday morning." He continued. "So I have all day Saturday to hang out or whatever. Why don't you give me your number so I can call you and we can meet up."
I quickly wrote down my number on his hand. We walked back inside through the club to the front door.
"Want me to walk you back to your dorm?" He asked shyly.
"Oh no that's fine. I think I'm going to run anyway, I haven't been for a good run in a while." I said smiling.
"Oh ok cool." Billie said while pulling me into a hug. He stepped back and then grabbed my hand, pulled me close to him, and kissed me softly on the lips. He stepped back once again and ran his hands through my hair. He put his hand on the back of my head and pulled me in for a second kiss. This time it was harder. I felt his tongue bump my lips and I parted them. He pushed me up against the door and we kissed for while. A long enough time to make Mike concerned enough to come looking for Billie.
"Oh sorry man." He said, noticing that he had interrupted something. "We have to go soon though, Trés starting to trash the place."
"Jesus Christ." Billie whined. "I have to go. I'll call you tomorrow though so we can meet up. Bye Em." He said kissing me one last time.
"Bye Billie" I said softly. I opened the door to the club and started running. It only took me 10 minutes to get home. I needed that run. I needed to get all of that crazy energy out of my system. I was so excited and confused about what had just happened. I ran the whole way home with a smile on my face. I wanted to scream I was so happy, but in the back of my head was the thought that Billie wasn't going to call. He was the lead singer of an up and coming band. He had hundreds of girls throwing themselves at him on a nightly basis. He probably did this at every show he played. Find that one cute girl, invite her backstage, kiss her, maybe even fuck her, get her number and leave. I tried to push all of those thoughts out of my head, but as I got close to my dorm room that's the only thing I could think about. I felt used, I felt sick. Sure it felt good as it happened, but I was just another one of his girls. As I walked down the hallway to my room I heard the phone ringing inside. I ran into the room and answered it.
"Hey." I heard the voice on the other line say. "Is this Emily?"
"Yea this is Emily. Who's this?" I said puzzled.
"It's Billie. I was just calling to make sure you didn't give me a fake number."
I cupped my hand over my mouth to keep from screaming. All the doubts I had about Billie left my head. He wasn't using me, he actually liked me. I had never been so happy in my entire life.
"Can you even begin to believe that in a few hours we will be hanging out backstage with Green Day?!" I asked beaming.
"Correction kid." She said rudely. "You are the only one that's going to be hanging around backstage with Green Day. He only gave you one pass."
I felt awful. I had completely forgotten that he had only given me one pass.
"Oh... yea." I said awkwardly. "So what are you wearing tonight?" I desperately wanted to change the subject.
"My jean miniskirt, that pink sweater I got at the mall the other day, and those new heels you have." She said dryly. This was Jill's first real concert. Sure she had been to a few before. She saw New Kids when they came to Boston, but this was her first concert where there would be moshing and crowd surfing. "How about you?" She asked.
"Umm I was planning on wearing something similar." I lied. I didn't want to tell her that her outfit was completely inappropriate for a Green Day concert. I already felt bad about talking about the backstage pass. A few hours later we were on our way to the club. She was wearing the outfit she had described earlier. I had on jeans, a tight fitting black tank, and my white on black shell toes (my signature sneakers). I had also lightly rimmed my eyes with black eyeliner and straightened my long blonde hair.
"Well you look fancy." She said sarcastically. She would realize shortly that she was the one that was going to stand out. We walked into the club out of the cool October air and handed the guy our tickets. As we walked through the narrow hallway into the main area my heart started to race. The smell of stale alcohol and weed hit us fast. The club was already packed and we were an hour early. We pushed our way up to the front. We were only a few feet from the stage. As the opening band, a local group, started to play a few mosh pits formed. We were just on the outside of one. Some kid with blue hair and an immense amount of piercings rammed into me from the side. I pushed him back into the pit so he wouldn't fall.
"Oh my God this is crazy!!" Jill shouted, trying her best to be heard over the music.
"I know" I yelled back "Isn't it fucking great?!"
"Yea... I guess so." She said unenthusiastically. Just as the words left her mouth she was knocked to the ground by a crowd surfer. I couldn't help but laugh. She quickly got up, dusted herself off, and shot me a dirty look. The band stopped playing and walked off stage.
"Oh my God this means they're coming on soon!" I screamed.
"Finally." Jill said as she rolled her eyes.
Tré walked out first and sat down behind his drums. The crowd went crazy. Mike walked out next, picked up his bass, and put the strap around his neck. It seemed like an eternity before Billie finally strolled out onto the stage. He picked up his guitar and glanced over at Mike who instantly began to play the bass line from Longview. Everybody in the club screamed.
"Sit around and watch the tube, but nothings on... " Billie confessed to the microphone. "Change the channels for an hour or two. Twiddle my thumbs just for a bit. I'm sick of all the same old shit. In a house with unlocked doors and I'm FUCKING LAZY!!!!" It was incredible. After they finished Longview they played Chump, then Having a Blast, followed by Coming Clean. They played every song off of Dookie and some from Smoothed Out Slappy Hours. They ended the show with Welcome to Paradise. By the end of the show Jill and I had been knocked over by moshers at least 6 times, but at that point she didn't care anymore. We were both having way too much fun to care. After the show ended I told Jill I'd see her back at our dorm room and made my way through the crowd to a security person.
"I have a backstage pass. Where do I go?" I asked. He grabbed my hand and led me through a labyrinth of small dark hallways. They were all signed and spray-painted with the names of bands that had played there before. We stopped in front of a door. He told me to wait outside as he knocked and went in. When he reopened it I expected to see a crowd of people all packed into this little room. I expected to see tons of other girls like me, maybe even a few groupies. He stepped out of the doorway and motioned for me to go inside. I walked in and saw Billie, Mike, and Tré sitting on a couch drinking bottled water. They were all sweaty and looked tired.
"Hey! Glad you could make it." Billie said with a smile. "It's Emily, right?"
"Yea." I said shyly. "I didn't think I'd be the only one here. I kinda expected a crowd."
"Nope, just you." Billie said laughing. "Have a seat. Did you like the show? I saw you and your friend. You guys fell a lot. It was funny."
"Yea." I said kinda embarrassed. "We were surrounded by massive kids. They kept knocking us over." I looked up to see him laughing. "The show was great though, you guys were amazing. You like didn't stop the whole time. It was incredible."
"Great. I'm glad you liked it." Mike said beaming.
"Wait!! You're that girl from the restaurant earlier!!" Tré said as he pointed at me.
"Yea." I said turning pink. "That's me."
"Jesus Tré." Billie said laughing. "Sometimes I swear you're fucking retarded." Everyone started to laugh, even Tré.
"Yea, sometimes I think the same thing myself." He said, putting himself into hysterics.
"Wanna go take a walk?" Billie asked, looking up at me from his seat on the couch. "It's kinda stuffy in here."
"Sure." I answered. "Why not." We got up from our seats and walked down a hallway to a door marked Emergency Exit. We went outside and stood in the cool air. It felt nice after being cooped up in such a small space with so many people. Billie and I talked for a while. After a half an hour he noticed that I started to get cold. He proceeded to rub my arms with his hands to help me warm up.
"Thanks." I said awkwardly. I had just met him we barely knew each other and he was already... rubbing me!
"I hope you don't think I'm a creep or anything." He said. "I mean sometimes I come on kinda strong. Like how I invited you backstage and how I'm now rubbing you." This made me laugh. "When I saw you today at the restaurant I thought you were beautiful. Honestly you're not the kind of person I would normally be attracted to, but I just saw something in you that I really liked." He was referring to the fact that I was 5'3 with long blonde hair. I was very petite and looked like I was still 15, even though I would soon be 19. People often told me that I looked like a future trophy wife. The kind of girl that would move to the suburbs of Connecticut and marry a rich lawyer. I was anything but that girl.
"We aren't leaving here until Sunday morning." He continued. "So I have all day Saturday to hang out or whatever. Why don't you give me your number so I can call you and we can meet up."
I quickly wrote down my number on his hand. We walked back inside through the club to the front door.
"Want me to walk you back to your dorm?" He asked shyly.
"Oh no that's fine. I think I'm going to run anyway, I haven't been for a good run in a while." I said smiling.
"Oh ok cool." Billie said while pulling me into a hug. He stepped back and then grabbed my hand, pulled me close to him, and kissed me softly on the lips. He stepped back once again and ran his hands through my hair. He put his hand on the back of my head and pulled me in for a second kiss. This time it was harder. I felt his tongue bump my lips and I parted them. He pushed me up against the door and we kissed for while. A long enough time to make Mike concerned enough to come looking for Billie.
"Oh sorry man." He said, noticing that he had interrupted something. "We have to go soon though, Trés starting to trash the place."
"Jesus Christ." Billie whined. "I have to go. I'll call you tomorrow though so we can meet up. Bye Em." He said kissing me one last time.
"Bye Billie" I said softly. I opened the door to the club and started running. It only took me 10 minutes to get home. I needed that run. I needed to get all of that crazy energy out of my system. I was so excited and confused about what had just happened. I ran the whole way home with a smile on my face. I wanted to scream I was so happy, but in the back of my head was the thought that Billie wasn't going to call. He was the lead singer of an up and coming band. He had hundreds of girls throwing themselves at him on a nightly basis. He probably did this at every show he played. Find that one cute girl, invite her backstage, kiss her, maybe even fuck her, get her number and leave. I tried to push all of those thoughts out of my head, but as I got close to my dorm room that's the only thing I could think about. I felt used, I felt sick. Sure it felt good as it happened, but I was just another one of his girls. As I walked down the hallway to my room I heard the phone ringing inside. I ran into the room and answered it.
"Hey." I heard the voice on the other line say. "Is this Emily?"
"Yea this is Emily. Who's this?" I said puzzled.
"It's Billie. I was just calling to make sure you didn't give me a fake number."
I cupped my hand over my mouth to keep from screaming. All the doubts I had about Billie left my head. He wasn't using me, he actually liked me. I had never been so happy in my entire life.
