My Beating Heart Belongs To You

I worked for a company that does band photography in Berkeley, California. We wern't that much of a success, but I got to go to a lot of concerts, award shows, and just meet a lot of bands here in the studio. My boss was a dick, no joke. He was never in a good mood and he always expected you to drop everything for him. I was the one who was the outcast and didn't do everything that he asked... or told me to do. The name is Elise Townsend. I was a petite punk who went to Gilman shows every Friday night. I'm 28 years old and I'm living life on the wild side. I had tattoos on my arms, but not too many. And I had a small stud for a nose ring and I always wore eyeliner with my jet black hair straightened that was cut just below my ears and it was layered. I was on my ten minute break and was smoking a cigarette behind the building and trying to recover from the concert last night: Green Day. The fans were going crazy down on the floor and it was hard for me to actually get some good pictures of the guys because I kept getting pushed into the metal bars around the stage. The security guards finally let me past the bars and that's when I got some sweet pictures of the band. They were coming here to the studio today for a photoshoot, but I wasn't doing it unfortunately; my dickhead of a boss was. I rolled my eyes and threw the cigarette on the crowd and stomped on it with my black and white high tops and walked back inside.

"Alright Dick, I mean Rick," I said and he scowled at me. I let out a small smile and put the strap over my head and around my neck. I had a Nikon and it was my favorite camera to use, although it was the oldest. "What band am I shooting today?"

"Let's see," he said and looked at his clipboard. "You won't be doing a band today. You'll be doing the country singer Taylor Swift."

"Are you fucking serious?!" I choked. "But I hate her!"

"Elise, calm down. Do you want this job or not?" Rick asked.

I sighed and I shoved my hands in my pockets and walking to the hangar where I'd be shooting her. I looked at the door and cringed before opening it. I saw her crew caking on her make up and her smiling like she was the most perfect person and sitting in her chair and it just made me to know that a lot of these celebrities acted like this.

"Alright Taylor, this is the only shoot that I'm doing of you today, so you better make it quick and easy," I said and walked in front of the giant white backdrop that she would be standing infront of. She rolled her eyes and sighed then stood where she was supposed to.

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"God," I sighed and closed the door behind me, leaning on it. "I never knew one girl could be so much work."

"You're supposed to do what I tell you to do, so you better do it," I heard Rick's loud voice boom through the hallway. I turned my head to the left to look at the room he was in. I didn't know what person or band he was doing but I walked down there anyway. I held my two cameras that I had so they wouldn't clank together and get sratched up, they were my life. I walked into the room and I couldn't see the singer's face or faces because I was on the backside of the backdrop.

"Hey faggot, we're just three guys in a band to have some fun and make some kickass music, we don't need some photographer telling us what and what not to do," a voice said that sounded sort of deep but calm.

"Mike, we don't need to waste our time on him," another voice said. I laughed to myself and Rick looked up and saw me standing in the doorway.

"What's your problem, Elise?"

"Nothing, I just find it funny that you're getting owned by a couple of smartasses."

"Who said we're smartasses?" A man's voice asked then came from around the backdrop. It was Mike Dirnt; the bassist of Green Day. I stayed calm on the outside but on the inside my heart was racing.

"I was just-" I started to say. Mike smiled then shook his head.

"It was kidding," he said and returned to his spot next to Billie, most likely.

"Just go do what I pay you to do," Rick said still having trouble with his tripod.

"How about you just do your job like you're supposed to?"

I heard the guys laugh and Rick had nothing to say.

"How about you take this job then, Elise. Apparently I'm not doing it right," he said pissed off then walked out of the room. I walked over to where he was standing and saw the guys standing there looking at me. Tre was being his usual self; being a pervert. Billie was standing awkwardly, whispering to Mike and they both bursted out laughing.

"Well guys, I'm sorry he was being such an asshole. You can go home or go elsewhere and do whatever you guys normally do with your days," I sighed and took the camera off of the tripod and put everything back in a case. I stood up with the case in my hand and the three of them looked at me in shock.

"What?" I asked.

"You're not asking us to do anything else?" Tre asked.

"No? You're my favorite band and Rick was being a dick."

Tre giggled and Mike hit him in the chest.

"Sorry," Tre coughed. "That rhymed."

The rest of us rolled our eyes and laughed to ourselves.

"You're just the first to do that for us, so... thanks. Elise? Is it?" Billie said properly. I laughed and nodded my head.

"So you said we're your favorite band?" Mike asked as the guys walked out the door with me.

"Of course! I saw you guys perform last night," I said, starting to get excited but then feeling bad.

They all laughed. "That's cool," Mike replied. We were out back now and I don't know why I was still standing with them.

"Can I see your camera?" Tre asked like a little kid.

"You'll drop it," I said holding onto it. Mike and Billie laughed at Tre.

"I won't! Please?" He begged.

"Alright," I said and handed it to him.

"Be careful. It's my Nikon."

"I want to be a photographer, stand with Mike and Billie," he told me. I got butterflies in my stomache and my knees almost gave out. I stood between the two band members and I stood closer to Billie than to Mike. I'd always been in love with Billie ever since I got into the band. Each of them were only 8 to 9 years older than I was so it was around fifth grade when their stuff first came out. I grew up with it and I'd been a hardcore Green Day fan ever since. My older sister, Jessica, always went to their shows at Gilman when they were still known as Sweet Children. She was in their grade and had a few classes with them. Tre took the picture, with my camera, and handed it back to me.

"Um, did you guys know a Jessica Townsend when you were still in school?"

"I never did," Tre laughed. "I dropped out Sophomore year."

"I knew her," Mike laughed. "We dated for three days."

"Really?!" I choked. "I never knew that," I said laughing. "Wow."

"Is that a bad thing?" Mike asked, almost offended.

"No, no, no!" I tried to cover my ass.

The guys laughed then Tre and Mike went to their personal cars.

"Thanks for being cool towards us, Elise. It's about time somebody was," Billie said patting my shoulder and walked away to his own car after Tre and Mike pulled out and turned a left on Stuart Ave. Billie honked and waved then pulled out of the parking lot.