Forgotten

"Woah, wait, you want me to what?" I screamed. No, no no no, this was not happening! It couldn't be. No fucking way.

"We," Billie motioned to both Mike and Tre, "would like you finish out the rest of the tour with us. At least, the rest of the American tour. You don't have to do Europe if you don't want to, but we'd love to have you. " He stated simply, like this was an everyday occurrence.

"And you're serious about this? It's not some sort of sick joke?" I was suspicious. I didn't know any of them extremely well, how was I supposed to know if they were kidding or not?

"Yes. This is a serious offer. We wouldn't joke about something like that." Mike and Tre were still silent. I guessed that it was decided Billie would do the talking.

"But why would you want me of all people for this? Don't you guys already have people to play background? You know, Jason Freese, Jason White, those people?"

"Yeah, we've got them. But it can't hurt to have another, in case something happens. And now, Jason White is thinking about not going on the Europe tour. Which sucks."

"Okay, I get that, but why me in particular? There's nothing special about me..." Billie shrugged.

"Maybe not now. Sixteen years ago there wasn't anything special about any of us. We were just high school kids with a passion for music. It just so happened that we were so passionate that we took it to the next level and became what we are today."

"I still don't get why you want me to do this. I'd absolutely love to, don't get me wrong. It just confuses me as to why you're offering me such a great opportunity." I was grateful for their generous offer, and absolutely thrilled at the prospect of it. It was all so much, though...

"We don't really have a legitimate reason why. Mike and Tre haven't even heard you yet. I just know that I want you on that stage with us. There's something about you...If you don't like it, you don't have to keep on with it. We can contract around that, but at least give it a shot. It can't hurt." He was right. It couldn't hurt. I had nothing to lose.

"Of course. I'd love to...tour," I choked a little on the word, "with you guys. It's been my dream just to see you in concert, this is a million times better." I smiled. They smiled back at me.

"So now that we have that taken care of...can we get breakfast? I need to eat!" Tre said, grinning. Billie, Mike, and I laughed lightly at him.

***

We walked down to the breakfast room while talking about random things. The wallpaper that covered the hallways, the different places we could see outside, and whatever else we found. It was a comfortable conversation. It wasn't at all awkward or strained, and for the first time since I'd met them, I didn't feel uncomfortable. Well, I was never really uncomfortable, I just felt a little out of place. Now, however, all of that was gone.

Each of us grabbed what we wanted to eat. I settled for a simple bagel with peanut butter and a glass of apple juice. The four of us sat down at a table in the corner, with Mike and Billie on one side and Tre and I on the other.

We continued to talk while we ate, commenting on people we saw pass by outside the hotel.

I finished eating before the guys since they'd each grabbed a lot more than I had. Once we were all finished, however, Mike made a comment that we should go back up to the rooms so they could hear me play for themselves. I blushed a little at that.

"Yeah, okay. I need to shower anyway. I fucking smell." Billie said.

We took the elevator back up to the seventh floor and walked into room 716, Billie's (and sort of my) room.

"I'm gonna go shower. You guys can listen to her without me, I heard enough this morning." I swore to God he winked at me as he said that, but chalked it up to my imagination playing tricks on me.

We nodded and headed to the kitchen area, where I had left Billie's beautiful guitar. I opened the case and once again carefully took out the guitar.

"So, what do you want me to play?" I asked. I would be much too embarrassed to pick out a song, and it was better if they chose it anyway.

"How about "Brain Stew"?" Tre suggested. I knew that one. It wasn't difficult, I remember learning it completely in about half an hour. I held down an A power chord and strummed twice, moving down to a G power chord, and continued the song from there. I didn't sing. That would be even worse. Despite the fact that I'd been in choir for seven years, I still didn't think I had a very good singing voice. I got to the middle of the chorus when Mike signaled for me to stop. I muted the strings and looked at him.

"That was good. Try "Jesus of Suburbia" now."

I'd learned this one, too. I played through all nine minutes of the song almost perfectly. Mike and Tre looked impressed and smiled. I played a couple more songs at their request until Billie walked in the kitchen, freshly showered and with clothes on. He was wearing a pair of light blue jeans and a black button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He looked amazing, to be honest.

"Hey. So what do you think? She's good, isn't she?" He smiled while asking them.

"Yeah, she is. She'll be practicing plenty on the bus today though. Tonight's gonna be rough if she isn't on top of everything." Mike said, throwing his arm around my shoulders in a friendly gesture.

"Wait...what? Tonight? I'm playing tonight?" I had not been expecting that. That was only 12 hours from now! There was no way I'd be ready....and I didn't have clothes or makeup or my guitar or anything!

"Yeah, you are. I just have to call Bill quick and let him know." Billie said nonchalantly, like this was no big deal.

"What about clothes and my guitar and stuff? I don't have any of that with me. Actually, my guitars are both back in my dorm."

"Don't worry about it. You'll be getting new clothes for tonight, and we'll find makeup and whatever if you think you need it. You can borrow one of my guitars for the time being. Tomorrow you'll have almost all of your own stuff. You won't get your guitar for a few days, though."

"Okay...I guess. Wow. How am I getting my guitar, though?" I asked. Mike was the one to answer this time.

"Someone will get it from your dorm at Berkeley and air-mail it to us. We've got everything under control." I looked at him suspiciously...

"How do you know where I go to school? Do I even want to know how you're getting into my room?"

"Probably not. How do we know, you ask? It's a secret!" Tre said, widening his eyes in a failed attempt to scare me. I sighed.

"Fine. So where am I getting clothes for tonight?"

"We'll leave Fargo in about an hour. Once we get to Minneapolis we'll check in to our new hotel and get a car. The Mall of America isn't too far from there, so we'll take the shuttle and go shopping there." Billie said. I just shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. This was insane.

"Okay then. You should probably get your stuff together if we're leaving in an hour." They all agreed and Mike and Tre left to go to their own rooms.

"So, you're really okay with this? I don't want to force you to do this...If you've got something you'd rather be doing..." Billie looked at me, his face slightly worried.

"No, really, I'm excited. More than you could ever know. It's just a little overwhelming. So much has happened...I'm still in shock!" I laughed a little, trying to be casual.

"Good. Help me clean up, then we can leave faster. I haven't been to the Mall of America in so long..." he trailed off as I grabbed some random clothes from the floor and folded them.

***

Once the guys were all packed up, we headed out to the car and threw everything in the trunk. This time, Mike got into the driver's seat and Tre took shotgun. Billie and I sat in the back.

"So...how's your ankle feeling this morning?" he asked. I had completely forgotten that I had sprained it with everything that had happened. I felt stupid, considering I had actually been using the crutches almost all morning.

"To be honest, I forgot about it. It's feeling fine, I guess. Obviously I'm okay to walk on it now. I told you. I don't need the crutches anymore." I smiled at him, trying to assure him that I really was okay.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, really."

"Good." He turned to say something to Tre and I stared out the window. I stayed like that until I heard Mike say, "We're here."

We got out of the car and were staring at the back of the Fargodome. Some guy walked up to greet us (or rather them, I supposed). The three of them walked over to talk to the guy and I just leaned against the car, thinking.

"So who's this?" The guy asked.

"Oh, that's Shelbie, the girl I was telling you about, Bill. She's great, you'll love her." Billie looked at me, smiling with what I hoped was pride.

"Oh, okay! Great. Well come over to the bus. We'll be leaving soon, so we've got just a few things to take care of, including returning that shiny car of yours...."

***End Chapter 8 - Road to Acceptance***