Tensions

“I seriously cannot believe this.” Serenity continued to mumble as she brushed her pearly white teeth in front of the bathroom mirror. The foamy toothpaste sloshed about in her mouth, dripping down her chin and into the porcelain sink beneath as she tried to speak.

Terrence simply sighed for the trillionth time tonight, trying his best to ignore his overreacting girlfriend.
“Babe, get over it. I’m going with Jordan anyway.” He explained once again.

Gargling her throat, Serenity quickly spit out the burning mouthwash into the sink, wiping her mouth with a small white towel hanging on the towel rack when she finished.

“I know, I know. I just cant stand them, even knowing you’ll be in their presence is annoying.”

Terrence rolled his eyes once more before throwing his arms above and underneath his head, waiting for Serenity to emerge from the bathroom.
“I still don’t know how he managed to get tickets. That concert is gonna be fucking awesome!”

“It better be with the cost of those damned tickets.” Serenity bitterly responded, now primping her hair in the mirror. Terrence ignored her comments as best as he could, and decided to just close his eyes…inhaling and exhaling…

But then his ears perked, drawing his attention to the awkward noises budding out from the bathroom. It sounded like a couple of bags and…chains?

“What the hell are you doing in there?” he called out curiously, turning his head towards the closed bathroom.

“Trying to get your present ready,” she murmured back in a flirty tone. Terrence could almost see the lust in her eyes and that sexy smirk that played on her full painted lips. He had almost forgotten about birthday sex with all the commotion Serenity was making because of the concert tickets.

He couldn’t possibly miss out on birthday sex!

And when he heard the bathroom light flicker off seconds later, his eyes widened when Serenity stepped out. Her dark tresses hung in deep set coils all around her face, wild and completely untamed. Big brown eyes lined sleekly with black kohl, while her full lips were stained with a berry colored tint.

The vixen smirked as she leaned not so innocently against the bathroom’s doorframe.
His eyes then ventured down her long neck to her cleavage, which was supported by a sheer, flimsy excuse for a bra. And when his eyes had had enough of that, they continued down her taught torso, and towards the lacy garter belt and horribly sexy thong she was wearing. Her thighs were enlaced with the garters, sheer black fishnets resting just above her knees.

But what really caught his attention was the shining silver pair of handcuffs dangling covertly from her pinky finger.

“Are you planning to pick your jaw from off the floor?” she purred as she stealthily walked across the dim lit room and slowly, almost like a cat, crawled onto the bed and on top of her prey. Straddling his waist, she set about taking her sweet time in wishing him a very happy birthday.

When it came to luck, Serenity never had much of it. All throughout her thirty one years on this earth, luck had only been on her side a handful of times…
For instance, while in college, something happened to a scholarship she had applied for, and was well qualified for to receive, but was denied and had to vigorously work her way through school.
Even in relationships she had bad luck. One guy she dated turned out to be gay, while another stalked her for several months until she finally threatened to notify the police.

And then obviously there was Tre. Someone she truly fell in love with, but as luck would have it, they could never be.

So it wasn’t real surprise when two days prior to the concert, that Terrence received a horrid phone call while at the park with his girlfriend and her kids.

“Bianca!” Serenity yelled, warning her three year old daughter whom was currently throwing sand in her brother’s face. “You stop that!”

Terrence chuckled a moment later, watching Bianca and Trevor react and retract to their mother’s voice. The couple was currently sitting on a wooden bench at a local park, watching Trevor and Bianca play in a sandbox and other assortments of child playthings. It was a perfect day out, a glimmering yellow sun, bright blue skies, a warm tropic breeze, and no South Florida humidity!

“So guess what happened, and don’t get mad?” Terrence mumbled

“What?”

“Jordan’s in the hospital.”

“Oh my God, what happened to him?!” Serenity yelped, reverting her concerned eyes from her children to Terrence.

“He was bartending and a fight must have broke out between a couple of people. I don’t know how he got in it, but his arm is broken.”

She sighed, “Poor Jordan. Does he know who did it to press charges or anything?”

“I doubt it. It’s a bar fight, people just throw fists and don’t even know who the fuck they’re hittin’.”

“And why would I be upset? Jordan’s arm broke, I feel bad for him if anything!” Serenity said, eyeing her boyfriend oddly as she took out two packets of Caprisuns for her kids to drink.

Terrence sighed, passing Serenity the lunch bad she had packed back at the house. “He’s the one that got me the tickets for the thing. Meaning, I need someone else to come with me.”

His girlfriend paused in zipping up the lunch bag. Was he saying what she thought he was saying?

“Please don’t tell me you want me to go…”

Terrence grinned, taking a long sip from his Zephyrhills water bottle. “Well, who else am I suppose—“

“Ask Anthony, Troy, David, M—“

“They’re all busy that day. You’re the only one who can come. And we can get Jen to watch Trev and Bianca for us.”

The mother of two shook her profusely. “I’m sorry, but I’m not going. End of discussion.”

And so, March the seventeenth, had finally approached. The day of the concert, doomsday so to speak.

And Serenity Reynolds had been getting ready in the bedroom bathroom for over 3 hours, STRAIGHT!

Terrence had to do a double take when his girlfriend finally exited the dungeon like bathroom. She looked more than ridiculous.

“Are you serious right now?” he questioned, setting down his bottle of beer to further examine the woman in front of him… that couldn’t possibly be his girlfriend.

“I’m not risking being seen, so this is the only way.” She answered, studying herself in the mirror, trying to finger comb a piece of the wig behind her ear.

His eyes MUST have been deceiving him. On top of Serenity’s head lay some sort of wig. The color was about three shades brighter than any natural read head could ever genetically be and was cut into a short spy resembling bob. It looked alright, but those ridiculous sunglasses she had on made her look like a schizophrenic secret agent.

“Are you seriously going in those clothes too?” he asked, still completely bewildered at this woman’s performance.
“Sorry, but I’m not taking any chances.” She answered methodically.

She was currently wearing a ridiculous and horrid pair of those black and neon colored pants that the young gothic people wore, followed with fitted black tank top with a black and white photo of Bob Marley on the back.

“You’re not going anywhere with me in those pants.” Terrence mumbled as he set about tying his shoelaces.

Serenity capped her lip liner, “Excuse me, but this is a favor for you. So as far as I’m concerned, I can wear what I please.” Her make-up was more than subtle. Her entire face was powdered to perfection, but the crimson red eye shadow threw it off a bit. Her eyeliner was way to thick and chunky looking, while the nearly black lipstick she had on made her look quite intimidating.

“Do you realize how ridiculous you look? Have you looked in a mirror? You’re going to a benefit concert, baby. Not some death metal show.” Terrence howled with laughter.

She wanted to disagree with him and conjure a venomous retort, but she couldn’t. He was right… the show wasn’t simply Green Day’s, many other artists would be present. And surely the majority of the audience wouldn’t consist of rioting teenagers wearing all black and metallic chains.

“You’re an idiot, you know that?” Terrence scolded her as she continued to peer menacingly out the car window for what seemed to be any evil spies after her life. Her brown eyes were darting every which way beyond the tinted window and onto the darkened sky.

“Can you fuck off for like one second? With my luck, one of them will probably pull up at a red light right beside us. Especially at the snailish speed you’re driving at.” She mumbled irritably as the couple drove towards the Sound Advice Amphitheatre.

Terrence mumbled something beneath his breath before removing one hand from the steering wheel and adjusting the radio tuner as he drove. Tonight was supposed to be exciting, and he definitely wasn’t going to allow a moody Serenity to ruin it for him.

The majority of the hour long drive was spent in silence. Serenity occupied her time with humming along to the radio and calling the babysitter to check if the twins were fine…and of course looking out for her nemeses, while Terrence chose the road raging route.

“Do you have any idea where the entrance is?” Terrence asked as he moved the gear shift into park.

“Yeah. We’re going to be walking for a while though. Have any gum?”

He pointed towards the glove compartment as he unbuckled his seatbelt.
“What’s this?” she asked, peering at the sealed yellow envelope trapped inside Terrence’s glove compartment.

“Oh shit!” he laughed, “That’s a birthday card the guys wanted me to open when I got home, but I forgot about it.”

Serenity rolled her color contacted eyes, handing her boyfriend the forgotten card. “You’re just as bad as the kids, except you don’t throw away your cards before reading them.”

Grinning, Terrence bottled up his water and tossed it carelessly into the backseat before grabbing the envelope. “Let’s see what these losers wrote.”

Serenity quickly reached up and opened the car’s sun visor and checked her face in its mirror. A satisfactory smile spread across her face. She looked completely different. She could be face to face with the entire band AND Adrienne for all she cared. There was no way in hell they’d realize who the woman beneath the makeup was.

“Oh shit!” Terrence gasped in awe.

The vixen turned her head in confusion, “what is it?”

Handing his girlfriend a laminated square card, he read off the card:
Happy Birthday old timer. We’ve all known you for so long and you’ve done so much for us. Here’s (yet again) another token of our appreciation. Have fun and bring us back something from backstage!

“WHAT?!” Serenity squealed, reading the bolded contents on the laminated square card.
BACKSTAGE –ALL ACESS VIP

Terrence grinned like mad as he grabbed up the respective bright red lanyards which attached to the passes and tossed one to his distraught girlfriend.

“Ok, I love you Terrence, but I’m not going backstage.” She announced, handing him back the backstage
pass.

“Are you kidding me?!” he yelled. “These…” he emphasized, thrashing the passes in her face, “are BACKSTAGE PASSES.”

“Yeah, I can see that, and I’m not g—“

“This is for my fuckin’ birthday!’ he yelled again. “I can’t believe you!”

“What do you mean you can’t believe me?” she screamed back, “Going backstage would be like me practically going on stage during their performance! Are y—“

“You know what, I’m not gonna fucking beg you. Just because you’ve been backstage a trillion fucking times doesn’t mean we all have. You can wait in the damned car if you want.”

And with that, he didn’t even give the masked beauty a second glance before ripping the keys out of the ignition, tossing them at her, unlocking the door, and stepping outside.

All she wanted to do at the moment was scream! Wasn’t simply going to this damned place enough? Now he wanted her to go backstage? Then she might as well go to Tre’s house too, WHILE Billie Joe AND Adrienne were there. It would be the same outcome anyway.
But she loved Terrence. He aided her when not too many people were. He loved her when no other male was willing to. He’d made many sacrifices for her during their three year relationship…and it was now time for her to make another one for him.

“Did you lock the door?” Terrence asked as security checked their tickets and pointed them towards their seating area several minutes later.

She nodded and pecked him on the cheek. “I’m sorry for making i—“

“Don’t worry about it.” Terrence smiled, placing an arm around her waist as they walked to their seats.

The concert was amazing so far. Her favorite performances so far had been Aerosmith and a surprise reuniting of The Fugees. They were about two hours into the show when the host, none other than the ever annoying Ryan Seacrest announced another band’s set.

Now ladies and gents, we have another Grammy winning, multi-platinum selling performer in store for you! These three gentle men have been around since the early 90’s, and are legends in the punk rock scene. Without further ado, here’s Green Day!

Serenity instinctively shrunk back in her seat, along with Terrence.
“I guess this is it!” she spoke loudly into Terrence’s ear.

He leaned over, “I wonder what song they’ll do!”

After shrugging her shoulders uselessly, she eyed the darkened stage like an eagle. Trying desperately to catch a glimpse of any of the band members.

And then the opening cords of Green Day’s cover to Lennon’s “Working Class Hero” began. The lighting against the stage slowly brightened, until every band member, every instrument, was clearly visible.

“Oh God,” she whispered to herself, folding her arms to her chest. She felt so uncomfortable at the moment that tiny beads of sweat were surely forming against her forehead.

As soon as your born they make you feel small

Serenity and Terrence had surprisingly good seats. The band members weren’t necessarily ants, but she could make out enough of them. She noticed Billie Joe’s hair, and the new dirty blonde highlights streaking through it. She noticed the simple jeans and plaid shirt he was wearing. She noticed how his eye closed at certain parts of the song, when he seemed nearly lost in his voice.

And then she couldn’t help but let her eyes linger onto Tre. Luckily, she couldn’t get a fantastic view of him since his larger than life drum set was blocking him, but that didn’t stop the memories from pouring in. She could vividly remember when they first met and how annoyingly arrogant he was. How she woke up in his arms in the early mornings, how he kissed her preciously on the lips…

She got a couple glimpses of her ex’s hair as he thrashed his drum kit to pieces. She noted the color of his clothes as he played as well, and those toned arms of his that she more than loved…in the past.

Then her eyes dashed quickly onto Mike. Boy did she still hate him, only God knows what type of language he used when her name was mentioned. And she didn’t know what the horrid bassist was thinking with a jet black dye job in his hair…he looked atrocious with it!

Nevertheless, she wasn’t in the least bit surprised when Terrence began to sing along to the song. She had to admit, the song was quite catchy, and she couldn’t deny that Billie Joe’s voice was capturing her soul all over again. And before the red headed secret agent knew it, she found herself singing along as well.

“Terrence, I’m serious. Remember, my name is Becca.” She nudged Terrence as they walked cautiously down a corridor that led to a many backstage events.

The show was halfway through and an intermission was currently in play. Serenity, or Becca, had watched Green Day, Mary J. Blige, Beck, Nine Inch Nails, Seal, and a few other artists perform as of present.

“I got it, jeez!” Terrence rolled his eyes.

Serenity was tempted to laugh, but kept it to herself, not wanting to irritate her boyfriend any longer for the remainder of the night. And it wasn’t long before the pair found themselves in a large room with all sorts of food and finger snacks lying on a table. A lot of autographed items were up for sale, where the proceeds would be sent to various charities, including an array of electric guitars, a couple vinyl albums, a drum kit, shoes, and a wig…

“O.K We’re just gonna mingle, grab some food, and get a couple autographs. Okay?” Terrence reiterated for a third time tonight. He had to admit, this was sort of exciting, and maybe a little nerve wrecking. His girlfriend was on a mission to hide herself from a number of people whom simply hated her, one including her ex-boyfriend, which no matter how famous he was, he’d sock in the face if anything on the given chance.

“Yeah, just remember…its Becca.” Seny grinned, holding his hand tightly.

Serenity stayed glued to Terrence’s hip as he mingled amongst all the celebrities in the midst. By the time they were done and went to grab a snack, the digital camera and its waning capacity was nearly full.

“You want some water?” Terrence asked his girlfriend about half an hour later, combing his hand through his hair. She nodded, not really paying him any attention as she tried to multitask by reviewing the photos they had just taken and keeping an eye out for any Green Day member.

Sighing, he detached himself from her, and set about retrieving them both water.

“Enjoyed the show, sweetheart?” a low velvety voice whispered. Looking up, Serenity was all but surprised when none other than Trent Reznor was faced towards her, a white towel still wrapped around his neck from his performance.

“Yeah, it was amazing.” She calmly answered. God, he was sexy as ever. He smirked in response before taking a small chug of water from a bottle.

“Have you donated anything yet?”

“I did actually. And you?” she questioned, walking a bit closer to the stunning singer.

“Me? Of course I did. What’s your name again?”

“Serenity.” She smiled, extending her hand towards him. She couldn’t help but stare at how his sweated hair stuck to his forehead.

“Nice to meet you, Serenity. Tr—“

“I know who are you.” She smirked, letting go of his hand. “Um, do you mind taking a picture with me? It’s not everyday I get to meet my favorite singer.”

The guitarist smiled, and graciously motioned for her to lend him the camera. “Thank you and no problem.”

And then luck struck Serenity Reynolds for the first time that night. As Mr. Reznor raised the camera up to their faces, she heard boisterous laughing coming for another direction. And when the flash of the camera went off, and his strong hand lowered…lo and behold Adrienne Armstrong had just swept passed them.

“Oh shit.” She whispered to herself.

“Um, thanks again Trent.” She smiled nervously, quickly turning on her heels.

And that’s when she heard his voice…Tre’s voice.

“Hey, don’t run away Adie. We’re not gonna do it all the way.” She heard him laugh.

He had just passed her, practically brushed passed her shoulder as he walked towards Billie Joe’s wife. The smoldering air was leaving her mouth and nose in hurried breaths. She quickly shielded he face with her hands as she maneuvered herself around the room, trying to desperately seek out Terrence.

Where the fuck was he?!

“Becca!” she suddenly heard him shout her name. She looked frighteningly around the room, and when she found her boyfriend she practically sprinted towards him.

“Where did you go? I was looking all over the pl—“

“We have to go.” She interrupted, dragging him by the arm out of the room.

“Hey! Serenity! Serenity!” she heard Trent’s deep voice bellow. Upon hearing her name she turned around, an automatic response, to see him speed walking towards her, her forgotten camera in his grasp.

But it was a bit too late… the voices that she heard from before had completely stopped.

“You forgot your camera.” He smiled, handing the digital device back to her.

“Oh, thank you” she mumbled breathlessly, wanting to do nothing but put a bullet in his head…and her own.

“Oh man, I’m one of your biggest fans, man.” Terrence ogled at Trent, taking no time in extending his hand.

At that moment Serenity, slowly and cautiously turned her head towards where she saw Adrienne walk off to, and nearly jumped out of her skin when Adrienne’s eyes were glued upon hers.

Her heart beat was abnormally fast, exploding from her rib cage as she nervously smiled at the celebrity in front of her.

“Hey, Seny. You didn’t tell me you met him, take out picture!” Terrence said much too loudly.

At this point in time, she wanted, nay, NEEDED a knife to somehow slash her wrists to shreds.

It suddenly seemed as if the entire room had went silent, and all eyes belonging to the Green Day posse, were focused on her.

“What’s going on?” Serenity heard another unknown voice. Looking around, she saw a redheaded woman approach Tre.

“Take our picture for us.” Terrence exclaimed, handing the digital camera to his girlfriend as he turned himself around to stand next to the rock star.

And with shaking fingers, she took their photo and handed the device back to Terrence.

“Serenity?” Adrienne asked sternly, quickly approaching the masked vixen.

She didn’t know what to do. Should she pretend as if she didn’t hear her? Should she act is if she didn’t know an ounce of English? Or maybe she should just run like mad back to her car…

“Um, hi.” Serenity nearly whispered, holding onto Terrence’s arm like a vice.

And then all eyes were on her. Her cover had been blown….she’d been caught.

Billie Joe’s wife and rock didn’t say anything for a second, simply stared unbelievably at the woman in front of her. The same woman that lay in bed with her husband. The same woman that tricked her into befriending her. The same bitch that got pregnant by her asshole of a husband. The same whore that cheated on her dear friend, Tre.

“What are you doing here?”