Half Wit

Probably for the first time in her life, Emelie actually tried to look good as she planned on going to the Green Day concert tonight. It was one of the rare occasions that the band would arrive close to Oakland again during their tour and Emelie gladly took it, claiming she needed to see her father and hear some good music since the blasting sound of the techno songs was slowly taking over the school and the majority of the people in it.

Of course, Emelie was always glad to find one of two good concerts in a few weeks time and so, relieve her from hearing the same shitty music she was forced to listen to in school, thanks to the fact that the principal had decided that a certain group of people could host the school radio over noon to play music throughout the whole school. Naturally, this was only another reason for Emelie, Andrea, Lou and Lyra to go eat lunch outside of school whenever that happened and get some good Starbucks coffee while they're at it.

Looking around for her eyeliner, she wondered where she had left it and hoped that her father hadn't stolen it again as he had decided to pop in the house earlier today, claiming he missed his family and wanted some good coffee instead of the coffee Tré kept making. Emelie sighed, realizing that either it had to be in the bathroom of her parents or somewhere backstage with the band, doomed to be lost forever in the make-up bag of Billie Joe Armstrong.

Walking towards the room of her parents, she was glad to know that her mother had left earlier to the concert hall even though she was more like pushed in the car by Billie Joe himself. Searching through the make-up bag of her mother first, she noticed that the eyeliner was absent, and so was the extra hidden pencil which Adrienne always kept away from Billie in case he came home during the tour and claimed he needed some new eyeliner.

“Emelie! Get your ass downstairs right now!” Andrea's voice yelled from downstairs. Emelie frowned and looked towards the door, wondering if she had heard it right or that she was dreaming. Poking her head out of the room, Emelie didn't really care if her dreadlocks were hanging rather loose around her face and that she looked worse for wear when Andrea came up the stairs and looked rather annoyed by the fact that her friend didn't come down when she asked it.

“No time, eyeliner hunt!” Emelie closed the door to her parents bedroom again, leaving Andrea standing in the hallway with a frown on her face, looking at the closed door in front of her as she heard movement inside the room, probably from Emelie who was looking through the closets and cupboard in search for some left over eyeliner pencil.

“You know..you could always use my eyeliner, I mean..I'm just saying you know?” Andrea said, leaning against the wall and sinking down so she could sit down on the floor while facing the door. The moving inside the room stopped for a few seconds before the door swung open and Emelie appeared again.

“And you didn't bother telling me this sooner because..?” Emelie raised an eyebrow at her friend and leaned against the door frame, giving Andrea a good view of what she was wearing. It was rather simple, considering the fact that she was finally wearing some Adeline gear. Andrea shrugged and stood up, using the wall as support.

“You never asked,” Andrea told Emelie who blinked several times at her friend before sighing and shaking her head. “..did I just say 'you know' twice in my last sentence?” Andrea frowned, looking at Emelie who bit her lip to stop the laugh trying to escape her lips.

“Damn you and your influences,” Andrea muttered under her breath in such a low tone that it slightly scared Emelie as she received an angry glare from her friend standing against the wall with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“Just give me the fucking eyeliner and you won't get hurt,” Emelie said, sticking out her hand and waited for her friend to give her the pencil. Andrea raised an eyebrow at Emelie and shook her head before walking back towards the stairs.

“Hey, whichever one of you chick's ain't to busy stealing Billie Joe's guitars! Throw me the frickin' eyeliner will ya?” Andrea yelled down the stairs.

“Come and get it yourself you lazy ass!” Lou's voice came from the kitchen, where she was either raiding the fridge or drinking all the fresh coffee Emelie had made an hour or so ago. Andrea sighed and shook her head before she walked down the stairs.

Emelie decided to go to her room, looking at her appearance while she hated the fact that she was actually wearing Adeline. But then again, she loved this shirt and just couldn't help but wear it. It was one of the older models, probably never even been stocked and sold in their on line shop, which made Emelie just cringe inwards since she always got questions about it whenever she wore it.

“Don't you dare to use a match so you can put it on,” Andrea said, glaring at Emelie to warn her as she gave her friend the pencil. Emelie rolled her eyes and shook her head before she started to apply the black make-up around her eyes. Andrea sat down on her bed and grabbed the book Emelie had been reading before she started to get ready for the concert. It was about an hour and a half before the show would even start but she liked to be ready early so she wouldn't be late to anything.

“About what is this book really, I mean, you keep reading it and stuff but I don't even know what the fuck you are reading, next thing I know its some sort of kinky shit,” Andrea muttered the last part, looking at the book and seeing that it didn't really have a short summary on the back. Emelie looked over her shoulder in the mirror and smiled as she saw her friend look rather strangely at the book.

“A book; it's about a series of incestuous relationships within a family, its some good shit, you should read it!” Emelie nodded, trying not to give away too much information about the plot. Andrea looked up from the book and frowned at Emelie before she shrugged and placed the book back where she found it, laying down on the bed and facing the ceiling.

“Hey you beauty queens up there?! Are you almost ready with raping my eyeliner?” Lou yelled up the stairs, receiving a giggle from Emelie. The young girl took a step back and admired her eyeliner, nodding satisfied as she saw that it was equal on both eyes. She looked at Andrea who sat up on the bed and shook her head before picking up the eyeliner and starting to adjust it a little bit.

“What are you doing?” Emelie asked, looking up just like Andrea asked her to do.

“Making you look even prettier of course!” Andrea said in a fake cheery voice, “It wasn't completely equal on each eye, what did you think?”

Emelie sighed and blinked several times when Andrea took a step back and nodded satisfied. Andrea looked at Emelie's appearance and raised an eyebrow at her before she followed the young girl out of the room and down the stairs, hoping that Lou didn't drink all the coffee in the time they had been upstairs, which was very likely to be the cause.

When the reached the living room, Andrea looked rather shocked by the fact that Lou and Lyra were dancing around, singing some Green Day songs on the top of their lungs, either they were drunk, or hyper on coffee, the latter being more likely than the former for sure.

“I hate you,” Andrea muttered, glaring at Emelie as if it was all her fault even though the girl looked just as shocked at her.

*

“Lou for goodness sake!” Emelie rolled her eyes as the girl was running in front of her with a Slipknot sweater and a huge grin on her face, freaking out both Emelie and Andrea who tried to make it seem like they didn't know her or Lyra who was on Emelie's back with an equally big grin on her lips.

“Just wait until the coffee stops working, man, is she going to be grumpy then,” Andrea exclaimed, looking at Emelie who looked shocked at her friend trying to climb over the fence to get backstage, claiming she was having another master plan to take over Billie Joe's clothing with the Slipknot germ.

“I don't even want to think about that right now,” Emelie said with fake drama in her voice as she looked shocked at the fact that security just managed to stop Lou from climbing over the fence. Thank god there weren't any other fans around. Lyra jumped of Emelie's back and ran towards Lou, picking her up from the floor as she had fallen down. Emelie sighed and stretched, happy to be released from Lyra's weight on her back.

“Now all I need to do is to get in, without getting in trouble with the security guards...” Emelie said, more to herself than to her friend. Andrea patted her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze before walking over towards the two hyper girls in front of her and grabbed them by the collar, pushing them towards the door of the venue.

Realizing that this was the security of the venue, and so, still unfamiliar to the little fact that she could enter without a pass, Emelie found herself in trouble. Its not because she looks like her mother that she was just able to enter without having some problems. To the security guards, she just looked like a fan girl of the band that tried to get backstage and that was the main thing that was forbidden.

“Come on guys, let me in!” Emelie whined, looking at the security guards who looked unimpressed at her and her explanation why she didn't have a backstage pass but was still allowed to get in. Deciding that the girl wasn't really worth their time and didn't look like a real threat, the two security guards left Emelie alone in her distress, hearing that there was some trouble with the fans and their seating over at the field instead.

The fact that it wasn't a regular venue like most bands would play but instead an open-air ballpark was different, and so was the security, who was more used to having rowdy football players and their fans troubling them than thousands of screaming girls for three men, their extra stage crew not included, that wore eyeliner and tight jeans.

“I really hate security right now,” Emelie muttered to herself, realizing that she had no other choice than to either call one of the band members, who couldn't even open the gates if they wanted and were probably to lazy to get a security guard to do it for them, or climb over the fence like Lou had tried earlier.

“Damn it!” the young girl kicked against the fence and wished she had asked for a backstage pass anyway but her father had assured her that she would get in without it so she forgot. She always got in without a pass, since the security traveling with the band was familiar to her. Yet, none of those were around right now and she really wanted to get in.

Her eyes scanned the backstage parking lot for any sign of someone she might know or a security guard but no avail, seeing how it was so close to the show and they were all inside the building, making sure that the band was alright so the show could go on. Against her will, Emelie decided to climb the fence anyway, hoping that she wouldn't get caught by any of the venue security and got pushed outside again.

Emelie looked up to the top of the fence, sighing as she realized that it was a hopeless cause and she would never even reach it with the bad climber she was. Lou on the other hand had been hyper and not cared about the heights. Admitting to herself that she wasn't going to get backstage, Emelie sank down and sat on the floor with her back against the fence.

“What is a pretty girl like you doing here? Shouldn't you go inside the venue and like, freak out over the fact that Green Day is going to appear on that stage any moment now?” a voice behind her said, Emelie frowned and looked above her to see a familiar face standing at the fence.

“Could you get security and let me in Adam? Please?” she was lucky to know that Adam Lazzara already toured with Green Day before and so, was familiar with Emelie being around from time to time.

“All I heard from the security passing me is that there was a stupid fan girl at the fence trying to get in, claiming she was Billie Joe's daughter, I thought I'd check it out but didn't expect you to be sitting here...” Adam explained. Emelie sighed and closed her eyes, groaning. “But don't worry, Adam is here with the keys!” he added quickly in a sing song voice, smirking at Emelie.

“You...stole the keys from security?” Emelie said slowly as if she didn't believe what he was saying. Standing up, she looked at Adam and raised an eyebrow while crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“You actually stole the keys from those rock heads that claim they'd rather handle some though football players instead of thousand screaming girls?” Adam smiled proudly and nodded, showing her the keys before he opened the fence and let her in.

“I demand a kiss in return though,” he said hurt as Emelie just hugged him. The young girl giggled and shook her head, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a kiss on the cheek before he closed the fence again and walked with her backstage.

“By the way, I love the Adeline shirt! I thought you didn't like wearing those clothes?” Adam wondered, pointing at her shirt and raising an eyebrow, Emelie pouted and nodded, admitting that he was right about her not liking to wear it.

The hallways were cramped up with different boxes, containing the more important stuff of the band and their equipment. Taking Back Sunday clearly still had to go on stage or Adam had taken a shower and dried his hair, the former being the only one possible really since Adam didn't really like drying his hair after a shower. She had found that little detail out after endless conversations and playful banters with him when she had joined Green Day when they had played Milton Keyes and Taking Back Sunday had been one of their opening acts. Emelie sighed in relief as she realized she had been lucky that Adam was such an eavesdropper.

“Do you know how much your dad can pace around in the room in an hour just because you didn't show up yet?” Adam asked, looking at Emelie who frowned before looking rather surprised that her dad would worry about her not being there while he knew that she could be in the crowd with her friends anyway.

“Well good to know I can still make him worry sick even though I'm perfectly fine to fend for myself,” said Emelie with a smirk playing on her lips. Adam chuckled and nodded a little

“You know he's only worried because not all the fans have good purposes...” Adam said, wrapping one arm around Emelie's shoulders and pulling her in a half-way hug. Emelie nodded and knew what he meant by that. After all, its a fathers job to worry about his teenage daughter when there are a lot of boys around.

“Come on kiddo, let's go and relief your father from his worry,” Adam winked and pushed her inside the room that was especially rented for the band so they could be comfortable during the wait.

It was filled with a small kitchen so they could prepare something to eat, some luxury chairs that Tré was already using and even some guitars that Billie had brought so he could practice before going on stage and even a make-up table (probably only used by Tré and Billie Joe but still efficient for other things), like Adam had told earlier, Billie Joe was indeed pacing around but stopped this the moment he saw Emelie.

“Never, do that again! I mean it Emelie!!” Billie Joe said to her before he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. Emelie looked shocked and didn't hug him back but kept her widened eyes on her mother who looked sympathetic at her and showed her a sweet smile.

“What? Hit on cute lead singers?” she asked, nodding towards Adam with a smirk on her lips as he smirked back at her.

“That's not what I meant and you know it well enough young lady!” Billie Joe said, slightly glaring at her and pointing at her.

“Well I can't help it if your security around here royally sucks,” she said, raising an eyebrow at her father who frowned and blinked several times.

“I just saw your friends in the crowd and you weren't there!” Billie Joe waved his arms around dramatically, making Emelie sigh and roll her eyes.

“You know I always come backstage before a show and leave them alone between the crowd,” Emelie reasoned with her father, trying to make him see that everything was just like it always happened.

“Then why weren't you here earlier?” he asked, still trying to look dramatic but his features were slowly softening at the relief to know that his daughter was alright.

“Well, there were some cute boys out there and then Adam came and...well you don't want to know what we all did...” Emelie started, sharing a sly grin with Adam who shook his head and didn't believe how much fun the girl was having by putting her father in distress.

“And then your lousy security came and didn't let me in and-”

“Wait, lousy security didn't let you in...what?” Billie Joe interrupted her, Emelie looked as innocent as she could even though Adam Lazzara was doubled over in laughter right about now.

“Well yeah, I mean, they saw me and Adam and they kinda thought I was a groupie...” Emelie started but realized that her father didn't believe her.

“They didn't believe I was your daughter and thought I was just another fan of yours that tried to get backstage,” she said with a sigh before her father opened and closed his mouth several times.

“...I think I liked the first explanation better even though it wasn't believable,” Billie Joe said, looking at Adam and raising an eyebrow before smirking.

“Dad!”

*

How her father could prance, jump, dance, hump all around the stage without missing a note during his singing and playing guitar was still the thing that amazed Emelie the most about her father. Emelie sighed and leaned against the wall that lead from the stage towards the backstage room, which took quite a while since the room was all the way up the venue so the ones there could have a good view of the whole field. Her mother was standing right next to her with a proud smile on her face as she watched her husband walking around on stage, being able to entertain his fans like no one else could.

"Honestly, am I getting fat?" Billie Joe lifted up his shirt slightly and pinched his sides, looking at Mike who looked thoughtful for a moment and then pinched Billie's sides too, nodding in agreement and then shaking his head at the man, not believing he would get fatter during the tour. “Just a little bit right here, yeah?”

“Well you do know about the future and men getting pregnant!” Mike said with a smirk and looking at Billie before winking and starting the bass line to 'Longview' to which the crowd responded with a loud cheer. Billie Joe looked shocked at Mike for a moment and for a moment, Emelie didn't even know if he was faking it or not, then again, her father could be a good actor whenever he wanted, yet he sucked at it when he had to do any acting.

“Well if I'm pregnant you'll be the first one to know sweetheart,” Billie Joe quickly recovered from the shock and delivered a good come back, causing Mike to laugh but luckily, not miss a note from the song before the singer started with the lyrics. In the mean time, Tré was clearly enjoying all of this and motioning to Billie before faking a pregnant stomach in front of his own with his hands and then laughing, seeing that he had appeared on one of the diamond vision screens while doing so.

Emelie was speechless after that, looking rather shocked at her father and his best friend while they were rocking out. Adrienne was biting her lip to stop herself from laughing at her husband and shook her head, knowing that this was rather normal for him and that it was to be expected that he would pull a stunt like that.

“You guys are way better than those fuckers in Washington!” Billie Joe yelled in the microphone with a huge smile on his face, the fact that this was a home show always cheered him right up “But we're gonna be saying the same shit about you tomorrow night, so enjoy it while you can!”

Emelie's eyes scanned the crowd briefly, searching for her friends whom she hadn't seen since they left her at the gates to the backstage room. Taking Back Sunday started to join them after refreshing after their own show and looking at Billie Joe with an amused smile, knowing that not even Adam's crazy show antics of swinging the microphone around could top that. Then again, the friendly banters between Mike and Billie Joe were the same banters they would have backstage and clearly, the fans loved it.

“Miiikkkeeee! I want to play some old songs!” Billie Joe whined in the microphone, pouting as he looked at his bassist and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Mike raised an eyebrow at Billie and then looked at the crowd before landing his eyes back on Billie.

“His ass can only entertain us for so long you know!” Emelie heard a voice in the crowd yell. The whole field had gone quiet and looked at the girl responsible and the young girl wasn't so surprised to see it was Lou who was doubling over in laughter while Andrea was looking rather wide-eyed and shocked at the girl before hitting her on the head.

“See Mike! There are still fans that love my bum bum!” Billie Joe said, pointing at Lou who looked rather shocked that Billie had heard it even though almost the whole venue had. Clearly she hadn't expected him to continue on it.

“...I like your bum bum too,” Mike admitted with a smirk and a wink to Billie who started to bat his eyelashes at the bassist and blew him a kiss which Mike pretended to catch and look extra happy.

“For goodness sake! Make out already! We all know you want too!” an unknown voice came from the audience which caused Emelie to double over in laughter and briefly wonder how it was even possible that the fans were audible over all the noises in the venue.

“Only on weekends,” Billie Joe smirked and winked at the crowd before he started to strum the first chords to Hitchin' A Ride