Half Wit

“Sweetie, before I forget, get your father to call me from time to time alright?” Adrienne's voice said on the other side of the telephone. Emelie smiled a little and nodded, telling her mother that she would try but couldn't promise anything.

“And for goodness sake behave! It's not because your father is a rock star that you have to behave as one too,” her mother said before saying her final goodbye and hanging up. Frowning a little at her last line, Emelie couldn't help but grin anyway, knowing that she could behave just like her father whenever she was on tour.

Of course, Emelie had never been one to go to a lot of parties, hang out with loads of friends that only cared about their hair or anything else, instead, she kept herself busy taking photographs and meeting fans whenever she could, the fans of course, never minded this and knew that there was always a small possibility that they could meet Billie's daughter if they were lucky.

Nowadays, the fans would search for her to meet her more than they did for the band, as long as Emelie kept herself safe and looked out for anything dangerous, and also kept her backstage pass on her without showing it off too much, he was fine with it. Billie had always been kind of loose on her whenever they were on tour, probably because he had less time checking in on every move that she did because he was too busy trying not to be late to interviews or anything else.

Right now, the band was in Utah, a place that Emelie didn't immediately remembered but that's okay, while the band was doing sound check (more like Tré playing Frisbee with the other crew members while they are riding skateboards and Billie Joe practicing on the drums) Bill Schneider had given her some autographed pictures of the band on which Tré had drawn evil eyebrows on himself or someone else, unlike Mike who shows his love by putting X's and O's everywhere while Billie just signs his crotch area.

He had told her to go out and hand them out to random fans who seemed interested in them. After looking at them for a while herself and wondering why the band signed their own pictures like that, Emelie had shrugged and agreed with it, walking outside the venue with a stack of photographs in her hands and her eyes scanning the surrounding area for fans.

Of course, this being not to hard once she carefully left the backstage area and the reserved parking lot where the buses and shuttles were carefully parked. She was soon met with a couple of fans who decided to come extra early to the venue to make sure they had some good spots for the show tonight.

“Emelie! Hi!” a young girl approached her and before Emelie could do anything, she was pulled in a hug by her.

Taking a step back, Emelie frowned a little at the girl and took in her appearance. She had dirty blond hair, braided together in two loose braids hanging over her shoulder while she was dressed in some sort of corset and dark loose pants with all stars under them.

“Oh I'm sorry, I'm Abbey,” the girl sticked out her hand and smiled sweetly at Emelie who took it and gave it a slight squeeze.

“I've seen so many pictures of you but never thought I'd meet you here, when did you get on the tour?” Abbey asked as she looked at Emelie, she looked rather awake, unlike the members of Green Day whenever they appeared without their instruments. Billie for certain already looked a little worn out.

“Oh, just after the last concert, more like early this morning before we left for Utah,” Emelie shrugged and looked around to see if there were any more fans. Seeing that it was only Abbey and some of her friends, since they kept looking at the two girls, Emelie let Abbey guide her way towards the fans so they could talk in group.

Receiving their own copy of the photographed pictures, the girls were clearly excited to have this in their possession but couldn't resist asking Emelie about the strange habits the band members had of signing. Emelie shrugged and said she didn't know herself before pocketing some of them in her way-too-big-for-her-own-good pockets, or at least, that's how Billie Joe called them.

“So how is it? Living with Green Day on one bus?” Abbey asked curious as she looked at Emelie with big eyes.

“Seriously Abbey, I told you before you should read her blogs, then you shouldn't be asking stupid questions like that!” one of the other girls said, Emelie giggled slightly and shook her head.

“No it's okay, she can ask, things always happen that I don't blog about just for the sake of privacy anyway. Living on the tour bus with them is kind of fun though, unless you're bored out of your skull and you can infect them with it, then you're just laying around on the couch, trying to stay on it as long as possible,” Emelie shrugged, smiling a little and jerking her head back so her dreadlocks fell behind her shoulder again.

Abbey and the girls watched Emelie as she explained some of the things that had happened yesterday in minor detail, just like she had done on her blog. Emelie had never been one for a lot of details in the stories she told and that always came in handy when she had to talk about the life she led whenever she was around her father on tour.

“So do you like Utah?” one of the other girls asked, looking quite curious on what Emelie would answer. It was a rare thing for someone close to a band to hang out with the fans and the girl finally seemed to gather the courage to ask something about how they felt on being in Utah, where they were right now.

“I don't remember a lot from Utah, I've been here before but it's kind of fuzzy right now, and we don't really have the time to visit the town so yeah, that's rather stupid but then again, we can't disappoint the fans in Denver.”

“Damn, you must've seen almost the whole world already!” Abbey said excited, looking at Emelie.

The young girl shook her head and chuckled a little at the girl. “Actually, I've only toured a small part of Europe and the UK, same with America, I never go for the whole tour since I'm still going to school, yet, the tour seemed more interesting right about now so I picked that instead of going to school.”

“And Billie just agreed to that or what?” Abbey frowned a little at the recklessness of Billie Joe, who had dropped out of school himself and whom she thought would want a better education for his children.

“He didn't have to agree, I just packed my bags and joined him, he just stood there and shrugged, knowing that I wasn't going anywhere with school anyway,” Emelie shrugged and leaned back on the palm of her hands.

After an hour of sitting there and talk with the two girls, Abbey and her friend, whom Emelie had found out was named Alison, they were joined by a guy named Peter. Deciding that it would be best if she went back inside as the huge crowd was starting to arrive, Emelie said goodbye to her new found friends and handed out some more of the photographs before disappearing backstage once again.

“Oh there you are? Were you having kinky phone sex with Lou again?” Billie smirked before Emelie glared at him and hit his arm playfully.

“It's not because you're not getting laid that I'm not,” she smirked.

“Wait...what do you mean with that?” Billie Joe asked, immediately alert and looking at his daughter with wide eyes, “You don't happen to have a boy- or girlfriend that I should know about should I?”

“Relax dad, I just had some kinky orgy with the rest of the fans outside, nothing serious,” Emelie said, trying to avoid the question.

“Emelie.”

Sighing, she knew that it would be safer for her just to answer to her fathers question and looking down at her feet she shook her head sadly before looking up at him and shrugging.

“Dad, if I was dating anyone, god help me if that happens, I would tell you, trust me,” Emelie assured him and placed her hand on his shoulder before giving it a small squeeze and disappearing in the backstage room that was reserved for the band and their present family while the crew was left in another one of the rooms.

“That girl is going to be the death of me one day,” Billie Joe muttered before sighing and walking outside so he could get some fresh air and privacy to call Adrienne, something Emelie had been persisting on ever since they had arrived in Utah. Emelie had been bugging him about it for the past few hours before she had disappeared during sound check and he hadn't had the time before to call his wife.

Emelie wasn't all too surprised when she entered the backstage room to see Mike and Tré hang in front of television that was installed in the wall of the reserved room. Looking at the two older men, she sighed and shook her head before sitting down between them and placing her head on Tré's shoulder.

“Hey! I thought I was your favorite!” Mike said hurt, looking teary eyed at Emelie who looked innocent at the bassist and then grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl Tré was holding.

“But Tré has popcorn!” Emelie claimed, putting out her hand with popcorn to let Mike see it.

Mike still didn't stop the fake tears from forming in his eyes as he looked from Emelie towards Tré and back again. Of course, Tré being Tré, and that means something, played Emelie's game and swung his arm over her shoulders, pulling her closer and planting a kiss on her cheek before looking over her head to look at Mike who just crossed his arms in front of his chest as a reaction to the kiss.

“Tré damn it! You know my heart only belongs to one man!”

“And that is?” Tré asked, also pulling Mike's attention to what Emelie was about to say. A small blush crept up her lips as she tried to avoid the question by not answering but when Tré and Mike started to poke her, she had no other choice than to answer.

“My dad,” she muttered softly, almost not audible by the two members before they looked at each other and then back at Emelie who was slowly turning red and trying to stay out of any further questioning.

“Hey, what are you teasing my daughter about now?” Billie Joe entered the room and smirked at Emelie who's blush disappeared a little as he ruffled her hair and didn't know what she had just said about him a few minutes ago.

“Oh nothing, about her imaginary boyfriend,” Tré smirked as he looked from Emelie to Billie Joe and back again.

“I never said that!” Emelie protested, looking at the drummer with wide eyes and a shocked expression on her face as she looked at her father and then sighed, letting her shoulder hang when she saw him raise an eyebrow at her.

“I mean, it could be a girlfriend too you know? I saw a cute chick after the merch table, I heard her name is Kay, who knows,” Emelie smirked, trying to lighten the mood again before she walked out of the room and shook her head at the three men staring at her back as she did.

“What was she on about?” Billie wondered, looking at the open door where Emelie had just disappeared through. Tré and Mike looked at each other and shrugged before sitting back down on the couch and sharing the popcorn from the bowl Tré was still holding in his hands.

“I'm still her favorite member!” Mike claimed, taking a handful of popcorn and changing the channel before either Tré or Billie could protest.

*

The concert that night had gone well, the boys had done a great job and the fans were still high on the adrenaline, just like the three men, now resting in the backstage room rented out for them. Emelie however, was tired of sitting backstage and had moved outside again after telling the crew how well the show had gone.

Walking through the hallway towards the parking lot, Emelie looked at her feet and buried her hands in her pockets before pushing the door open with her back and taking in a breath of fresh air, relieved to feel the cold air on her skin. Seeing some fans by the fence, she waved at them and was starting to walk over to them with a tired smile on her face. She saw Abbey and Alison between the few fans standing there in hope to meet the band, the two girls waved at her, rather hyper, which was probably an aftereffect of the show.

“Emelie! Hi!” Abbey waved her arm in the air, trying to pull the attention of the girl. Alison, who stood next to her, shook her head in shame and pretended she didn't know the girl. A few other fans were trying to act like her, yet, two or three of them couldn't help but wave at Emelie too.

One of the calmer fans approached Emelie, a camera held in her hand and half hidden for the security standing at the gates and surrounding Emelie as she talked to some of the fans closer to her.

“Uh, Emelie?” the girl asked, looking rather shy at the girl, who was just signing something for a fan, who insisted on it, if she couldn't get an autograph from Green Day themselves, the daughter of Billie Joe would have to do.

“Is there any chance that they are going to come out and sign some things or not?” the girl asked, not even daring to make eye contact with Emelie for longer than a few seconds as a small blush crept up her lips.

“I'm not sure, it depends on how tired they are, they might come out but they didn't inform me about it so I don't know for sure,” Emelie shrugged, looking a little apologetic at the girl who nodded and still lifted up her camera.

“Can I at least have a picture with you?” the girl questioned, sounding more sure of herself and hopeful. Emelie smiled at her and nodded, pulling the girl close to her and taking her camera, giving it to Abbey, who told them to smile before she took the picture. The girl looked rather surprised by Emelie's actions yet, smiled brightly for the picture and took her camera back from Abbey.

Hearing from the security guards surrounding the ground and keeping their eyes on Emelie during her conversation with the fans that she had to go, Emelie sighed sadly and pouted before nodding and waving goodbye to the fans and following the guards back behind the fence and towards the bus.

Hearing her cellphone ring, Emelie frowned and looked at the caller. Surprised to see it was Lou, Emelie picked up immediately after telling the guards that she would join the band on the bus in a moment, making sure she was alone for the call, she placed the phone against her ear before speaking.

“Lou? Aren't you supposed to be in school?” Emelie asked, worried about her friend, either she was sick and her worry was unnecessary, but then again, Lou hardly got sick, something that Andrea envied a lot whenever she had a cold. A frown reappeared on Emelie's forehead when the young girl didn't immediately respond to her question.

“Hey Lou? You there?” Emelie questioned again, looking around the parking lot and looking for a place where she could sit in the shadows and talk to her friend in peace. Smiling a little as she heard a soft 'yes' at the other side of the line, Emelie walked back towards the building but didn't enter it. Instead, she leaned against the wall and sat down on the ground, keeping the cellphone at her ear.

“Honey, what's wrong?”

“Nothing, I just .. wanted to call you,” Lou answered in a soft voice, almost so soft and silent that Emelie didn't hear it.

Still wondering what was wrong with her friend and knowing that she had just lied to her, Emelie sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, waiting for Lou to continue before saying anything else herself.

“And tell you that my parents finally cracked,” Lou said, probably having a small smile playing on her lips even though Emelie couldn't see it. Emelie sighed and shook her head, wondering briefly what the young girl had done this time.

“What happened this time?”

“Well, whatever I did, it resulted in me being grounded for the rest of my life, it's a miracle I'm even able to call you since they're quite strict on me right now, not even allowing me to go in our garden.”

“You're avoiding the question,” Emelie answered, sighing a little and shaking her head slightly.

“I suppose I am,” Lou sighed, Emelie bit her lip and pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her forehead on her knees, closing her eyes for a moment and thinking about what Lou could've done wrong to be grounded.

Lou on the other hand, was laying on her bed and looking up to the ceiling, some fresh tears still in her eyes as she took a deep shaky breath, hoping she wouldn't have to tell Emelie this over the phone but since the girl was on tour right now, she had no other choice. To be honest, she hadn't expected this to turn out this way, with Emelie being gone and her problems at home.

She had even tried to reach Andrea on her cellphone, knowing that the girl could talk anything alright again, even if you were down, she had the way of slapping the truth right in your face and they all loved her for it, yet, she hadn't picked up, probably because she was either helping Creature Feature on their own tour as merch girl or because she was already sleeping since it was already rather late on the evening.

Lou wouldn't even try to call Lyra, knowing that the girl would freak out anyway and forget about actually giving advice on how she could handle this. Of course, beside that, she loved her hyper friend and wouldn't want to loose her. Hearing footsteps coming closer to her room, Lou frowned and muttered something in the phone to Emelie and sitting up on her bed, laying her phone behind her and looking shocked at her parents finally daring to enter her room.

“We want you out, by tomorrow morning, and don't you dare to say anything, you're not our daughter anymore,” her father told her, glaring at Lou and making her mouth drop open and her eyes fill with tears before she bit her lip and refused to let them fall. Forgetting that Emelie was still on the phone and hearing the whole conversation, Lou jumped of her bed and tackled her father to the floor, punching on his chest with her fists.

“I HATE YOU, YOU HOMOPHOBIC WANKERS!!!” Lou yelled as she repeatedly punched her father's chest, tears freely falling down her cheeks yet she didn't care. She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to watch his face to her reaction but was soon overmastered by one of the helps walking around on the floor and seeing that she had gotten out of control.

“Let me go!” Lou struggled against the servants hold on her arms and swung them around while kicking with her legs in the air, her eyes still closed and her hands still balled into fists, now slightly turning white because of lack of blood flow to her fingers. After a few minutes of holding her, the servant decided it was a good idea to let her go, just like she requested. This being unexpected by Lou made her fall down on the ground and glare up at him before he escaped from the room after helping Lou's father up.

“If you're not out of here by tonight, we will help you with it, you have an hour,” her mother said, glaring at Lou who was sitting on the ground, leaning with her back against her bed and her face buried in her knees as she was quietly sobbing. After receiving a last scowl from her parents, Lou was left alone in her room.

“Lou? Are you still there sweetie?” the voice of Emelie rang softly through the room, yet so quiet that Lou almost didn't hear it over her own sobbing. She took a deep shaky breath and whipped away her tears before carefully standing up and taking her cellphone from the bed.

“I'm here,” Lou answered in a small voice, “I guess you heard all of that?”

Without Emelie answering, Lou already knew the answer and sighed before walking over to her closet and grabbing one of her bags.

“How long has it been going on?” Emelie asked, “the problems with your parents I mean?”

“For a while now, I just, hid it because I thought it didn't matter as much, guess it does now.”

Hearing some voices at the background and Emelie talking to someone, Lou took this chance to grab some of her favorites clothes and prop them in the small bag she had gotten out of her closet. She sighed, knowing that she would need her clothes more than anything.

“Lou darling, I just talked to my dad, he's calling mom right now, I didn't really want to tell him about this but you know him, he also wants to talk to you after he called mom so you might get his voice talking back to you in a few minutes, just so you know ...”

“Okay,” Lou answered silently before taking another black shirt out of her closet and putting it in her bag while the realization that she wasn't coming back to this house entered her mind again. Another couple of fresh tears sprang in her eyes but she dismissed them quickly as she heard Billie Joe on the other side of the phone instead of Emelie's soft voice.

“Listen up Lou, I want you to go to our house immediately after you packed, Adrienne knows that you're coming and is already preparing Emelie's room for you, don't worry, if you want we can even fly you out so you can join us on tour, think about that alright?” Billie Joe informed her, Lou nodded, even though she knew that he couldn't see it.

“Alright.”

“You're going to be alright darling, you're going to be just fine,” Billie Joe said, probably smiling a little at his choice of words but not even Lou could keep the smile of her face as she imaged him standing somewhere in the middle of the bus with Emelie next to him and a sincere smile playing on his lips.