The Last of the American Girls

"Alisa, I have to pee." My friend was squirming in the passenger seat.

"I told you to go before we left the restaurant... Did I not?" I say as I turn into the concert parking lot and turn off the car.

"I didn't have to go then, I'll only be a minute." She replied and jumped out of the car. I watched her take off toward the gate and rolled my eyes. I grabbed my bag and a bottle of water.

"I swear you're two years old. Did you forget that I had the tickets?" I ask pulling the VIP pass over my head and showing the man at the door our tickets. I then handed my friend her pass and watched
as she bolted towards the restroom.

I sighed and headed inside. "Miss your VIP pass gets you access to VIP seats." A man said and I laughed slightly.

"Not mine. I got the VIP pass to meet the band, but my seat is not a seat, I'm on the floor with the masses baby." I say and a smile spreads across my face. I was really there, and in 2 or 3 hours I was going to meet the man of my dreams.

I waited outside the restroom for my friend and looked around, only the VIP's were being allowed in at the time, since the concert wasn't even going to start for another 5 hours. So I didn't have to wear a charming alluring face since none of these people would be necessary to get through to the front of the stage. I grimaced when I realized how I was looking at people as objects to get to my goal, I'd probably gotten that little bit from my mother. She was a top notch lawyer who I rarely talked to, but I'd seen her sleep and fight her way to the top, so I was sure that I'd been at least a little influenced by her habits.

"Whatchya doin crazy?" Marissa asked as she came out from the bathroom and tackle hugged me from behind. I squealed in shock and then felt my face turn bright red from embarrassment. "Don't worry, I'm sure that Billie would NEVER be able to tell that that was you. Though I am pretty sure that he heard it." She laughed and I punched her in the shoulder playfully.

"Sorry. Totally was in my own headspace for some reason." I shook my head and then smiled.

"Ready to buy some band merch?" I asked and she nodded excitedly. We headed to the stands and browsed through Green Day shirts and other apparel. I already owned most of it, but I definitely wanted a concert tee with the tour dates on it as a memento. I bought the shirt and smiled at the vendor while my friend debated a keychain purchase to go with her new hat, her new belt, her new bag, and a new shirt. I rolled my eyes and muttered under my breath, "better still be able to make rent," which caused her to crack up.

"You know I will." She said with a snort and bought her merch. "I'll take it to the car and meet you back here." She took my keys and my shirt and left. I pursed my lips and looked around.

"Feeling ditched huh?" The vendor asked and I shrugged.

"Nothing I'm not used to." I put on my dazzling smile.

"So, VIP huh? How'd you manage to be that?" I raised an eyebrow, but then realized that he was making a joke in attempt to cheer me up.

"Oh you know. I'm clearly the manager of the band." I stuck out my tongue and the vendor just laughed. "So you stuck in here for the entire concert?" He nodded and I shook my head. "That's a
shame. I would have pegged you for a Green Day fan."

"I am one." He said and took off his jacket showing off his band tee. "Just couldn't get anyone to cover for me."

"Suckitude. Maybe if you make out with my friend she'll take over." My statement made him burst into a fit of laughter.

"What?!" He managed to say once he'd caught his breath.

"There, I returned the favor." I winked at him. Then linked arms with Marissa who'd come back in time to see the vendor laughing and had a very confused look on her face. "Catch ya later, gotta go meet the band now." I led Marissa over to the tent where we would be meeting the band.

"What was that about?" Marissa asked and I smiled.

"I was offering to whore you out so he could go join the masses of bodies." I say and I notice an immediate frown on her face. "What? You'd left me with a perfect stranger, what did you expect would happen?"

She shakes her head, "no wonder I always get weird looks from people when I leave you alone." I nod and take a drink of my water, she sighs. "Remind me not to do that anymore. Well... Maybe with Tre and Mike..." I choke on my water and she starts patting my back. "Jeeze, don't die on me."

"Is she okay?" His voice made my eyes grow wide with mortification, I couldn't contain my coughs. I felt a larger hand on my back and I wanted to die. "Are you alright?" I managed to nod and tried not to choke more. "You sure? Maybe we should call the doctor."

"No. I-," more coughing, "I'm fine." I say and turn to face him. I was sure that my face was bright red and I was fighting back tears both from the choking and the embarrassment. "Really, I'm fine."

Billie smiled. "Good." I notice his eyes lingering on my chest for a moment and instantly regret wearing my tank. He probably thought that I was some bimbo groupie. "So you're here for the meet and greet thing right?" I nod and Marissa squeals with delight. "Well come on in then.”

I follow the man of my dreams into the tent and shake hands with the whole band. My heart was racing in my chest and I was sure that they could hear it. “So what’s it like?” Marissa asks and Billie raises an eyebrow.

“What’s what like?” Mike asks and Marissa smiles.

“Everything; the process, the music, the touring, releasing new albums, what is it all like?” Her words are rushed and I’m shocked that she could even form them at all. My mind was blank as I stared at Billie and I had to resist the urge to rub my wrists. Billie’s eyes met mine and I quickly looked at Tre and Mike who had begun to answer my friend’s question but I’d spaced what they’d been saying.

“Well we signed up to do this for the rest of our lives and we really enjoy making music.” Tre said smiling at my friend.

“We enjoy touring, watching the crowd while playing and enjoying their happiness during concerts.” Billie said and I snuck a glance towards him. His eyes met mine and I held his gaze. Tuning out what the other members were saying, it was as if I was in an unannounced staring contest with him. After a while I noticed that the others had stopped talking and were just staring at us.

“What are you guys doing?” Marissa asked me and Billie blinked, releasing my gaze. But the smirk on my face must have been huge because he started laughing.

“I won.” I said in a very mature tone for something so immature.

“Rematch?” He asked with a flirtatious smile.

“Anytime, but are you sure you can handle it?” I asked coyly.

“Oh god, get a room.” Marissa said and made a gagging gesture, causing Mike and Tre to lose it and start laughing.

“So do you have any questions?” Billie asked me.

“What headspace are you in while writing lyrics?” I ask and Marissa puts a hand on my shoulder.

“What do you mean? We’re inspired to write everything that we write of course, but I’m not sure I understand what you meant by headspace.”

“Well. Like. It’s hard to explain, you’re music is a big part of my life and it speaks to me. So I was wondering if that was intentional or not.”

“If you’re asking if we wrote it for you specifically you’re pretty self-centered.”

“No. I’m asking if you wrote it to speak to people or if you wrote it because it sounded cool while you were drunk.” My words waver begin to waver in strength.

“Some are indeed to get people to think about their own journeys and challenges. But not all of it is like that.” His words hit me harder than they should have. I knew the answer to this before asking, he’d been asked it a thousand times in interviews. I guess I just wanted a different answer.

“Well. Marissa did you have anything else you wanted to ask?” Marissa shakes her head and I smile my best fake smile. “I enjoyed meeting you, and our little staring contest.”

“I didn’t even catch your name.” Billie said and I sighed.

“Alisa.” I say and wink at him. Just because I hadn’t gotten the answer that I’d wanted didn’t mean that I wasn’t gonna flirt it up while I was in his presence.

“Want to come to an after party?” His question took me by surprise.

“Hell yeah I do.” I said and he smiled.

“Cool. I’ll be sure to put your names on the list.” He pulled out a guitar pick and wrote something down on it, blew on it, and then he handed it to me. “Just in case I can’t find you to give you the address after the concert.”

“Okay.” I said and we left the tent.

Once we were out of the earshot of the next group of meet and greets, a bunch of slutty girls who were probably looking to get laid, Marissa grabbed my shoulder. “You okay?” I nodded and she sighed, she didn't buy it but she had a different more pressing matter. “What was on the pick?”

I looked down at the pick in my hand, and in messy scrawl was written CALL ME followed by a phone number. “Wow.” Was all I could manage to say while my friend jumped up and down with joy.