Chapter Three

"What do you mean? What did they do this time?" Emi asked, her forehead creased in confusion. She listened as her friend rambled on the other end of the line.

"I've been working my butt off to train Dharma to be a service dog, teaching her tricks and stuff. Well, my parents feel the need to spoil her because she was an abused pup," her friend said, pausing to let out a frustrated sigh. "They've been letting her do things I've been trying to teach her not to do, and they've even been giving her table scraps!"

"Is that why she's getting so fat?" Emi asked, shifting to sit up.

"I guess so," her friend sighed. "And it's also why my dog has become such an arse. She doesn't think she needs to listen to me when I try to teach her something because my parents aren't reinforcing anything I'm trying to teach her."

"That really sucks. How long have they been doing that?"

"I have no idea. I only just found out today because I walked in on them giving her table scraps."

Emi shook her head as she slid off the hood of her sister's car. Her phone was beeping at her, the battery running lower than she usually allowed. She tossed her purse on the passenger seat net to her journal and sat in the drivers seat as she looked for her car charger.

"Amanda, if the line suddenly goes dead, it's because my phone died," Emi quickly said, glancing at the flashing light on the screen of her phone. "I'm looking for Krystel's car charger now, but her car is a mess."

"Alright, love," her friend laughed. She knew how messy Krystel's car could get, knowing that she hardly ever threw out her bags from McDonalds and Wendy's. "Better find that charger quick."

"I'm looking, I'm looking."

Emi tossed some of her sister's belongings into the backseat as she looked for the car charger. She set her phone down on the dashboard and leaned down to look under the seats. A smile appeared on her face when she saw it under the passenger seat and she grabbed it to plug it in. Emi turned on the car once the charger was plugged in and grabbed her phone off the dashboard, turning it over to plug it in. The screen lit up as it let out a final beep when her phone registered that it was charging.

"You still there?" Emi asked as she got comfortable in the seat.

"Yeah, I'm still here," Amanda laughed. "You only made the most noise ever while looking for that charger. I'm afraid to see how messy it is now in that car."

Emi laughed and turned on the radio before reclining her seat.

"Yo, what time is it?" Amanda suddenly asked.

"Um, I think it's about five-ish," Emi said, sitting up slightly to look at the clock in the car. It was always about ten minutes off, but she couldn't remember if it was ahead or behind the actual time. "Yeah, it's either close to five or four-thirty."

"Alright, just wondering," Amanda replied. Emi could hear The Jonas Brothers playing in the background and she smiled. "By the way, how is the whole concert thing going for you? I know you got there in one piece or else you wouldn't be talking to me right now."

"Oh, yeah, I got here in one piece. There's no way I'm going to be able to get inside, though, and I know a good portion of the people here won't be able to get in, either," Emi said with a sigh, looking up at the roof of the car. "It kind of sucks that I'm so close to them but still can't see them perform."

"Maybe you'll be able to hear them from outside," Amanda replied, trying to cheer her up. "I mean, you're across the street, right?"

"Yeah, but the building is sound proof, remember?"

"Oh, yeah... I forgot about that. Sorry..."

Emi slid down in her seat and closed her eyes, listening to someone talking on the radio. She wasn't too interested in what they were saying and changed the station to see if she could find something else to listen to.

"Are you really going to give it to him? If you get the chance to meet him?"

"Of course I am," Emi answered, nodding to herself. She felt her heartbeat quicken as her face heat up. How would Bill react to her when she met him? If she even got to meet him... "I hope he doesn't think I'm weird or anything... You don't think he will, do you?"

"He'll think you're the creepiest and craziest girl ever. He's going to call his security guards to have you removed because your mere presence is going to give him the worst chills ever," Amanda said, suddenly sounding as serious as she possibly could. Emi frowned as her friend started to laugh. "He won't find you weird at all, don't worry. I'm the crazy one, remember? Everything will be fine. Just keep your cool when you talk to him and everything will go smoothly."

"I hope so..."

She listened to Amanda talk for a little bit longer before she let out a sigh, glancing down at her phone, They had been talking for almost three hours, but they hadn't really been talking much. Most of the time was spent in silence as Emi listened to music or read through her journal while her friend surfed the internet and listened to The Jonas Brothers. Emi closed her eyes as she rested her head on the seat. She was tired, but she didn't want to fall asleep. The drive home was going to be long, that she was certain of.

"When I start to head home, I'm going to be calling you," Emi said, getting Amanda's attention. "I don't want to fall asleep, so you're going to have to keep me entertained."

"Yes ma'am. Hopefully you'll be able to talk to me without freaking out about how you got to meet Bill."

"That's if I meet him," Emi said as she rolled her eyes. "The guy said he couldn't make any promises."

"You'll meet him. Trust me."

Emi wanted to have as much faith in her friends words as Amanda did, but she couldn't. Her throat tightened at the thought of not being able to give Bill the journal. Even if she did give it to him, what if he didn't want it? To him it could be a boring book that would be a waste of his time to read.

"Hey, I have to go, but I'll call you later, okay?" Amanda suddenly said, breaking the silence between them. "I have to go feed the babies."

"Alright," Emi said with a smile. "I'll talk to you later then."

"Most definitely, and good luck."

"Thanks."

Emi set her phone down when the line ended. She didn't know how Amanda could put up with having seventeen baby rats in her room. Her rat, Sadie, was unable to tend to all of them so Amanda had taken up the responsibility to feed them every four hours. Amanda's friend Amy had taken half of the babies as well and was helping to take care of them.

There wasn't anything interesting on the radio, mostly people talking about different bands and new albums coming out, so Emi grabbed her iPod from her purse and plugged it into the car. It took a moment for it to turn on, but Emi didn't mind as she set her iPod on shuffle.

Hollywood is a place where they'll pay a thousand dollars for a kiss... And fifty cents for your soul...

Emi smiled and turned up the stereo as Beautiful Surgery by Blood On The Dance Floor came on. After setting her phone down on the seat next to her, Emi picked up her journal and laid back in her seat again, opening the journal to where she had left off to continue reading. There were a lot of things that made Emi wary of handing the journal over to Bill, but she knew that she would never be happy with herself if she passed up this opportunity.

----
The crowd was beginning to get reckless as time slowly passed. It wasn't even half an hour until the doors would be open, before everyone could buy their tickets and get inside. It wasn't even an hour before the show would begin. People pressed closer together as they made their final attempts the get to the front. No one got very far, though, and the security guards were ready to break up any fights that broke out.

Charlie looked down at his watch before shoving his hands in his pockets. Earl was walking back over to him, two bottles of water in hand. Neither of them said anything as Earl handed one of the bottles to Charlie before taking a few swallows of his own followed by one large gulp. Charlie opened the bottle and took a few swallows before closing it again. The heat had died down a bit as the afternoon turned into evening, but all the security guards were sweating from standing in the sun in uniforms. Earl glanced over at Charlie as the man rubbed his face and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Tired?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Bored is more like it," Charlie answered, not bothering to look at Earl. "This is a long day."

Earl simply shrugged. His shift began when Charlie's had, but his ended a few hours earlier because of a previous engagement. Charlie never had liked working until the end of a show, but Earl never had any problems with it.

"I'm sure it won't be so bad once the show starts," Earl said as he took a couple more swallows. "I mean, everyone is going to be pretty tired by the end of the show, and I doubt there will be any mosh pits for you guys to watch out for."

Charlie simply grunted in response, not making any comments to the amusement in Earl's voice.

----
Emi sat up in her seat, putting the seat back up as she looked at her clock. The doors would be opening in a few minutes, and she frowned as she draped her arms over the steering-wheel, her chin resting on her arms. She let out a sigh as she watched everyone crowd together, pushing their way toward the building. A few fights broke out, but they were quickly resolved. Emi could see the excitement on everyone's faces as they stood in line, and she could only imagine what they were thinking, saying and feeling about being able to see Tokio Hotel perform.

"Life is so unfair..." she muttered, glancing down at her journal.

If it wasn't for the fact that Emi was determined to get her journal to Bill. she would have stayed home and moped about not being able to see Tokio Hotel perform. She would have stayed locked in her room and avoided talking to anyone for the night. Being locked in her room would have been better than sitting across the street from the concert. If she was home, she could try and force herself to forget about the concert, but there was no ignoring it when she was staring at those waiting in line. Emi heard shouts of excitement from across the street and watched as everyone pushed forward. Instead of everyone getting pushed back again like they had all day, the line was moving forward.

The doors had opened.

----
Charlie sighed as he watched the crowd before him separate into lines. A few other security guards stepped forward to help pat everyone down, checking everyone for food, beverages and concealed weapons. There were three lines for girls and three for the boys. Half of the girls in line couldn't seem to sit still long enough to be properly searched while some of the guys snapped at security guards because they "felt violated." Charlie rolled his eyes. It was standard procedure, always had been. He didn't see what the issue was. None of the security guards were too bothered by everyone's attitudes, going through the lines quickly. The tickets for the show had sold out rather quickly, and as predicted, a quarter of those who had waited in line weren't able to get inside. There was a lot of protesting, but the adults in charge of individual groups of teens weren't too bothered about not being able to see Tokio Hotel. Teens whined as they stormed away from the building, going back to their cars to leave. Some made crude remarks to some security guards, others throwing in their own words before leaving, but things went smoother than a lot had originally thought.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," Earl said as he walked over to Charlie, nodding his head as he watched some groups leave. "Definitely could have been worse."

Charlie simply shook his head as he pulled out his cigarettes. He hadn't been able to go on another break from when Emi had talked to him. Earl looked a little shocked when he saw Charlie pull out his half-finished cigarette.

"Not trying to quit now, are we?" he asked.

"No, I'm not," Charlie muttered. He put the cigarette in his mouth and lit it before inhaling deeply. "I stopped to talk to the girl, remember?"

"If you say so," Earl replied, turning to look at the crowd in the lobby of the building. "I still say you should quit. Smoking is such a nasty habit."

"Whatever," Charlie muttered, not feeling up to debating about what he did with his life.

They stood in silence as Charlie finished his cigarette. He dropped the bud on the ground, putting it out with the tip of his shoe as he exhaled slowly. Earl watched him for a moment before he looked up and down the street.

"So, did that girl ever come back?" he asked, trying to sound uninterested though failing miserably. Charlie rolled his eyes as he let out an annoyed groan.

"Shouldn't you be off now?" Charlie asked, looking at Earl through the corner of his eye. "Don't you have some plans with your girlfriend tonight or something?"

"Eh, I'm already off the clock," Earl replied as he waved his hand dismissively. "Besides, she has the car tonight anyway. She's on her way to get me now." Charlie nodded and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he looked up at the sky. "But, anyway, nice attempt the change the subject."

Charlie turned his head slightly and glared at Earl who simply smiled back in return.

"What?" he asked, still smiling.

"You know there's no point in me helping her out," Charlie said, not finding any interest in the conversation. "It's not like it'll make a difference if I do help her out."

"Hey, you never know," Earl quickly objected, pointing a finger in Charlie's direction. He straightened himself and looked at Charlie. "It would probably make worlds of difference to her, and you know that. That book of hers probably means a lot to her if she came all this way just to give it to him."

"She's not going to show up until later anyway," Charlie pointed out, trying to keep his face straight. There were times when Earl got on his nerves, and this was one of them. "She said she was going to see if she could give it to him when they come out to meet the fans after their show."

"So then find her after the show and try to help her get the book to him," Earl said, holding his hands up in the air. "Seriously, what do you have against helping these people get things to members of bands?"

Charlie didn't say anything as Earl stared at him. After a few minutes of silence, Earl let out an annoyed sigh.

"There are times when I think you're too dense," Earl muttered, moving to stand at the curb. He watched a car pulled up next to him and he smiled at his girlfriend in the drivers seat. Earl opened the door and went to get in but paused as he looked back at Charlie. "Seriously man, just help her out. You know I would, but I can't. She asked you and it's not like anything bad is going to happen." Earl got in the car and closed the door behind him, rolling down the window as he looked back at Charlie. "Have fun with work."

Charlie watched the car drive off until it had turned a corner and disappeared from his view. He let out a sigh as he turned and walked into the packed lobby, ignoring everyone that bumped into him or got in his way as he went to his post near the stage.