away; b.e.

Chapter 71

I wake up at around 7 in the morning.

I get out of bed and take a quick shower. Conan texted me all the details, including the set list, the venue, what time sound check starts, and when the actual show is.

After my shower, I get dressed into a Narcotics hoodie with pastel yellow sweatpants with my Jordan 4 retros "retro thunder".

I'm slowly getting back into rings so I put a few rings on and I switch out my earrings to my gucci ones.

I go back into my room and grab 2 cases, one for a guitar and one for a bass.

I pack one of my Fender Stratocasters with extra picks and strings just in case. I pack my "buttercream" Fender bass also with some extra equipment.

I call Conan.

"Hey Em," he says, out of breath.

"Hey dude, Ima quickly eat some breakfast and then I'll head over to the venue to start sound check," I say.

"Alright. I'll be there around 10 so in about 2 hours," Conan replies.

We say our goodbyes and hang up.

~

I plug my $2000 red Fender Stratocaster electric guitar into the amp and figure out the ideal volume.

Eventually after prepping on my own, Conan's drummer, secondary bassist and guitarist, and Conan himself all come to sound check.

We started with "Comfort Crowd" so I started off with the bass and when the chorus hit I switched to my guitar.

Conan agreed to letting me sing parts of the songs so we went over lyrics.

After we finished the final sound check, I went home to change.

The show started around 9 and it's 7:30 now so I want to get home as quickly as possible since this is Los Angeles and the traffic is literal shit.

I get home and change into black jeans with a black shirt on. I put on a red and black flannel with my all red Air Force Ones.

I grab my keys and I run down to my Dodge and drive back to the venue.

~

"Dude, aren't you nervous?" I ask Conan.

He shakes his head. "I'm so fucking excited."

The opening act finishes up and then invites Conan up on stage.

Conan goes out on stage and the crowd cheers him on.

"Ok y'all so there's a change in plans. As you can tell, Jimmy (made up name) isn't here since his daughter was born today so he obviously can't be my lead guitarist and bassist so I got someone else. Emilie get your raggedy ass out here," he says.

I laugh and run out, telling Conan to fuck off as I pass by him. We both laugh.

I go to where I set my guitar and bass up and pick up my bass and put the strap around me.

I play the opening chords and when it gets to the chorus, I quickly switch so the guitar and sing it with Conan.

The song ends and I take the bass off and put it on its stand. I put the strap to my guitar around me and I start playing the chords.

As the chorus played, I sang along with Conan.

where are you bil?

My eyes scanned the crowd, looking for Billie.