Adopted

Chapter 34

Zack handed me a handful of tickets.

"What do I do with these?" I asked.

"So, we're going to go outside where the fans have already started lining up. Follow my lead. We'll talk to them, see where they're sitting and maybe upgrade them from nosebleeds to floors."

"Nosebleeds?"

"Have you never been to an arena?  The seats way up top."

"Why are they called 'nosebleeds'," I asked.

"It's a saying, sort of. Some people, when they go to high altitudes, get a nose bleed from the colder, dryer, thinner air," Zack explained.

"Oh. Huh," I said, mostly to myself.

Zack opened a side door and we were met by screaming. I was stunned and stopped in the doorway.

"Don't worry. These animals don't bite," he laughed, taking my hand.

"Zack!!" Someone yelled. Zack looked around and smiled at the crowd of fans near the fence we were behind.

"How are you guys doing?" He asked them.

"We're great!" They said.

"Looking forward to the show tonight?" He asked.

"Oh yeah!  Drove four hours to be here!" The girl said.

"Really?  Let me see your tickets," he said. The girl handed her tickets to him.  He looked at them.

"Ugh. Fifth level?  These are no good. Jess, give her that top envelope," he said, ripping up the girls' tickets which she was shocked at. I went over and handed her the envelope. She looked inside. 

"Floor seats?!" She exclaimed. "THANK YOU!!"

"You drove four hours?  You shouldn't have to walk all the way up to that rafter seat," he smiled. "Enjoy the show."

"Wait, you're Jess?  Brendon and Sarah's daughter?" She asked me.  I nodded.

"You're so lucky,"

"Not as lucky as you think," I muttered.

Zack and I handed out the rest of the tickets he'd brought out and then we went back inside. The meet and greet was in twenty minutes and I was debating joining Dad.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Mom said.

"I'm really tired," I said.

"Come here," Mom said, moving over on the couch she was sitting on. I sat beside her and she wrapped me in her arms.

"You feeling okay?"

"Yeah," I said. "Just tired."

"Okay. You just lean back and relax, okay?" She said.

I settled into her and before I knew it, she was waking me up for dinner.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" She asked, feeling my forehead.

"Yeah. It's just the heat and all the walking we did today," I said.

I got up and followed her to the room where catering had brought dinner. Seemed like a lot of them just did pasta and salads with chicken or veal parmigiana.

————

The rest of the summer went pretty much the same way. I got to see Dad do his "Death Walk" a bunch of times, joined him at a few meet and greets and he taught me to play Fortnite, so sometimes when he had time, we'd play while he streamed on Twitch.

Josh and Tyler had both given me their phone numbers and I texted with them sometimes when I was backstage and bored.

I also got to see the rainbow that Dad was telling me about when he sang Girls/Girls/Boys. It was awesome to see. A few times I got to meet some of the volunteers and I had a whole bunch of coloured hearts from a bunch of different cities.

We did wind up taking that Elephant Butte picture, by the way. And Dad did post it to social media.

Just a bunch of butts in Elephant Butte, NM! @sarahurie, @JessicaBUrie

Some of Dad's shows were at summer festivals, some with a bunch of different bands and some with midways with rides and games. Dad tried to win me a stuffed bear at one where you had to throw a baseball at milk bottles. He was hopeless. I tried and won the bear for him.

"Showed up by my own kid," he said, laughing.

We went on some of the rides, too.

I got to meet a bunch of people from different bands. Pete and the rest of Fall Out Boy were at one festival, along with Josh and Tyler. I also saw a band called AJR. Three brothers from New York. They were pretty awesome and really nice. I hung out with them backstage because they went on before Dad and so when they came offstage and saw me, they came over.

I wasn't always the only kid along on tour, at least not at the festivals. So I collected phone numbers and Instagram handles and made a bunch of friends who knew what it was like to have famous parents.

I got sick a couple of times. Nothing serious, just a couple of days where I just felt... blah. Those days I stayed on the bus with Mom or Kala. Usually I just slept or played on my Switch or watched movies.

Before I knew it, it was almost the end of August and Mom and I had to head back to LA so I could get ready for school to start.

The night before we were due to fly out, Dad arranged for a special dinner for all of us and at the show, he brought me out on stage during the encore and asked the crowd to wish me luck at my new school. It was kind of embarrassing. But also kind is sweet.

"Tonight's a bit of a sad night for me," Dad said. "I've been so lucky this first half of tour to have my family with me. By now most, if nothing all of you know Sarah and I adopted a girl at the beginning of the summer. She's been with us on tour this month and some of you got to meet her this afternoon. But unfortunately, she and Sarah fly home tomorrow because Jess has to start school, just like most of you."

Then he pulled me out on stage. I waved sheepishly at the crowd, even though they were cheering for me.

"Jess is going to a new school in a new neighbourhood. D'you think you guys could wish her luck at her new school?"

I heard shouts of "good luck, Jess!!" And "you'll be awesome!"

Dad stuck his microphone in my face so I said thanks to everyone.

They cheered and I waved and ran off stage into Mom's arms.

"That was so embarrassing," I said.

She was laughing.

"Your dad loves you so much. He's really sad we have to go home tomorrow."