12 March 2013
I held onto Sam’s hand as she led me through the crowd toward the stage. Her nails dug into the back of my hands when the crowd pushed and pulled against us, threatening to separate us. We held on though, and when we neared the front, we stopped and let go of each other.
“I may start bawling in the middle of this concert. I’m so damn emotional and excited right now,” Sam repeated for the thousandth time that day.
I absently nodded and observed the crowd that was pressing in on all sides of us. Most were sober, but it being lunch time, people were starting to drink. By nightfall things were going to be crazy.
I stepped closer to Sam when someone lit their cigarette, not wanting to have my hair set on fire.
“You know what, I need a little buzz,” she mumbled, reaching down into the front of her miniscule shorts and pulling out the dope that she had rolled up that morning.
I crinkled my nose as she lit up and took a drag.
“Want some?” she offered.
I shook my head ‘no,’ not wanting to smoke anything, especially something that was near her vagina. I preoccupied myself by vigilantly standing beside her, looking out for potential danger.
“Oh, hey Sam!” I heard someone call.
A group of gangly looking guys shoved through the crowd and stopped in front of us.
“Luca, hey,” Sam greeted stonefaced.
“I wasn’t expecting you to be here,” Luca said, smiling. His friends came up beside him, casually looking around.
“I go where the music goes,” she said, glancing away as a puff of air escaped from her lipstickstained lips.
Luca rolled his eyes, but she didn’t notice. I noticed though and snickered, and he looked at me, a smile perched on the edges of his lips. Then one of his friends got shoved, falling onto me, but he wrapped his arms around my back to regain his footing.
“Shit, sorry, there,” he apologized, still holding onto me and grinning.
I frowned and he let go, taking a few steps back.
“I’m Jesse,” he said, offering his hand.
“Rachel,” I said, shaking it.
“You’re such a clutz, Jesse,” Luca said, shoving his friend to the side.
My eyes trailed over Luca’s thin, tall frame and took in the words on his tank before Jesse shoved him back.
“You’re here for Stradosphere?” I blurted, indicating to his shirt.
Luca’s eyes darted to mine. “You’re a fan?”
“Fuck, yeah,” I all but yelled.
“Yeah, well they’re the main reason that I’m at this music festival,” he explained.
I nodded eagerly. “Yeah, I’m not much of a fan of anyone else here. Sam loves Zombie Kill though, so I’m going to stick this set out with her.”
“Whaaatt?” Luca gasped, looking at Sam. “Zombie Kill? Have you joined the dark side?”
Sam blushed and glared at me. “I know what you’re thinking, but they sing to my soul,” she defended.
“You’re soul must be fucking stupid then,” Luca teased.
“Ha, ha,” she said sarcastically. “What are you doing by this stage then anyway if you hate them so much?”
“Josh likes them.” Luca jutted his thumb at his other friend, Josh who was facing toward the stage and anxiously shifting from foot to foot in anticipation.
“He’s such an ass,” Jesse commented. “So, Rachel, how would you like to sit this show out with me?”
“Uh...” I hesitated, looking over at Sam, who seemed distracted by something far in the distance.
Although the offer seemed good, I didn’t want to leave Sam alone, stoned, with the amassing crowd.
“Luca and Josh will take care of her,” Jesse insisted.
“No, if you’re leaving, I’m going with you,” Luca said.
“Ok, let me just go tell Josh we’re out,” Jesse replied. “Wait, where did he go?”
We looked amongst the faces in the crowd, searching for Josh’s long brown hair, and then finally found him against the stage.
Sam spoke up then, her arms crossed and the joint hanging loosely in between her fingers. “You guys go, I’ll catch up with him.” She began to push her way through the crowd, leaving me behind with Jesse and Luca without a second glance.
Jesse grinned and grabbed my arm, pulling me out of the crowd. Luca followed behind, grabbing onto the back of my skimpy tshirt.
Once we emerged from the thick crowd, I slowed and took a few gratuitous gulps of clean air.
“So where do you wanna go, Rachel?” Jesse asked, standing to my right. Luca stood on my left and looked at me expectantly.
“I don’t wanna go anywhere with you guys,” I said, crossing my arms protectively over my chest. They stared at me for a moment and then Luca blurted out laughing, while Jesse’s face turned red.
I glared at Luca, but he didn’t calm down, so I turned to face Jesse. “I just don’t know either of you guys. I would feel more comfortable by myself,” I confessed, shrugging the awkwardness off.
Jesse raised his eyebrows at me. “You would feel more comfortable alone, dressed like that?” He indicated to my uncharacteristically skimpy outfit.
“I pack a mean punch!” I defended.
“It won’t be very effective on a group of drunk guys.”
I pondered that for a moment and then asked, “How do you know Sam?”
“We go to her old school,” Jesse said.
“Good enough, I guess,” I said, starting to walk away.
He reached out for me, pulling me back beside him. “Huh?”
“I trust you if you know her from school” I amended.
He grinned. “That’s it? You believe me? I don’t need to show you an old school photo or my high school transcript or something?” Jesse joked.
I shrugged.
He stared at me and then slung his arm over my shoulder. We began to walk, with Luca following close behind.
We got some greasy burgers, drank tons of soda, and bought loads of band stuff just in time for our favorite band to start. Jesse led the way, parting the ever-growing, evermaddening crowd with his body, bringing us right up near the stage.
When the lights began to flash and the bass began to play, the crowd went wild, sending me right into Jesse’s body.
I pushed away from him, apologizing profusely, but he held on to me. Looking into his eyes quizzically, he smirked and looked back toward the stage, the lights flashing on his face.
I smiled and looked at the stage, cheering when Stradosphere came on, and danced harder than I had ever danced before.
Music Fest • Opuss № I