An invisible knife twisted in my gut. Travis sounded like a defensive little boy as he tried tocover up forhis parents.Suddenly a lot more about Travis made senseto me. In school, I’d always thought him to be a spineless little weasel, but now I understood. He’d spent his life alternating betweensitting at the back of the class trying topretendhe wasinvisible andacting like a little shitjustto get attention.
I may, sort of, might be able to identify with some of thatsecond bit ofbehavior, just a little.
My home life was far from normal, but at least I had gran. She never forgot a birthday and insisted showing up to every school concert, graduation, and milestone I would begrudgingly take part in. She didn’t do it because she felt she had to, she thought it was important I feel loved and supported. I may have pretended not to care, but it always meant the world to me and she secretly knew that too. Even if she did show up in that damnhat with thetaxidermizedduck on itor in a1920’s flapper dress.
A dark cloud had rolled over Travis’s face despite how he tried to bail his parents out, and I realized he was deeply embarrassed over confessing his hunch with me.He looked ridiculous hunched over, hands buried pockets, hood up now after his outburst.
More than anyone, I knew how shitty it was being on the receiving end of pity. But I didn’t know what to say. I did pity him. They forgot his birthday and he believed it didn’t matter becausehedidn’t matter. That pissed me off for some reason.
“Well fuck that,” I said, poking at him with my elbow forcing his hands to come out of his pocketsagain. “You’re a badass who fights demons for a living and survived more than one apocalypse. Whoopsie baby or no, you turned into a hot stud who’s helped savetheworld and youmake a mean babysitter. So that is going to make tonight even more epic. We aregoing tohave a fucking blast celebrating the incredibleunlikelihoodyouarehere at all.”
Travis’s eyebrow lifted. “Hot stud?”
Crap. Had that really slipped out?
“Relatively speaking. You used to look like a dingbat in that oversized, down, camo coatyouhad glued to your backsince the ninth grade.Yourstyle isn’t as offensive now.” I sniffed and turned back to face the front of the line which had dwindled to thetwoguys in front of us.
Travis’swarm breath hit the back of my neck exciting goosepimples to rise. “You think I’m hot?”
“God, could they go any slower? How many churros do you need,man?Actually,maybewe should get a couple of those. Especially since you’rebuying, theysmellpretty good.” Even I knew I was rambling, but I refused toturn and directlyfacethe shit eating grin I couldonly detectout ofthe corner of my eye.
11
I’d never considered marriage before, but right now, I was ready to fall to one knee beforeKrystan. We were on the groundlevel atMetallica’s feetand they were blowing my mind. Iused to drive downto Denver forconcerts,but they were usually little hole in the wall bars where I could afford theten-dollarcover and get a shot oftrashwhiskey andaPBR for three bucks.
Now I was practically next to the stage, music blowing out of the massive speakers in anonslaught,vibratingevery bone inmy body andboomingin the ground under my feet until I couldn’tthink.Krystanwas right there with me, head banging and throwing up devil horns.
Thiswasfar and away the best birthday I’d everhad,and it came from the girl who’dgivenme a blackeyeon the playgroundin fourth gradeafter I told herthat her new choppy hair cut made her look like a boy.
She looked nothing like a boy now.Krystanheld her leather jacket revealing theMetallica shirt that looked likevelociraptorshad gotten at it.The mosh pit was sohotI'd taken my own jacket off as well.Krystanhadtaken scissors to her bangs to freshen up the cutbefore we left, increasing her likeness toBettiePage.The shade on herlipshoveredbetweenorangeand red. Her hips swayed in theleather mini skirt worn over those damn fishnet stockings. On more than one occasion, I wanted torun my tongueup hercalfin those damned things.Spread her legs and tear the fabric apart between her thighs.
Shit,Ican’t think like this, or I’d get a fullstiffyin a crowd and then we’d be in trouble.
Who was I kidding, I had a semi just standing this close to rock-gods.I was on such a high you could have told me the world was ending again and I wouldn’thavecaredone bit.I could die happy knowing I'd stood this close to James Hetfield.
After they finished theirencore,my ears wereringing,and adrenalinecontinued tohumthrough my veins.
Krystancaught my ear to ear grin and laughed. “SoI take it you likedit, birthday boy?”Her words were muffled, like she was speaking underwater.
I pressed a hand to my chest.“Liked it?That was freaking awesome.” I shouted and jumped in the air,stillready for more moshing.People around us cheered in agreement.
Krystan’slaugh came out like tinkling bells. “Good.”
Ipartially received my wish aseveryonecrushed togetherwhenwe all moved to exitthe auditorium.People crowdedin even more untilI was pressed fully againstKrystan’sback.Itwas too tight in hereto putmy jacket back onwithout elbowing someone in theface,so it stayed draped over my arm. The heat of herlithebody saturatedmywhitetee.Inhaling deeply, I was instantly heady fromthe scent ofKrystanandher leather jacket.Krystan’shead turned to look at me over her shoulder.The lip gloss she wore smelled like berries and I wanted to wrap my arms around her and take a taste.I was still grinning like a mad man.
Every time she turned her head a little to make sure I was still behind her,eventhough Iwaspracticallyflush against her, Icame closerto throwing caution to the wind.
Maybe I’d do it. Just lean over and catch her mouth and kiss her until she moaned and gave in.
Or until she bashed my head in.
I could always say I was acting crazy because it was my birthday.
My breath hitched as my body knew a second before my brain that I was going to do it.Halfway to her glossy mouth, a piercing scream silenced the crowd.
“Monster,” someone cried out,and then all hell brokeloose.
Since most peopledidn’t knowwhere the monster wascoming from,theyturned and scattered in every direction. It was a frenetic stampede of people panicking and crying out. A couple turned and nearly knockedKrystanand me to the ground. I grabbedKrystan, dragging her upeven tighteragainstmy body, keeping us both from falling.
