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Drew stretched his neck up and scanned the crowd with wild eyes. Without a word, he nodded to the very front of the stage, to the right. There was space for maybe one person to wiggle in. Before I could protest, though, he took my free hand and led me through the sea of people. It was obvious he’d been to shows before—the way he maneuvered through the crowd, the way he knew the right time to order drinks, and how he could tell when the show was about to start.
I kept my gaze glued to my feet as I trailed behind him.
People shuffled out of our way, and I could hear a few of them scoff at us as we neared the stage. Drew paid them no mind. Finally, we came to a stop, and when I lifted my eyes up from the floor, I could touch the stage if I wanted to. It was a tight squeeze—I was pressed directly in front of Drew.
Drew’s hand fell from my own, and I had half a thought to ask for it back before I remembered that I was with a person I’d just met. And a dude, too. I’d never wanted to hold onto another guy’s hand before. Well, I guess I’d never really wanted to holdanyone’shand before.
“How’s that for a view?” Drew asked in my ear. An unexpected prickling sensation tiptoed down my spine.
“It’s amazing!” I called back. “Thank you.”
He looked like he wanted to tell me something else, but the music faded out, and the crowd went ballistic. The redhead standing next to us started jumping up and down, up and down, and the man she was with was screaming at the top of his lungs. Behind me, Drew was yelling, too. I decided I’d do the same.
Throughout the performance,the only thing I could think (when I even stopped to think) was that this was the best day of my life. I decided halfway in that it was time I attended more shows. Maybe Drew would come with me if Sean and Ronnie didn’t want to.
I knew every song that Blink-182 played. Sang each verse at the top of my lungs. Sweat beaded at my forehead and fell down my face, but I forgot that I was hot, forgot that I’d been claustrophobic. A heavy weight that I’d been carrying on my shoulders seemingly since the beginning of my existence eased for the first time. I closed my eyes and let the music overwhelm my senses. I stared up at the ceiling and thanked whatever deity or goddess or whatever higher power was out there that I was at the Madder Hatter, listening to one of my favorite bands with a new friend by my side.
Maybe life wouldn’t be so bad if I surrounded myself withthis.
The lead singer crouched down and fist-bumped or high-fived everyone he could reach in the front row. Drew and I included. We looked at our hands like a god had caressed them, then we looked at each other and busted out laughing.
As they played their final song, my eyes stung and a tear fell down one of my cheeks. I wasn’t ready for this concert to end. I wasn’t ready to go back to my parents’ hellhole, back to school, back to hiding. I wanted to live within the music forever.
When the band exited after their small encore, and the lights came on full blast, my skin vibrated, and I felt like I was floating. Drew and I finished our drinks and found our way back to our friends.
“There you are!” Emma cooed. She wrapped her arms around Drew’s neck, which forced her onto her toes. “We were worried!”
I looked at Sean and Ronnie, who were the opposite of worried. Sean grinned at me with swollen lips, his goth girl for the night was wrapped around one side of his body. Ronnie looked unamused.
Emma looked back at us. “Ready to get out of here?”
I looked back at the stage and nodded even though I wanted to rewind the entire evening and watch it all play out again.
