“God it’s so freaking sticky out. I’m sweating like a whore in confession over here,” you said as you picked your at your loose hanging Glamour Kills shirt.

Even though the shirt was loose and hanging off your body, cut to hang off your shoulders, and made of thin cotton material it still felt like a hot iron suit. It may have been cloudy and gray out but the humidity still didn’t lessen any. There was a cool, sometimes cold, breeze blowing through the grounds but that only helped when it was blowing, as soon as it stopped the sticky came back. You heard Cherise turn a chuckle into a scoff and then into a cough at your exclamation. You had seen her picking at her own clothes from time to time throughout the day, and you had only been here for three hours.

It was a medium sized festival, you had no idea of the name, but even though you loved outdoor events you were wishing it would rain. Anything to cool off the humidity sticking to your skin and crawling inside through your pores. You could almost taste it on your tongue.

“What’s shakin bacon?” Katie asked as she stopped in front of the large booth.

You rolled yours eyes at her but it was all in fun, she really had turned your mood around for the better. Despite the awful weather.

“Have you failed to notice how we’re all walking around shrouded in twenty pounds of heat and humidity? I’m sweating like a,” you started explain but Katie opened her mouth and cut you off.

“Whore in confession,” she finished.

“How did you know I was going to say that?” you asked as Cherise asked you for one of the t-shirts from a bin behind you for a customer.

“Your brother has been spouting off about it all day long so far. And I figured like brother like sister. I’m just that good,” Katie said cheekily as she wiggled her eyebrows at you.

“So my brother has been spouting off around you all day you say?” you asked provocatively as you wiggled your eyebrows back at her.

Katie opened her mouth and then shut it as red crept up into her cheeks, and then blew out air as she looked anywhere else but your eyes. You broke into a giant shit eating grin at her reaction, it’s exactly what you had wanted. Something about how Katie and your brother interacted gave you just a little hope that not all people were corrupt when it came to feelings. That maybe there was hope for everyone else out there, all the divorcees, the cheaters, the people driven solely by quick sex, the emotionally blind, for them all.

You figured Katie had squirmed enough and when you went to say something to make her feel better you cut off once again. Only this time you didn’t even get one word out before being silenced. Thunder roared through the air, booming so loud your ears momentarily rang from the sound.

“Uh oh,” was all Katie said as everyone standing outside stopped whatever they were doing and looked to the sky.

Everyone working under a merch booth peered out from under or around their tarp tents and looked to the rolling sky. It had gotten darker and no one had realized it, all so caught up in their minute to minute goings on.

“Tut tut it looks like rain,” Katie said, sounding like Christopher Robin from Whinnie the Pooh.

And as you turned to give her a cheeky smile you saw her lift up a small electric blue round umbrella and snap it open. Your mouth dropped open in shock. Where the hell had that come from?

With a wink and a nod Katie turned on her heel and happily walked off, round sphere screaming jesus blue umbrella up and bopping along, regardless of the fact that the rain had yet to start. You noticed she even had her radio covered in special plastic hanging from the pocket of her work jeans. Guess she thought of everything ahead of time. If it did rain she’d probably be the only person not caught unawares and unprepared. Smiling you turned back to the front of the merch table and took someone’s request for a shirt and CD combo. As you were handing over their change, noticing they looked as sticky as you felt, you heard the first splat on the top of the tent. You shot Cherise a look and she simply raised her eyebrows in waiting question, as if waiting to see what the weather would do.

It took about roughly three minutes for the rain to actually start raining instead of one splat at a time every couple of seconds or so. It wasn’t anything all too drastic, just a light rain. The concert go-ers continued milling about, listening and watching music and shopping merch stands. Some pulled out hoodies and put them on, others lifted their faces to the sky, thankful for the repast from the heat. Cherise had you help pull the front table back further into the tent so as to keep it dry. And all was good.

And then the rain picked up, almost ten times worse than it originally was. The ground looked like it was boiling from the intensity of the rain coming down. You heard the announcement that all concert go-ers were to go to their cars or to pack into the venue building if they could, that the show would continue in an hour. You saw people all heading towards the exit enmasse the venue had opened up to the parking lots as you rushed around packing up merch to keep it safe and dry. Once everything was covered and safely you huddled under the tent with everyone else and watched the heavens open up around you, occasionally sticking your hand out the side of the tent to feel the torrential rain. You wiggled your toes on your flip-flops that were now soaked from the rain all over the ground, squishing them and making squeaky sounds. You were thankful that you had opted for electric blue leggings that came to your mid calf, over which you had put on old school 70’s red cotton track shorts with white stripes. Along with your Glamour Kills shirt in all the fluorescence and white sweat band around your head you were pretty much dressed for rain. Well not really, but stuff that could get wet and not make your life miserable.

You watched concert stragglers running about, even a few braving the torrential downpour to puddle jump and run around for half an hour. It brought a smile to your face watching people let loose like that, acting like they hadn’t a care in the world. Eventually the rain let up and you helped unpack and put out the merch once again as people started pouring back into the concert area. People were soggy, looked like drowned rats, had water filled shoes but had nothing but smiles on their faces as bands took to stages again. The boys weren’t going to be on till late at night, they were one of the headliners.

Eventually you got let go to go and see a few sets of bands or walk around, anything but stand under the tent. You walked out around, placing your large black and neon green 80’s sunglasses on your face, and enjoyed the surroundings. People stopped you for autographs and for pictures and you enjoyed it all. Something about being asked while at a show had a different feeling then having your lunch interrupted.

As you were watching As I Lay Dying you felt a rain drop hit your head and you lifted your eyes skyward. The sun had gone and clouds darker than those before had rolled in and taken its place.

“Uh oh,” you said, echoing Katie’s earlier words though with none of her enthusiasm.

As you stuck a hand out to feel for more rain you heard thunder crash and watched as a giant bolt of lightning lit up the sky. As the flash from the lightning left your eyes the heavens opened up and the torrential rain started all over again, harder than before. You heard people scream around you at the sudden appearance of rain and heard the familiar announcement of having people leave to their cars. As you ran back to the merch booth, flip-flops smacking, you knew that as the lightning tore across the sky again that the day was going to stop right then and there. There’d be no coming back today for the rest of show. But you had heard the guy who made the cancellation announcement mention something about coming back tomorrow for the rest of the show, just to show tickets.

At the tent you helped Cherise and the others put everything back into their protective tubs and then standing in the torrential downpour you lowered the tent on it’s poles. Soaked to the bone you helped carry items back to the merch trailers and deposit. By the time you got back to one of the A7X buses you were beyond drenched, and though soaked you weren’t cold. You grabbed a towel and began toweling off your hair as the guys streamed onto the bus, more or less as soaked as you were. Even standing outside in it for only a second or two got you drenched. There would be flooding, you could feel it. But regardless the smile wasn’t wiped from your face, something about the electricity in the air pumped your blood. But you were thankful to be inside regardless.

“Holy shit balls,” Jimmy said from beside you as he attempted to dry off some before trying to peel off his wet clothing.

The bus now smelled like wet rock star. Something akin to wet dog, but slightly different.

You laughed at Johnny as he hopped around trying to take off one of his water logged shoes to no avail as it suctioned to his foot.

“Ahh damn it!” Johnny swore as he fell down on his ass, shoe only partially off.

Everyone joined in on the laughter at that point and then Matt shook his head like a giant over sized dog, splashing everyone.

“Hey dick face,” you yelled as water got into your eyes.

How someone with basically no hair could shed that much water was beyond you. Matt simply stilled his head and shot you a very familiar shit eating grin. Sometimes genetics showed themselves in the two of you, and though you didn’t get his dimples, your shit eating grins could only be that of siblings. As you opened your mouth to comment you were for a third time that day cut off. There was a loud banging on the door of the bus, echoing throughout the bus and accentuated by a clap of thunder.

Notes

Hark, a sharp knocking at the door!