Just Before You Go

I was six beer deep into my day and I was feeling pretty good. Jimmy and I had made our way into the center of the crowd, where the energy was nothing short of electric. Bodies were pushed up against others and the roars from the crowd were deafening. But it was the most alive I’d felt in…maybe ever.
As I downed my seventh beer, I was finding it difficult to stand on my feet. Jimmy was swaying back and forth—he’d drunk me under the table within an hour. His hair was glued to his sweaty face.
“Hey!” I shouted up to him to break through the noise of the crowd. “I need to sit for a minute!”
He grinned from ear to ear, bending down so I could hear him better, “Rookie!”
Regardless of his opinion, he grabbed my hand and led me out of the pit and along the edge of the fence. We made our way to the end where Jimmy stopped.
“Climb,” he told me.
I looked at the fence and then at him, “You know I’m like two feet tall, right?”
He laughed loudly, lacing his fingers together and holding them just beside my knee. He looked up at me as if to encourage me to get on with it. I used his hands as a step and hoisted myself up the fence, wrapping my hands around the top and pushing my legs up and over. I was quite proud of myself once I landed on the other side.
Jimmy flung himself over the fence with absolutely no trouble. A large, burly security man came running over to us, shouting and waving his hand frantically. Jimmy looked nothing but entertained.
“Hey! Hey!” the man called as he neared us.
His speed made no sense to me considering we were stationary. We weren’t trying to flee him—but he maintained his sprint.
“You can’t do that! You can’t be back here!”
He finally met with us, panting a little as he continued to scold us.
“Hey man, chill,” Jimmy snickered.
He looked at Jimmy quickly and then to me, and then back to Jimmy. A look of realization flushed passed his face.
“Oh, Jimmy,” he breathed.
“Did you want our passes?” Jimmy smirked. “I have them laying around somewhere.”
Mine was tied around my neck for fear that I’d lose it. I had no idea where Jimmy had stashed his away to; he didn’t care at all about it. Hell, I wasn’t even sure that he’d brought it with him—it could have been back at the hotel for all I knew.
“No,” the guy shook his head. “I didn’t realize it was you. I should have known from the stupid haircut.”
“Hey,” Jimmy scowled, running his hands through his black hair. “Your words hurt.”
“Get out of here before you inspire punk kids to jump the fence,” the security instructed us lowly.
Jimmy locked his hand around mine once more and dragged me off. We ventured behind the stage where there were tables and tents set up everywhere. We picked a tent at random, which was full to the brim with other acts and their roadies.
We spotted Brian right away, he was downing a bottle of water (shocking, I know) and chit-chatting with Matt and a couple of girls. Jimmy and I collapsed on either side of Brian in a huff, Jimmy forcefully confiscating Brian’s water and flushing it down his own system.
“I was drinking that,” Brian stated plainly.
Jimmy shrugged, “And now you’re not.”
“Where’ve you two been?” Matt asked pleasantly as the two girls on either side of his stared daggers in my direction.
“In the pit,” Jimmy huffed, taking a breath between gulps of water.
“You went in the pit?” Matt gasped at me. “I’m impressed!”
I rolled my eyes playfully, “I’m not always a square.”
“Hey,” Brian was groaning at Jimmy. “Stop that. Stop that right now.”
Jimmy held up one finger as he held the water bottle completely upside down and emptied its contents into his mouth. Once the bottle was dry, he let out a relieved sigh and handed Brian back the plastic. Brian furrowed his brows, refusing to take the bottle back. Jimmy shrugged and tossed it limply over his shoulder.
“Now I’ll die of dehydration,” Brian told his friend.
“We’ve all gotta go somehow,” Jimmy shrugged with a smirk.
“Come on, Brian,” I laughed. “I could use some aqua.”
He turned back to Jimmy, “At least your girlfriend cares about me.”
“Yeah,” Jimmy snickered. “She’s good for that.”
Brian and I waltzed away from the table, where the girls immediately started to bombard my boyfriend with questions and batted eyelashes. It was gross to watch but Jimmy didn’t look too entertained or enthralled by it. So, I decided I didn’t care either and kept my focus on moving my feet.
“Having a good time?” Brian asked me casually.
I nodded, “The alcohol helps.”
He laughed, “Usually.”
We grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the cooler and Brian immediately began to chug one. I stood beside him patiently waiting for him to take a breath.
“Thirsty?” I teased.
He nodded, wiping his lip, “I feel like I can’t escape the fucking sun. I’m on the verge of heat stroke, I swear.”
I reached out and rested my hand on his forehead, he flinched away at first. I rolled my eyes at him.
“You feel normal,” I shrugged.
“I’m dying,” he assured me, taking another swig of water.
I chuckled a little. Sometimes he reminded me so strongly of Jimmy; I guess when you spend that much time with another person, you’re guaranteed to inherit some of their qualities and mannerisms.
“Ready?” I snickered once Brian had dropped the bottle to his side again.
“To go back to the table full of groupies?” he asked me sarcastically. “I’d rather drown.”
I narrowed my eyes, “You don’t want to hang out with the groupies? Since when?”
He shrugged, “These particular harlots are annoying as fuck.”
“The great Synyster Gates doesn’t want to get some ass,” I teased. “I’m floored.”
We started to walk back to the table, against Brian’s will, and in true form, I wasn’t watching where I was going. Of course, I walked straight into another human being. Brian suffocated a laugh.
I panicked, waving my hands frantically, “I’m so sorry!”
My eyes widened when I caught sight of who I’d walked into.
“You have to be shitting me,” he stated flatly, his white tee soaked all the way through with brown liquid.
“I’m so sorry,” I repeated, trying not to laugh.
“I’m going to send you a bill,” he smirked down at me. “You’ve ruined two of my shirts now. Two.”
I laughed lightly, “I swear I’m going to make an appointment to have my eyes checked the second I get back home. You’ve been a real eye opener for me.”
“Lame,” he groaned at my bad pun.
Brian was standing there in the void, unsure what was happening.
“This is the guy I walked into yesterday,” I told him, gesturing to the man with my thumb.
He nodded sheepishly, “She’s fucking spastic.”
Brian laughed, “Yes, she is.”
The guy’s eyes lit up once he laid his eyes on Brian. He looked as if he’d just fallen deep in love—a deep man love.
“Holy shit,” he choked. “You’re Synyster Gates.”
Brian looked real smug, straightening out his spine.
“Tyler Brody,” the guy grinned, extending his hand. “I’m a huge fan.”
“Oh, no shit,” Brian beamed. “You’re the guitarist for Haven.”
The guy, Tyler, looked like he was on the top of the world. His eyes were lit up and his lips were curled into a permanent smile. Brian was cocky as ever in his persona, resting comfortably in the safety of Synyster Gates.
“Yeah!” Tyler leered. “I missed your set last night and I was pissed. Had to play it with a wet fucking wardrobe too,” he added, staring at me.
I tried to hide my smile, “I’m sorry!”
Brian and Tyler were making small talk about the bands. I was perusing the crowd inside the tent absently. I’d picked out a couple of familiar faces but nobody that got my blood pumping.
That is, until…
“Hey!” the black-haired goddess’s voice sang. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Do you have my smokes? I can’t find them.”
Tyler patted down his jeans’ pockets, nodded once, and pulled a back of Marloboros from his back pocket. He handed them to the most perfect creature I’d ever seen and she smiled thankfully.
“Why are you wet?” she laughed, poking at Tyler’s guts.
He raised his eyebrows and pointed straight at me.
Her eyes brushed passed me.
I looked up at Brian who was staring with his jaw partially ajar. He didn’t appear to be breathing but his grip on the water bottles had tightened so much that his knuckles were visibly white. It was a super satisfying reaction to see firsthand. He looked like a young boy drooling over the girl next door.
“Hey,” she said softly to me, squinting at me a bit. “Aria, right?”
I nodded.
“Did you spill his drink again?” she asked excitedly.
I nodded again, more shamefully this time.
“That’s awesome,” she giggled. “Poor Ty. You just can’t catch a break this weekend.”
“It’s her fucking fault,” he grumbled.
And then her eyes wandered up to Brian. She looked a little stunned by him—but not nearly as stunned as he looked. My breathing slowed and my heart beat in my ears as I waited. I was so, so thankful in that second that I was there to witness Brian meeting his crush.
It was obviously a crush—that much had been confirmed by his reaction to her face up close. I couldn’t wait to tell Jimmy. He’d never let Brian live it down.
“Hey,” she finally said to him. “Are you as clumsy as your friend here?”
He opened his mouth to respond to her and then immediately closed up shop, turned on his heel and took off.
She blinked a couple of times, furrowed her brows, and then turned to me.
She pointed in the direction Brian had scurried off in, “Did I hurt his feelings?”
I snickered, “I honestly do not know.”
“Huh,” she shrugged. “Boys are so moody. You guys all have so many feelings.”
“Shut up,” Tyler laughed. “We can’t all be cold-blooded snakes like you.”
She jabbed him with her elbow, “I resent that.”
“She’s mean,” Tyler said to me in a loud whisper. “Don’t let her fool you.”
“Ty”! she groaned, pushing him away a little and turning her attention back to me. “So? How are you liking the festival?”
“It’s fun!” I smiled, trying to hide my level of drunk. “It’s been a really good day.”
“Are you hanging out back here for a while?” she asked me. “I’ve got a band thing but I’d love to come say hi to Jimmy.”
“Yeah, we’ll be around,” I tried to sound cool, like I wasn’t dying of excitement.
She smiled, “Cool. I’ll come find you in a bit.”
I nodded my head.
She waved sheepishly before pushing Tyler away. He was pulling at his wet shirt and she was laughing her head off, shaking her head. I wondered how close they were; nearly every time I saw her, she was with him. I couldn’t help but wonder if they were romantically linked.
I looked around for Brian but came up short. So, naturally, I headed back to the table—no Brian there either.
“Did you lose our guitarist?” Matt laughed, a blonde hanging off his neck.
The other girl had vanished.
“Yes,” I said flatly and then turned back to Jimmy, “Where’d the other girl go?”
“Oh,” Jimmy’s face lit up. “She was very interested in me. So, you know, I started to explain to her the practices of my people. The devil worship and the sacrifices. I asked her if she was a virgin, she said no; so, obviously, that won’t work for my purposes. The dark lord won’t accept hookers, after all.”
I stared at him.
He cackled, “What?”
“Nothing,” I laughed. “I just lo—admire your ability to get rid of girls.”
He squinted at me.
“Job well done,” I commended, slapping him on the back.
He looked around me, “Where’s Bri?”
“Oh my god,” I grinned from ear to ear. “You’ll never guess who we bumped into.”
“You didn’t walk into someone again, did you? They’re going to start banning you from backstage,” Jimmy smirked.
I blushed hard, “I did, yeah…Same guy too. But that’s not the important part.”
“Jesus Christ, Aria,” Jimmy cackled. “Do you need glasses? As luck would have it, I have a pair you could borrow.”
“That’s not how that works,” I went to argue but dismissed it right away. “Anyway, you’re neglecting the good stuff here.”
He smiled, “Lay it on me.”
“We ran into Blair Peterson,” I told him, pausing for reaction.
He didn’t deliver.
Matt, however, did, “Brian ran into her?”
I nodded, “Yeah! We were talking to the guitarist…Tyler…”
“The guy you keep assaulting,” Jimmy added as he hung on my every word.
I faltered, “Yeah…”
“Go on.”
“Anyway, Blair comes up—”
“And do you need to change your underwear?” Jimmy teased happily.
I’d gone on and on about my brief encounter with Blair the night before to the point that it was painfully obvious that I’d developed myself a little girl crush. Jimmy had assured me that it was hot and “if she’s ever feeling it, you go for it”. I’m pretty sure he was joking but his excitement about it had made me laugh.
“I might,” I snickered. “Anyway—”
“Sorry,” Jimmy nodded seriously.
“You’re so fucking distracting,” I laughed, throwing my head back dramatically.
Matt’s voice boomed, “Jim, shut the fuck up. I want to hear about how our boy made a fool of himself.”
“How do you know he made a fool of himself?” I asked quickly.
Matt laughed, “Cause it’s Brian.”
“And you wouldn’t be telling us if he didn’t,” Jimmy added.
Matt grinned, “And he wouldn’t have disappeared.”
“Okay, okay, I get it,” I laughed.
“So, Blair comes over…” Jimmy encouraged.
“And she turns to Brian, says something cute,” I paused for dramatic effect.
Both of the boys were leaned toward me now, expectant and curious.
“And he fucking ran away!”
Jimmy cackled, throwing his head back and leaning so far that he toppled off of our table. From the ground, he continued to groan with laughter.
Matt was less theatrical, but equally entertained.
“That’s our guy,” Matt jeered. “The ladies man.”
I smirked, “It was wonderful to watch.”
“I fucking guess so,” Matt howled. “You know what that means, Jim!”
“True love confirmed!” Jimmy shouted from the dirt.
Matt continued to repeat to himself happily, “Couldn’t even fucking talk to her.”
“He’s probably crying in a port-a-potty,” Jimmy giggled.
“Oh, I hope so,” Matt snuffed a laugh, shaking his head.
The girl nibbling on his ear didn’t look like she appreciated the hilarity of it all.
And while it was undoubtedly hilarious, a tiny part of me felt a little bad for Brian. I’d never seen him have any trouble talking to any girl; so, if he high-tailed it out of there, it meant that he was terrified of her. Which, from my experience, meant that he had it bad.
But unlike my experience, he hadn’t made a very good first impression.

Notes

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