tongue tied - jake kiszka

12.

   We walked back to our seats smelling vaguely of cigarettes, although I knew it was mainly me. Both Dawn and Posy had turned them down and I wished I had their willpower. As we sat down in the front row, I felt Dawn rummaging around in her purse next to me.

   Suddenly I heard a hiss and a spray of vanilla sprinkled onto my clothes. I whipped my head to the side to look at Dawn. "Did you just spray me with perfume?"

   "You weren't gonna ask, but I knew you wanted it." She shrugged, putting her little bottle back in her purse. I almost started laughing, because she was right.

   "It's okay to ask me." Dawn said as she zipped back up her purse, "We're friends, that's what we're for." I let her words sink in as the lights dimmed slowly until everything was dark.

   A single guitar note rang out through the theatre, echoing against the walls. Suddenly the stage lit up, showering the boys in a flood of light as everyone erupted into claps and hollers.

   They began to play and I let the music wash over me. It was so much different than at the bar, I could tell why they were nervous. It was a considerably bigger crowd, bigger stage, bigger performance.

   Sammy was on the keys, occasionally switching to the bass guitar during certain songs. Danny, on the drum set, with his own solos here and there.

   Josh's voice had everyone hooked in, especially Posy, who I'm sure had heard it a thousand times before, but was listening like it was the very first time.

   And Jake on the guitar. He was in his own little bubble. He looked completely consumed by his instrument.

   It was fascinating.

   Sure I had heard them play before in the bar, but this was a different experience. I wasn't sure if it was the setting or the audience or maybe because I knew them now. Either way, they could really put on a fucking show.

I looked over at Dawn to see if she was enjoying herself, but her eyes were solely on Jake. It was like she was trying to squeeze into his little bubble with him. I almost didn't blame her.

They had a break during the middle, both Dawn and Posy going backstage to see all of them. I stayed where I was, even though I really wanted to go tell all of them how great they'd done so far.

Dawn had gotten up and given me her purse, asking me to watch it for her. It was her way of telling me without telling that she was going alone.

So there I sat, holding my bag and hers, waiting for them to come onstage again. I felt a tap at my shoulder and turned around quickly in my seat. It was a guy, around my age, who I guess had been sitting behind me the whole time. "Hey, sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

"You're okay." I said, resisting the urge to twist back around in my seat, but also not wanting to be rude. "You know the band?" He asked and I nodded. "That's dope."

"I'm Lee." He continued, trying to make conversation I guess. "I'm Charlie." I said, reaching back to shake hands with this peculiar man. "I like your name. You like this kind of music?"

I nodded again. "That's why I'm here." I said a little sarcastically but he just laughed. "Fair enough." Lee said, before starting up again, "But you know, some people go and see their friends do stuff even if their friends are complete ass."

"Fair enough." I repeated his words back to him, biting back a smile. "Not that I think your friends are ass. I'm here obviously." He explained, running his fingers through his dark hair.

"Obviously."

"You're funny." Lee commented and I shrugged. "In like a dry way." I raised my eyebrows at him, but he grinned. "That's totally not an insult by the way. It's dry humor, deadpan, you know?"

"I'm familiar." I retorted back but that only seemed to make him smile more. I tried not to smile, but I couldn't help myself. "There it is." Lee snapped his fingers, "There's a smile." I pushed his hand away, trying very hard to frown instead.

Posy and Dawn were walking back my way so I looked at him once more. "Good talking to you Lee." I said, before turning back around. "Feelings mutual Charlie."

What a funny guy.

Once Dawn and Posy were seated back on either side of me, Posy leaned towards me to whisper in my ear. "I wish you had gone with us." I gave her a smile but didn't say anything. Dawn needed her alone time with Jake.

The guys returned back to the stage and I waited for the music to start again. The rest of the show was as mesmerizing as the beginning. I had a feeling they were only going to get better, but maybe I was just partial.

By the end of the show I felt completely exhilarated. Everyone stood up and started clapping and I'm sure the boys felt like they were on top of the world. Dawn hollered Jake's name loudly, pulling his attention over towards us.

His eyes scanned over all three of us before locking into mine and he began to smile.