Travelling River

Seven

{River}

"Fuck!"

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

My alarm blares at me, 10:50 it reads on the screen.

It's the alarm I had set as reminder to leave the hotel. I need alarms to give me some sort of structure, since I have no concept of time whatsoever, but when you turn of your alarm in your sleep.. well, than you're still lost in time. I had set an alarm at 10:00, and one at 10:30, but I must've turned them off in my sleep, resulting in me only having 10 minutes to get ready and be at the venue to meet June.

I hop out the bed, trying to find some clothes in my suitcase. "Argh, I shouldn't have made such a mess of this thing yesterday." I growl to myself. I grab a white shirt, a pair of sand coloured pants and a light green hoodie. I run to the bathroom, while still trying to put on my sweater, and at the same time trying to brush my teeth and comb my hair. My hair doesn't seem salvageable so I throw on one of my caps, I grab my backpack and sneakers and leave the room. I hop through the hallway, trying to put on my shoes while also making my way down to the lobby, a muesli bar in my mouth and my headset dangling dangerously around my neck. Definitely not my ideal situation before meeting someone new. Right in front of the hotel are a few electric scooters parked, they're the type you unlock with your phone, and park wherever in the city. I decide to take one of them, it's better than running to the venue. I look at my watch that I managed to put on in between all the stress, 10:58, "Great, I'll be late." It was at least another 5 minutes with the scooter. I hate being late, if anything I'm always 10 minutes early, which somehow also gives me anxiety. I don't want other people to know I was early, which results in me kind of waiting out of sight and 'nonchalantly' walking up to where I'm supposed to meet the person like 1 minute before. I know, it kind of defeats the purpose of showing up 10 minutes before, but that's just how my brain is wired. Anyhow, there's no denying I'll be late right now, let's hope June isn't strict with time.

With a few 100 metres to go and the venue in sight I suddenly realise, the kids. I haven't heard anything from them since yesterday. Or maybe I have? What if they tried to reach me but I haven't noticed because of my rushing. A feeling of panic overwhelms me and I want to jump of the scooter to check my phone, but there's also the panic of being even later than I already am. I decide to park the scooter where I am, and walk the last part so I can check my phone. No notifications. A good thing I suppose, that means I at least haven't missed an emergency. I decide to send Timmy a voice message, letting him know I won't be reachable for about an hour, and asking him if he can let me know when everyone is awake and what their plans are for today. The concert is tonight so my best guess is that they'll spend half the day getting ready, and the other half sitting in front of the venue. I chuckle a little, I remember my fair share of concerts and sitting in front of venues hoping to see a glimpse of the artist. By the time the voice message is sent, I'm standing in front of the venue. "Right. Now what?" June hadn't specified where to meet her at the venue, she just said 11 at the venue, it was 11:07 now. Panic starts bubbling up again, what if she left because I wasn't here at 11. I shake my head, "No, that would be incredibly impatient." I want to believe it, but a part of me still feels anxious that she did leave. The doors of the venue are locked, and the lights are off, as far as I can see at least. I walk around the building, looking for some kind of back door. The building was bigger than I imagined and it takes me a while to get to the back, but to my relief I do see a door, and it's open. A tall, muscular man is standing in the doorway, talking to what appears to be a truck driver. The only reason I assume he might be a truck driver is because of the truck behind him, that's currently being unloaded. They're unloading big cardboard boxes, taped up. Apparently I'm staring, and longer than I intended too, because the man in the door now turned his attention to me. "Can I help you?" His voice sounds deep, and definitely not friendly. I take a few steps closer to him, "Uh yes, yes, I'm here to see June?" I hesitate, "We were supposed to meet here at 11, or well not specifically here, but at the venue, at least that's what she said." I'm rambling, great. He looks at me suspiciously, fair enough, I would be suspicious too if some random guy walked up and started rambling about meeting some artist. "And who are you?" The question comes out of nowhere for my brain, it's the most obvious thing he could've asked, yet my brain seems nowhere near to be prepared to answer. "I, uh, well, my name, River." I take a shaky breath, I absolutely hate communicating with humans. "June and I spoke on instagram, we were supposed to meet.." "Yes, here at 11, I heard you the first time. Just wait here." He gives me one more look and then walks inside, closing the door behind him. The truck driver already went back to his truck, unloading more boxes.