Mecca

the concert part 2

Once Nicole was finally ready, we headed to the venue, which was apparently the house that the band stayed at. I'll admit I was impressed. It was located in the nice part of Brooklyn (I know, it's still Brooklyn though) but it had three floors above ground and it looked like an important law office. It even had pillars around it and a front lawn with a whole tree.

"Damn Nick what the hell. These guys live here?" I said in awe of the building.

"I know right, I heard one of the guys' family is loaded" she replied.

"Ima make note of that" I said quietly as we walked into the house. There was no real big stage, but there was a small elevated area by the back door that had drums and amps and mics and other typical band performance things. There was probably around 200 people in the house already, but it seemed like 20 because, again, this house is freaking huge.

"Mecca what on earth, there's a bar over there" she nudged me excitedly. "I'll be right back." She knew I wasn't exactly a big drinker so she didn't even bother asking me to accompany her.

It wasn't until 9:45 when the band made their way out and Nicole found me up front.

*Luke's POV*

I am nervous. As fuck. I don't know why but I always get these crazy adrenaline/anxiety rushes before I perform. But this time was different: I was in the comfort of my own home, but I didn't exactly feel comfortable.

Me and the guys walked out on stage to maybe 200 people standing in our living room. God this is weird. Wait. No it's not...we have parties here all the time. Nevermind I'm cool.

I was in the middle of my mic check when my eyes lingered to the front of the crowd. This girl. This black girl with deep glowing brown skin (which I could see a lot of thanks to her outfit) and long hair tied up with a bandana was standing front and center at my concert. And she was staring right back at me. She raised her eyebrows as if to say "Well, get on with it please." I shook myself out of my trance and started playing the chords to the song.

I tried not to let my eyes wander back to the girl again but it was really hard because 1) she's the most beautiful person I have ever seen and 2) she was standing right in front of my line of sight. And the thing that made it worse was that she didn't even look like she liked our music as much as everyone else did. That was really frustrating. She just stood there nonchalantly with her arms folded across her chest, slightly rocking her head to the beat. Calum suggested we play Heartbreak Girl, one of our older songs, and that's when I looked back at the girl.

She looked back at me again and half-tried to contain a smile. The girl next to her latched onto her arm and whispered something into her ear. A full-fledged movie star grin immediately spread across her glossy full lips and she started swaying her hips to the beat. As the song went on, the girls started dancing along with the rest of the crowd. The girl playfully twerked on her friend and I couldn't help but laugh and wish I was in the friend's position.

*Mecca's POV*

The concert was...better than I expected. At first I just spent time listening to the music and trying to get a feel for this new band's vibe. But their last song got to me and I sort of just let go. I'm not sure what the song was called but I felt like I was in the bathroom turning up again with Nicole. It was actually kinda lit.

Also the lead singer, who introduced himself as Luke was staring bullets into me, which is the one thing I didn't like. At first I thought he was sorta cute, especially when I heard him sing, but he kept glancing at me like he expected me to disappear or something. And it made me hella uncomfortable. One thing I've had to get used to with hanging around Nicole and her friends and being a business major is that I don't exactly blend in with the crowd. So a lot of the time, I get the feeling that people think I don't belong. In Trinidad, I look like everyone else, but in the US, I feel like an outcast sometimes.

When the concert was over, Nicole jetted for the bar, and I was left to my own devices. So I took it upon myself to do some exploring. I wandered up the stairs and into a large room with lots of music equipment, but the record collection was what caught my eye. I filed through the Elvis and Johnny Cash and found a box of some actual good music. There was one whole box of Miles Davis, another with just Ella Fitzgerald (my queen), and everything else from Nina Simone up to Sade (my other queens). Whoever kept these records could lowkey fuck me in the ass because they have an amazing music taste. My snooping was interrupted by the sound of the door creaking loudly, which almost made me pee myself.

"Sorry if I scared you" it was the lead singer. Luke. "I'm not used to strangers looking through my record collection" he said leaning over me at the record in my hand.

Dammit looks like me and Luke are gonna get it in later.

"My bad... I mean I didn't mean to intrude" I said nervously stammering. "But I'm probably gonna need to steal this from you" I said sarcastically, holding up Sade's debut album, Diamond Life. "Also your band's actually pretty cool" I added.

"Don't worry about it" he said also nervously laughing. I didn't know he was Australian but his accent was extremely hot. "I'm glad you liked the show though. Sorry if I was staring at you the whole time too. I'm also not really used to seeing girls like you at the shows" aaaaand there it is.

"I can only imagine" I scoffed, rolling my eyes. Girls like me, was he serious?

"What?" he asked dumbly. "Wait, no that's not what I meant. At all"

"Oh god, then go ahead. By all means, explain to me what you meant by that"

"I just meant...well, I meant that..." he stalled as I cocked my head and raised my eyebrows.

"Of course that's what you meant. Sorry for touching your records" I placed the Sade album back in the box and started to walk out of the room.

"Wait ok" he blurted and sighed apologetically. I looked up at him impatiently. "I just meant that you're really hot...and beautiful and stuff" he said awkwardly. "And I kind of couldn't keep my eyes off you" I immediately felt my face heat up and I tried desperately to hold back this goofy grin that was hiding behind my pursed lips.

"Oh" my face dropped and I looked away from him and let my smile out a little bit. No one has ever in my 19 years ever said that to my face before ever in the history of my life.

"You can keep the record if you want. You don't need to steal" he held up the record to me and quickly pulled it back as I reached for it. "But only if you give me your number. And tell me your name." Then the most sexily executed side grin spread across his lips.

"My name's Mecca Banks" and he thrusted his phone at me so I could type my number in.

"Mecca" he repeated approvingly. "It suits you"