The Middle - Volume Three ✔️

Chapter 62

Jamie

He liked my Instagram post. I knew he would. Honestly, I would have been devastated if he hadn't. So I'm glad he has. He didn't leave a comment, but maybe that would have been too much. It's not like I've replied to the text he sent in our group chat. So this is fine. His 'like' is enough for me. I feel a little better because of it actually. It's almost like I feel closer to him somehow, because he liked my fucking Instagram post. 70 other people liked it too, including Noah, but Patrick's 'like' was the only one that made my heart skip a beat. The only one I was waiting for.

I'm sitting in 'Spoons' with Lori and her friend Stephanie, having an Edinburgh Gin and lemonade. They call this 'pre's', short for pre-drinking, as in having a drink some place before going where you actually wanna go. And tonight, that's the Lewis Capaldi show.

Lori and I listened to some Lewis Capaldi last night. I actually fucking love his music. It's totally sad, but so good. His singing voice is out of this world (his speaking voice is awesome too, he's Glaswegian through and through - I can barely understand him in some of the YouTube videos Lori showed me) and I've decided that my favourite songs are Bruises, Lost on You, Tough (the acoustic version) and Fade. His biggest song to date (in terms of chart success) is a song called Someone You Loved. I do like it, but it's a difficult listen for me. The lyrics hit a little too close to home, and I wouldn't mind if he skipped that song tonight. But from what Lori and Stephanie have told me, there's not much chance of that.

"You guys think he'll play Someone You Loved for sure?" I ask the girls as we sip our drinks.

"Oh aye, for sure." Stephanie replies. "It would be rude not too. That song was number one in the UK charts for fucking ages. He'll probably play it last, I think he usually does."

"Aye I've been looking up his set lists, he usually plays it as an encore." Lori contributes.

Shit, I don't really wanna hear it live, but it seems inevitable. Maybe it will help though, you know? I can fully think about the things I don't wanna think about and let my emotions come up to the surface. Maybe I need this.

When we get to the concert venue (the Usher Hall) I actually feel a little tipsy. I only had three of those Edinburgh Gins in Spoons, Lori and Stephanie had five each. I guess they're seasoned gin drinkers, because they're excited for the show but they don't seem drunk at all. My cheeks feel a little hot and I'm blinking more than I usually do. And I can't stop thinking about Patrick...

"Another gin? Or something else?" Lori asks me brightly as we approach the bar.

"Uh, I'll just take a water." I say quickly, glancing around and taking in a lot of excited and seemingly drunk Scottish teenagers to twenty something's running around me.

"H20? How boring!" Stephanie exclaims in mock disgust, before leaning across the bar and yelling at the bar tender "Three pink gin and lemonades, and three refresher bombs!"

I frown at Lori in alarm. What the fuck is a refresher bomb!?

"It's a shot of blue aftershock and red bull." Lori answers my unasked question. "It's actually quite nice, try it."

"The clue is in the name." Stephanie adds. "It's a refreshing drink."

Well, it may be refreshing, but it is fucking lethal. I down the drink with Lori and Stephanie, then we jostle our way through the crowd towards the front of the stage. The place is already packed so we don't actually get near the front, we're roughly in the middle of the floor but it's a good spot. I have an awesome view of the stage. I'm clutching my plastic cup containing the pink gin, and watching appreciatively as the support act finishes off their set. No idea who they are. Some band called The Smuts. They're indie, which isn't my thing at all, but they are good musicians. And they are also Scottish. I can barely understand what the front man is saying when he addresses the crowd at the end of the set. He definitely said 'thank you' with a few expletives thrown in too, which makes me smile.