Stay.

Chapter 6

  The drive took about twenty minutes, we decided not to come back to school and just hang out in the city until the evening. Alex was singing country songs as the others begged him to stop, Haley kissed his cheek and shut everyone up. Hayley and Alex were dating for more than a year now and I was the first to know, I was really happy for them. I was making calls to several venues, cafés amd restaurants trying to book Love, Robot a gig. Lynn would talk with Brian and Dane from the backseat where we sat, and from time to time she would peck my lips or poke me.

We arrived at the Pier. The Pier was always filled with tourists from all around the country and Small children ran around with cotton candy in their hands. The moment we got there, Lynn ran out of the car with me on her back and headed to the line for the Ferris Wheel, I saw the boys going in the direction of the arcade and Haley with them, Jenn and Lacy just walked around on the beach. 

Our turn finally came to go on the wheel, we sat in a seat for two and waited for the ride to start. I held Lynn's hand in my own and smiled as I watched her look out into the horizon. The Ferris Wheel started moving and we were going up, as we went higher, Lynn's grip on my hand got tighter. When we were at the very top, I looked at Lynn and found her looking down with eyes filled with fear, her hand got sweaty inside mine. "Lynn? Are you okay?" I asked, she looked at me, pointed down and gulped. I looked down and all I could see was the ground and the little people rushing around. I chuckled when I understood why Lynn was so scared. "You have a fear of heights, don't 'ya?" She nodded slowly and I smiled and pulled her close to me. A few minutes later, we were back on our feet and without knowing, I was pulled into the photo booth. 

"What are we doing here?" I asked, the giggling Lynn beside me. She inserted a few coins without saying a word and told me to do a funny face. Instead, I ended up staring at her with confusing whilst she stuck her tongue out. The flash of the camera blinded us for a second and we laughed. "Now serious" she said, putting on her 'serious face', I sighed and got caught off guard. For the third photo, Lynn didn't tell me what to do so I just kissed her on the cheek and I felt her smile forming. The machine made a few weird noises as Lynn and I were making out and then it let out two sets of our pictures in black and white.

"Who's in there? There are other people who want to get in" I heard Alex say as he banged gently on the booth. I cracked up and so did Lynn, I moved the heavy curtain to the side and popped my head out. "Hi Alex," I said and laughed, "Alexa? I thought you hated photo booths. Lynn's head popped above me and I looked up at her "I love photo booths" I said with a fake smile then shook my head and whispered loudly "No I actually don't" Lynn pushed me playfully and giggled. She picked up our photos and sat on my lap. "Ow, get off" I said and let her wrap her arms around my stomach and pick me up. We left the booth and let Alex get in with Haley. 

"Ooh, let's go there!" Lynn said excitedly, pointing at the roller coaster. "In your dreams, Lynn" 

She stopped which caused me to stop as well, Lynn was staring and me with her mouth wide open. I walked up to her and closed her mouth. "You shouldn't leave you mouth like that for too long, might swallow a fly" I giggled. She ignored me and kept walking, I caught up with her and hugged her from the back. "Why are you ignoring me?" I said in a small child's voice, she turned around and whined "You won't go on the roller coaster for me, I went on the Ferris wheel for you" "Actually you chose to go there" I said, "Never mind, lets just take a walk on the beach" She nodded, took my hand and we walked.

I had my shoes in one hand and Lynn's hand in the other, I found a nice empty spot on the damp sand and sat down, Lynn sat beside me. I took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh noon air. "I'm hungry" Lynn said, "You're always hungry" I chucked " But I am, too. Let's get a hot-dog". I got up and lifted Lynn up to a standing position and dragged her behind me. 

We walked to the hot-dog vendor and I bought us food and drinks. We sat on a bench facing the sea, as I took a bite from the delicious hot-dog, my phone vibrated in my pant's pocket. I set my meal down and answered the phone. "Hello?" I said with a mouth filled with food. "Hello", said a man on the other side of the line, "You e-mailed my venue if your band could perform here tonight and I think we can fit you in between two other performances, is 10pm good?" the man asked, I swallowed what was left in my mouth. I got so excited that i spilled my drink. "Lex, who is that?" Lynn asked. "Is everything okay over there?" the man asked, "Yes yes, it's even more than okay. I just have to tell the rest of the band. wait, what's your name?" I said excitedly, "I'm Wellington, from Punk Up on 21st Avenue." He said, "Thank you so much, we'll be there" I said and he hung up. 

"Ahhhhhhhhhh" I screamed. "Alexa! Who was that?" I pinched myself to check if I was in a dream because everything seemed to good to be true, the band getting a gig at a really good place, Sam coming to visit, Mom coming home, having Lynn by my side, hanging out with my best friends at the pier. I felt a sharp pain in the spot I pinched myself which indicated I was not dreaming. I jumped onto Lynn's lap and kissed her. "Whoa, what happened to taking it slow?" she joked. "That was a venue manager. He has one of the most famous venues in the scene, in this state. Dude, so many of my favorite bands played there. That was the place I saw my first concert!" Lynn screamed and cheered with excitement, "Do you have your equipment here?" she asked, I was so caught up in the moment that I didn't even think about any of that. "Um well we first have to call the rest of the band over here. But before that, Dane"

I called Dane immediately and told him the good news, he called the rest of the band and we all met at the parking lot in an hour. We quickly came up with a set list that was built up from 7 songs, and got ready for the show. Lynn called Alex and Jenn from my phone and they came as fast as they could with Brian, Haley, and Lacy. It was just 4pm but we were all so nervous. 

I put my guitar that Ant brought me in it's case and swung the straps over my shoulders. We all walked back into the Pier and sat at a picnic table near the little kids roller coaster. Lynn sat next to me, I checked my phone and when I looked back up she was gone. "I'll be right back guys, Lynn's gone" I said, "I saw her go to the karaoke tent" Dane told me, "That fits her" I chuckled and went there to look for her. I got into the tent that smelled like beer and smoke and checked the list of performances. Lynn was coming up next. I sat in the crowd waiting for her to go up. 

"Whoop! Hello to all of you drunk, ol' peeps." She stepped onto the stage and picked a song from the machine and as soon as the first few chords played, I recognized it. She chose "Win Some, Lose Some" by You Me At Six, probably one of my favorite bands. She started singing and I decided to get up there with her when the chorus came, and so I did. I hopped onto the stage and grabbed the spare mic. We sang at the top of our lungs and danced foolishly. The song ended and Lynn cheered, I threw an arm around her shoulder and we got off the stage panting. 

We came back to the table where my friends sat. The rest of the time we had until the concert, we spent at the beach. Dane brought his acoustic guitar and we all sang, drank lemonade, and laughed. It started to get dark so we lit a bonfire and kept each other warm by hugging and cuddling. Even Brian was part of the group.