INSINCERITY ˡᵘᵏᵉ ʰᵉᵐᵐⁱⁿᵍˢ

6

Rory Sawyer

"Are you ready?" Olivia sits on the bench in front of me, changing out her camera lens and looking through it carefully.

My body tingles as six security guards stood on either side of Olivia and I, guards not bothering to look at us as others pass by.

I suck in a breath, arranging my sweater.

Olivia puts the camera strap around her neck, shooting me a reassuring smile. I feel for my notepad that I placed in my back pocket minutes ago, making sure everything was still in place. I put my phone in my other pocket, making sure it's in there completely that way I wouldn't drop it anywhere.

With my luck, I would lose it and never find it again.

I nod my head, "As ready as I'll ever be."

I listen to the faint sounds of talking coming from around the stage while we walk. It's so quiet for a huge venue, but I know when they come out everyone will perk up.

As we walk, the sounds get louder, finally being in the same room as the talking and yelling. The crowd was huge, people line up the walls in the upper levels, and I could only see so far of the pit. My height stopping me from seeing over everyone.

I could hear the excited fans at their current maximum, the yells and whistles of exhilaration from everything around them. They probably paid a shit ton of money to be here, and now they are. I wonder if they're chewing on their excitement, anticipating the next move of the band.

I could only imagine seeing my favorite band in concert, they were probably just excited to be in the same room as them.

The sound of the crowd fuels my nerves, but I swallow them down quickly. I can barely even hear myself think in here, which is probably for the best. I don't need to distract myself with random thoughts of the next steps I need to take. I need to focus on the now.

I see flashes of light behind me, telling me Olivia had already started taking pictures.

I finally reached the front, fans ignored our presence, making my job a bit easier. I look around, seeing people hug and smile widely. I look towards Olivia, who's already pulling the camera to her eye in other directions. Getting shots of fans.

I smile. This part of the job would be easy, observing would be easy. I can fit into place here. Taking out my small notepad, I choose to write down a few things.

Fans are dedicated. They cheer before anyone even comes out, they're on the edge of their seats. Excited. Some look nervous, a kaleidoscope of interest written on their faces.

I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear, putting my hands down to my sides, still gripping my paper tightly. I watched as Olivia held her camera close to her body, taking pictures of everything she laid her eyes upon.

Something about the mixture of camera lighting and the screams of people made me smile. It's like the flashes of her camera is encouraging the excitement.

I wonder what they're thinking, with the amount of emotions running through their head it must be strings of thoughts or maybe they were just living in the moment, like most people do in times like this.

The lights dimmed suddenly, making the whole place shake from the vibrations of screams and stomps. The sound of something that could give you suspense played through the speakers, completely dark in this room other than the flashes of camera lights.

Everyone who was once silent was now ecstatic. I stood watching as the stage lights became a hue of dark blue, staying that color for a beaming moment before turning off.