Distractions

First Concerts

Everest and Simon were practically bouncing in place between Brad and Luke as they waited in line to get into the concert venue. They were surrounded on all sides by people in all sorts of clothing styles, from punk chains and ripped jeans to cozy sweaters and leggings. It was wonderful and the thirteen year olds were thriving.

Brad and Luke shared an amused look over the bouncing teenagers' heads as they moved forward a bit. Everest flicked a bit of hair, which blended from dark teal to neon green, behind her shoulder.

"You're not drinking anything we don't check first," Luke reminded them, leaning down between them so he was heard.

"We know," they chimed in unison.

They followed Brad through the metal detectors, Luke following them to make sure the two of them were sandwiched between adults at all times, and joined the mass of people in the hallway and foyer areas. If Everest had thought it was crowded in the lines, it was even worse here.

"Hold on to us if you have to," Brad said, nearly shouting to be heard. The two nodded and held on to their adults with just as much strength as they were using to hold onto each other.

Simon dodged a man selling beer by the bathrooms with a grimace. "Why's he doing that there?"

Luke chuckled. "I don't know, Simon. But I do know that the beer he's selling is warm, overpriced, and not worth it."

"I'll second that," a random stranger with bright blue hair said with a grin before looping arms with someone with bright pink hair and walking away.

"Who was that?" Everest asked, clinging to Brad even more when a pair of older men stumbled past.

"Not sure, but that's the wonder of concerts," Brad said. "Everyone talks to everyone and there's not a lot of hesitation."

"It helps that most people are either kids or drunk," Luke added. "So you two maybe shouldn't go talk to everyone you see considering one wrong breath and you both end up broken."

Simon glared lightly at Luke's comment but both he and Everest were too appalled by the thought of talking to strangers to retaliate.

"Over here!" Luke called out a moment later. "Pit access is over here."

The men guided the wide-eyed teenagers, who were trying to soak up every sensory detail possible to tell the story of the concert to their sisters, moms, Jay, Harper, and friends the next day, towards the door that would let them into the pit that was relatively empty which let them get to stand where they wanted.

It took about thirty minutes for the first of three bands to start, but as soon as the lights came back on, Everest squealed loudly.

"I need her outfit," she exclaimed, despite the fact that her jeans, crop top, and bomber jacket was already more "grown up" than her mom had been comfortable with and the lead singer's skintight jumpsuit covered in silver sparkles and sequins paired with tennis shoes would send her mom—and her when her mom saw the outfit—to an early grave. "And she's in smart shoes!"

"Your mom would kill us if she knew we let you wear something like that," Luke told her.

"Would she have to know?" Everest asked, watching the performance with wide eyes and her phone held high to record it.

"She would find out," Brad said, though he had a scheming expression.

Everest and Simon bounced around as the first band performed, making Brad and Luke record the show so they could dance and bounce around without a care in the world. Soon the second band was replacing the first, which left with the lead singer shouting, "Come see us after the show! We'll hug, take some pictures, sign some titties, and have a great time!" which made Everest and Simon cackle like mad and Brad and Luke smile fondly at them.

The two, now running on adrenaline, a few sips of water, and a pack of Skittles Brad had brought with him just in case, bounced around even more during the second band's performance. They almost crashed into each other and the people around them, but Luke caught them with his insane reflexes. Everest still wasn't sure how his reflexes were so good. He said it was because of the training he got for his job, her mom said it was genetics, but Everest, Simon, and Clary had a running theory that he was a supernatural creature posing as a human.

"Be careful," he said in a warning tone that was mostly lost since he was shouting to be heard.

"Okay," they chirped with matching grins.

At some point before the third band's performance, Everest ended up on Brad's shoulders and Simon ended up on Luke's. All it really did was give them a better view of the stage. They spent the entire third performance analyzing each move made and the lights and the pyrotechnics used as if they were professionals and knew exactly what they were talking about while also simultaneously thriving as they danced as best they could to the music while on their adults' shoulders.

"And before we head out for the night, I'd like to give a big shoutout to a few of you," the lead singer said. "Props to all of you up in the stands. Those stairs are steep, man. I ran them earlier today and I had to sit down for a minute."

The crowd laughed and the band grinned.

"Also, to the person who brought a baby, that was very brave and I'm sure you're glad the kid slept for most of it." The crowd laughed again. "And also, to the kids sitting on their adults' shoulders, you're really cool for dancing the entire time while also talking about every detail in our set. That's real cool of you. And the kid on the left—" Everest's eyes widened. She was talking to her. "—your hair is really pretty."

Everest gaped, then beamed and fist bumped Simon while Brad and Luke shared another look of fond exasperation.

The show ended soon after that and Everest and Simon stayed on the mens' shoulders until they got to the parking deck where they had to go up stairs.

"What'd you guys think?" Brad asked as Luke unlocked his car.

Immediately, both of them started talking over each other as they complimented the concert, loudly and without any restraint as they got in the car.

"What have we done?" Luke asked softly as the two of them decided that they wanted to go to countless more concerts.

Brad looked at the two of them through the rearview mirror as he drove out of the parking deck. "We've either created monsters or society's next saviors."

They shared another look as the teenagers' grins grew brighter and their gestures grew wilder.

"Both," the men said together.