Romanticized

Chapter Five

324 days b e f o r e the day

Sam sat beside me on the couch, along with Aria and Phil, of course. We were crashing at Phil's place because his parents wouldn't be home for the week and my dad allowed me to stay for the weekend. Phil wasn't allowed to throw any parties while they were gone. "But this isn't a party!" Phil said cheerfully, "All they said was no partying, nothing about having people over."
   "Ah Phil, once again you've found a loophole in the rules." Aria said dramatically.
   "This sucks." I complained a bit. "We can't go to that music fest and it's happening tonight."
   Aria groaned, "Agreed. Also, we can't leave the house."
   "Whoa there, who said anything about not leaving the house and not going?" Phil gave us a mischievous smirk.
   "Phil..." Aria and I said in unison, questioningly.
   "Okay I may or may not have pre-ordered tickets." Phil said smugly, his eyes flicking from the ceiling to the wall.
   Sam smiled lightly, I could see how he amused he was at the childishness of me and Aria from the corner of my eye.
   Aria and I just looked at each other and squealed like little girls. "Phil you did not!?" Aria squeaked.
   "Didn't what, babe?" Phil smirked appearing more smug than ever.
   "Did you get the tickets?" I was bouncing up and down.
   Phil smiled, reaching into his pocket and taking out four tickets.

Long story short, we were able to go. Phil once again found a loophole in his parents' restrictions and was able to take us there using Aria's truck.
   Sam and I were in the backseat as Aria sat in the front, all three of us were a little under-dressed for the event since we weren't prepared to go. Phil was obviously the best dressed since he had quick access to his clothes, being in his house and all.
   Unfortunately for us, we only packed casual clothes.

But the moment we stepped into the concert grounds, no one cared. It was just us and the music and we were back in our own world, this time with Aria and Phil.
   Hundreds of multicolored lights in the crowd, and we were one with the sea of lights as we danced around covered in glow sticks.
   This was the first time I saw Sam dancing. Okay I'll admit it was funny, he was goofy, being tall and slightly lanky made his movements look awkward, but nonetheless, he was owning it. I've never seen him look so free before.
   I could see it in his face that he was having fun and for a moment, our eyes found each other and he smiled, everything just stopped, I smiled back and we both stopped moving at that point and it was just us.

I could go on and on about how great my day went but it was hard to think positive when your two best friends ditched you in a place where you aren't supposed to be, with a guy you barely know, and no car or nearby form of transportation. Yup. We were definitely screwed. And slightly drunk. And out of cash. And phone battery.

   It was at that moment that I was 100% sure we were going to die, or worse, get in big trouble.
   "Sam, what the fuck are we supposed to do!?" I yelled over the blaring music.
   "Don't you have their numbers!?"
   "My phone's dead! What about you!?" At this point I'm an even worse wreck than I was 10 seconds ago.
   "I think I left it in Aria's truck!"
   "Did you see a nearby phone booth!?" I asked, trying to search through the clear areas to look for one.
   "They don't have phone booths! This is a rave, why the hell would they have one?" He sarcastically remarked, still smiling like a dork as if he'd forgotten the fact that we were lost.

Plan B - "Maybe we could look for them here?"
   Nope, an hour of searching, wasted.
Plan C - "Ask to use someone's phone?" 
   Still a no on that one. Everyone else was partying too hard and too drunk to care.
Plan D - "Look for Aria's truck?"
   Nope, gone, without a trace.
Plan E - "Hitchhike?"
   So there we were, for a solid 30 minutes without a single car passing by. The closest we could get to transportation was a good 20 blocks away. The journey there was pitch black, we could barely see each other if not for the glow sticks. There was also a huge risk of getting mugged. Or worse.

   Like any rational human, we decided that the possibility of getting mugged was too high so we ran, as fast as our feet could carry until we were only a couple hundred feet away from a small town. Maybe the one hour trip to get here wasn't a good idea. But I'm a dumb teen, I like fun, and danger, and music, and parties so I obviously chose based on what I wanted. Which I now regret.
   "Quick, how much cash do you have?" I asked. We could finally stop yelling at each other because the place was mostly quiet.

   "Uh, 10 dollars? How far would that get us?" He asked as he gazed at the bills he just pulled out from one of the pockets of his bomber jacket.
   "Enough to get to the shops district another 20 blocks away from Phil's house." I smiled, sparking a bit of hope in the both of us as we waited at the incredibly sketchy looking bus stop.

As we climbed on board, there were only a few people on board, I mean, how common is it to ride a bus at 1:00 am in the morning? Naturally, I was filled with relief as we sat down on the seats not too far from the driver.
   I stifled a yawn when I noticed how tired Sam looked, he worked as a cash register at a nearby cafe downtown and he had work today and 0% rest in him that I thought it would be mean to sleep while he tries to keep awake to make sure we wouldn't get robbed - well, it's not like we have any cash or anything valuable but that's not the point.

   "Hey, uh," I whispered a bit awkwardly, "Are you sleepy?"
   "A little bit? Why? Are you tired?" He asked. "I could stay up while you sleep if you want."
   "No, I'm good. You should sleep, I don't mind at all." I said to the tired-eyed boy beside me, his face showing more wear than ever.

   He smiled and thanked me quietly as he let his head fall forward so he could sleep but I knew how uncomfortable he was. "Wanna switch places?" I offered so he could lean on the window.
   "No, I want to be able to make sure that, uh, you know, we don't get taken or anything like that," He continued to trail on, mumbling nervously, "I mean, I think it would be better if I'm here, you know so if someone tries to approach us, they go through me first and-"

   "Dude, I only wanted to make sure you were fine there, no need to explain." I chuckled at him and his adorable dorky side.
   "Oh, well, yeah I am." He smiled shyly.
   "Well at least sleep on my shoulder then so you don't get a sore neck when you wake up." He was too sleepy to decline so he quickly took up the offer.

Soon enough, we were off the bus and running again as if our lives depended on it - and it sort of did, knowing that the only people who could be up at this late were muggers.
   Until finally, we reached Phil's place.

And Aria's truck wasn't there yet.