The Edge of Reality

Chapter 15: The Night of the Concert

As the end of the Summer approached, so did the Arbitrary Rock Band concert. For weeks we had been so divided that I worried we wouldn't go, or that we would separately, but the original group all met up at the cafe the evening of to go. Everything had been so different from before, but for a moment it all felt normal again. There was Des, hand in hand with Eloy. Mareo and Tahki came in laughing, probably at something ridiculous that he had said. Camm was among them of course, a small smile on his face as he talked with them and looked at me out of the corner of his eye. Lela was the only one not present, but at this point she had dropped of our grid so far we almost forgot that she should have been there. Almost.

I was thrilled to see them all, and went to them without even clocking out of work first. I went straight into Mareo's arms, and time seemed to freeze. I closed my eyes into his shoulder and time went back to the way it was before, a time when it was just the two of us against the world, the others at our side. The few times I'd seen him in the past weeks, he had always looked so sad, and it had only been the two of us sitting with nothing to talk about, nothing we wanted to say to each other. Tonight, however, all of that was gone as we felt a sense of unity once again. It was all of us against the world. We all rode in the same small car- Tahki's for once. This was the first time she seemed really excited to go to a group event with us, probably because she had loved the band for years and had never seen them perform. The energy was tangible during the ride over, bursting out the windows because there was so little room with all of us crammed together. Mareo and I actually had to sit in the trunk, but we didn't mind. Sure it was illegal, but it was fun at the same time, and my first moment alone with him. We tried to make out for a short time before the others realized that's what we would be doing, and starting taunting us and making inappropriate noises from the front half of the car. When we arrived and slowly made it through the line to the event, the our energy was multiplied even further by the thrill of everyone around us. We must have taken a million selfies as we sat in the grass, listening to some random rapper open as the sun slunk its way down the sky. We all talked and laughed just like everything was normal, but underlying tensions showed that things were different now if any of us paid enough attention. Mareo still had dark lines under his eyes, Tahki still looked slightly uncomfortable underneath her wide grin, Camm and I kept exchanging glances that neither of us could really interpret, and something weird was going on even between Des and Eloy. However, none of us chose to pay attention, and the night was glossed over with our smiles. By time the sun had set, Arbitrary Rock Band came out with the moon. The crowd was ecstatic, thousands of people jumping and screaming in the crowd. I hadn't thought much of it before, but this was the first concert I'd ever been to, and it lived up to every hype stereotype I'd ever seen. The music blared, the lights illuminated our faces in the dark, and amidst the differences of every individual in the crowd, we were one in our cheers. I'd never felt more connected to the city's community until then, nor to my best friends. Nothing else mattered in that moment as we stood together, singing along to the music. When they began performing a slower song, Mareo took me by the waist and pulled me close to him, slowly dancing with me to not just the music, but the atmosphere. I saw Camm watching us out of the corner of my eyes, but I closed my eyes as I held the man I loved. The moment could never have lasted long enough, and I was disappointed when the song ended and the band went backstage for a break. Artificial lights went on throughout the stadium, and we all saw each other in regular light again. After the first hype of the concert, our excitement mellowed to a dull buzz, and we talked with each other as normal. I'd felt weird about the way Camm looked at me during the last song, so I walked over to him to strike up a regular conversation and feel out the waters, but he was in the middle of a discussion with Eloy.

"That girl over there is really cute," he was saying. "The one with the pixie cut and black sweater."

"Then go talk to her!" Eloy pressed him.