rebonjour - h.s

le premier jour

It was hot that evening. Mid-August. Everything was sparkling in that way it does during those sunsets. The beautiful ones, where the sky takes on a million shades of pastel that blend perfectly and shed a unique quality of light over the world.

A band was playing on the stage, which seemed to be miles away, but also inches from my face at the same time. Everything about the setting was marvelous and stunning. The typical concert energy flowed through our veins; the kind that makes you think, wow! This is the best concert I have ever attended! in the moment, despite the very real possibility that it, in fact, is not the best concert that you have ever attended. Even sucky bands with electric crowds can spark that current of restless energy. That night, the band was not exactly sucky, and the crowd was surging with power. Despite all of this, if you were to ask me the name of the band now, I would not be able to tell you. I do not remember for one reason. That reason would be simply... him. He invaded all of my thoughts and all of my memories, pushing them aside and stealing the breath from my lips as soon as I caught sight of his face.

His hair was short, but it was nearly too long to be classified as such. It was brown, and had messy ripples in it. It stuck up a bit, as if he had just woken up from a good night's sleep. Or he had just had an... exciting, yes. An exciting night. The qualities of his hair reminded me of the chocolate buttercream frosting that my mother used to put on the cupcakes that she'd bake for my birthday each year. It was an odd comparison, but it came to mind as soon as I laid my eyes on him. He was tall and skinny, though I could see the muscle on his lanky frame. He wore green mirrored aviator sunglasses and a t-shirt advertising a band of which all the members had been dead for at least twenty years. Even though it had to be a hundred degrees, black skinny jeans clung to his legs, and with some serious effort, I caught a glimpse of his bare feet.

The stranger was glistening with sweat. It seemed to have the opposite effect on him than on me. It caused his beautiful features to glow with a certain anticipation that made it impossible to look away. He was six people to my left, give or take a few based on the swirling sea of human beings that refused to calm itself.

I could not see his eyes behind his glasses, but I knew that they never looked at me. I was not worth his time, quite frankly, and I knew it. Why would such a godly creature spend precious moments of a concert on me? He came to listen to the band, not to watch an unattractive, un-skinny girl dance terribly while sweating buckets. But part of me still held on to this bizarre and astronomical hope that he would look twice if he ended up seeing me. Part of me became all of me as I observed the attractive subject of my admiration. "Look my way!" I internally screamed, half-ignoring the band.

I felt that the awkward nature of my selfishness was showing to my friends, so I momentarily averted my eyes from the guy to watch the band.

My friends and I ended up getting swept away in the crowd, far away from him. It is quite odd, I thought, how a person can see another person and be so strongly attracted. Even if the actual face-to-face interaction isn't there, there's something that draws people to each other in crowds like that one. Then, poof! It's all gone, and you're left like I was; empty, alone, but somehow still full of hope and leftover adrenaline that puts you in a daze.

After the band had played their last song and the place had cleared out, I walked alone in the dark along the side of the venue. I was on my way to wait for my friends. They went to get the car and pick me up, as I had gone to the bathroom alone.

The dark was cool and soothing to my eyes, and to my body. I had been under the hot, bright lights for quite some time, so the relief was massive. I welcomed the breeze, which blew away all of my cares and swayed the luscious green trees over my head. Everything smelled of freshly cut grass. The only light came from dim lamps that lined the path, since the moon was clouded over. Rain threatened, but for the moment, everything was nice, and silent.