Alters

Twenty-Two

~Lyric~
"Take some money," my mom says, handing me a nice $100 bill. "You'll want it for later."
"Gee, thanks mom." I smile, shoving the money in my pocket. I reach for my black beanie on the table, as well as my leather jacket. I slip both of those on, then grab my phone and turn to my mom as I tie my shoes.
"You dressed rather dark." My mom laughs.
"It's a punk concert, what do you expect?" I laugh back.
Suddenly, I hear honking outside, and I see a decently long black car. A limo?
"Gosh, looks like your ride is here." My mom says in amazement. "Have fun, sweetie."
"Thanks mom." I say, ripping open the door after tying my shoes and scampering out to the car.
"Sorry, it's rather formal to ride in, but we needed something that would fit all of us." Michael laughs.
"Lyric, you look great!" Damon smiles. "Hop in!" He pats the empty seat beside him, which I slide myself into. Melina, and Krystal were already sitting in seats. Melina and Krystal had on dark clothes and makeup similar to what I wore, and even Damon had on a hint of black eyeliner for fun. Michael hadn't really gone full-out, assuming he wasn't a very large fan of punk music.
"Excited?" Michael asks me, and I nod with a generous smile.
We drive a few blocks, then stop. I look curiously, unknowing that someone from MHC lives so near to me. I look out the window anyways, seeing Jakob hurrying towards the car, his face seeming shocked from the vehicle picking him up. He opens the door, taking the empty seat beside Melina. She gives him a warm smile, and he smiles back. I always thought that those cute 14 year old freshmen would make an adorable couple, but I always kept my thoughts hidden. I was told Krystal has a boyfriend, so if Melina and Jakob dated, the inseparable pair would be even more inseparable because of double dates they'd be able to go on.
The limo then began driving into Casper's part of the area. A few of the people looked around curiously at the houses.
"Who lives in this area?" Damon asks Michael curiously, the others turning their attention to find out the news.
"Casper." Michael simply nods. Damon looks towards me, trying to figure out what to say.
"... Did you know this?" He asks me. I let out a soft giggle, nodding my head yes. "What the hell does his mom even do?"
"He lives with his aunt, uncle, and step-father too." I say, my smile dropping slightly at the mentioning of them. His mom and aunt hate me, and his step-dad seems overly strict. I haven't gotten a large opportunity to speak with his uncle yet, so maybe he's more pleasant than everyone else. I assume Casper got his good nature from his father, or maybe Ashley just hasn't been the same since the traumatic event.
The vehicle stops in front of Caspers house, the others adoring it in awe. Casper rushes out, waving goodbye to what looked like Zoë and Wes at the door. He ran to the door of the limo, sliding into the seat next to me.
"Wow, snazzy ride." He laughs.
"Probably something you're used to." Krystal giggles. Casper lets out a light laugh, though I know he isn't fond of talking about his wealth. He has most likely been disciplined into not doing that. He's not the kind of guy who seems like he would brag or even mention it around others, since I found out about it by his mother.
We take a u-turn to get out of the area and go into an area closer to mine, but since Casper is really the only super-rich one out of all of us, it was best to go get him over with. We ride to Roslyn's house next. Roslyn's eyes seem to open quite wide at the sight of the limo, but she walks as if she hasn't acknowledged it too much. Her face holds a smile on it. This is probably the first time I've ever seen her hold a smile for this long. She's always looked to be on the verge of crying, but today she seems happy, like nothing can ruin her mood. Nothing will probably ruin her mood, it's Warped Tour. We'll keep her away from sitting next to strangers for sure; she's the one everyone will probably the most worried about. Her and Alec of course, due to his behaviour in general.
We drove around everywhere and picked up the rest of the people. We then started driving to where Warped was taking place. I have no idea what to expect. Damon went last year, so I decide to ask him about it.
"Damon, how crazy will it be here?" I ask him.
"Depends who you're with. Most people are wild as fuck, so just stay close by, okay?" Damon smiles, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me in for a quick one-armed hug. Both Roslyn and Casper seem to momentarily tense up, but waver it off. Damon and I are close friends, so we always hug each other and act silly together when we see each other. Damon is a super popular guy at school so he never has time to see me outside of MHC. I mean, we have a few times, but it's not like it's a regular thing. He's really great at putting up a fake-happy act. So good that I can never tell if he's happy or sad.
"Hey, do y'all wanna sing to pass the time?" Damon suddenly asks with a smile.
"Damon, you're the only one who can sing well. You can't just ask us that." Melina giggles.
"Fine, I'll just sing alone." Damon smirks, then begins singing Like a Knife by Secondhand Serenade. We all know his one security is singing, which he loves showing off. His voice could probably get him famous if he wanted to, but I know he only enjoys doing it as a pastime and wouldn't want the extra stress of gaining attention from it, so he keeps his talent within our group and a few of his other friends.
As Damon sings, I can hear Casper silently hum beside me. His humming, though not loud, still makes a surprisingly beautiful harmony with Damon. I look at Casper with a smirk, and his eyes suddenly widen in shock, his humming stopping.
"Casper, you should sing with Damon." I exclaim. Instead of a quirky reaction and agreement that I expected, Casper's face flushes to a bright shade of red as he looks down.
"Uh, no thanks. I don't sing." He laughs, partially cupping his mouth with his hand.
"You really should, you know." I say, and he shakes his head.
"Nah." Is all he says, letting out a quick, soft chuckle.
I nod at his words and Damon begins to sing once again. I close my eyes, relaxing the rest of the way there. The soft sound of Damon's voice nearly soothes me to sleep, but I remain awake. My mind stays active as I grip onto every lyric that slips off his tongue. Lyrics should contain so much; it's a wonder how they can be abused so easily by people who would have talent if they just quit singing about sex and drugs all the time. For all I think, "my anaconda" don't give a shit about useless and meaningless music like that. Yes it's entertaining, but to me, they're comedy songs.
"We're here!" Michael suddenly shouts, interrupting me from my thoughts. I smile, and we pull up at the entrance. We all hop out one by one, waiting at the door for each other. Michael gets out last, then makes sure we're all here, though I'm pretty sure we're mature enough to not get lost.
"Alright, let's go!" Michael then smiles at us. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch Damon grab Roslyn's hand. Though shocked, she grabs his back and gives him a smile. A smile I never knew Roslyn was capable of showing. I've talked to Roslyn about her feelings for Damon, and I know she feels strongly for him. He, on the other hand, only considers her as a close friend. Damon is such a sweet person though, so I'm not sure if I could ever picture him turning someone down, especially her.
"C'mon!" Casper smiles at me, grabbing my hand as well, which takes me by surprise and he begins to pull me behind him like he always does.
The show began with a few bands that I wasn't really sure of who they were. Roslyn seemed completely familiar with all of them. It all began at a good start, and even though I didn't know them very well, it was still really fun.
The first band I properly recognized that came on was Sleeping with Sirens. Though I'm not a huge fan of them, Roslyn, Damon, Krystal, and Casper all were, and I know Endora is too. Endora...
"Is that who I think it is?" Endora exclaims as I calm my body down.
"Exactly who you think it is." I respond to her.
"Please?" She asks.
"Of course." I say to her, then take a deep breath and allow her to take over.