Cre8ive

Chapter Six: June 2001

Luckily for me, Cre8ive were performing at Northside. It was about a ten-minute drive, and I felt it would be great to take Stephanie with me. It could be one of our few bonding experiences. I really regretted not leaving earlier, because the whole entire car park had been filled. I'd scrounged around for twenty minutes all over the mall just so I could get a park. Stephanie crossed her arms in a huff, growing steadily impatient.

"We're gonna be late!" she complained.

"We're not gonna be late, Steph! We left an hour early..." I promised her.

"Have you ever been to one of their concerts? They're always packed! People camp out for hours!"

"I have been to their concerts, actually... It's part of my job..."

"I can't believe you get to work with them and I don't..." she complained.

"You're still in primary school... You're not legally allowed to have a job in the first place..."

"You don't get it! I've been wanting to be noticed by them forever! You don't even like them!"

I took a deep breath, empathetic.

"When I was your age, I desperately wanted to meet my favourite bands too..."

"Not the same thing, Kevin..."

"When you're young, there's some kind of a mystique about meeting your idols. They seem larger than life and you form this idea of them. Then when you get older, you realise that the image you have of them may not be real and it's all just a front..."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing..." I said, "Forget it..."

Stephanie just rolled her eyes at me, not taking in a word of what I said. I finally managed to find a parking space, which was the furthest spot from the actual concert. Stephanie looked at me like I'd shat in her cereal and ruined her day.

"You couldn't have found a closer park?"

"I searched for thirty minutes and this was the closest I could find..." I groaned.

"We're gonna get a really crappy spot now!"

"We'll be fine! Don't be so melodramatic!"

I pulled out two VIP lanyards from my glove box and handed one to her.

"Patience, kiddo."

We'd gotten to the destination of the concert, and it was like a herd of bulls were charging through a stampede. I was so sure that Stephanie and I would get crushed and trampled as we navigated our way to the front row.

"It would have been so much easier if we went earlier..." Stephanie scoffed.

"We've got VIP passes, what more do you want?" I huffed.

We'd waited fifteen minutes until Cre8ive barged onstage in their usual flamboyant, dramatic manner. They opened with a bang, getting the crowd riled up to a mediocre, bland cover of Weird Science. Their choreography was ridiculously in-sync, tighter than a baboon's arsehole. Their singing was rather white-bread, but enough to make the crowd absolutely lose their shit. Their outfits were rather skimpy and inappropriate, for both the ladies and gentlemen. The girls wore these midriff-baring black, white and blue crop tops and matching leggings. The guys were completely shirtless with tight blue hotpants on. Each of the members wore these hilariously comical and impractical-looking platform sneakers.

Once the cover had finished, the crowd went absolutely bonkers. I had to cover my ears because of the shrill, uncontrollable noise levels. Stephanie in particular screamed in my ears.