“Savior
for the Night.”
I can’t contain my excitement for the drive I will
be taking in a few hours. The Used. The Used Live. My skin looks like it
rippling and my words are stuttered. Now that’s some extreme excitement. I
won’t even mention what my brain waves would look like if they were displayed
on a ECG. So what I’m going alone? Damn losers have no idea what they are
missing. I walk down to the Short Stop, which is right by my house to buy some
scratcher tickets and a Dr. pepper. I am feeling exceptionally lucky today. I
pay the old house wife at the counter for my tickets and walk home. The tickets
are burning holes in my pocket as I think about the luck I may have. I scratch
away and reveal three lemons. At first, I am sad because lemons usually don’t
mean squat. Ah, but today they do. I match up my winnings and it turns out I
win five hundred dollars. I jump around my room, turn up the radio real loud
and dance to “Beating Heart Baby” by Head Automatica. Can this day get ANY
better? Yes, yes it can! Before I can leave on my trip to see The Used, I have
this odd feeling that I will need a bikini. Every happy girl needs a bikini and
besides I’ll probably be sweating a lot surrounded by hundreds of people at the
concert. I drive down to the bikini shop known as Beachcombers. When I walk in,
I spot one that I want almost immediately. The overall color is black (I’m such
a damn sucker for that color, I mean shade. Whatever.), but the edges are
tinged with red lace. It’s cute. It will do.
Before I know it, I am driving to my
destination with a pocket full of cash to blow and a new bikini. The drive
seems really long but thanks to music I sing away the time the whole way there.
Sometimes it’s peaceful to be alone. Just the music, the wind and myself. When
I finally arrive, I decide to rent out a hotel. I discover that there is a huge
water park right next to my hotel and the venue is just a few blocks down the
road. From the looks of the water park it looks like a whole bunch of kids my
age have already claimed it. I see various flavors of beer cans and fruity
alcoholic beverages scattered all over the ice chests. Drinking and Swimming,
now that sounds like a good idea. Goddamn, America you never disappoint. My
psychic predictions of needing a sexy bikini definitely benefited me this time.
I check in and carry my stuff up to my room. The room is beautifully decorated
with crème colored walls, then you look at the décor and you can just tell
Kirkland’s barfed all over the place. Smiling, I change into my bikini and some
jeans. I stare at the king sized bed for a second, and give in. Smiling, I nod
out until the concert.
When
I wake up I have an hour until the concert starts. I decide that my bikini and
jeans are appropriate attire to wear. I leave the hotel and start walking to my
destination. The wind plays in my hair bouncing the ends up and down off my
shoulders. It feels so nice. For once, I feel free. As I get closer, I see
crowds of people piled in front of the doors and just as I get even closer the
doors open and everyone shuffles in. Let the fun begin. As I walk in, I see Bert
McCracken, the lead singer for The Used, amping up the crowd like a madman.
Fuck Yes. There are a lot of empty seats in the venue. Personally, I think
seats should be nonexistent at a concert; everyone should be forced to mosh and
stand. In that order. I scan my environment. Upon my scanning the crowd, I see
a familiar face, a usually far away friend, who is only ten feet from me! Sir
Jestro. What the Fuck. Tall, dressed in a black NIN t-shirt and jeans. Only he
would wear that shirt to a concert where The Used is playing. His messy brown
hair hangs over his eyes. It makes him look shrouded in shadows. I don’t even
wait for him to notice me. Because he won’t. He is not expecting me. Fuck, I
wasn’t expecting him. To my dismay and utter happiness, my legs run full force
towards him, without my saying yes. I jump and open my arms surrounding him with
myself. He sways sideways from my unexpected hug, “Whoa, what the fuck!” He
says. I let go and move back so he can see who I am. “Holy shit, I didn’t
expect to see you here.” I smile at him. He smiles back. I ask if I can hang
around him for the concert and just as he opens his mouth to answer…the crowd
screams for their music. Their voices rising above the earth’s atmosphere. I
know this crowd could be heard on the fucking moon.
All
night I am crowded and drowned by the ocean of people. Coming in and out of
fresh air. Light headed. Hot. Sweaty. Laughing. Screaming my lungs out.
Screaming the words on silver ribbons of release. The music pulling me in and
out. In. And. Out. Music is my life. Without it I would be empty of all sound,
of all feeling and empty of fucking life. The music is blaring in my ears. If
they bleed out, I will scream the words even louder. And it’s totally fucking
cool with me. I dance, dance, dance until I feel like my lungs are going to
give out. I hold onto Sir Jestro when I feel like I am going to float away, and
surprisingly he’s okay with it. The concert comes to an end with my favorite
soft song “Empty with You”. As it begins to play Sir Jestro slips his hand
around my waist and grabs my other hand in his own. “I haven’t lost anything except my mind. Expect a thousand confessions
that you will not find”. He leans down to me ear and whispers “Now I
command you to dance with me.” I look up into his eyes and I see a ghostly grin
spread across his lips. Smiling back, I listen to my command. “You could be empty and I could be right here
empty with you”. He spins me
around to the beat of the music. Holding me close, never once letting go. Only
to spin me more. Like a teacup he’s stirring me with his finger.In. and. Out. The
music breathes into us, and releases. “Or
you could be hollow and I could be right here hollow with you”. A thousand
people surround us, yet in our eyes it feels like just us. He slows as the
songs comings to an end. His breathe heavy on my neck as he pulls me to him for
one last caress. “If you want to say
goodbye to everything I could say goodbye to. I can be right here empty with
you”. I smile as he pulls away and becomes another in the crowd. “I can be right here empty with you”.
.Alyss.
