Before It's Over

The morning of June twenty-sixth was when we arrived in Las Cruses, New Mexico. Ross and I had already been to catering and were now playing Go Fish in the back of the van. We had loads of time to spare because were the last set on the Smart Punk stage today.

"Do you have any…" Ross trailed off and mocked a look of deep thought. (He would never pull a genuine one) "Do you have any sevens?"

"Go Fish!" I yelled triumphantly.

Ross grumbled and pulled a card from the deck in between us. He glanced at it before placing it in with the rest of his hand.

"You wanna know something ironic?" Ross asked as he placed a pair of sevens in front of him.

I frowned and answered Ross with a shrug.

"Well, you know how we're playing the last Smart Punk set today? Well, you'll never guess who's playing the first."

"Who? Got any queens?"

"Well, let's say this band has a certain tall, skinny, peroxide blond-" I let out an aggravated groan. "-drummer."

"Ross, your Kyle rants are starting to annoy me."

"He likes you."

Normally, Ross's bluntness is something I admire. It's always amusing when he acts so straight forward with complete strangers. However, lately, his constant badgering about Kyle's feelings for me was making me want to chop off his head with my toothbrush.

"You tell me this repeatedly, Ross."

"Because I feel the need to remind you."

"Ya know, maybe I'll buy one of those shock collars and every time you mention Kyle, I can shock you."

Ross lifted his right hand to his neck and rubbed it gingerly. He sent a playful glare my way, but his features soon returned to a taunting expression.

"You know he'll come to watch the set. What will you two talk about after?" Ross paused to stroke his chin with a look of deep thought. "Oh, I know! You'll confess your undying love for each other. Then you'll get married and have loads of babies to make me an uncle!"

"Ross," I started, placing my cards face down in front of me. "There are a few things wrong with your plan."

Ross copied my actions and placed his cards face down in front of him. He then rested his elbow on his bent knee and plopped his head into his unturned hand. He then asked, with a critical expression "And what might these things be?"

"First," I said, holding up my index finger. "I do not love Kyle, nor does he love me."

I held up my second finger.

"Second, I will not be marrying or having sex with anyone any time soon. Third, and finally," I said, holding up my ring finger. "If I had children, that would make Aiden an uncle, not you."

"Oh, you know your kids are gonna call me Uncle Ross. By the way, go fish."

;;

"Hey ya'll! We're The Forgetting Curve from Longview, Texas." Ross paused as the crowd in front of us cheered. "And we are fucking stoked to play for you guys. Thanks for sticking around to see us!"

I gave the rest of the band a three count before we plummeted into our first song. I pounded my foot hard on the bass drum and hit my snare with two sticks before going into the first verse.

Whenever I was on stage, watching my best friends jump around and fans screaming our songs back to us, I always got a smile on my face. There was a feeling, one that I could never explain, that bubbled up inside me then rose to my chest. My lungs felt light and my brain felt dizzy, but it was such a great feeling. As my arms flailed around my set, I focused my attention to the side of the stage.

Aiden stood arms crossed with an uncharacteristic smile on his face. He must have seen me looking because his smile dropped and he waved to me. I smiled and gave him a look that said 'I saw that smile on your face.' My smile, like Aiden's didn't last very long. Over Aiden's shoulder I saw a head of peroxide blonde approaching. I groaned and turned my attention to my drums once again; just in time to finish the song.

"Wow! You guys are great." Ross said breathlessly from the front of the stage. "Keep the energy going, will ya?"

And we began our second song of the set.

By the end of our set, I had glanced at Kyle a total of thirteen times. He was always in the same position; arms crossed and a glistening smile on his lips. As Ross thanked the crowd one final time, I stood from my stool and grabbed at the towel hanging from some equipment behind me. I walked off the stage as I patted my sweaty face with the towel.

Let me explain something. I am not, by any means, a multi-tasker. It's practically impossible for me to do more then one thing at a time. For example, wiping my face and walking simultaneously. That's probably why I ran right into someone.

"Is this going to be a regular thing? You running into me and making me drop stuff, I mean." The sound of the voice made me roll my eyes in annoyance.

"Please, Kyle. I'm gross, I'm sweaty and I'm tired. I really don't need to be bothered with you." I said, pushing past his shoulder.

Kyle turned as I pushed past him, forgetting his drum sticks on the ground, and grabbed my upper arm. I stopped and turned my body, now a bit achy from the show, towards Kyle. His eyes were squinted in a hurt manner and his lips hung open in the same fashion.

"I'm just a bother to you. Aren't I?" Kyle's voice was soft, questioning and made my heart crumble into a million tiny pieces.

"Kyle, please, it's not like that." I paused and let out a sigh. Kyle's grasp left my arm so I assumed he trusted me not to run away. "I just- I don't know, Kyle."

At a loss for words, I turned again and headed in the direction of the buses. I could hear Kyle walking briskly to keep up with my fast pace. I would have expected it to be easy for him, with the legs he has. He didn't speak to me, just followed silently as I made my way to the back of the venue. Finally, when I was about three yards away from the van, Kyle spoke.

"Avery."

My name was the only thing he said, but it was enough to make me stop and turn to him. He was standing about a yard away from me, his arms limp at his sides and a smile on his face. I couldn't understand how he'd been so hurt just a minute ago. For a moment I wondered if he had been faking, but disregarded the notion immediately. Those eyes couldn't have been lying.

"Yeah Kyle?"

My tone, for once with Kyle, wasn't annoyed, demanding, or in any way hurtful. Instead it was casual, as if I was talking to Ryan, or Alex and Jack. My face wasn't contorted into a grimace or a frown of annoyance, but a small smile was placed across my features. This seemed agreeable to Kyle; because his smile grew two sizes and he took steps that put him only a few feet away from me.

"I know this probably seems really strange to you. Me following you all the time and showing up at almost all your sets-"

"You come to all our sets?" I asked, surprised. I hadn't noticed him before. I wondered why I didn't see him, but decided against asking.

Kyle nodded and continued. "I know it seems weird, but it's only because I want to get to know you, to be your friend. That's all. Can I do that? Can I be your friend?"

"As much as you make it sound like we're in kindergarten, I guess I can consider it." I paused as Kyle's smile grew again. "We'll see, Burns. We'll see."