Before It's Over

Although my wait was a mere two hours, it felt as though it was two days. Every minute I spent in the merch tent with Shane felt like three hours. He had given up trying to calm my nerves in the first half hour. I couldn't blame him. I had been anxious since Norah and I returned from lunch. Norah hadn't given up so easily. She lasted twenty more minutes than her boyfriend before stalking away from the tent, dizzied by my pacing.

"Avery, why are you freaking out? It's not like your asking the guy to marry you."

Shane was sitting in my lawn chair, lounging with his eyes closed. Business always slowed in the time right before our set, so Shane and I had little to do. To Shane's disappointment, it just gave me more time to pace in front of him.

"I just wanna give him an answer, ya know? Get it over with?"

Perhaps my skills of concealment needed a bit of work. Shane gave me a skeptical look before shutting his eyes again.

"What?" I asked, playing the innocent card.

"Nothing, Ave. I just see something," Shane vaguely stated.

I didn't push it further though, because as I checked my watch for the billionth time that day, I realized it was almost three o'clock.

"Shane," I said.

When he didn't respond, I walked over to him and poked him rather hard in the shoulder. Shane opened his eyes and cast me an annoyed look.

"I'm leaving. Man the tent. Okay?"

Shane nodded but closed his eyes again anyway. Where was Norah when she needed to kick some sense into her boyfriend? I let out a huff and turned, annoyed, to leave the tent. I had to cross the venue to get to the , which would take me a bit longer than I had time for. Running, however, was out of the question. It was way too hot and way too crowded. So I had to take my time weaving my way across the venue until I reached the .

Now free from the sweaty concert goers, I could quicken my pace towards FTSK's bus. Lucky for me, the bus wasn't a far distance and I could get there quickly. As I got closer, I noticed that I was wringing my fingers, a gesture Kyle always seemed to use around me. I was sure it was just my nerves, but in the back of mind there was a little voice pointing out Kyle's influence on me already.

The red giant, as I had taken to calling the bus, had an ominous aura. Normally, I'm not one to trust 'signs' or anything superstitious, but the drop I felt in my chest when I knocked on the door was not a good one.

I had to push away my fear quickly though, because it seemed that Kyle was standing at the door waiting for me to knock. The door burst open, revealing Kyle. His hair was messy, as usual, and he dressed in camo shorts and a white graphic tee. Elevated on the steps of the bus, Kyle was an extra foot and a half taller than me, which put my eye level at his bellybutton.

"Avery! What are you doing here? I was just about to go to your set." Kyle said with a surprised, yet happy face.

"Caleb didn't tell you?" I asked with a smile, though a slight disappointment settled inside me. I guess Kyle wasn't waiting for me.

"I haven't seen him all day, except for the set of course. Him and Braen have been frolicking around the venue all day. What was he supposed to tell me?"

Kyle stepped fully out of the bus, the smile still gracing his lips. As I looked at him, I realized how horrible it would have been if I decided to say no. Kyle's smile that I enjoyed seeing so very much would fall from his face. His pale blue eyes, now lit by excited surprise, would dull and avert to the ground. It was this realization that I realized something else. If this had happened, I'm sure Kyle's disappointed form would make me change my mind anyway.

"I, um…" I paused, remembering Kyle and I's first encounter and my excessive use of the word 'um'. "I didn't want to wait until later to give you an answer. Is that okay?"

Kyle's smile didn't falter as he responded, "That depends on what your answer is."

I felt like this should be bigger, like my answer should be important. However, when I blurted out my yes it seemed so easy. There was no climax. There was nothing. That is until Kyle's reaction. If possible, his smile grew wider and before I had time to realize it, Kyle had leaned down, wrapped his lanky arms around me and squeezed me tight to his chest. Then I felt my feet leave the ground as Kyle lifted me up. My arms wrapped around his neck for support and I heard Kyle laugh in my ear. I smiled at the sound.

"Thank you," he whispered before setting me back on the ground again.

The smiles on our faces didn't falter and Kyle's arms didn't loosen their hold. My arms didn't move from around Kyle's neck either, so he had to sort of hunch down to my level. Eventually though, I realized that I had to travel all the way across the venue again to get to our set on time.

"Oh, poop! I've gotta go, Kyle," I said unwrapping my arms and pushing lightly on Kyle's shoulders.

His eyes looked at me with confusion, but I had no time to explain. I turned and started jogging through the maze of busses. For some reason, it didn't surprise me that Kyle followed me. Kyle's height meant that he only needed to walk to keep up with me.

"Poop? Really Avery?" He said, laughing next to me.

"Well, excuse me for not wanting to use profanities in my everyday vocabulary!" I said with a teasing tone.

Kyle and I reached the gates that separated the from the venue and slipped through without any notice. The Smart punk stage was not as far as our merch tent, but it was still on the other side of the venue. I didn't know if I could make it in time.

"So where are you rushing off to anyway? I think should have some friendship celebrating time!"

"I'm rushing off to my set, which starts in-" I paused to check my watch, groaning and quickening my pace immediately after "-two minutes."

"Oh, well if we make it on time, I'll stay and watch," Kyle said as he jogged next to me.

"What if we don't make it in time?" I asked.

"Well, your brother will probably kill you, but stop him so don't worry about that. Then Ross'll yell at you on stage just to embarrass you. Then you'll do the set and I'll stay and watch."

;;

Kyle's psychic abilities were starting to creep me out a bit.

"Avery Kera Goodman, where the hell have you been!" My brother screamed as Kyle and I arrived at the Smart punk stage. "You better get your ass on that stool before I murder you."

I nodded, a bit intimidated by my brother's temper. I was only a minute late. He had no reason to be so fired up. I hurried to my drum set and sat down on my stool, enjoying the feel of the fan on my back.

"Well, look who decided to show!" Ross said into his mic.

The crowd screamed and Ross turned around to smile devilishly at me. I rolled my eyes and hit my pedal a few times, a signal to Ross that I just wanted to get started. Ross, however, had another idea.

"Hey guys, what do you think about Avery makin' us wait to play?"

The crowd erupted in low boos. I felt my self-esteem meter drop a bit. Thanks, Ross. Now all our fans hate me. You're an amazing best friend. I hit my hi tom, hi hat and base drum in a beat, trying to get Ross to start the set. He ignored it and made a few more comments before finally introducing the first song.

"Alright you guys! I wanna see some excitement, since apparently Avery's lacking. Show us how crazy you can get!"

;;

Our set seemed longer than usual. Normally, I get so into the songs that the time just zips past and I'm left wondering how the set ended so quickly. It wasn't until I got off the stage that I realized why the set seemed to drag on. I was too preoccupied glancing at Kyle from the corner of my eye.

He stayed to watch set like he said. He stood on side stage, far from Aiden's now aggravated form. The smile that had been on his face since I told him yes didn't move from its spot as he watched us play. His head bobbed to our music and I caught him mouthing the words once or twice.

As I made my way off the stage and Kyle greeted me with a hug and words of praise my smile grew again. Maybe – just maybe – a little distraction wasn't so bad.