What Separates Me From You

July 2nd: Mountain View, CA

The Pomona event had gone swimmingly. No incidents. No pranks. It was all so easy. I was kind of liking it. Maybe befriend Jeremy did have its perks. The prank war was still on, however, so I still had to be on my toes… but Jeremy did have a way of being pleasant. He also had a way of following me around like a lost puppy dog. Pretty soon I would have to start giving him baths. I shuddered at the thought.

But kidding aside, Jeremy had spent the Pomona event and today’s event, Mountain View, by my side. I couldn’t even sit at the Vans tent and do my work peacefully. Not with Jeremy by my side, anyways. So I humored him.

“So tell me about your job,” Jeremy said from across the table with his head propped up on his fists.

“You want me to tell you how I fold shirts every other day and yell instructions at people?” I asked.

Jeremy frowned, “No, I mean why are you interning at Vans? What led you to it?”

I shrugged, “Why do you write songs and play music?”

He was quick to respond, “Because I love it.”

“Well,” I said hesitantly. “Then there’s my answer. Because I love it.”

“You work at Vans because you love to work? That doesn’t make sense,” he replied.

“Love rarely makes sense,” I said jokingly.

“What about your mom? Your family? Tell me about them,” he said.

I frowned, “What is this? 21 questions? Why are you asking so many questions about me?”

“Beecausssee,” Jeremy started. “If you’re going to be my best friend, I need to know everything about you.”

“No you don’t,” I countered. “Besides, you’re distracting all my customers.”

I watched as the third girl of the day ran up to the tent and asked Jeremy to sign her shirt. As he signed it, I glanced at the people who stood a few feet away taking pictures of Jeremy signing the shirt. Honestly, people were ridiculous sometimes.

When he finished signing, he turned back to look at me. “Do you have a boyfriend?” he asked, ignoring my previous comment.

“No,” I replied quickly.

“Do you want one?”

My heart stopped. Instantly, I reached for a magazine and swatted Jeremy’s head with it. “Don’t joke like that.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t help it,” he said with a grin. I shook my head in disbelief.

“Ok, Mr. Snoopy, what about you?” I asked.

Jeremy gave me a confused look, “Do I want a boyfriend?”

I gave him an incredulous look, “No, stupid. Do you want a girlfriend?”

Jeremy gave a glance at his wrist as if to check the time. An un-amused look came on my face when I saw he wasn’t wearing a watch. “Oh, look at the time, got to get to the stage for my set.”

“Jeremy,” I whined as he started to walk away. There was this odd feeling in my chest when I saw him walk away. I think I was actually going to miss him. Ew, what was wrong with me?

Jeremy looked back me before walking off, “You’re going to watch this time, right?”

“Oh,” I said with my voice trailing off. “I don’t know yet. I have stuff… to do. Shirts to fold…”

In truth, I didn’t really want to go to the set since I promised myself I wouldn’t watch at the beginning of the tour. Plus, I always had this thing against watching a band play from the side of the stage. I felt like it was a privilege not meant for me.

“YOU PROMISED!” Jeremy accused loudly.

I jumped in fright. “Yeah, yeah. Ok,” I replied quickly.

When I had finally made my way to the stage, Jeremy and the band had already played one song as one of the techs informed me. I stuck my head out a little to see the ridiculous crowd in front of the stage. Quite possibly, all of the kids in the venue could have been in front of the stage right now. I blinked at the sheer size of the crowd. It was that intense. So intense that I had to blink.

I studied some of the kids’ faces. Some looked obviously uncomfortable. Others were squished but seemed to not mind. Others looked like they were going to faint at the next word Jeremy said. This was definitely an accident waiting to happen. I brought my gaze back up to Jeremy who was washing down a bottle of water. When he placed it back down he looked to the side of the stage and saw me. I smiled at him and gave him a small wave.

He pointed at me and smiled, “Hey everybody, just wanted to tell you about my new friend. Her name is Olivia Greene and she standing out there on the side of stage. Give a wave Olivia.”

I shook my head with a smile on my face and waved to the part of the crowd that could see me.

“Olivia and I just recently became best friends.” The crowd erupted in screams and shouts.

“And it’s her first time actually seeing our set, can you believe it?” More shouts.

“So I want to dedicate the next song to her and our new best friendship. You know the words, Mountain View.” He said.

“So fucking sing along with me!” he screamed.

The guitars start to rift and the drums went along with it. A few seconds later, Jeremy’s voice started to flow in.

“ I'm always screaming my lungs out 'til my head starts spinning
Playing my songs is the way I cope with life
Won't keep my voice down
Know the words I speak are the thoughts I think out loud”

I smiled as I watch Jeremy pump up the crowd. At the same time, I listened to his lyrics. It was all too catchy. I knew that before the day was done I would be humming their tune.

“ I like to keep things honest
I'm a safe bet like your life's staked on it, for real
I'd hate to keep you all wondering
I'm constant like the seasons, I will never be forgotten man”

I was amazed that someone could be so energetic. To be able to sing with so much force and still look—I meant move—with so much energy. Jeremy looked at me and smiled as he sang the next few lines.

“ Let's leave no words unspoken
And save regrets for the broken
Will you even look back when you think of me?”

I returned his smile. I was right, you know? When I said his song would catch me. Actually all his songs did that. The songs he sang afterwards were just as fast just as catchy. The crowd was begging for more after each song and when the final song came on everyone was chanting for one more.

But Jeremy was already off stage with his arm around my neck.

“Thanks for the dedication, Jeremy,” I said. “That was a really deep song.”

Jeremy smiled at me as we walked, “I know. I’m insightful like that.”