Summer Heat

Walking along the rows of tents, I made my way to the edge of the Warped Tour grounds. Alex had asked to meet me there, and so that’s where I was headed to. I tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear. To say I was a little nervous would be an extreme understatement. My heart was pounding inside of my chest so hard, I swear it would pop out at any second. As I got closer to where I would meet him, my hands started to shake. I took deep breaths and started to calm down. But as soon as I saw his figure standing in the distance, that all went to waste. He saw me and smiled the most amazing smile I have ever seen, and for some reason, that was able to bring me back to normal. I smiled back as I walked up to him. He sat down a blanket he had laid down and patted the spot next to him. I made no objection and sat down, a little on the close side. He started to dig into in pocket.

“I saw this as I walk walking up here.” He handed me a white and kinda squished flower. “It reminded me of your hair. Sorry if it looks like shit. It was in my pocket.” He gave me a dorky smile.

I gently held the flower in my hand. “Alex, that’s so sweet of you. I’m sorry that I didn’t get you anything.”

“Just you being here is enough.” He made and inward groaning noise, “Fuck, I sound so damn cheesy right now. I’m normally a badass mother fucker.”

After that, we sat in silence. It wasn’t awkward, though. Then a couple minutes later, he casually wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me a little bit closer to him. I rested my head on his shoulder and relaxed. It started to get dark and I checked my phone.

“Alex, I’m loving spending time with you right now, but we really need to get back to our bus. They’re about to do the all call for us to start heading out.”

“Ohh shit, you’re right. How bout I walk you to your bus? Okay? Okay. You have no choice.”

We both laughed and got up, walking back to the buses with his arm still around my shoulders. We small talked as we walked and I could seriously say that he made me so happy. As we got to my bus, we stopped. I had to look up a bit to see his face, seeing that he was quite a bit taller than I was. Silence overcame us once more, but like the last time, it was not awkward. He smiled and leaned in, kissing my forehead. We made plans to meet the same time tomorrow, before he left to go to his bus. I watched him for a second, and then I went inside to get ready for bed. Luckily, Lyman was already asleep so he wouldn’t question where I had been. I didn’t know what I would tell him since I couldn’t tell him that I was with Alex. I knew they were friends, but I just couldn’t tell him. I pulled the blanket up to my chin and got comfy, quickly falling asleep.

~*~*~

The next morning, I texted Ava, asking her if we were going to meet up and get Starbucks before setting up our tents, but after fifteen minutes without any response, I decided to just go ahead and start setting up my tent. I glanced over towards the CG tent and I saw some guy over there working. As I watched him, I realized that he was one of the Of Mice & Men merch guys. I texted Ava again, asking where she was, but still no response. I was starting to get worried about her. When Lyman came to check on me later, I would see if he would watch the tent long enough for me to find her.

Soon enough, that moment came and Lyman walked over to check on me. I gave him some lame excuse about wanting to change my t-shirt that I was wearing to a tank top real quick. As I was walking off, I passed some girl that was heading towards the tents. She had this really bad blonde dye job, and she looked like she belonged with Willy Wonka and his Oompa Loompas. Yes, she was orange. She also looked like it was the first time she had put eyeliner on, seeing that it was literally caked on. I shook my head and kept walking. I ran into my bus to change quickly before heading to the CG bus. But before I got there, I saw Austin Carlile standing outside his bus, talking to someone on the phone. I stopped in my tracks when I heard him mention Ava, then something about him letting her lay in his bunk the whole day. I decided that I would then head back to my tent and just ask Alex what was wrong with her.

When I got back, I noticed that girl that I saw earlier working across from me at the Blood on the Dance Floor tent. I caught myself rolling my eyes. No wonder why she looked so fake. I personally didn’t like BOTDF. I erased her and that band from my mind as I worked. I stopped when I felt a vibration come from my pocket.

Alex K.; Mind if I stop by with lunch for the both of us?(:

I responded with a smile and found myself working with a little pep in my step. Soon enough, Alex walked up. He kissed my cheek before sitting in one of the black fold up chairs. I sat beside him as we ate lunch, with me occasionally getting up to sell a shirt or something. The smile never faded from my face, even long after he left.