Can You Chase Away the Darkness ?

Carson’s POV

I started the journey to Vic’s house at around five fifteen. He had given me exact directions, but I saw him standing outside as soon as I rounded the corner. “Hey Vic !” I said cheerfully. His house was nice, not too big and not too small, and he led me into the garage immediately. It was like a scene out of a teen movie- big garage with three couches, one on the side and two in the center, jam packed with teenage guys. The band equipment was set up at the back of the garage, and I saw that their name was ‘Pierce the Veil.’ I made my way into the warm, rosy room, sitting between Alan and Aaron. I waved to Kellin on the other end of Aaron, and all the guys greeted me in turn. I could feel myself glowing, this was exactly how I wanted my new life- hanging with a bunch of friends just having an amazing time. I began to get nervous, what if they didn’t play the kind of music I like ? I was into things like You Me at Six, Bring Me the Horizon, Suicide Silence, that type of thing. I hadn’t even realized that Vic was the lead singer until he stepped up to the microphone. “This song goes out to Carson, a new friend. It’s called Cheap Bouquet, and it’s one of our newer songs. He licked his lips, and the guitar started up. When he sang the first note, I was in love. To clarify, with the music, not Vic. Although at this point I couldn’t deny my feelings for him, there was definitely a crush there.

“And I could die right now

For something beautiful to take me somewhere else…”

At that line in the song, he looked right at me, and our eyes locked. My face heated up, and I looked away casually, pretending that we hadn’t just had a romantic moment. I looked around the garage at all my new friends, the dim lights casting a rosy glow over their faces. We were all relaxed, sitting all over one another, keeping warm as the chilly air seeped in from the open garage door. I had to admit, Pierce the Veil was good, like really good. They had a great melody and meaningful lyrics, and Tony, Mike, and Jaime were all really good at their instruments. Vic had a really unique voice, and I believed one day they would seriously make it big time. After a few more songs, the set was finished, and Vic led me outside. The cool air felt nice after being trapped with all that body heat. The time was a little after 7:30, and it had just gotten almost fully dark. I followed Vic’s gaze to the sky, at the millions of stars shining there. Back near Detroit, there was always too many city lights to see that stars at all, so this was a new experience for me. Perks of small town living now, I guess. So, you’re called Pierce the Veil ?” Vic tore his eyes away from the stars and looked at me, “Yeah, to pierce the veil means to get to the root of a problem and get rid of it.” “That’s pretty cool. I, uh, I really like you’re guys’ music.” My voice was soft, and I sounded like a fangirl. I cringed, but he turned to me with a big smile “So you like post-hardcore and stuff ? That’s great, Austin has a band too, and so do Kellin and Alex, and that’s the genre we all play.” I felt someone’s hand on my from behind, and then I was being lifted up and flung over someone’s shoulder. Judging from the height off the ground that I was, it had to be Austin or Mike, the tallest of everyone. “Austin !” I squealed.

He paid no mind to me, just raced off into the night, feet pounding the pavement. I giggled as I saw Vic raised above Tino and Mike, looking as bewildered as I felt. Almost everyone else followed suit, dashing down the sidewalk, whooping and hollering. The air rushed past me, and I closed my eyes, letting this new feeling of excitement and happiness fill me.

The street was split into two, with an intersection in the middle, and we continued down the other half, straight to the corner store I had been at the other day. Austin put me down and ruffled my hair, heading inside with some of the others. Vic stayed outside with me, and I shivered, then cautiously scooted closer to him. I put my head on his shoulder, and he slowly put his arms around me. I closed my eyes and pressed into his chest, inhaling the scent of his cologne. It felt so natural to have his muscular arms around me, to be here with him right now. He pointed to the park across the street “We’ll probably head there for a while after this, you down ? If not, I can take you home…” He sounded unsure, but I told him I wanted to go, and I did, I never wanted this night to end. “Do you smoke ?” He asked me, and I nodded, even though I had only started to smoke when I lived here. So really I’d only smoked two cigarettes. “I left my pack at home though…” I told him, shrugging. He pointed at the guys inside, “They’re buying some right now, we all share.” I hadn’t known any of them smoked, but now I just fit in even more. Someone from behind pushed Vic, then latched onto his shoulders. Kellin darted in front of us, sticking his tongue out at Vic. Vic raced after him, jumping on his back. Kellin piggybacked him across the street, leaving me giggling behind. They were both so tiny, it was hilarious.

The rest of the guys came out, a few with packs of cigarettes. They all started jumping on each other’s backs- Tino on Phil’s, Alex on Jack’s, Mike on Jaime’s…Zack offered to piggyback me, and I accepted. We made our way across the street behind Austin and Alan, and I couldn’t stop giggling at them. Austin, who was over six foot tall already, sat on Alan’s back, and Alan was running as hard as he could. Austin started yelling some made-up, Mexican sounding words in a baby voice, and I just lost it, laughing loudly. Once inside the park, Zack let me down, and we all scattered on top of the play-scape. I ended up near the slide with Alex, Jack, Jaime, and Tony. Tony tossed the pack to me, and I pulled one out, looking for the lighter. Mike’s hand reached up the slide to hand it to me, and I lit mine and Jack’s. It was weird to see everyone smoking, because most of them seemed like goody-two shoes. Well, I wasn’t really one to talk being a short, blonde-haired white girl. I took a drag and inhaled, leaning my head back. I scooted down until I was laying on my back, with my knees bent. Alex got down beside me, and so did Jack. Jaime laid right on top of me, but I didn’t mind. We puffed our troubles away as we looked at the dark sky, the only light the orange glow of our burning tips. After the first, we all lit up another, not wanting the night to end. It was so peaceful and serene, the only chatter coming from a few feet away, from the rest of the guys. My group didn’t talk, we just inhaled and exhaled, never letting our eyes wander from the stars.

After our second cigarettes, Jack lit up one more and we all shared, passing it back and forth. It was getting later, edging toward 9 o’clock, but I didn’t care. I knew my parents wouldn’t be home to miss me, so what was the difference ? I was out safe, with a huge group of people who could protect me. I hoped that we could stay out all night, who cared if it was a Monday night ? If not all night, at least for a few more hours, which I thought would be fine since most of them were older than me and were seventeen. Only Jack, Mike, and I were still only sixteen. Someone jumped on us, and then all Hell broke loose. Our serenity was gone, and we all started running around crazily, acting like children. Someone caught me from behind, grabbing me around the waist. Their arms snaked around me, drawing me to them. I leaned my head into the space between their shoulder and neck, “Vic ?” I murmured. “You guessed it,” He chuckled softly. He flipped me around so that I was facing him, my face a few mere inches from his. His warm breath tickled my face, and I involuntarily leaned forward. My eyes locked with his, then flickered down to his lips. He drew in closer still, both of us breathing shallowly. He closed his eyes, and we leaned in together, and then….nothing.

“These are moments of such pure sublime, unparalleled perfection that they will force you to close your eyes and hold onto them as best you can. Life is a series of these moments, the rest is just waiting for them.”