So Two Years Ago
Two
Chapter Two:
The time passed and the line moved somewhat steadily until I stood, heart beating rapidly, with one black-shirted boy between me and them.
It was at that moment that I felt an almost appropriate panic come over me. I turned suddenly toward Allison. “Shit! I don’t have anything for them to sign. Dammit. I’m going to look like an idiot.”
She placed her hands on my shoulders, “Calm down. Why don’t you have them sign your shirt? Or your ticket? Well, I guess there’s no room for four names on the ticket….”
“And my shirt is black, Ally.”
“Hmm… I don’t know what to tell you. Except that you should turn around.”
Without question, I did what she suggested, although I didn’t really know why she’d suggested it. I soon realized, however, that I was smart in listening to her.
There, with no person standing in the way, sat Peter Wentz, black Sharpie in his hands and a lopsided grin on his face. “Hi,” he said in a friendly tone.
“Oh, hi. Uh, I don’t have anything for you to sign. I guess I just wanted to say hello,” I surprised myself by how calmly I was able to speak.
“Well, that’s okay. I’m Pete, by the way,” he extended his hand.
I accepted his gesture, of course. “My name’s Tessa.”
“Nice to meet you, Tessa.”
“And this is my friend Allison.” I side-stepped away from Pete in order to give Ally room beside me.
Pete introduced himself to her as I caught the eye of the man in front of me.
“Hey. What’s up?” Andy spoke as though I was a casual friend of his, which made me smile even wider than I already was.
“Hey. Not much is up… just saw this band play.” I was, again, taken aback by my own confidence as I joked with him.
“Oh really? How was that?”
“They were pretty great, I think.”
With a chuckle, he rose to introduce himself. “I’m Andy, by the way.”
“Tessa.”
I was prepared to extend my hand, but was stopped short by his arms pulling me into a friendly hug. “Nice to meet you, Tessa. Glad to hear you had fun.”
He let go and sat back down as I grinned like an idiot.
“So, are you, like, in high school?”
“Huh? Oh, no. I just started my third year of college.”
“Oh, sorry. You just look young, I guess.”
“No worries. I’m short, I know.” I shrugged.
“Heh. Yea, we all know about that. Some guy thought Patrick was like 15 a couple days ago.” We shared a chuckle as Patrick looked down the table at us with a raised eyebrow. “So, what are you studying?”
It was so strange for him to be so genuinely interested in who I was and what I did, but I certainly enjoyed every minute of it. “Film. One of these days I hope to write and direct movies.”
“That’s pretty ambitious.”
“I guess so.”
“It’s cool, though. I’ll be on the lookout for your work.”
“Let’s hope you’ll be seeing it sometime soon… eventually, at least.”
“So, you’re gonna move to LA or something after school?”
“I doubt it. I’m not crazy about the west coast. I mean, I’ve lived here in Pennsylvania my whole life. I’ll probably either stay in the east, or maybe go as far as the midwest.”
“Really? Where in the midwest?”
“Well, there’s really no escaping the fact that a film career outside of a big city, at least to get started, I’ll probably end up in Chicago if I moved away from the east coast.”
“In that case, I can just forget about looking for your name on a movie screen, and wait to bump into you on the street.”
I was constructing a response in my head when I felt Ally’s elbow nudge into my side.
“Hey lady, you’re holding up the line,” she said jokingly. I saw it was true, though, as I glanced back at the line of anxious faces behind her.
“Shit. Sorry,” I said to any of them who could hear me. “Nice to meet you, Andy.”
“You too. Good luck with all that movie making.”
“Thanks,” I grinned, shaking his hand before continuing down the table toward Joe and Patrick.
Allison and I left the club and took the bus back to the University of the Arts campus. Our tired legs convinced us to take the elevator to the fifth floor of our dorm building where we made our way down the hall and into the room we shared. We both got ready for bed and laid our heads on our pillows as quickly as we could, hoping for, and almost expecting dreams as wonderful as our evening had been.
The time passed and the line moved somewhat steadily until I stood, heart beating rapidly, with one black-shirted boy between me and them.
It was at that moment that I felt an almost appropriate panic come over me. I turned suddenly toward Allison. “Shit! I don’t have anything for them to sign. Dammit. I’m going to look like an idiot.”
She placed her hands on my shoulders, “Calm down. Why don’t you have them sign your shirt? Or your ticket? Well, I guess there’s no room for four names on the ticket….”
“And my shirt is black, Ally.”
“Hmm… I don’t know what to tell you. Except that you should turn around.”
Without question, I did what she suggested, although I didn’t really know why she’d suggested it. I soon realized, however, that I was smart in listening to her.
There, with no person standing in the way, sat Peter Wentz, black Sharpie in his hands and a lopsided grin on his face. “Hi,” he said in a friendly tone.
“Oh, hi. Uh, I don’t have anything for you to sign. I guess I just wanted to say hello,” I surprised myself by how calmly I was able to speak.
“Well, that’s okay. I’m Pete, by the way,” he extended his hand.
I accepted his gesture, of course. “My name’s Tessa.”
“Nice to meet you, Tessa.”
“And this is my friend Allison.” I side-stepped away from Pete in order to give Ally room beside me.
Pete introduced himself to her as I caught the eye of the man in front of me.
“Hey. What’s up?” Andy spoke as though I was a casual friend of his, which made me smile even wider than I already was.
“Hey. Not much is up… just saw this band play.” I was, again, taken aback by my own confidence as I joked with him.
“Oh really? How was that?”
“They were pretty great, I think.”
With a chuckle, he rose to introduce himself. “I’m Andy, by the way.”
“Tessa.”
I was prepared to extend my hand, but was stopped short by his arms pulling me into a friendly hug. “Nice to meet you, Tessa. Glad to hear you had fun.”
He let go and sat back down as I grinned like an idiot.
“So, are you, like, in high school?”
“Huh? Oh, no. I just started my third year of college.”
“Oh, sorry. You just look young, I guess.”
“No worries. I’m short, I know.” I shrugged.
“Heh. Yea, we all know about that. Some guy thought Patrick was like 15 a couple days ago.” We shared a chuckle as Patrick looked down the table at us with a raised eyebrow. “So, what are you studying?”
It was so strange for him to be so genuinely interested in who I was and what I did, but I certainly enjoyed every minute of it. “Film. One of these days I hope to write and direct movies.”
“That’s pretty ambitious.”
“I guess so.”
“It’s cool, though. I’ll be on the lookout for your work.”
“Let’s hope you’ll be seeing it sometime soon… eventually, at least.”
“So, you’re gonna move to LA or something after school?”
“I doubt it. I’m not crazy about the west coast. I mean, I’ve lived here in Pennsylvania my whole life. I’ll probably either stay in the east, or maybe go as far as the midwest.”
“Really? Where in the midwest?”
“Well, there’s really no escaping the fact that a film career outside of a big city, at least to get started, I’ll probably end up in Chicago if I moved away from the east coast.”
“In that case, I can just forget about looking for your name on a movie screen, and wait to bump into you on the street.”
I was constructing a response in my head when I felt Ally’s elbow nudge into my side.
“Hey lady, you’re holding up the line,” she said jokingly. I saw it was true, though, as I glanced back at the line of anxious faces behind her.
“Shit. Sorry,” I said to any of them who could hear me. “Nice to meet you, Andy.”
“You too. Good luck with all that movie making.”
“Thanks,” I grinned, shaking his hand before continuing down the table toward Joe and Patrick.
Allison and I left the club and took the bus back to the University of the Arts campus. Our tired legs convinced us to take the elevator to the fifth floor of our dorm building where we made our way down the hall and into the room we shared. We both got ready for bed and laid our heads on our pillows as quickly as we could, hoping for, and almost expecting dreams as wonderful as our evening had been.