Play No More (Player Next Door sequel) ✓

64 | Shakespeare

I squeezed his hand. He squeezed my hand back, making sure I was ok.

We avoided the mosh pit at the front of the stage. Instead, Austin took us round back, where the sound became somewhat distorted. We could hear more of the bass than the melody. 

One or two trucks parked in a large, empty space. A drunk couple was getting frisky in the shadows, while a few venue employees walked by. They had ear sets and lanyards.

Sound equipment had been placed on the ground, connected to thick wires that snaked through the ground we walked on.

We watched our friends approach the bouncers backstage, while Luke stood behind me with his head on my shoulder. We were taking observer roles in this next act.

Austin noticed and came back to us, "Luke, can you support the cause?"

Luke exhaled a sigh. He raised his head from my shoulder.

Austin tried to convince him, "Come on, we used to be good at this."

"Good at what?" I asked them.

Oma answered on their behalf, "Their double act. Flirt with employees to get backstage or ho-"

"OK," Luke interrupted, "Thank you for the history lesson."

"The new year is about looking forward, not backwards," Austin agreed, steering Luke in the direction of the backstage, "Now let's move forwards."

**

It was entertaining for me to watch Luke resist the reminders of his past. Apparently, he used to flirt with girls. A lot. And that's not a surprise.

I've lived opposite the guy my whole life. Watching him pretend like he's never done this before was very entertaining.

"I have a girlfriend," Luke said for the tenth time.

It's been a whole minute since he said it last, so it's a relief to hear we haven't broken up during those sixty seconds. I'll check in again after another sixty.

This was not Fort Knox and the DJ was not our generation's response to Larry Levan, so I wasn't expecting it to be that difficult to get in. After a few minutes of Bianca lathering on her charm, she was allowed to enter.

The bouncer stood back and let her prance through. Chad then complained why he wasn't pretty enough, and the bouncer gruffly answered:

"If you want to follow her in, it'll cost you."

And zero surprise with what happened next...

...

"I'M IN!" Chad yelled out at the rest of us, waving his hands in the air. He was still carrying the bottle he'd lifted from our table, which the bouncer was trying to take from him.

While their antics moved on to the next step of the plan, I found a laminated note taped to the back of one of the sound equipment pieces. I knelt down to read it and realized it was the WiFi password, so I tapped that into my phone. I might as well keep myself entertained while this was happening.

Surprisingly, my phone buzzed as one text rolled in. My family were not the type to send out seasonal greetings and everyone I knew was here...

Happy new year! – Jake

I smiled and texted him back: Thank you! Happy new year to you too, when the time zone gets there!

I then reflected on another friend and sent out another text:

Happy new year Joe!

I tried to call my mother, but no one picked up. I did the same for Flora, but no response there either.