Rewind

VI: Outing

I’m nervous.

I know it’s not a big deal but for me it feels like it. I’ve never hung out with a friend. I never had a friend before. And even if it’s just a small gig to this café, it still feels like such a huge thing to do. Mum and Dad look at me with reproachful eyes but I couldn’t care less at this time. I know I’m going to meet Sam and we’ll have fun. That’s all I care about for now.

I leave home and take the bus. We’ll meet outside Tempest, the café she took me to before and where the gig will take place today. I have a great sense of orientation so I have no problem finding the place again although I’ve been there only once. When I make it I find Sam waiting for me outside dressed in simple faded out jeans, trainers and a long cream coloured jumper with a big triangle. She smiles brightly at me when she sees me and waves energetically as if I haven’t seen her. I wave back and rush to catch up with her. Once we are face to face we smile at each other widely.

“I’m glad you made it!” she says animatedly. “I thought your parents were gonna say no and lock you up in a tower. Not that you live in a castle. I mean, maybe you do, I don’t know, it could be. Do you live in a castle?” she asks and I laugh. I can tell she’s excited. I’ve noticed that Sam tends to ramble when she’s excited slash nervous slash happy.

“No, just a regular house. No tower, but we do have an attic,” I tell her and her eyes widen.

“They could’ve locked you in there and force you to do homework for the whole weekend!”

“They almost did,” I tell her with a shocked expression, although I’m joking and she knows it. I also know she’s not being serious.

“I’m glad you managed to escape that fate of dull homework,” she dramatises and I wipe my forehead with my arm, as if I barely made it out of my house alive.

We both laugh and smile even brighter. I never thought it would be so easy to joke with a friend.

“Let’s go inside?” I ask and she nods.

We walk side by side inside the café and I feel that warmth sensation again. I really like this humble and hipster place. There are many more people today, standing or sitting, drinking coffee and talking among each other. On the stage there’s a stool and a microphone so I assume that’s where this singer will perform. Sam looks for a little table for us and, amazingly, she finds one so we sit there and a bit later a waiter comes to ask for our order. We just ask for juice and quesadillas as we wait because Sam says the latter are the best.

“I’m so excited!” Sam tells me. “Patrick is amazing. I bet you’ll love his music. It’s so honest and just beautiful and you can feel the way he connects with the guitar. It’s like they become one! It’s so cool.”

As I hear her talking I get excited. More excited. I can’t wait to see this Patrick she talks about and see with my own eyes if he’s amazing. I’m sure I’ll like him. I think I would like anything I see today because I’m just happy to be out.

We keep talking for about half an hour as more people keep coming. It’s not crowded, but there is a clearly eager audience waiting for the show to start. During the whole time there’s soft music playing at the background and when this stops we know it’s show time so we all turn to face the stage. With Sam we stay on our seats but I can see she’s about to jump to her feet and run to the stage. I think I feel like that, too.

The lights dim and a spotlight is directed to the small stage, illuminating the stool. Soon, a man walks on stage and takes a seat, a guitar on his lap. He fixes the mic and then looks at the audience and smiles brightly.

He’s probably twenty something with manly features but not chiselled or something. He has a thick beard of an auburn colour, like his messy hair. He is wearing just black trainers and a plaid flannel shirt. So normal. He’s not a rockstar or a super fashionable celebrity, just a regular bloke.