Page 26 of Absorbed

Gabe laughed and shook his head. “You never cease to amaze me, Chapman.”

They walked into the Valley College quad right before the Juvenile Delinquents took the stage. Close to two hundred people were standing around waiting for the show to start. Stacey’s makeup was melting. It was over a hundred degrees in the sun and there was no shade anywhere near the stage. Sweat pooled under her arms and between her toes in the hot leather boots. She was afraid the hairspray wouldn’t hold against the sweat collecting on top of her head. Attempting to preserve the pin-up girl look she’d worked so hard to create, she wandered over to a low wall in the shade, away from the crowd, and sat down. She was not about to let her effort to look cute go to waste in the middle of the mosh pit.

Gabe hesitated ten feet from her, furrowing his eyebrows. “What are you doing?”

“Let’s watch from here,” she said, grinning at him.

“But we always go up by the stage.” He gestured over his shoulder with his thumb.

“I know, but we don’t have to, do we? See how nice the shade is?” Imitating Vana White, Stacey splayed her fingers and motioned for him to sit beside her.

“But…Stace…” Gabe looked behind him toward the stage a football field’s distance away, then back, torn.

Stacey patted the wall, a sly smile across her bright red lips.

Gabe shook his head. “I’m not sure what’s up with you, but I’m here to have fun.” He turned and walked toward the stage.

He didn’t look back and she didn’t follow him.

He slid quickly into the crowd. The music started. By the second song, a circle pit formed, and Stacey scrambled to stand on the wall and search for Gabe. He had joined a bunch of guys skanking. Guys were pulling off their shirts and swinging them around. Gabe was a head taller than the other dancers and his shoulders were heaving as he elbowed, bounced, and shoved his way around the pit as trumpets blared.

He’d done the same thing in May, heading to the front to dance. Although, between every song, he’d made his way back to her side. They’d sing along together to the first few bars of the next song, then he’d run into the pit again. Now she felt miserably alone and wondered where she’d gone wrong.

Several songs in, the lead singer, Martin, announced over the loudspeakers, “We want to thank our Mesa Valley friends who are here today!” The crowd cheered and Gabe pumped his fist in the air. “You guys have supported us since the beginning, coming to our shows and buying our tapes. It’s all happening now because of you.” A bunch of other hands flew in the air, clapping and making devil horns. Stacey moved toward the edge of the crowd, wanting to find a way to get by Gabe’s side.

The audience was jam-packed. No one would let her in. Martin shouted “Skank till you stank, Delinquents!” into the microphone and the crowd went wild. The band launched into their Mesa Valley tribute song and the whole crowd danced along, kicking and swinging their arms.

When the Juvenile Delinquents set ended, Stacey stood back beside the wall, hoping Gabe would at least make eye contact before the next band began. The crowd broke apart. She spotted Gabe, bare chested and red-faced, carrying his T-shirt. She waved at him.

He trotted over, wiping his face with the T-shirt. “Did you hear that tribute? Awesome, right?”

Stacey nodded, afraid to reveal her disappointment about being too far from the stage to really enjoy it.

“You having fun?” he panted.

“Yeah,” she lied. “But you must be dying out there.” Maybe if he was too hot he would stay with her in the shade?

“It’s not so bad,” Gabe grinned and shrugged. “It’s worth it!” He looked over her shoulder, smiling. Stacey followed his attention to a group of girls behind her, watching Gabe. One girl waved and Gabe quickly nodded hello. His chest expanded as he caught his breath, muscles flexed and skin splotchy from colliding with other bodies.

“Do you know those girls?” Stacey asked, wishing he was paying more attention to her.

“Not really. They said they’re friends with Martin, Josh, and the other guys from the Delinquents, too. I’ll be right back.”

He tucked his shirt into his back pocket and ran over to talk to them. Stacey slumped back down onto the wall, her elbows on her knees and her chin propped on her right hand.Is he getting their numbers?

A few minutes later, Gabe walked toward a concession stand, then returned to Stacey with two waters. He handed her one.

“Thanks,” she said.

Gabe nodded and gulped down his entire bottle. “Next band’s about to start.”

Stacey bit her lip. She was afraid he was about to ditch her again. “Looked like you were having fun out there.”

“Yeah…I was,” he said, tilting his head down to look in her eyes. “But it’d be way more fun if you were out there, too.”

Her heart skipped. “It’s pretty lonely over here.”

He stuck his bottom lip out. “Oh, poor baby. You’re lonely…pouting that it’s hot…in summer!” Gabe put his arm around her neck and pulled her against his torso. Her stomach fluttered.

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