Page 71 of Poems He Wrote

Matilda laughs on the other side of me, poking my ribs and winking. I love being around Noah and his family. And yes, I see his best friend as his family, we all do. All of his people make me feel like I belong, like I am a part of the group too.

As we nearThe Silos, I see a bunch of goth looking people pouring in from all around. I love how music connects people of different ages, backgrounds and colors. We all come here to share our love for this one band, which I find truly beautiful. Most of them are dressed in monochrome black outfits made out of lace or leather, with chains as accessories. I say most of them because at the entrance stands a group of girls in gorgeous pastel pink outfits. They are wearing matching dresses and huge pinkDemoniashoes.

“Are pastel goths back in style?” Noah says, brushing his fingers lightly over my bare shoulder.

“They never went out of style in the first place!” Matilda chimes in from the other side.

“Aren’t they cool?” I ask, looking the girls up and down. “I always wanted to try that style, but I am so pale. It literally makes me look anemic.”

“You always look anemic.”

“Gee, thanks, girl.” I look at Mats, shooting daggers at her.

“I’m jo-king-gg-gh!” she rolls the words over her tongue, leaning her head on my chest again, as we take our place in the queue.

I look at Noah, my face changing fifty shades of red in less than a second. He laughs and points a finger at his best friend, telling me to turn my attention back to her, as she is squeezing her hands tightly around my waist. I look at the girl, trying my best to look pissed, but she smiles the brightest of smiles back at me, and my face drops.

“See! Already much better!” She lets go of my waist and moves her fingers in front of my face, as if circling it. “Red looks amazing on you!”

“I…what? Thanks… I guess,” I stutter, whilst my boyfriend is dying of laughter watching our interaction.

“You know we love you, right?” she says.

My eyes bounce to the other side, meeting Noah’s.

“Yeah. I love you too,” I respond, looking at my shoes, trying to hide my face from the man who I so desperately want to say these words to.

I take the concert tickets out of my bag, right as the bouncer screams ‘NEXTTTT’at the couple in front of the three of us. They don’t look a day over seventeen and were obviously too busy making out to notice the line in front of them has cleared.

Noah’s dad would say ‘oh, young love, such a beautiful thing’.

They hold out their hands holding the tickets, and a gorgeous black woman with a head full of fire-engine red dreadlocks pokes a hole through the center of the paper. Her skin is crystal clear, shining with golden highlighter which accentuates her proportional face features. She is wearing a dress similar to mine, and it hugs her curvaceous body so perfectly. Why is every metalhead woman so gorgeous?

The bouncer removes the black chain behind him and lets the teenagers pass through the door yelling at the boy to not even think about drinking tonight.

We laugh as we approach the gorgeous woman handling the tickets.

“He is usually not that grumpy, but that’s his baby brother,” she says in a chirpy voice, waving a hand in front of her face. “Anyway, tickets please!”

I extend my hand out to her and she proceeds to poke our tickets too. I give them out to Mats and Noah as we step around her.

“Have fun!” she says looking at Matilda.

I look at Noah, my eyes saucer-wide. This woman…wow.

“As I like to say, Mats is making her own private collection, and she’s gotta catch them all!” I laugh at his words so hard I almost snort.

We take a step back, letting Matilda pass us at the speed of light, the black strings of her skirt trailing behind her, completely baring her thighs.

“Be responsible, kids, I’ve got a woman to catch.” She straightens her back and rushes up the concrete stairs leading to the rooftop ofThe Silos, where the concert is being held.

Noah tangles his fingers with mine and we slowly start climbing the stairs. Whoever thought of putting a concert venue at the last floor of an eight-story building, which you can only reach by going up the stairs so steep you walk with your back almost parallel to the earth surface, deserves jail time.

Another bouncer opens the door for us, letting us pass through to the venue. It looks phenomenal. Red lights are casting a dark glow over the people who are dancing to the opening band’s music. Its kinda scary and eerie vibe takes over me. I love it.

The beat of the drums shakes through my chest, as people part, letting us walk through to the barricade in front of the stage. Guitarists are playing with their backs pressed together, their fingers flying over the fingerboard. Thankfully, there aren’t too many people here yet, so I quickly step up to the metal railing, securing a space for us till the end of the night. Noah stands behind me, caging me in with his arms, his front pressing into me. It makes me feel safe.

He hums the song the band on the stage is playing, and sings along with their vocalist. I turn to look at him, and find his face in this wonderful bliss.

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