Chapter 1 #2
Still, the music was good, and Lucky Charlie’s was a frequent hangout spot for Josh, Kellan, and me so we sidled up to the bar and ordered a few drinks. We found a place to sit pretty easily since everyone was in the center of the bar, close to the stage.
“Is it just me, or is it stupid crowded in here?” I asked over the lead singer’s lyrics of a lost lover.
“Not just you. It’s really busy tonight.” Josh peered around the room with a look of resentment.
“I guess these Dreamscape people are pretty popular.” Kellan gave an unbothered shrug. “Or everyone is just excited to be back.”
I took a swig from my drink, watching the people milling about.
While most were swaying to the music, many of them, mostly girls, huddled in groups, chittering excitedly among themselves.
Kellan was probably right. Whoever these Dreamscape people were, they had a fanbase eager to watch them perform.
I must have been more out of touch with what was popular on campus than I’d thought.
We continued to talk between us, catching up about our summers.
Josh had spent the break volunteering at an animal shelter.
He planned on going to vet school, and the shelter appealed to his altruistic streak.
Meanwhile, Kellan had spent most of his time on his dad’s boat fishing and drinking.
Which sounded lovely compared to my summer spent working concessions at an old movie theater for some extra spending cash.
Kellan had just returned from the bar with our third round of drinks when the music stopped.
“We’re RNA,” the lead singer said.
The crowd cheered.
She waited for them to calm down before continuing. “Now, it’s my immense pleasure to introduce the main act tonight—”
The noise of the crowd swelled, and more people pressed closer to the stage. The lead singer of RNA smiled into her microphone, and I shot Kellan and Josh curious looks.
“The moment you’ve all been waiting for.” The girl on stage seemed to revel in the rising anticipation because she took a dramatic pause. It didn’t stop the crowd’s cheering from building. With a flourish, the RNA singer threw her hand to the side and yelled, “Dreamscape!”
Four figures ran out on stage. One of them paused by the RNA singer and gave her a hug before RNA made their way offstage. The noise from the crowd crescendoed in that moment as everyone lost their damn minds.
A chant rose over the noise.
“Dreamscape! Dreamscape! Dreamscape!”
“Guess these guys are a big deal,” Kellan said, but he sounded so far away over the uproar.
The lead singer slung his guitar strap over his shoulder and stepped up to the mic. I thought one of the girls in the crowd would pass out from the amount of screaming going on.
“I love you Greyson Hyun!” she yelled.
It was all I could do to keep from rolling my eyes. Yeah, the guy was attractive, but not enough for the level everyone was getting hyped for.
“I’m Grey,” the guy said into the mic. Even when he spoke, his voice was melodic, almost seductive, like how I imagined sirens would talk if they were real and male. “And we’re Dreamscape.”
His eyes landed on me across the room in the half second before he hit the first note on the string of his guitar. My stomach twisted into a weird knot under his gaze. For a moment, it felt like all the blood in my body had spilled out onto the floor. Despite the distance, his stare was intense.
Then the band started to play, and the spell was broken.
“You okay?” Josh asked as I shook my head to clear it. “You look pale.”
“Like you’ve seen a ghost,” Kellan chimed in.
“Yeah,” I said slowly then tossed back the rest of my drink. “I think I need another one.”
“That’s the spirit!” Kellan chugged his beer then let out a huge burp, earning disgusted looks from Josh and a few nearby girls.
I chuckled to myself. “I’ll be back.”
By the time I’d made it to the bar and returned with drinks, the moment of intensity from before had been forgotten.
We continued catching up. The music was good, but our conversation was better, so it became little more than background noise as the band played on.
Eventually, Dreamscape finished its set and played through two encores for the demanding audience.
Then, just like that, they were gone, and the bar’s DJ started playing music. Still, the boys and I kept talking. I had no idea how much time passed until I glanced down at my phone, and it was nearly two in the morning.
“Last call,” someone announced over the sound system. “Great time for one more round.”
“I’ll get it.” I got to my feet.
We’d gotten so distracted in talking that we hadn’t had a refill in an hour. Neither Josh nor Kellan protested, so I made my way to the bar for the final time that night.
Though Lucky Charlie’s had emptied out considerably after Dreamscape’s performance, it was still crowded around the bar itself. It was fine. I wasn’t in that big of a hurry. The line moved quickly enough, and soon I had my beverages.
Thanking the bartender, I turned around, nearly running into someone who’d been right behind me. In my efforts to dodge him, I spilled one of the drinks down my hand.
“Shit, I’m sorry,” I said. “Did any get on—” I looked up and realized I was talking to Grey, Dreamscape’s lead singer.
Our eyes locked for the second time that night, and it felt as though someone had physically punched me in the chest, knocking the wind from my lungs.
Now that he was so close, I could fully see him.
His brown hair was parted down the middle, but one stubborn strand hung over his left eye.
His lips were parted slightly, and I could see the faintest hint of a scar on the bottom one.
His face was handsome, of course, with a jawline that would have made ancient sculptors weep with envy at its artistry.
And his eyes—his eyes were like two brown pools of infinite depth.
Even in the dim light, I could see flecks of different colors in there—golds and greens and darker browns.
They were the type of eyes that I could go my whole life staring into and never tire of, the kind I could never fully decipher what was going on behind them.
They were mysterious and comforting and terrifying.
He didn’t seem the slightest bit concerned with me nearly running him over. A smirk spread across his perfectly imperfect lips. “You’re fine. Nothing got on me.”
I continued staring at him like a dumbass.
My brain had ground to a halt, producing nothing useful to say or do.
Time might as well have stopped. I was suspended in an unending moment of stupidity.
Finally, after seconds that stretched to feel like years, words came bubbling to my lips. “H-hi. I’m Ethan.”