“Hey, man.” Jake stuck his hand out. They shook.
“Wow, Brenna, everyone’s got one of your shirts on.” Devon craned his neck and looked around.
“Cool, right?” Jake squeezed me around the waist. “Do you guys want to go in?”
“Let me call Mom first.” Devon’s crazy mother had reminded me of my own sweet, sane one waiting back at home. I called and told her about the shirts, and she was excited for me and told me to have fun and call later. I fully appreciated my mother’s coolness, especially after I witnessed Devon’s mom’s relative insanity.
We headed to the door, paid our five dollar covers, got our red wristbands and headed in. If you were old enough to drink, you got a green wristband, but Folly’s fan base was relatively young, so those were few and far between. In the handful of minutes I left Jake to go and say hello to Kelsie, who had just been relieved from sales duty, a pretty brunette with a green wristband found him and was flirting outrageously.
Kelsie shook her head. “Jake is one serious girl magnet.” Jake was pointedly ignoring the girl and trying to talk to Devon. “Is that Devon Conner?” Kelsie asked.
“Yeah.” I watched them talk, and it looked like Devon was loosening up. Maybe. A little.
“He’s such a nice guy. He helped me with my algebra worksheet the other day in lunch.”
“Yeah, he’s cool.” I smiled when I heard Devon’s donkey bray of a laugh and saw Jake join in laughing with him.
“Chris is so excited,” she gushed. “Ooh, you’re wearing my necklace! It goes perfectly with your eyes. You look so cute!”
“You, too,” I said. “Hey, Jake had some big race today, and he won.”
“Motocross?” Kelsie looked at me with surprise.
“Yeah. It was actually really fun to watch. I didn’t think I’d like it as much as I did.”
“Was it the Vernon Valley Amateur?” Kelsie asked. “Did Jake win a set there?”
“Yeah. You know it?” Kimmy’s eyes were wide. I really wished I knew more about racing. “He was amazing. Is it a big deal?”
“I think so. My little brother said it’s the biggest in the northeast. I don’t think it’s big money or anything, but it’s super competitive.”
I was impressed all over again. “He’s full of surprises.” The group of girls around him was growing. “I think I have to go before he gets mauled.”
I made my way back to Jake and Devon. Devon was talking to a group of kids from Frankford, and Jake looked relieved when he saw me.
“Brenna!” The girls around him scowled and moved aside.
“I was talking to Kelsie.” I elbowed past his admirers and slid next to him. “She said your race was a pretty big thing. Like entire northeast big.”
He smiled. “Maybe a little.”
“You could have explained a little more about it to me.” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“You’re never interested in talking when I have you alone,” he said and kissed me quiet.
“Jake!” It was a whiny, feminine voice. And there was corset girl. Was she impervious to New Jersey’s cold autumn chill? Her deep tan was also strangely at odds with the rest of the pasty-looking crowd. “I saw your win,” she said, ignoring me. “That was a pretty incredible jump in the last leg.”
“Thanks, Shayla.” Jake pushed me forward a little, like he wanted to make sure couldn’t possibly miss me. Or like he was using me as his personal anti-groupie shield. “I really want you to meet my girlfriend, Brenna.”
“Hey,” she said to me with a little eye roll, then immediately looked back at Jake. “So, are you heading to Digman’s for the next set? I guess it’s a little pointless since you already placed at Vernon, but it’s going to be fun and everyone’s excited to see you race again. Me especially.”
Jake shrugged. “Brenna and I will talk about it. Good seeing you, Shay.” And he moved me on towards the stage. “Sorry. Just a girl from my distant past who never seems to go away.”
“It’s alright.” I put on my best tolerant face. “Sussex County must be pretty full of girls from your past.” I smiled for him and he relaxed a little.
That minute, Folly came out on the stage. The crowd went crazy, stomping, cheering and calling out.
The lead guitarist leaned over the microphone. He had a blue Mohawk and enough facial piercings to set off a metal detector from five feet away. “Hey guys. Thanks. We’re Folly, and we just want to say thank you for everyone who came to support us tonight.” The crowd screamed and cheered. “And, we see a lot of Folly t-shirts out there. We want to give a special shout out to Brenna Blixen. Brenna, are you here?”
“Right here!” Jake yelled and pointed to me.
Folly’s lead guitarist smiled a devilish smile. “She is hot,” he said to Chris, and there were hoots and whistles from the crowd. “Thanks for the designs. We sold out, but there will be more at our next show at the Lodge in Vernon next month. Alright, let’s get this started. We’re dedicating this one to our man Devon, a true appreciator of music.” They started to play the opening strains of “Slow Dog,” and the cheers almost drowned out the beginning of the song.
I had never been to a show before, and it was amazing how alive and electric it felt. There were so many people crammed so close in a space that wasn’t designed to be so packed. A lot of the people sang along to the chorus, shouting the lyrics and dancing to the music.
Jake wrapped his arms around me and leaned close to my ear.
“So, the guitar guy likes you,” he said.
I turned towards him, wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed. “You and I are both hot commodities in Sussex County I guess.”
“In a few years, you and me, we’ll be out of here for good. Just the two of us, no groupies, no mohawked rockers.” He kissed me again, and I felt a shock at his words.
Of course, they were probably just words that he said to add to my joke. Was he really thinking that far into the future? It was kind of ridiculous to even obsess about. If I went for the realist’s perspective, I had known Jake for less than a month.
That seemed the most shocking of all, put into such stark fact. Was it possible that just a few weeks ago I had lived an entirely Jake-free existence? My heart ached at the thought. He felt like he had always been somewhere in my life, waiting.
I turned back towards the stage and leaned on Jake. I moved my head to the side and breathed the smell of him in. I loved him. I loved Jake Kelly so much it made my heart thump. I stood in his arms through the next set, then Folly broke for an intermission. Jake offered to get me a soda, and I saw some guys come over and start talking to him. I was so busy spying on Jake, I didn’t notice that someone else had approached. Saxon grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the door.