“I wonder if we should get out of here,” Fern said. “I wonder if that guy will try to find us later or something.”
“Fuck that!” I said. “I’m not letting him ruin our night. What’s he going to do? Obviously he’s a fucking moron. I’d like to see him try anything with us.” I grinned.
“I guess,” Fern said, frowning. “You’re probably right.”
xXx
We watched the rest of Surgical Carnage’s set from the back of the club. My lopsided heels bothered me so much that I’d had enough. I slammed my foot against the floor over and over until the other heel broke off too. Still felt awkward, but at least now I was reasonably balanced again.
When the concert was done, a huge swell of people made their way back out the door. The five of us joined the crowd, shuffling forward slowly.
As we reached the door, someone said, “There! There she is.”
There was a burly security guy wearing an orange shirt by the exit door, and next to him stood the tall gangly asshole from the mosh pit. His face was covered with dried blood, and his eyes were wild with anger. He was flanked by a few of his friends, who looked somewhat amused and annoyed. The guy pointed at me. “That’s her.”
The security guy looked down at me in surprise. “Her?”
“Yeah! That little bitch broke my nose.”
The security guard chuckled, and even the guy’s friends cracked up. “Really?” the security guy said, grinning. “Sweetheart, did you beat this guy up?”
I smiled. “Nope. I have no idea what happened to him.”
The bouncer turned his smile on the guy. “The little lady says no, my friend. And I’m inclined to believe her.”
“Yeah right!” the guy said. “Why would I make this up?”
“Maybe because I wouldn’t make out with you,” I improvised, rolling my eyes at the bouncer.
The guy’s friends howled, and interested onlookers started laughing too. The bouncer waved his hand at me dismissively. “Go on home,” he said to me, and then turned to the guy. “Just ’cause you can’t get lucky doesn’t give you the right to try to get this girl in trouble.” The guy started arguing like an idiot, flailing a pointed finger towards me, and I rolled my eyes again and turned my back on them. The five of us filed out of the building.
“Rachel, you are fucking amazing,” Fern said. She and Yvonne linked their arms with mine, and we made our way back to the car.
xXx
The ride home was quiet. Yvonne and Edgar fell asleep, and Craig drove silently. Fern and I were still awake, but we didn’t talk. We were all exhausted.
I sat staring out the window at the night. It was mostly farm pastures and forests, so there weren’t many lights, but I watched the dark shadows as we sped past them, trying to absorb everything that had happened at the concert.
My hand was definitely hurting and stiff. I guessed it was swelling up. I hoped I hadn’t fractured any of my bones. I thought of the wet, splattering crunch of the guy’s nose and smiled. I was proud of myself for not being afraid of the blood, and not being afraid to help Fern. I admired my own strength. It was nice to know I had it. Never again would I fear anyone, be it Brandi or some psycho at a concert.
xXx
Soon enough we arrived at my house. I didn’t want to wake anybody up, so I reluctantly leaned forward to whisper to Craig. Despite the awesome night we’d had, I still didn’t like the guy. But I didn’t want to be rude.
“Thanks for the ride,” I said.
“Yeah, no problem,” he replied. “I guess I’ll see you at school?”
“Yep,” I said and climbed out of the car. As they pulled away from the curb, I pranced up the driveway, feeling like a million bucks.
xXx