Sam’s Night Out

Samantha sat in the field of flowers. They surrounded her, enveloped her. Yellows and blues and greens and purples and pinks to her heart’s delight. She felt so fine in her purple dress. Her tangled blonde hair rose slightly in a light breeze and she hummed softly to herself. The flower fields extended far, far off to the horizon in every direction, touching huge, bulbous white clouds that arched and rose and breathed and sighed and laughed…and cried. The blue sky dimmed to gray and the rain began to pour. Samantha was soaked, and the flowers drooped and wept. The thunder boomed-

---

Sam jolted awake. The sun was bright and piercing. She blinked and straightened herself. She looked around and yawned. Oh no, did she seriously pass out on a park bench? She probably looked like a hobo. She looked at her phone. 2:34. Still not too late. She stuck her hands in her parka pockets. It was a comfy thing; a nice light shade of gray and perfect for the sort of early spring day that still had a bit of the lingering chill of winter. The warm sun certainly helped with that as well though. She sat there staring at a tree for about three minutes when suddenly a girl sat down on the bench next to her. Sam straightened up a bit, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.

She chanced a sideways glance to her left at her new bench-mate. The girl seemed to be around her age, maybe a bit younger, maybe a bit older, but undoubtedly some kind of twenty-something. She had a slender neck and short black hair that was slightly messy and jagged. There was a cool-looking purple tattoo on the side of her neck just below her hair; some kind of squiggly mark Sam couldn’t quite make out. She had circular black earrings in her ears that glittered in the sunlight and a black leather jacket on. Sam glanced away, not wanting to risk drawing any attention to herself.

“Nice day, eh?” the girl said.

“Uhn?” was the muffled garble that escaped from Sam’s surprised mouth. “Uh, uh…ye-yeah. Yeah.”

She looked directly at the girl now and managed an awkward little smile before looking away. Oh boy, she thought. How do I get out of this one? I don’t want to just get up and walk away and be rude…not that I necessarily don’t want to talk to her or anything, it’s just that I don’t know-

“So you live around here?” the girl said.

“Bum,” Sam replied. Bum? BUM?! What the hell was that?! “Uh, n-not exactly. I’m actually visiting my aunt. I’m kind of…getting away from stuff for a bit.”

“Oh, groovy,” the girl replied. “By the way, I like your bracelet.”

Sam instinctively put her hand over her bracelet. It was golden-colored and had some kind of spherical blue gem inlaid in a diamond-shaped socket.

“Oh, uh, thanks. It’s just a cheap thing I’ve had for ages...” She grinned just a little bit.

“It matches your hair.” The girl turned and looked at Sam now. She held out her hand. “I’m Alex,” she said with a smile.

Sam glanced at her hand, then her brown eyes, then her hand, then: “Sam.” She took the hand and quickly let go in the world’s most pathetic handshake.

Silence.

Then: “So, uh, do you live around here?” Sam said.

“Uh, kinda. You might say that,” Alex said with a slight smirk.

Ooook, whatever that means.

“Hey, listen, Sam, do you like music?”

“Um, yeah, sure,” Sam said bleakly.

“Hey that’s cool. Well you’re new in town though, right? I just ask because some friends of mine and I are going to this thing tonight at the New Haven Bar. Heard of it?”

“Uh, no…”

“Of course you haven’t. Well, I’m sure your phone has a GPS or something, right? Anyway, you should stop by. Nine o’clock, K?”

Alex turned and smiled at Sam before getting up and walking away. Sam, who hadn’t managed to give a proper response to the invitation, watched as the tall, dark-haired girl joined a young man who was idling by a tree. The two began talking and walked until they disappeared around a bend.

Uh…did I just get hit on or something? Is the guy interested in me? Sam wasn’t sure what to think, but her heart was pounding.

---

Sam trotted down the street, trying not to bash into anybody as she went from glancing at her phone to looking up at street signs. She was still getting used to finding her way around the city, but she saw it as a fun challenge. Let’s see here, it should be…maybe I shouldn’t be going to this. I don’t even know this girl. What if she’s just trying to set me up with that guy? What if-ah, here’s the street. Suddenly Sam’s heart was pounding again as the nerves kicked in.

She was wearing a yellow coat with a blue blouse underneath. It had gotten quite a bit colder since night had fallen. She looked down at her jeans and black boots. She checked her blue bobble earrings. I look fine. It’s fine, she thought as she used her camera’s selfie function to check her makeup and her freckles. Whatever. Who am I tryna impress anyway? Oh shit, there it is. Dammit. What am I doing?

A small wooden sign was hanging over the sidewalk just up ahead that read “New Haven Tavern”. She slowly inched up to the building and spotted a flyer posted on the window that read something to the effect of “TONIGHT: PASCAL AND SHADOWS/THE CREAKIN’ CANOES…$5 Cover!!!” What kind of name is “The Creakin’ Canoes”? Guess that’s the “thing” Alex mentioned. She peeked through the window and tried to see if she could spot the girl she had just met around six hours ago, but no luck. She sighed and took a deep breath, putting her phone away and brushing her coat.

Dammit, I look like a sunflower. I’m probably gonna be so out of place in this…place. Ok, just walk through the door, Sam. Just do it. Dive in the pool.

As she approached the front door, it burst open and a guy and a girl came out laughing and stumbling as a warbling voice and the sound of an acoustic guitar came wafting into the street. Jeez, it’s not even nine o’clock yet. Sam grabbed the door before it closed again and entered the bar.

The place was actually pretty cozy; dimly lit, a few tables here and there and some booths further back, not too big. There was a small stage in one corner, upon which a young man with long dirty-blonde hair that covered his eyes was strumming on an acoustic guitar and singing about seagulls or something while another guy on drums backed him up. Sam stood awkwardly in the entranceway waiting for something to happen, suddenly deeply regretting her decision to come here. She looked around but didn’t spot Alex. Will I even be able to recognize her?

“Uh, excuse me,” a bald guy in a black shirt was trying to get her attention to her left. “Oh, right,” she said and handed him five dollars.

“Your ID?” he said.

“Oh, yeah, yeah…” She fumbled around for her driver’s license and suddenly got very hot in the face. I haven’t been to a bar in like three years… The guy looked inquisitively at her ID for what seemed like far too long and then handed it back to her.

“Thannk-you,” he said and stamped her hand. She slinked over to the bar, got the cheapest beer on offer, and found an empty table. Luckily the place wasn’t that crowded. She looked around and still no sign of Alex anywhere. She overheard a guy behind her ask if the two guys playing right now were the Creakin’ Canoes or the other people, and a girl answer that she didn’t know. Some more people entered as the Creakin’ Canoes or whoever kept creakin’ on and settled around her and at the bar. Soon enough the band finished playing, said thank-you, and walked off. Maybe thirty minutes had passed since she’d gotten there, and she was really milking that last fraction of beer at the bottom of the glass. A young, burly-looking guy was now setting up a new set of drums on the stage.

Soon enough the stage was empty again except for a drum set, a microphone stand, and a small stool. The same guy who had checked her ID and stamped her hand got on the stage. “All right, folks, we got one more group for you tonight. Give it up for Pascal and Shadows.”

Some half-hearted applause here and there as three people came from somewhere further back in the bar and got up on stage. Sam’s heart leaped into her throat. There she was, Alex, though Sam had to do a double-take to be sure. She had ditched the leather jacket and black pants for a gorgeous but modest purple dress that reached her knees and high black boots with like a million laces. Sam couldn’t help but notice a second tattoo, this one much larger, that snaked up the right side of her bare right leg, the same shade of purple as the one on her neck and what looked like a similar design. She was wearing little black triangle earrings and her hair was all messy and cool-looking. Her purple eye-shadow and subtle pink lipstick were the things that drew Sam’s attention the most though. Sam suddenly found herself sinking in her chair and gulping down the rest of her beer in one go as Alex stepped up to the microphone.

“Hey there. I’m Pascal, and these…” she indicated the two young guys who had gotten on the stage with her, one with an electric guitar and the other, the burly guy from before, on drums. Sam recognized the one on guitar as the young guy Alex had been talking to earlier. Maybe her boyfriend or something…? “…are my Shadows,” Alex finished, and then to Sam’s shock belted out: “ONE TWO THREE FOUR!” and dove headfirst into an eruption of impassioned singing, as the guy on guitar shredded away and the guy on drums went nuts.

Sam felt sweat gathering under her armpits. Alex’s singing was like a knife gutting her heart…but in the best way possible. She felt lightheaded. She wasn’t even listening to the words, just the tone of Alex’s voice as she swayed and moved around the stage screaming into the microphone…the best kind of screaming.

The bar felt like it had come alive. People were suddenly paying attention, and a young couple had gotten up to start dancing. The song came to an end and Alex turned around to take a breath and drink some water from a bottle she had placed on the stool behind her. “Thank-you,” she said, and then to Sam’s horror, her eyes suddenly glanced directly at herself. It was only for a moment, but she knew that she was no longer invisible. She’d been noticed. There was no escaping this now, oh God. “Thank-you. This next song is a little different. Hope you like it.” Alex looked down at the floor for a moment before looking up and beginning with a much slower, more somber tune, and her voice took on a new tone of beauty, but one no less impassioned.

Alex and her “shadows” sang maybe two more songs after that and then it was over, but by that point, the bar had gotten quite populated and people were now talking and laughing loudly. Sam felt a pit inside her and thought about escaping to the bathroom. She escaped to the bar instead. Alex and the others had disappeared back behind the stage somewhere with their instruments.

“Five dollars!” a voice behind Sam yelled. She turned, startled, and took the beer, spilling at least half of it on herself in the process, and hurriedly shuffled the cash toward the redhead tending the bar. She turned around and sipped her beer; actually it was more like “glugged” her beer. Yeah, she took a big glug.

She just stood there as people chatted loudly every which way and felt herself suddenly feeling very small. She turned back towards the bar and hoped that her armpits weren’t as sweaty as she feared they were. She fixed her hair, which she just knew was sticking up and frayed all over the place. She-

“Hey! Sam! I’m so glad you came!” Sam jolted and spun to her right. Alex was there. Purple dress. Bare arms showing. Purple eye-shadow.

“Uh…” Sam said. “Uh, yeah! Hey!” She glanced at the two young men at Alex’s side.

“Oh yeah,” Alex said. “These are the friends I was talking about. Rich,” she thumbed back at the guy on her right, the drummer. “…and Rob.” She jovially threw an arm around the guy on her left’s shoulder. It was the guy from before, the one who had been on guitar. The two young men and Sam exchanged the “Heys” and “Hey, how are yas” and “Nice to meetchas” and then Alex and the other two got some drinks and the four of them headed to a booth in the shadows of the bar.

“So you didn’t tell me that you were the thing going on here tonight,” Sam said.

Alex shrugged, “Yeah, well, ya know, surprise! Alex Pascal, at your service. So what’d you think?”

“Oh, uh,” Sam felt herself getting hot again. “You were good. Yeah. Really good.”

“Hey thanks, I’m glad you think so.” Sam took a gulp of her beer. “Hey cool, we kind of match tonight!” Alex said and pointed to Sam’s blue blouse.

“I kind of match your tattoos actually,” Sam said, and then suddenly felt extremely embarrassed at how awkward that sounded.

Rob let out a little snicker and Alex elbowed him. “So ya noticed, huh?” She turned her head so Sam got a good look at the one on her neck. It was an ornate, calligraphic design that made Sam think of wind. “There’s not really a deep meaning here, if you’re wondering. I just liked the design. Same with the one on my leg. I got them the same day.”

Sam nodded stupidly. “Cool,” she said and buried herself in her beer.

“So Alex said you’re visiting your aunt?” Rob said. “Are you on vacation or something?”

Sam looked away and smirked. “Heh, not exactly.” How do I dodge this? “Hey, I saw you earlier in the park with Alex,” She glanced between the two of them. “…so uh, are you guys, like, a couple?”

Rob laughed. Sam sipped her beer and looked at Alex nervously. Her heart was thumping. “Nope!” Alex said. “I’m totally gay!”

Sam felt her stomach leap. “Oh, uh…” she said. “So, uh, am I actually.”

“I know,” Alex said with a smile.

Am I that obvious? “So, um, how long have you guys been a band?” Sam managed.

Sam became more comfortable the more she hung out with Alex and her friends, and she eventually decided that it hadn’t been such a bad idea to come here after all. Perhaps it had something to do with Alex doing most of the talking or most likely it was just the alcohol. The four of them chatted for over an hour, though Sam was quiet much of the time and Rich barely said a word, before heading out of the bar. Alex was wearing her leather jacket over her dress and the boys had grabbed their coats as well. Rob had his guitar case slung over his shoulder and Rich was carrying his set of drums in a large bag that Sam had no idea how he managed to carry so easily.

“Hey so this was fun,” Alex said as they walked.

Sam smiled. “Yeah, uh, thanks for inviting me.”

“Hey no problem. But listen, Sam…”

“Ye-yeah?”

“Next time we hang out, you’re gonna have to tell us all about your mysterious and treacherous past, K?”

“Oh, uh, yeah…maybe…”

Alex chuckled and gave Sam a little shove. “I’m just messin’ with ya. We have another show next weekend, but in the meantime let’s exchange numbers.”

They did.

“Well, here’s us,” Alex said, pointing to the subway entrance. “You know how to get back to your aunt’s from here, Sam?”

“Yeah, I think so. It’s actually close by, so I can just walk there. I’ll be fine.”

“Great! Listen, Sam,” she looked Sam in the eye now and Sam felt a little rush to her head. “I’ll be seein’ ya.” And with that she gave a little wave and the three of them disappeared down the stairs.

Sam turned down the street and smiled. She walked a little bit forward without really thinking of anything at all, before suddenly realizing that she had no idea where she was. Oh crap. She dug around in her pocket for her phone and proceeded to fumble through a disorganized list of apps looking for the GPS.

---

Alex sat in the subway train with her legs crossed, one of them bouncing up and down slightly. Rich sat to her right, staring at the ceiling, and Rob to her left, looking at the floor, his hands grasped, seemingly deep in thought. Suddenly, he looked up. “Think she suspects anything?”

“I don’t know…probably not,” Alex said.

“Are you sure she’s the one?” Rich said to her right, still gazing at the ceiling of the rattling subway car.

“Oh yeah,” Alex said. “It’s definitely her.”