Back to the Andersons…
Martha and William would have continued their talk about Nate and his apparent problems with Kenya, if the doorbell hadn’t interrupted them.
“Hello Ben.” William said.
“Morning! Is Nate around?”
“He’s upstairs. Do you need him for something?” Martha asked.
“Alex and I are going to an Alkaline Trio* concert in Seattle. A friend had a change of plans, so we’ve got an extra ticket. Thought maybe he’d want to join us, he did mention he liked them once before.” Ben said. He stepped out of the way so William and Martha could see Alex waving from the passenger side of Ben’s Jeep.
Actually Ben didn’t get the extra ticket until last night. After he and Alex picked Nate up from Kenya’s place, they couldn’t help but notice how gloomy Nate seemed. All Nate would say was that something was wrong, but Kenya wouldn’t tell him what it was. So, in an effort to cheer his friend up, Ben decided to take Nate with them.
“That’s awfully nice you two. When would you get back?”
“No later than twelve, earliest around eleven. Concert doesn’t start until seven, and there are three opening bands.” Ben guesstimated.
“Then why are you boys heading out so soon?” William asked. It couldn’t be because of the travel time, Seattle was at best thirty minutes to an hour away (depending on traffic).
“Tailgating. Mostly just hanging out with some friends a few blocks from the venue, but it’ll be fun.” Ben said. Most of the other teenagers who went didn’t made such a big deal out of the concert, but those from Moon Lake did. They so rarely left the town, so they often treated an excursion (no matter how small or short) like a party.
Martha and William exchanged a quick glance, both approving. Nate wasn’t a little kid anymore, and didn’t have school the next day.
“I’ll ask him if he wants to go.” Martha said. She had no clue who this band was, nor did she know if Nate knew who they were. But she hoped Nate did go, because he needed a good distraction from his relationship problems.
Martha went upstairs and gently knocked on Nate’s door a few times before he responded.
“What’s up Mom?”
“Ben and Alex are downstairs. They’re going to a concert in Seattle, and they’ve offered to let you go with them. Do you want to go?”
Nate, who had been sitting down at the time, shot forward. He hadn’t done anything “normal” like that since ehe got to Moon Lake. Interacting with other normals, in the real world, it sounded so bizarre even though he’d been one of those normal people less about six months ago.
“Ya! Wait, who are they going to see?” Not that it mattered too much to Nate. He just wanted to get out of the house, and more to a point out of Moon Lake for a while.
“Uh, All-Klein-Trio?”
Nate bit his lip so he didn’t laugh at his mom, and corrected her. Nate was a bit surprised his mom didn’t remember the name. When he was in middle school, he’d been fairly obsessed with Alkaline Trio. Still had a few band shirts and posters stashed in boxes.
“Tell them I’ll be down in ten minutes!” Nate jumped up and started to throw together a day bag. A change of clothing, his wallet, and some extra cash.
Once he made sure he was all packed, Nate checked his phone one last time. No new messages. Nate turned his phone onto vibrate, threw it into the deepest section of his backpack, and went to meet Ben and Alex. He pushed all thoughts of Kenya from his mind, and focused on enjoying himself.
Ben headed back to the car after Martha gave him Nate’s response.
“Is he coming?” Alex asked when Ben reentered the jeep.
“Getting his stuff together.” Ben replied.
“Did I ever tell you you’re like the most considerate person I’ve met?” Alex smiled. Maybe it was because one of Ben’s moms was a therapist, or maybe it was just him. But Alex loved how kind and thoughtful Ben could be. Despite his being a bit of a jock (who were typically pretty thick).
After Nate said goodbye to his parents, he almost leapt into the backseat from across the lawn.
“Whoa, easy there man. Don’t go breaking my baby.” Ben said as Nate’s sudden weight shook the jeep.
“I appreciate the concern, but I think I’m alright.” Alex winked.
“Thanks for letting me tag along. But I didn’t think you liked Alkaline Trio.” Nate commented.
“Well you two are, so I figured I might as well go too. Besides, who’s going to keep you out of trouble while you’re in Seattle?” Ben smirked. Alex rolled his eyes and said something about Ben acting like his father.
“Ouch, little below the belt don’t you think?” Alex pretended to double over in pain.
“But accurate.”
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*Alkaline Trio, their frontman is Matt Skiba (almost new vocalist/guitarist for blink-182)