I’m nervous.

I know it’s not a big deal but for me it feels like it. I’ve never hung out with a friend. I never had a friend before. And even if it’s just a small gig to this café, it still feels like such a huge thing to do. Mum and Dad look at me with reproachful eyes but I couldn’t care less at this time. I know I’m going to meet Sam and we’ll have fun. That’s all I care about for now.

I leave home and take the bus. We’ll meet outside Tempest, the café she took me to before and where the gig will take place today. I have a great sense of orientation so I have no problem finding the place again although I’ve been there only once. When I make it I find Sam waiting for me outside dressed in simple faded out jeans, trainers and a long cream coloured jumper with a big triangle. She smiles brightly at me when she sees me and waves energetically as if I haven’t seen her. I wave back and rush to catch up with her. Once we are face to face we smile at each other widely.

“I’m glad you made it!” she says animatedly. “I thought your parents were gonna say no and lock you up in a tower. Not that you live in a castle. I mean, maybe you do, I don’t know, it could be. Do you live in a castle?” she asks and I laugh. I can tell she’s excited. I’ve noticed that Sam tends to ramble when she’s excited slash nervous slash happy.

“No, just a regular house. No tower, but we do have an attic,” I tell her and her eyes widen.

“They could’ve locked you in there and force you to do homework for the whole weekend!”

“They almost did,” I tell her with a shocked expression, although I’m joking and she knows it. I also know she’s not being serious.

“I’m glad you managed to escape that fate of dull homework,” she dramatises and I wipe my forehead with my arm, as if I barely made it out of my house alive.

We both laugh and smile even brighter. I never thought it would be so easy to joke with a friend.

“Let’s go inside?” I ask and she nods.

We walk side by side inside the café and I feel that warmth sensation again. I really like this humble and hipster place. There are many more people today, standing or sitting, drinking coffee and talking among each other. On the stage there’s a stool and a microphone so I assume that’s where this singer will perform. Sam looks for a little table for us and, amazingly, she finds one so we sit there and a bit later a waiter comes to ask for our order. We just ask for juice and quesadillas as we wait because Sam says the latter are the best.

“I’m so excited!” Sam tells me. “Patrick is amazing. I bet you’ll love his music. It’s so honest and just beautiful and you can feel the way he connects with the guitar. It’s like they become one! It’s so cool.”

As I hear her talking I get excited. More excited. I can’t wait to see this Patrick she talks about and see with my own eyes if he’s amazing. I’m sure I’ll like him. I think I would like anything I see today because I’m just happy to be out.

We keep talking for about half an hour as more people keep coming. It’s not crowded, but there is a clearly eager audience waiting for the show to start. During the whole time there’s soft music playing at the background and when this stops we know it’s show time so we all turn to face the stage. With Sam we stay on our seats but I can see she’s about to jump to her feet and run to the stage. I think I feel like that, too.

The lights dim and a spotlight is directed to the small stage, illuminating the stool. Soon, a man walks on stage and takes a seat, a guitar on his lap. He fixes the mic and then looks at the audience and smiles brightly.

He’s probably twenty something with manly features but not chiselled or something. He has a thick beard of an auburn colour, like his messy hair. He is wearing just black trainers and a plaid flannel shirt. So normal. He’s not a rockstar or a super fashionable celebrity, just a regular bloke.

Everyone claps and I do the same, excited to see him perform. I get the impression everyone has seen him playing already, that everyone knows him.

“Thank you all for coming today,” the bloke, Patrick, says. “I’m happy to be playing again and I've brought some new songs. I hope you’ll tell me what you think.”

I hear cheers and Sam claps eagerly so I imitate her. I don’t know what else to do.

Then Patrick plays the first chord and it’s silent. Completely silent. Everyone is listening and soon his voice joins and I’m awestruck. His voice is so… unique. Like raspy but with an edge that sounds almost childish. It’s so hard to describe but it’s captivating and I can barely blink as I hear him singing about a boy who had a hard life but has managed to keep going and keep going and keep going.

The song is beautiful, the music is wonderful and it touches me in every cell and makes me feel alive. And the lyrics make me want to cry for the story of this kid who at the end dies, not because he didn’t try, but because life was too hard.

When the song finishes I can’t help but clap and I’m the only one but I don’t care. He looks at me and smiles widely, happily. I clap even louder.

I’m so happy I came to this gig!

He keeps playing and I just listen from now on, enjoying every song, the way his voice tells stories of life and love, or grieve and happiness. I close my eyes at some point letting the music lull me in a rhythm I keep during the whole gig. When it’s over, I stand on my feet and clap delighted. Everyone is clapping now, cheering and whistling. Sam is bouncing on her feet and Patrick looks so happy.

“I assume you liked all the songs. Thank you so much!” he says slightly bowing and then grabbing his guitar to leave the stage. People approach him and congratulate him because he just joins them. There’s no backstage or anything, just the café.

I look at Sam and she’s smiling brightly at me but also questioning.

“He’s so amazing!” I tell her feeling thrilled, like adrenaline is running through my veins instead of blood.

“I know, right? We can go an talk to him if you want to,” she tells me and I shake my head. That’s not necessary.

“It’s okay, I’m just so impressed! I’ve never felt like that listening to music,” I confess and she smiles.

“That’s the difference when you hear someone live. I believe you can only see real talent when you see them perform live,” Sam tells me and I can only agree with her.

“We have to do this again and please, you have to perform, too, one day,” I beg and she blushes.

“We’ll come for another gig but I dunno if I’ll be able to go on that, or any stage for what matters,” Sam says and I shake my head. “I don’t think I’m capable of such a thing.”

“I bet you can! But it’s your choice. If you decide to do it, I’ll be the first in line to see you!”

She laughs and smiles gratefully at me. I can’t believe I never came to a gig before. Even if it was a quiet, small gig, it was amazing.

We sit again and ask for more coffee and we keep talking. She tells me of all these artists she loves that play here and how she hopes all of them get deals because they are so talented they deserve it. I believe her. I honestly trust her in music. It’s her life, after all. Sam said Patrick was amazing and she was right, so she must be right about these other artists, too.

A few minutes later someone approaches us and I think it’s the waiter, but when I turn to look at this person I find the singer, Patrick, smiling at us.

“Hi, Sam,” he says friendly and then smiles at me. “And you. You’re new, right?”

“Hi!” I say in a rush, feeling excited because I’m talking to an amazing artist! “I’m Allison and yes, Sam brought me. You were incredible!”

I sound like a groupie. Not that I’ve heard a groupie before, but that’s how I imagine one sounds.

“Thank you,” he says. “I’m happy you enjoyed the show. I know it’s not much but—”

“It was great!” I cut him off and he laughs, happily.

“Thank you. Sometimes it’s great to get a stranger’s opinion. I think all my friends say I’m good because we’re friends,” he looks at Sam and she giggles. I look at her with a quizzical expression. I didn’t know they were friends. She left that behind. “You liked the new songs, Sam?” he asks her.

“Serendipity is perfect. I think it’s my new favourite,” she replies and he smiles even brighter.

“Thank you. Well, I’ll leave you two. I have things to do. Once again, thank you!” he waves goodbye at turns around to leave. I look at Sam intently.

“What?” she says but I keep staring. “Allie, what?” she repeats and I notice she’s blushing. “Allie, stop! It’s not what you think.”

“And what do I think?” I say softly and she blushes even more.

“We’re just friends. Plus, he’s like ten years older. No!” I laugh and we start an argument that age is just a number, it doesn’t mean anything, but it’s not a serious argument, it’s more like a joking game. After a while she just laughs it off and tells me it’s time to go back so we leave.

She waits with me until I take the bus and we say goodbye knowing we’ll see each other at college on Monday. Then I’m on the bus, heading home. It was a wonderful experience and I can’t wipe off the smile off my face. I keep watching through the window, remembering the gig and how amazing it felt. I wonder how I would feel if it were a bigger gig, with more people and on a larger stage.

The bus stops on a red light and I notice something happening a bit behind, in a small alley on the street. There are a few homeless people there, like three or four, I’m not sure. And there’s a guy, a young guy dressed all in black handing them blankets and food. Helping the homeless people. I cannot see the guy’s face but then he turns around, as if someone called his name and I can see his face, his smiley and happy face and I’m struck with surprise, not believing what I’m seeing.

It’s Zeke. The same Zeke from college, the one that looks like he hates everyone. The one who attacked Butch. He’s there, helping homeless people, feeding them, giving them sometime to fight the cold of the night, smiling brightly and he looks so… so different from the guy I see at college.

All too soon the bus is moving again and I can’t see him anymore but I still feel confused. I can’t make sense out of what I just saw and I can’t definitely conceal it with what I’ve seen before.

Who is Zeke? The guy that scares me at college or the guy that helps homeless people when no one else is doing it?

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Yay 200 votes! you did it :D I'm super happy, thank you. I hope you liked this update, too.

Bel, xx

PS: I imagine Patrick to be like Passenger. Video of him on the multimedia!