The Concert

When It came to me Friday I was planning to close up the Cafe and go home to enjoy my weekend but Amy had a different plan. She came by when I was locking up the Cafe after saying good evening to the Siblings when she came by. I was happy to see her but I was very tired from the busy day we had today. "Hey, you look like you need a good time after being here all day?" She said to me and I smiled as I asked her, "What do you have in mind, I'd rather be heading home but I know you're going to convince me to come with you anyways."

She smiled, "Go home and take a nice shower and I'll be there to pick you up in a couple of hours." She said and I did just what she said to do, I headed home and I took a nice cold shower to wake myself up. I put on my regular clothes and then I thought about it, "did she ask me out on a date or is she just asking me out as a friend?" I put on my good shirt, it was just a black shirt but It looked nice with my black jeans and boots I had. I looked like a midwest cowboy without the hat, I then combed my hair back which made me look like a young mob boss. I just looked at myself in the mirror for a moment then I put on my favorite cologne. It had a sandle wood and cinder scent that wasn't too strong it was just nice.

I went to the front porch of the house and waited for Amy, I looked around at my house and saw it had never changed. It was still the same old white ranch house you would see in every western movie, The shutters were red and the front door was always open during the day. This was home but how long would I stay with having the Cafe? Right, when I started to think she wasn't coming she came down the road. Amy was in her old truck from high school and she was wearing jeans and a white shirt with tan cowgirl boots. She got out of the truck and walked up to the porch, she smelled nice from how far she was from me. "We are going to a concert in the next town over, I hope that doesn't bother you?"

She said to me and I shook my head no, "I shouldn't rest too much, having fun with someone should be good for me. Working all week in that little Cafe is tiring after the fifth day straight," We got into her truck and we drove to the concert. On the way there we didn't talk to each other for five minutes till I saw Amy sniff the air. "I like the Cologne that your wearing, it's not like the teenage thug stuff you used to wear in high school."

She said to me and I laughed and responded to her, "Yeah that stuff was pretty strong, I was told by my instructor not to wear it because it would affect the taste of food. So I found this one that wasn't so strong and it makes me feel more adult-like with it on." She smirked then she pulled off the highway that we took to the town over. We crossed a huge bridge and came to the park where music is played in the middle of summer. There I could hear a guitar in the distance, it was sad but then it changed a bit and I recognized the music.

We went through the ticket booth and headed to the front of the stage and I saw the singer that we came to see was my all-time favorite. The concert started and Kenny was playing my favorite song from his albums, the song was "Knowing You." I sang along with him for the whole running till that was when I heard Kenny was letting me sing the whole alone. Everyone was looking at me like I was this long-lost singer, I stopped for a moment then Kenny asked me. "Young man, I see you're a fan but do you know more of my music?" I shook my head yes and he pulled me up on the stage, then he handed me the mic while he picked a good one to sing with him. Then he had me sing to get along with him, and everyone started to sing with us for the song.

It was the most fun I had had in a long time and the Kenny let me go back down with Amy for the rest of the concert. I saw Amy was happy that I choose to join her and I was showing her a new side of me she liked. Back when I was a kid I would never have done that, singing in front of people let alone going to something like this fun. Then at the end of the concert, I was asked to come up and join the Kenny for a question he had for me. "What's your name and why did you come to the concert tonight, you looked pretty sad before you came up here." I shook my head and I said to him, "This was a surprise for me, my dear friend Amy brought me here to get me away from my Cafe I got from my grandparents after their death. I was sad because I missed them but when I sing or listen to your music I feel happy. You could say Amy knew I would get out of my funk and I never expected myself to be singing with my hero."

Kenny smiled and hugged me and asked for my name again, "Oh right my name is Jacob and I'm grateful to you for letting me sing with you." Everyone clapped for me and I left the stage and I headed home with Amy. After we jumped into the truck Amy turned to me and asked, "where did you learn to sing like that, you never did that in school or at the farm." I shrugged and told her, "I used to sing while studying, it helped me concentrate for the big tests. I'm guessing it was from that but I can say I could sing ever since ma made me take part in the church choir."

"Well, I think your voice can be very deceptive with how well you, I love how it matched Kenny's voice," Amy said to me, I blushed a bit and I thanked her for the compliment. After six minutes of just sitting in the truck, I heard Amy's stomach growl at me and I was feeling hungry too. I suggested we stop for a bite to eat, we saw a local favorite burger place so we stopped there. There I choose my normal order and picked Amy's favorite as she found a place to sit outside. The Burger place was an old grab-and-eat place like a drive-in place from the 70s. They only had outside seating with benches and curbs to sit on. Amy found a spot near the sign where the neon lights glowed right above us.

"I love moments like this, when we were younger we used to do this after every Friday night when the football games were done." Amy said taking a small bite of food then I replied to that with, "Yeah those were the days, till that was when you started fights with that Bethany girl. She always made fun of you because you dressed like a boy rather than a girl." I paused for a moment to see if she would get mad at me, then I added. " I didn't care what you wore, to me you were Amy, and that's all I care for, you never hid from who you were."

Amy started to say something but stopped when we saw that girl I was just mentioned looking right at us. The Bethany girl from school was working at the burger place, "is that you Amy? long time no see, how are you doing, and is that Jacob the kid who didn't talk much?" She said trying to belittle me and Amy. Amy began to get up in tell I grabbed her arm and I stood up instead, "Oh look it's Bethany the little girl who never grew up and made something of herself." I said to her and Beth looked pissed off, "What have you been doing that is so special, bet you've been hiding in your room for two years."

Beth started to laugh at me when Amy turned to this stupid woman, "No he's been in Florida at a college studying to become a chef and history buff while you've been here working the same job since high school. Oh and Jacob here now owns that great Cafe you used to grab your weird drinks at." Amy grabbed my hand and said, "Let's go home so this trash of a worker can get back going nowhere in life." I watched as Beth cried when we walked away after she came to the realization that she has done nothing to be the top woman in the town. Hell, even Amy has done some amazing things like becoming a manager of a well-known Produce distributer.

We headed home but Amy took the long way home to my parent's ranch, I could see she was still red hot from that confrontation with Beth. "Hey I'm sorry I acted like that with her, I know we are adults but she can be such an idiot. She thinks that because she was beautiful once in her life that she's going to be like that for the rest of her life. She used to bully me a lot because of the way I was back in the day, and when she tried to act better than you oh I lost my temper. I am happy that you said something to her though," Amy seemed to cry a bit but then I cut her off and said to her.

"Amy I think you're leagues better than her in every way, yes have you stayed home but look at what you've done in the two years since school. Not to mention you've become more of a woman than that little girl I used to know, more confident in yourself." We came up to the driveway of the ranch when she slowed down a lot, "Thank you, Jacob, I hope you have a goodnight's sleep tonight I know I will after the night we had. " Amy said as we stopped at the house and I got out, I turned back to her before closing the door and I said to her. "Amy hope to see you a lot more like this it was really fun being around even with that Bethany moment have a good night."

Amy nodded to me and then she drove off after I shut the car door, I walked to the porch when I thought about her blushing at me when I called her a woman. "I think I am starting to fall for that woman, she been my everything ever since I came back home." That night I went to bed with a warm feeling deep inside my heart and I do believe I am falling in love with my childhood friend.