“Oh! My! God!” Kristie laughed, “That was amazing!” Kristie walked with Howie as the crowd slowly made their way out of the arena. “I still can’t believe they sang the encore in their underwear!” Kristie laughed, knowing the memories from tonight would be imprinted on her mind for the rest of her life.
“They had no other songs to sing, they’d sung them all in the show. What else were they supposed to do but sing songs again, this time in their underwear?” Howie pointed out.
“You’re such a buzzkill,” she said, smacking his shoulder, hoping it hurt. In reality, though, she knew it didn’t.
It didn’t phase Howie, but he reached up to rub his shoulder anyway, trying to make her feel better. “Whatever, I’m the buzzkill that brought you with me,” he pointed out.
“And for that, I’m forever grateful, Buzzkill,” she smiled sweetly, batting her eyelashes at him.
“Whatever,” he said, reaching up to mess up her hair.
Kristie dodged out of his reach, forgetting how many people were surrounding them. Howie instinctively grabbed her hand, not wanting to lose her in the crowd.
Kristie felt a jolt at his touch and looked down at their hands before looking up at Howie. Her eyes held his, and he simply shrugged, but didn’t let go of her hand. In all honesty, he didn’t want to. Howie was enjoying the feel of her small hand in his entirely too much.
Once the teens passed through the exits, the crowd thinned out significantly. Howie loosened his grip on her hand, but didn’t let go. He figured if she wanted to let go now, she could.
Kristie didn’t let go.
In fact, when Howie’s grip loosened, hers tightened a little. She smiled up at him, “Thanks a lot for tonight, D. It means a lot to me that I’m the one you wanted to bring.” She squeezed his hand gently, following him to the car.
“What time do you have to be home?” he asked softly.
“My parents told me they don’t care what time I get home, so long as I get to school on time,” she said. “They also said not to get used to not having a curfew, that tonight is an exception,” she chuckled. She walked slowly with Howie towards where he had parked.
Howie liked that answer and smiled, “I just need to call my parents and let them know I’ll be late. Want to find some pie?” he asked, figuring Village Inn should still be open.
Kristie nodded softly and pointed to a pay phone, “There’s a phone over there,” she said. She started in the direction of the pay phones, pulling Howie behind her.
Howie thought it was a good sign she found the phones, figuring it meant she wanted to spend more time with him. He knew going from best-friends to something more could be tricky and awkward, so he made a vow to himself to not let that happen.
Kristie walked hand in hand with Howie, and only when he began digging for change did she let go of his hand. She crossed her arms over her chest, standing just behind Howie while he made the phone call.
Howie dialed the number and smiled at Kristie, waiting for one of his parents to pick up. He heard his mothers usual salutation. “Mom?” he asked. “No, everything’s fine… Yes, the concert was great... It just got out, and Kris and I are hungry… Yeah, is it ok if we get something to eat?” he paused, listening to her response. “Well, Kris’ parents only said she needs to be at school on time… Uh-huh… Okay, thanks,” he said and hung up.He turned to Kris and smiled, “I believe I promised you pie.”
“I believe you did,” she smiled, starting back towards his car. She shivered a little as the breeze hit her exposed skin.
Howie noticed her shiver and shrugged out of his flannel and placed it on her shoulders without a word. Kris smiled up at him and slid her arms into the sleeves before her hand sought his again.
Thanks to have to make the phone call, the line of cars out of the arena wasn’t very long. A few minutes after getting in the car, the kids were on their way to the restaurant.
Howie was driving carefully, but nothing he did could have prevented the drunk driver who ran the red light.
