*This is my first submission, everyone. It's definitely a slow lead up, but I hope you enjoy it!*
**all characters are over 18. All characters are fictional.**
It was a normal July, hot and muggy during the day. I found myself with some extra cash, and a week off of work. I wanted to get the hell away from home, where it was the same old, boring routine that drove me nuts.
So, why not drive 5 hours north, into Canada, and go to a country music festival I have been DYING to go to?
The lineup was awesome, acts I wanted to see all weekend long. Tickets were a little steep, but I was able to find a cheaper place to stay (not like I was going to be doing much in the hotel room, basically there to just sleep for a couple of hours before heading back out).
I booked it. I hopped in my vehicle, and I drove. As a single guy on his own, you get to make these kinds of choices, just pack up and go. Nothing holding you back. Did I want to find my 'soulmate?' Absolutely. But at 20 years old, I had nothing but time.
I crossed the border with no worries, and continued my drive. It was a peaceful part of the Canadian prairies, anything but flat, but you could still see for miles, or kilometres, I guess.
I pulled into the parking lot of my hotel, and walked into the lobby, bag in hand, ready to check in.
"Room for Darnell Stanley, please," I asked the front desk lady. I saw her name tag, Abbey was her name. Kind of cute, definitely my type, with blonde hair, green eyes, and a pretty sizable rack. I like to think I'm not a pig, or a pervert, but sometimes, you just have to admire the first thing you see.
"Not a problem Mr. Stanley," Abbey replied. I could sense she was trying to use a "customer service" voice, but would rather be anywhere but here. "Just yourself in the room?"
"Yes, I'm up here for the festival," I answered. I saw her eyes light up for a mere moment.
"I'm sure you'll have a blast. I'm going to try and go on the Saturday night," Abbey smiled, and then handed me a standard form for vehicle description, and of course, to get a credit card on file.
"Maybe I'll see you there," I looked at her and smiled. By no means am I a player, but what's the harm in asking?
Well, getting laughed at. Abbey snorted while she giggled at my proposal. "I have a boyfriend. Enjoy your stay, but try not to be creepy while you're here."
I grabbed the card key for the room and walked away, mildly hurt, but more or less just happy to be there. I wasn't going to let one mean bitch at a hotel ruin my weekend.
I threw my bag onto the bed and exhaled. I then looked into the full body-length mirror. By no means was I Channing Tatum. I could have lost 10 or 20 pounds, but I was still tall, had some strong facial features, and I felt like I was still handsome enough to get by. I did not have a problem getting women where I was from, a small midwestern U.S. town where I had lived for most of my life. My problem was that I cared way too much about my job and invested too much of my time in my hobbies, like traveling, sports, and other trivial things, to care about finding a woman to settle down. like I said before, I'm 20, I had lots of time.
I decided against hitting the town my first night, but instead decided to catch up on some sleep. I hadn't slept well in anticipation for the trip, so as soon as my body hit the mattress, I was out like a light.
****
The Thursday portion of the lineup was nothing special, just some local 'talent' I had no interest in. So I decided to walk through the downtown of this city I had never been to before. I did some shopping, walked through one of the nicer parks I had looked up before leaving, and did things that I never made time for back home. I just relaxed a bit and took in the sites. It drove me nuts when people would just whip out their phone to capture the moment, so I left my phone at the hotel and just walked.
However, it made for a long day. I was absolutely spent by the time I got back to the hotel. That said, I still made time for a little social media, just to see what I missed.
The first picture on my Instagram feed was from a girl back home, who was at the same festival. 'Small world, huh?' I thought to myself. They had just finished unpacking it looked like, and were already barely wearing clothes, just cut-off shorts and bikini tops. The girl from back home, Katelyn, was definitely the hottest in the picture. She was a girl I never shot for, figuring I was out of my league.
I scrolled through her feed for a moment or two, not seeing a man in her life in any of the pictures. While that doesn't mean shit in this day and age, her profile was definitely one indicating she was single. VERY single.
I commented on that post; 'hope to see you there!' Innocent enough, right? She liked it, almost immediately after.
'Maybe I'll have a chance after all,' I thought to myself as I hopped in the shower.
****
Sure enough, Friday came, and I made my way to the grounds. Because the province I was in apparently had a nasty drinking and driving problem, there was a courtesy shuttle leaving from one of the mall parking lots nearby, so that's what I took out to the site. The music was already blaring, and the atmosphere was already in full swing. It was about 12 o'clock, so I grabbed some lunch, and my first of what would be many drinks that day.
I was watching one of the up-and-coming artists I liked from the grandstands. She was finishing her set, and the next act was not for another hour after hers. I decided to walk around. 'Maybe I'll run into Katelyn,' I thought, smiling while dismissing the idea.
My walk took me to the campground, where, if I had any faith in humanity, it would have been lost there. People were living like sewer rats for the first few rows of the campground, but the more you walked, the nicer the sites got. It seemed backwards to me, but I didn't question it.
It became apparent to me how alone I actually was, as literally everyone else was with a group of people. 3, 4 or more all walking together, looking at the doofus with jeans and a collared country shirt on with no idea where he was going. Man, I must have looked pitiful.
Then, I saw the camper from Katelyn's picture. I thought 'that can't be the same one,' but then I saw her, walking towards the porta-potties near her site. She was pencil thin, basically flat up top, but had a nice, tight ass that she displayed with her cut-off shorts. I tried to stop myself from staring, but man, it was hard. And so was I.
She emerged from the porta-potties and I tried to act as natural as possible, trying to make it seem like I wasn't stalking her. I called out her name, but she didn't hear me. So, Plan B. I walked up beside her, and simply asked "do I know you from somewhere?"
She smiled, and gave me the biggest hug I had ever received. 'I didn't think we were this close,' I thought to myself, but who am I to turn down a hug like this?
She pulled away, and she had obviously been drinking, or smoking weed, or both. "I haven't seen you in FOREVER," she shouted. "Come over to our site for a drink!"
Who am I to say no?
I sat down at an open lawn chair on her camp site while she fished through a cooler to hand me a beer. I was not even trying to stop myself from staring while she bent over, looking into the cooler. It was more of an admiration than anything that such a petite woman could have such a nice ass. She sat down beside me, handing me a Canadian beer, and smiled.
We made small-talk for what seemed like minutes, but was actually hours. I discovered she was still living in that same small town as well, but trying to get out. I smiled, and said I hadn't seen her around much, spoke about how the small business I was now running was starting to thrive to the point where expansion into another small town, or even a city, was on the horizon. She smiled, as her blue eyes and blonde hair glowed in the scorching afternoon sun. She ended up handing me another beer, and we talked until we noticed the main headliners were going to start soon.
"Are you here by yourself?" She asked.
"I sure am, but I thought you were here with others, as well..." I looked around, just noticing I hadn't seen any of her fellow campers from the Instagram post.
She sighed and laughed a little. "Turns out, they all found guys last night during the concert. I'm here by myself it looks like."
"Not anymore. Want to go to the show?" I smiled as she almost looked relieved. She grabbed me by the hand and we walked to the main stage, continuing to catch up. I couldn't believe how open she was with me at first, and maybe it was just the beers I was drinking, but I was starting to get the impression she really wanted me, and did for a long time.
We got to the main stage and started making our way to the mosh pit area. She was MAYBE 5'1", so there was no way she could see. I looked around and saw a lot of girls up on guys shoulders. I pointed them out to her, and asked; "wanna try?"
We figured out how to make it work, and she stayed up on my shoulders for most of the show. She was light enough that my back and legs were hardly getting tired before she motioned for me to let her down.