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"Need any help?"
Matt asks as soon as they near the broken down car. There is still a long way to go for the farm, and seeing that the festival is not due to start until later that evening, chances of getting any help are slim. And while the man may look obnoxious, Matt thinks he could use some help.
"No, than-", he begins rudely, but is interrupted by a girl with the wildest curls Matt has ever seen..
"We do, actually", walking around the snakeman- Matt can’t help the things his brain sometimes comes up with- she comes to stand in front of them, "Can you give us a ride to the farm?"
"You here for the Woodstock too?"
“So far, yes.”
She smiles at the end, and Matt decides he wants to see as much of that smile as he can. Next to him, Karen pipes in, “ Sure! Hop in! We are on our way over there. Mr. Rude can also come along.”
The man in question glares at Karen, and Matt hopes he doesn’t join them.
“No, thanks”, the guy spits out even as the girl steps forward, her hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t be rude, Ralph. Why don’t we do one thing- I go ahead with them, and you can come afterwards?”
She smiles sweetly at him even as he glares at her, and Matt suppresses the urge to punch the guy. Instead, he turns to Karen and tells her to go and sit at the back with Arthur. “Relax, darling. Let her sit here, I can sit in the back.” She smiles at him, and up close, he can see how utterly beautiful she is. He silently vows to buy Karen whatever record she wants when she moves at the back, vacating the front seat for the other girl.
"So, you into rock too?"
Arthur snorts at the back at his feeble attempt.
"Not really. I prefer country. Rock resembles it a bit, so here. Ralph wanted to come here."
He groans internally. One thing he didn’t want to learn- Snakeman’s name.
“Snakeman? You mean Ralph?”
His whole body reddens when he realises he had spoken his last thought aloud. “I hope you don’t mind, but your boyfriend seems to be a really obnoxious person.”
Next to him, she laughs as she lights up a cigarette. "He is, isn’t he?" Letting out a puff of smoke, she continues, "Chill, darling. I don’t like him much either."
She wrinkles her nose and Matt feels a strange sort of hope rise inside him.
Once they are at the venue, she is swallowed by another group before Matt could even ask her name.
—x—
He learns a lot more in next few days. Like she hates wearing hot pants and bell bottoms because she thinks she doesn’t have the perfect figure for them, but the amount of mud and the crowd there makes it impracticable to wear long skirts. Not that Matt has any problems. The golden skin of her legs makes a much better scenery than Arthur’s chest.
He learns that her name is Alexandra Kingston, but she hates being called that. Alex, or Lexie, she says. Lexie, only snakeman (Matt refuses to refer to him by his name) calls her, and everybody else calls her Alex. For some reason, Matt wants a name of his own. He chooses to call her Kingston. She keeps calling him ‘darling’ even after he tells her his name is Matthew. He likes it anyway.
During the day, they sway at the different tunes together. They dance with others too, but he likes it more when she is with him. In the evening, when some are dancing to the tunes of whatever band is playing, they set up a bonfire, with Arthur and Karen dancing with some other attendees around them, while he and Alex sit with some others and exchange stories and thoughts. He loves every word that falls out of her mouth, every thought that goes around in her head. When she slips within the circle of his arms, her head resting against his shoulders and giggles at his stupid jokes as they smoke, he thinks he is in love.
She shows him how she stole the flower presently tucked behind her ear from the nearby farm by jumping over the small fence. She tugs at his hand until he joins her in her little dance, mud splattering around their ankles.
She tugs at his t-shirt claiming she hates tie and dyes. Its his favourite shirt- he throws it away, pulling her closer and kisses her with abandon. Her kisses are much better than any pill.
—x—
On the last day, he feels miserable, and for some reason, he is sure she does too. They laugh, giggle and dance more than they had in past two days. It rains in the night. The atmosphere is sombre as the gig is postponed, and people are already leaving. He thinks it reflects his heart.
That night, Alex climbs inside his sleeping bag. She does that every night, but for some reason, this feels different.
"Alex?" He softly asks. Instead of answering with words, she answers with kisses. They taste like hello, they taste like goodbye. And suddenly he has answer to every question he has ever had about them.
They make love for the first time that night.
He wakes up alone, a single flower- stolen from the nearby farm- in his hands.