"Thank you Herkleton! That was the last song of tonight. Exits are located in the back, along with our merch stands wink wink. Have a safe trip home and a rocking night!"
The crowd cheered one last time, before turning and heading back to the lobby, right where Craig was waiting. Kit nudged his arm.
"Alright, last wave of sales." She said.
"Yep," Craig said, staring at the doors. Omar and JP had just entered the lobby, laughing together. Kelsey and Stacks were nowhere to be seen.
"I can handle these guys, you go on." Kit said. Craig jumped a bit before looking back at her. He took in her sideways smile and felt his brow furrow.
"Are you sure? The crowd is bound to be bigger now-"
"Come on Craig, I know you've been antsy all night. Go ask them to hang out or something, I can handle the crowd."
"All right, if you're sure…" Craig His chest felt like it was full of ants as he approached the duo. It had ended so awkwardly before the concert, but he couldn't let this chance slip away. Their group had been steadily growing apart since JP entered high school, and he missed his friends so much.
Craig bit the bullet and called out to them. "Hey, JP! Omar!" The two turned their heads.
"Hey, Craig!" JP said, walking over to meet him. "Man, did you see Katie's trick up there?"
"Nah, I was back at the merch stand."
"Why?" Omar asked, slinging his arm around JP's shoulder. "Are they paying ya'?"
"Oh, kind of? David actually commissioned me to make the T-shirts over there and he asked if I'd help man the stand as well." Craig rubbed the back of his neck.
"Dude really? That's sick!" Omar said, face lighting up.
"Aw come here!" JP pulled Craig into a hug. "I'm so proud of you man! I've definitely gotta buy one now. Babe, you still have my wallet?"
"Right here." Omar tossed the small leather wallet over to JP, who caught it in one hand.
"Be right back!" JP rushed into the crowd gathered around the stand, leaving Craig and Omar alone,
A few beats of silence passed before Craig gathered up the courage to talk. "So, you guys doing anything after this?"
"Mmm probably just hanging out nearby, maybe grab a bite to eat, you know."
"Yeah, yeah." Moment of truth. "You want to come with me to get some burgers?"
"I'm down for that." Omar smiled. "It's been way too long since we've hung out." Craig smiled back and put his hands in his pockets. They chatted a bit more while waiting for JP to come back, mostly about teachers at school.
"Oh yeah, no Mrs. Denadio was the worst. One time, she assigned a whole project and only gave us two days to work on it."
"No. Don't tell me that's the final project she's been talking about all semester."
"Good luck, man."
"Hey, guys!" JP called as he ran over, wearing the t-shirt over his sweater. "What do y'all think?" He posed a bit, showing off the shirt.
"As handsome as always, babe. Craig wanted to go grab some food with us, you down for that?"
"Oh absolutely! Let's go celebrate your first step on the road to fame.
It was odd how easily they fell back into a familiar pattern of banter. (But not at all unwelcome.) Craig felt like he was ten again, walking alongside two of his best friends as they chatted. It just stung remembering that there was only one redhead with them now.
The burger place's 'open 24-hours' sign glowed a neon blue onto the trio's faces. JP held the door open for the other two as they entered the building. It smelled like over-salted fries and grilled meat, with just a few people sitting at tables.
"Welcome, what can I get you three?" The cashier looked like they wanted to be anywhere else, especially with the huge eye bags they had.
"I'll have a cheeseburger with fries and a chocolate shake," Craig said.
"And add two number three combos to that," Omar said, pulling out his wallet.
"I can pay for my stuff," Craig said.
"No way man, I'll cover tonight." Omar winked at him and passed a card over to the cashier.
"Thanks."
"Alright, here's your receipt. We'll get the food out in a bit." The trio stepped back from the register. JP leaned against a pillar while Omar grabbed their cups and went to the soda fountain. Pulling out his phone to text his parents, Craig shot a quick message to the family group chat telling them where he was.
An electronic bell signified that the front door had opened again, and Craig looked up. Kelsey and Stacks walk in hand in hand, Kelsey was rambling about something while Stacks watched her with adoring eyes. Craig felt his heart seize for a moment. The last time he had talked to Kelsey, like really talked to her, was back in middle school, and when they bumped into each other at the concert, she was so quick to find a reason to leave.
"Hey, Kels!" JP called out. Kelsey and Stacks both looked over. Stacks smiled and waved, but for a brief moment, Kelsey looked scared, which terrified Craig more than anything. (Because if he got back in touch with JP and Omar without her, it would never feel right. There would always be something missing.)
"Hi JP! Fancy seeing you here." Stacks said as she led Kelsey over to the two of them. "You bought one of their shirts?"
"Duh! I had to, especially since ol' Craiggy boy did the art." JP boasted, gesturing at Craig who giggled at the old nickname and praise.
Kelsey looked at Craig with wide eyes. "You designed those?"
"Uh, y-yeah."
"Dude! Those look so good! I didn't know that you could draw that good! I mean, I knew that you could draw well but, like," Kelsey started rambling, scrambling for the right words.
"What she means is," Stacks placed her spare hand on Kelsey's shoulder. "The shirts look really good, Craig!"
"Thanks." Craig and Kelsey smiled at each other for a moment before looking away again.
"You want to sit with us?" Craig finally asked, bridging the gap.
"Yeah, sure. Let's get our food first though." Kelsey and Stacks walked over to the register.
"Dude, what was that?" Omar said, handing JP his drink. "Did you and Kelsey have a fight or something?"
"No. At least I don't think so, it just…" Craig sighed. "We kept drifting apart once we stopped hanging out at the Creek as much, once I started high school. We never saw each other in the halls anymore, and I started working on art more seriously and got together with Vanessa, and Kelsey got into wrestling properly and started working on her book with Stacks and… I don't know. It's weird."
"Well," Omar said, after a long sip of his drink. "I think you guys will be fine."
"Really?"
"Sometimes you don't talk to someone for a while, life happens," Omar shrugged. "But when you are as close as the four of us are, you can always slip right back into a conversation like no time has passed."
"You really think so?"
"I know so. I mean, just look at us." Omar smiled.
"Yeah, man!" JP added.
"Thanks, guys." Craig felt a bit better, like there was hope for the old "Stump Kids" after all.
"Order forty-three!" An employee called from the counter, and Omar ran to go grab it.
"Just talk to her, Craig," JP said. "Hey, maybe we could even go on a triple date some time!"
"You sure about that?"
"Yeah, I'll call Maney and ask if she'd be down for that, I know Omar would."
"I'll think about it," Craig said. "And ask Vanessa." Omar came back with the trays of food and led the three of them to a corner booth. Soon, Kelsey and Stacks joined them with their own food.
"So, how's the book going?" JP asked before shoving some fries in his mouth.
"Relly good, actually! We're super close to finishing." Stacks said.
"And then it's getting sent off to the publishers!" Kelsey said with a cheshire grin.
"Man, that's sick! Will ya let me read it once it's done?" Omar said.
"You can buy a copy like everyone else, unless we get a punlishing deal within half a year." Stacks said, smiling slyly.
"Well then, get ready to let us read that book for free because I have no dobut you'll get that deal in no time!" JP cheered.
"Oh to have no knowledge of the publishing world." Kelsey sighed, causing Stacks to giggle.
The conversation fell into a lull, leaving the group to pick at their food. Craig glanced up at Kelsey sitting across from him, and steeled his resolve.
"I'm sorry, Kelsey."
"Huh?" Kelsey looked up at Craig, fry halfway on the way to her mouth.
"I should have... I don't know. I should have tried harder to reach out to you and stay in touch, or-"
"Craig," Kelsey cut him off. "I'm sorry too. I- when you got to high school I was scared that you were going to stop wanting to be friends so I didn't ask you to hang out as much and-"
"No, I'm-"
"Okay, that's enough." JP cutoff Craig and put an end to the apology loop. "You two both difted apart, but neither of you are completely at fault. Yeah you two might have been able to do something differently, but what's done is done. And now we're here, eating burgers and hanging out, even after all that." JP slung his arm around Omar. "We're stuck together guys, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Besides, you promised I could officiate your wedding, Craig, and I still plan on getting that certification."
"Heh, yeah." Craig looked back around Kelsey. "I really missed you."
"I missed you too." Kelsey slipped out of her side of the booth and onto Craig's side, wrapping him into a hug. "Don't let me be dumb like that again."
"You weren't dumb, Kelsey." Craig hugged her back and rested his chin on her head. "We both messed up, I'm so sorry."
"Stop saying your sorry." Kelsey laughed into the hug before pulling back and wiping at her eyes. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too."