CHAPTER 8: PARKER AGAIN

The weather proved glorious the night of the big concert at the Coors Amphitheatre. The crowd roared for the opening act, then went absolutely wild when Smash Mouth took the stage. Even David Gordon, mere days after the departure of his beloved Nicole, could not help but find himself swept up in the energy and the music.

Yes, he had decided to accept Parker McKenzie's invitation. When he put his logical mind to it, nothing else made sense. He could not imagine himself, twenty years from now, explaining to his teenage son why he had once turned down a free ticket to see one of his favorite bands at the area's most exciting concert venues with a girl who, though certainly not his favorite person in the world, was far from the Destructor of the Universe Miranda Sanchez portrayed her as being.

Gordo hated to admit it, but when his logical mind took over, he knew Nicole's mother would be mostly right in what she had no doubt been ready to say that Saturday morning in the foyer. Time would heal all wounds. He and Nicole would both find new people. Years from now, this would not hurt as much.

And Parker was right too, when she said going to the concert would be fun and help him forget his troubles. He'd been feeling so troubled these last two weeks, and was more than ready to have some fun.

And fun he had, almost despite himself. For several hours he let himself be carried away by the crowd and by the music. And Parker, he decided, was not so bad after all. Not that he wanted to date her. And this was not a date! When he accepted the invitation, he stressed to Parker that this was not a date, they were only going as friends. She readily and happily agreed. They were "just friends."

And thus, Gordo felt sure, the reason she looked so hot tonight had absolutely nothing to do with him. Surely she had not dressed up for him, in her tight blue jeans and fuzzy vee-neck sweater. Gordo spent half the night listening to the music and the other half gazing across at Parker's sweater, wondering what that color was called. Was it turquoise? Was it aqua? Perhaps teal. What exactly was teal, anyway? Surely this sweater was more than simply blue, and yet not quite green. It was one of life's great and wonderful mysteries, the color of Parker McKenzie's fuzzy vee-neck sweater resting comfortably atop her tight blue jeans.

And her hair! How did she do that? There were…. sparkles in her hair tonight, specks of gold catching the light at every turn of her head. Her lip gloss never faded, her eyelashes seemed to grow as the night went on. Rising up into the night air, Gordo could see and smell the sweet smoke of marijuana. Maybe he was breathing in a little too deeply, maybe he was unintentionally high. How else could he explain why he was so absolutely captivated by Parker McKenzie on what seemed to be the most magical night of the year?

Parker, of course,haddressed up for David Gordon. Those sparkles in her hair were not there by accident, and during a mid-concert trip to the Ladies Room she had reapplied her mascara and given herself another shot of Love's Baby Soft perfume. It was not lost on her that Gordo could not keep his eyes off her sweater. Everything was going so well! Before rejoining Gordo at their seats she called home and yelled into the phone, "The concert is running long, Daddy! Don't come to pick us up until after midnight at least!"

Daddy, of course, did whatever Parker requested. It was one of her talents, getting her dad to eat out of the palm of her hand, and she had every confidence she could transfer some of those magical powers on to the now emotionally drained and helpless David Gordon. She wanted him. Oh yes, how she wanted him! Tonight was going to be the start of something big.

She found her way back to Gordo in the stands, lightly touching his shoulder. He turned and looked at her, his eyes traveling down and then up again to her face. He smiled, and Parker returned the smile.

Oh yes, she thought, tonight. Definitely tonight.

The concert ended shortly after eleven, and a half hour later most of the audience had departed. Parker and Gordo sat on a short concrete wall just outside the amphitheater, enjoying the cool night air as they waited for Parker's dad to come pick them up. At first they merely listened to the straggling remnant of concertgoers gushing about what a great show it had been, silently concurring. But then, when the whole area had been pretty much cleared, and everything seemed much quieter than before, Parker suddenly gushed, "I LOVE Smash Mouth! Don't you?"

"Yeah, they're awesome," Gordo agreed. "All their songs are the best! The absolute best!"

"Absolutely!" Parker agreed. "But I have my favorites, of course. Don't you?"

"Sure," Gordo said, then to be polite, "but what's yours?"

"Well…I love 'Satellite'!" Parker revealed. "It's so…so funky, so…strange, so…persistent…"

"Yeah, I guess," Gordo nodded.

"'I'm the asteroid that will infiltrate your soul,'" Parker quoted, giving him an intense look as she lightly punched his arm.

"Yeah," Gordo agreed, eyeing her strangely. "That's intense, for sure."

After the light punch, she touched him again, holding his arm a moment longer than seemed necessary, and it was starting to feel uncomfortable, until Parker politely asked, "So what's your favorite?"

"Oh…I don't know," Gordo said, taking back his arm. "I guess I've always been partial to… 'Stoned.'"

"Really?" Parker asked in amazement.

"Yeah," Gordo said, then quoted, "You know…'Leave me alone…I'm over it…'"

"David!" Parker exclaimed. "Are you a pothead?"

"No!" Gordo shot back in shock. No one had ever accused him of that before. Then, quieter, "But…I can't say I haven't thought about it…"

"I guess we did inhale a bit tonight, didn't we?" Parker remarked with a slight smile.

Gordo nodded. "Yeah, a bit. But it wasn't terrible."

"No, it wasn't," Parker said, nodding. "In fact, I think it was kinda nice…"

Gordo didn't say anything after that, and a few moments later, Parker continued, "So…what's the attraction? Cos, you know, if you ever wanted some, I could get it for you…"

"No, no! No thanks. Not really. I…I just…"

There was a lull in the conversation, as Parker waited patiently for Gordo to continue, hoping he would say something she could sink her teeth into, but Gordo just kept running the song through his head, until at last he quoted, "'I got no strife, I'm lovin' life…could you say the same?'"

"I could," Parker answered quietly. "At this moment, anyway. I'm lovin' life. Aren't you?"

Gordo shrugged. "Sometimes…but sometimes not…"

"But tonight was good, wasn't it?" Parker asked, swinging her legs as she coyly glanced sideways at him. "I mean…you had a good time with me tonight, didn't you?"

Gordo realized he was being a bit of a downer and perhaps seemed unappreciative, so he switched gears and suddenly beamed, "Oh man, Parker! You bet! This was the best! Thanks! Did I say thanks already? Well, I'm saying it again. Thanks!"

"I'm so glad you enjoyed it," Parker smiled. "And it was so much fun hanging out with you. You were so ready for this, weren't you?"

"Ready for what?" he asked, a little confused, again wondering if he might have inhaled a bit too much smoke.

"Ready to go out and have a good time," Parker said carefully. "Ready to….forget about Nicole."

Now, suddenly, Gordo was somber. "It's not gonna be that easy to forget about Nikki," he said mournfully.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Parker apologized profusely, reaching out to touch his arm again. "I didn't mean it that way, not at all! Please, please, forgive me, David."

"It's all right," Gordo said quietly. "I know what you meant."

"I only meant," Parker continued, still touching his arm, "that at some point you're going to be able to get past all this, and I think you're strong, David, much stronger than you realize. I think you're going to be okay. Really, I do."

Gordo sighed. Suddenly he didn't feel okay.

"I only mean," Parker continued, now squeezing his arm, "if you ever think you need to…well, to talk about any of this, if you think it might help…I'm always here. I'm always ready to listen, David."

He looked across at her, smirking a little. "Thanks."

Then somehow—-and later on Gordo could never exactly remember how it had happened—-Parker did indeed have him talking about Nicole, telling the entire story of their relationship, detailing the distress of the last few weeks. Except for all the stuff about whether he and Nicole should have slept together. He didn't talk to anyone about that, not even Larry. That was his issue, his ghost. But somehow Parker had him spilling his guts about everything else.

Even as he listened to himself talk, though, he wondered why he was doing it. It must be the pot; surely he had inhaled a little more of it than he originally thought. Because yes, it had been fun going to this concert with Parker, but he certainly had no interest in developing a deeper relationship with her. And yet, if he continued like this, she would no doubt place that interpretation upon his deluge of words. He should stop. And yet he couldn't stop. He didn't really think he was hight, but he had to admit it felt good to talk about Nicole. And Parker listened to him so attentively, the sparkles in her hair still glistening as she gently nodded to show she understood.

When Gordo thought he had said everything he could possibly say, he sat back and took a deep breath. For a moment the air was silent. A few cars passed in the distance of the parking lot, but now they were almost completely alone.

"Where is your dad, anyway?" Gordo asked, checking his watch. It was just after midnight.

"Oh, my dad," Parker scoffed. "He's almost always late."

"I told my parents I would be in before one."

"Don't worry, David. You'll be home in plenty of time," Parker said, and then, without warning, "Tell me, though, I'm really wondering…are you still hung up on Lizzie?"

"What?" Gordo exclaimed.

"I've heard some talk—"

"Well, it's bullshit," Gordo denied instantly. "Who's saying that, anyway?"

"Oh, I don't even remember. It was a while ago, anyway. I'm sure it doesn't mean anything."

"It doesn't mean anything," Gordo insisted. "I'mnothung up on Lizzie. That's ancient history."

"Oh, I see," Parker said simply.

"And right now, I'm not hung up on anybody," Gordo added, taking this opportunity to set the record straight, after his recent soul-baring. "I'm not interested in anyone. I don't want to be with anyone. I just want to be left alone. Honest to God. I want nothing more than to…to…Parker! Parker, what are you doing?"