“Yeah, so? They don’t get to let minors in a bar. Beat it,” he sassed us.

“But —” Mel tried. She couldn’t think of anything. So we were stuck.

Luckily, for us anyway, there was a loud smash from up the steps, and someone yelled, “Arg! He just bottled me! Get him!” Followed by scuffling and lots of cursing.

“Oh, dammit!” the security guard said as he rushed past us up the steps.

“Adrian, get inside!” Mel grabbed my hand and pulled me into the bar.

Red lights filled the atmosphere, and loud music went straight into our ears. I could already feel a headache starting.

“Hey! There’s Desmond singing!” Mel pointed excitedly.

I could see Desmond on a stage at the opposite end of the room. It was the guy who asked if I had gotten liposuction. He was with an entire band of people who looked much older than him. I couldn’t hear a word he was singing. It just sounded like screaming. I followed Mel into the crowd but got lost. Suddenly everyone started shoving each other. I felt someone bump into me, and I got slammed on my right side. I hit the floor. I was very confused, but before I could register what happened I heard people saying, “Help him up!” And two people pulled me to my feet then shoved me back into the action.

“MOSH PIT!” I heard one of them scream.

So this was a mosh pit. It was exactly as appealing as I thought it would be. I tried to make my way out of the crowd and get to the side, but people were falling over, being pulled back up to their feet, and I was running out of places to step. I kept my head down and basically crawled to one end of the room.

When I made it to the wall, there was a man who looked a bit dazed. He looked me up and down for a few moments and asked, “Are you the guy?”

“Am I the guy?” I replied.

“Yeah, are you the guy?”

“I don’t know. Why would I be the guy?”

“Well, you look like the type of guy who is selling weed.”

Classy. “Not every black person sells dope,” I snapped as I walked away.

He became super defensive about it. “Oh, shit, that’s not what I meant! I meant it because you wore a hoodie! I swear!”

I walked closer to the stage from the sidelines, and I could see Mel dancing to the music. She looked so free and like she was in her element. Seeing her dance like that made me crack a smile. As I tried to walk closer to her, a random lady came up to me. “Oh my gosh, can I touch your hair!?” she asked. She was already reaching for it.

“No,” I said, blocking her hands.

“Oh, come on. Please? You’re so handsome, I just want to touch.” She kept reaching while I kept holding her hands back. It was an awkward struggle, and she wasn’t taking no for answer. Suddenly she was shoved away by Mel.