It was the first time my brother and I went out to see a country show down here in the south. I had already dragged him to a couple underground rock shows and we were way overdue for a country concert. Fortunately we had a Saturday with no plans and decided to hit the country bar that everyone raves about.

When we got there it was way more crowded than I expected it to be. Naturally though we were showing up wicked late for the show and found ourselves waiting in a line to get in. When we got to the front we saw that the bouncer was simply flashing the Id’s in front of his face and letting everyone in, without even glancing at our ages. I mean there really wasn’t any reason for a line if everyone was getting welcomed right in. Either way we were waiting, eager to catch our first country show.

The place was massive, it was way bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. Which says a lot considering it was this old warehouse they made into a bar. As you walk in you can see the entire place is wide open, the ceilings went at least thirty feet in the air and were held up but these large six by six wood columns with a hay cover floor… It was a wicked country. Aside from the bathrooms in the corner where we walked in, the only other things in the place were two bars and a stage where the singer was already playing. The entire place seemed to be the dance floor and it was packed with people shoulder to shoulder getting down to whatever cover song he was playing. The entire scene was electric and I’m not really a big country guy.

I immediately went to the bar and grabbed us around drinks while my brother went to find us a spot on the dance floor. I met him with our drinks in my hands, and both of us rocking our crocs, were crocing and beyond ready to be rocking. It only took me a song and a half until I started dancing too frantically and accidentally bumped into this girl behind me, knocking her drink from her hands.

It was only right that I escorted her to the bar and bought her another drink on me. It was the perfect excuse to be stuck talking to such an attractive girl, I had to pull out all the stops to make her laugh and keep her laughing the entire time with me while we waited in line. Her smile felt like a drug that night and every time I saw it I wanted more of it. I felt like buying her a drink wasn’t enough and offered to get us a round of shots to share with me as well. That was the beginning of the end for me.

I knew it as soon as that shot slid down my throat and hit my stomach. I didn’t stand a chance that night. A couple pop tarts and a box of raisins were not enough for me to eat before I came out tonight to a concert. As soon as that shot seeped into my blood it was over. After I had accompanied her back to the dance floor and back to her friends I counted to three without giving myself the chance to second guess myself and asked for her number. Somehow me spilling a drink on her and getting her a new one was enough for her to give me a chance and give me her number and it put me on cloud nine.

I rushed back to the middle of the dance floor, completely unaware as to where my brother was but didn’t care, I found an empty spot on the dance floor, ditched my crocs and started dancing like I was in my bathroom in my apartment. I wasn’t even dancing along to the music anymore. I was simply dancing along to the way she made my heart beat having her ten digits in my phone saved in my phone. I couldn’t have been more excited by the thought of being able to see her again. Unbeknownst to me I stole the show for a moment dancing like I was without my crocs on. That was until the bouncer came by and told me to put them back on or get out.

That was the slap back to reality I needed. I quickly found my crocs that were scattered all over the dance floor, and went on a search and rescue for my brother. Of course he wasn’t the one that needed the rescuing, it was me. That shot was not sitting well with me and all I knew was that I needed food. As soon as I found him I asked him if he was ready to leave. As the incredible brother he is, he ended his conversation with whoever he was talking to and guided me outside so we could wait for our ride.

I saw the second best gold lights anyone could see at two am. No It wasn’t those heavenly golden arches of Mcdicks that God had created for us but it was the next best thing… street meat. I haven’t seen street meat since I’ve moved down here and was more than willing to exceed every limit on my credit card to stuff my face with some steak and cheese and some garlic peppers and onions and maybe even a hot dog if they got those too. Apparently so was everyone else that was leaving the bar, the line was ridiculous.

We waited twenty minutes in line until we were able to order. It took so long that by the time we finished and were waiting for them to cook our food I saw the same girl I spilled my drink on waiting in the back of the line. It was the same girl I had just gotten the number from, I had to go back up to her and keep talking to her. I couldn’t miss my chance to see her twice in one night like this. So I did just that. After seeing her in the back of the line I left my brother who wanted to wait with me to watch over me, to go apologize to her again for spilling her drink earlier. She laughed it off and welcomed me into conversation. We talked for the entire fifteen minutes she spent wasting in line unable to take my eyes off of her, well she talked I just enjoyed listening to her. Instinctively not wanting the moments we shared together that night to go to waste I asked for her number… again.

She froze for a second looking at me to see if I was kidding or not and when she responded she left me for a loss for words. Judging by the tone of her voice I abruptly realized that I blew every chance I had with her. She said to me while her smile drained from her face, “You already asked me for my number.” and that quickly our conversation ended. She turned to her friend before she was ready to order and gave me the cold shoulder.

I got the message and quickly returned to my brother and told him I was ready to leave. We crushed our food and called ourselves a ride. With a stomach full of the grossest street meat I’ve ever had made with this spayed on cheese, and on top of blowing every chance I had with a girl who I actually made a real intimate connection with and blowing it, I was over the night and wanted nothing more then to be back in my bed asleep so I could reset the night. I guess I didn’t deriver her number that night. Maybe spilling her drink was the exact opposite omen from what I thought it was. Maybe it was actually a sign of a disaster instead of a moment of potential. Either way I blew it and have no one to blame but myself.