Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh - My - God! He's even hotter in person. Nalini's mind squealed in excitement and she was happy her thoughts couldn't be heard. They walked to a spot right under a row of coconut trees, from there they could see the main stage and the Red Bull tent. Amid both these structures, the bar was clearly visible. There was a constant movement in front of them. People were dancing; boys were throwing up in the bushes, and girls were cutting bathroom lines. Above it all, the green strobe lights and warm ocean breeze floated through the pandemonium.

Concerts, like these, had a way of making her feel full of energy - it's almost magical, she thought. In many ways, there was something close to magic surrounding them - the power of sound waves. The music from the speakers was beginning to crack, making the upbeat melody fade, and all that was left was the bass. The vibrations of the heavy thump caused their hearts to sync to the deep rhythmic beat that sent waves of excited trepidation through both of them. These are the moments you live for, she thought, as she stole a quick glance at the musician sitting on the sand next to her.

She looked at him more closely, his hand only a few inches away from hers. His navy blue plaid shirt had a pen in the pocket, strange, she thought. His hair was short on the sides but only slightly longer on the top, showing off his fine bone structure. She had never seen a face this symmetrical before. Now getting the courage to look into his eyes, she realised he was looking at her too. His dark hazel eyes, crinkled in the corners and a small smile appeared on his face. He reached out to pull at something stuck in her hair. A move that made her jerk away unnaturally because every fibre in her body wanted to lean in closer. Get a grip, Nals.

"Sorry - I didn't mean to -" he said putting his hands in the air, "but there's a label stuck -" he said, pointing to her thick charcoal hair. She immediately smoothed her hair and felt the wet and sticky label. Embarrassing. A flush of heat scorched her cheeks, making her acutely aware of his gaze on her face. Way to go, now that all he's ever going to remember of this night, she thought.

"Oh thanks, I have a habit of tearing away bottle labels, especially when they get wet from the condensation, and are easy to peel. It's so satisfying the way it just comes right off..." she paused. Stop rambling. Why am I so nervous?

"Interesting. So, Jamaican flavour, huh?" he said.

"What?" she looked at the label in her hand, the yellow border evident.

"Uh, yeah, it's my favourite of all of the flavours. I usually dilute it with orange juice... don't tell anyone, but they didn't have any juice. Can you believe that? Luckily, they have the Jamaican flavour though, most places only keep the cranberry. Which is fine, but so ordinary, where's the fun in the flavour. I mean just drink straight cran-" she paused again. Stop rambling, why does he make me so nervous... or is this excitement, she wondered as she tried to give him her most infectious smile.

"I always thought it tasted like spiked Frams' soda, you know the kind at kids birthday parties - super sugary and bright pink," he said.

"You're right; it does taste a bit like that. Wait a min - What kid drinks spiked soda at a birthday party?"

"Guilty. It was my 14th birthday, my best buds and I.. we got.. cocky. Spent the whole next day sick in bed, puking pink liquid. Honestly, it's why neither of us can drink too much now," he said, laughing.

"Wow, you guys start early in Goa, huh?" she said, assuming he was from here.

"Ah, this means you're not from here, funny, you seem to have the Goan vibe," he said, cocking his head slightly, she got a closer look at his dimpled smile. Damn, I'm done for - quick, say something.

"Can't believe the Goan government allowed them to host a festival on the beach -"

"- Yeah, but looking at it now, I couldn't think of a better venue," he continued, completing her sentence.

"Agreed," she said, amazed that he had known what she was thinking.

"I hope they make this festival an annual thing, gives me an excuse to leave Bombay," she said, suddenly feeling nervous about giving away her address' location to a relative stranger. Murderers don't look this good, do they?

"There you guys are," said Sanjana, her highlighted hair now in a top knot.

"Look who we bumped into at the bar," she pointed at the two bandmates.

"Oh, is that a Red Bull sign?" said the bassist, sarcastically, pointing at a coconut above them.

"Good thing we bumped into the boys, or they'd be waiting for hours," said Aarathi, eyeing Matthew, who looked very comfortable sitting close to Nalini.

"So - now you believe us, huh? Told you we kidnapped your lead singer," said Sanjana, handing a yellow labelled bottle to Nalini and Matthew.

The bandmate with bleached blond tips looked at her and said, "Allow me to introduce ourselves, this is Joseph, and I'm Ashley. Looks like our singer here has lost his voice to you -" he said, turning to Nalini, "his beautiful captor," reaching his hand over to greet her, an easy smile appearing on his thin face. An aroma of strong deodorant followed him. Well, at least he smells nice.

"Sorry, yeah these are my bandmates -" said Matthew, who she realised had been staring at her all this time. She awkwardly touched her crown, and smoothed down her hair, hoping she didn't have anything else stuck in there.

"Bandmate and his only friends," said Joseph, taking a seat on the sand opposite them. Looking just as comfortable on the sand as he did on stage. He had a sense of ease that Matthew lacked. Had Joseph not clarified that the three boys were friends, she would have guessed they were brothers. An invisible glue connected them, but it wasn't just their love for music, it was something deeper, she thought, something that had changed them and fused their futures together.

"I'm Nalini," she said, loving the energy of the two bandmates.

"What a great set guys, honestly, we were at the bar, but when we heard you'll, we knew we had to get back. The last song was I mean -"

"Sanj, stop it ya. I doubt these guys want to hear about how good they are," said Aarathi.

"Are you kidding, I'm not one of those brooding musicians, please, don't stop... tell me how great I am!" said Joseph.