Twist Of Fate

Second Concert

"Long, deep breaths, Kate." I instruct, as I find a parking spot toward the back of the arena. She inhales, and exhales. Inhales, and then exhales. Kate has been doing this breathing exercise since she parked her car outside my house. When I entered the car I realized that Kate was in no shape to drive. So I took the reins and got behind the steering wheel. Now, ten minutes later, Kate's condition has not improved any further and she's still having a hard time breathing.
"Trying...Mus." Kate says, between breaths. I nod my head, and drum my fingers against the steering wheel.
"You want to change, maybe? It could improve your...condition," I say. Kate is wearing an orange dress that doesn't leave much to the imagination. Now, my friend's not a slut. However, today I'm sure she's trying to seduce one of the boys. Kate shakes her head vigorously and scowls.
"I have spent a fortune on this dress!" Kate's eyes sweep over her own body. I cringe. A fortune for that piece of...nothing. I shake my head at the fashion nowadays.
"So, we're going to sit here all night?" I ask her, looking around. I messaged Harry five minutes ago and he told me that I should tell security my name and they'll allow my friend and I to enter.
"No, we're going to enter the stadium with a flourish and a small pirouette." Kate says, opening the door.
"You're watching too many movies." I murmur, rolling my eyes and turning off the engine. Kate throws her lip balm at me as soon as I get out.
"Put some on, your lips are as dry as the Sahara." I nod my head and give her a salute. I lean down and view myself in the side-view mirrors, as I apply the lip balm. It doesn't bring much color to my lips. However, it does make them look plumper and...kissable. I shake my head at the thought and grab my purse from the car.
"Shall we?" I ask Kate, as I hand her the lip balm. She nods her head, pulls her dress down, revealing more cleavage and starts to march toward the front of the arena.
"Why did you have to park so far, Mus?" Kate groans, and I can tell that her heels are making her feet ache.
"There is no parking up front!" I defend myself. "Serves you right, though. At least next time you won't wear such high heels." Kate makes a face and loops her arm through mine.
"Oh, please! I'm not going to wear sneakers to a freaking One Direction concert, like you Mus."
"Hey, I look good!" I look back down at my outfit, doubting my choice of clothing now that Kate has taken a jab at it. When she arrived at my house, during the car ride and while we were parked, Kate was too busy breathing and trying to calm her nerves to notice what I am wearing. However, now her eyes keep glancing up and down my body and when she reaches my head, Kate shakes her head in disapproval. I'm wearing a red shirt, with two cat heads and a smile. For my last birthday, Gregg gifted me a pair of black, skinny jeans that I never wore for some reason, until today. They look good, even though they make my butt look big. The only thing that I wanted to reconfirm with Kate when she arrived at my house. However, seeing her condition I decided not to.
"Kate, does my butt look too big?" I ask her, craning my neck backwards to get a good look at it.
"Sure," Kate says. She doesn't even look at my butt. "That's why you need to wear these jeans more often." I don't like wearing the tightest clothes, or clothes that reveal too much. I'm not conservative either. I just feel uncomfortable wearing something that flashes too much skin. Groaning, I throw my head back and Kate laughs at my despair.
"Kate, why didn't you say something earlier? Do we have time to go home and change?" I'm not joking with her and she knows it. That's why, Kate's grip on my arm tightens and her pace quickens up.
"Shut up, and keep walking." I oblige, even though now I feel self-conscious. What will Harry think? Why did I just think that? Of all the people, why am I worried about what Harry will think? Of all the people in the world, why him? We reach the stadium's entrance and a guy, clad in black, holds out his hand, waiting for me to hand my tickets to him.
"I'm Mus," I say. "Harry must've told you that we're coming, right?" He nods his head, lips sealed tightly shut.
"Please follow me." The man says, turning on his heel. He says something into a walkie-talkie and as we turn around the corner, I see that another man has already taken his place at the entrance. Wow, efficient. Kate's eyes keep moving around the place, taking in all the details. A smile never leaving her face.
"This is so cool," Kate whispers.
"You should take pictures," I say. "No pictures, no proof."
"Good idea, Mus." I want to laugh. Why is she even whispering? We're not prisoners, who need to remain quiet. Kate takes out her phone and begins clicking pictures of random items. A light, a buggy, a dustbin and a lot of other items that could be anywhere in the world. How can anyone tell if they're from an arena in which One Direction performed? But I don't want to burst her bubble, so I keep my mouth shut. The man opens a door labelled, 'Staff only.'
"They're in the room that's to the left." The man says, as we enter. He shuts the door behind us. Kate giggles.
"This is so cool, Mus. You're my best, best, best friend." Kate says, and then she gives my arm a squeeze. I smile at her excitement, it's infectious. As the man said, there's a door to the left without any signage. However, I open it, and Kate eye's widen, almost bulging out of their sockets. Harry is sitting on a high-chair in front of a dressing table, doing something on the phone. Louis is sitting in front of another another dressing table that's located to the side, his hair being blow-dryed by a woman. She's not Lou, for sure. Suddenly, my phone beeps in my purse and I fish it out.
'Where are you? Got kidnapped?' The message reads and it's from Harry.
"Nope, standing behind you." I say, and Harry's head jerks upwards. I chuckle as he jumps a little in his chair. Kate's grip tightens on my arm. Any tighter and my blood circulation will stop.
"Finally!" Harry exclaims, getting up and jogging toward us. He embraces me, and Kate's arm thuds against her side, letting the blood flow freely through mine. "Mus, you need to learn to walk quickly." I roll my eyes.
"The wait wasn't my fault, it was hers." I say, nudging Kate's side with my elbow. Her mouth's open and I think she'll start drooling in a few seconds.
"And you are, m'lady?" Harry says, giving Kate a small curtsy. He takes her right hand in his and kisses the top of it. A twinge of jealousy passes through my heart. Why? I ask myself. Harry can kiss whoever he wants, hold whoever's hand he wants and I have no right to feel jealous, or stop him. When a few seconds pass by and Kate says nothing, I nudge her side again, hoping she'll stop staring at him. Kate doesn't show any acknowledgement toward my nudge. Shit, she's in fantasy land.
"Kate's, her name." I say, trying to break the awkward silence. Kate nods her head dreamily, smiling.
"It's great to meet you, Kate." Harry says, looking at me for help.
"Kate, why don't you go and introduce yourself to Louis?" I whisper in her ear, and she nods dreamily, yet again. I turn around to see if Louis' still getting his hair blow-dryed, but instead of finding him on the chair, I find him standing next to Kate, smiling at the two of us.
"Hi, Louis," I say.
"Hi, Mus." Louis says, and he gives me a small wave.
"How are you?" I ask the most basic question that one asks when meeting someone.
"Good." This isn't getting awkward at all. I'm not as friendly with the others, as I am with Harry. Sure, we conversed, but only for a short time.
"Louis, Kate." I introduce them. Kate already knows Louis, so there's no point in me introducing him to her. Kate holds her hand up languidly, and Louis shakes it. Suddenly, Louis' eyes flash to Harry's and he purses his lips. They have a silent conversation, Harry nods and then turns to me, a smile back on his face.
"Mus, the show's about to start. Do you want to watch it from the front, or the back?" Harry says, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and turning me around.
"The front!" Kate exclaims.
"The back," I say. We both laugh and Harry looks at us, amused.
"Well, Ms. Kate can watch it from the front and you can watch it from the back and hand me water bottles." Harry says, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. I slap his arm.
"I will not hand you bottles." I've experienced the show from the front, now I want to experience it from the back.
"Kate, let's go." Harry drags me out the door. Kate follows us and I can hear the gears clicking, and spinning in her brain. She will be squealing in my ear on the drive back. A torturous ride. Harry nods his head, smiles and says, 'hello,' to everyone on the way. My respect for him keeps increasing by the second. Finally, we arrive backstage, or that's what I'm presuming because I can hear the screams.
"We're here." Harry says, confirming what I was thinking. "Kate, there's a staircase there," Harry points to an area and sure enough, I can see some steps. "I can't accompany you till the front row because if the girls see me, I won't be able to put on a show. My clothes, hair and shoes will...not be in a representable state." He sighs, but smiles. "Not that I would mind it, of course."
"That's fine, I'll go." Kate says, already heading toward the stairs. "Have fun!"
"As for you Mus, you can sit, stand, lie down. To sum it up, you can do whatever the hell you want," Harry says. I nod my head, smiling. "Let me just call up Sam and make sure no one kicks Kate out because she doesn't have a ticket."
"Sure," I say. I glance around the area that we're in. There's a crate toward the corner filled with water bottles. A light, and what I think is a fog machine is placed beside the crate. One Direction don't need special effects to make their performance stand out and ten times better. They just need to be themselves, like they always are, and stand on stage. That's all! One Direction has such a strong stage presence. I don't think any other band can ever match their stage presence and energy.
"All done," Harry says. He picks up two chairs from the back, and brings them toward the front. Harry gestures for me to take a seat and I oblige. He sits down beside me.
"What're you thinking?" I ask, after a few seconds.
"I'm thinking about the feeling that I get when I'm onstage." Harry says, meeting my gaze. "It's incomparable, Mus. I can't put it in words. And you know the best part?" I shake my head. "The best part is the people who are standing in front, taking out time from their busy schedules, and coming to watch us, to cheer us on."
"Yeah, I've read about how you feel during concerts."
"Reading and actually being there onstage is totally different."
"Well, I'll never know and trust me I don't want to know either. I'm fine with just making speeches." I don't mind making speeches, but the shaky feeling that I get when everyone from class is staring at me, makes my knees feel weak and makes the speech that I'm giving less enjoyable for myself. I hate that sick feeling in the stomach, the thudding of my heart and the feeling that my knees will give out at any moment.
"You make speeches?" Harry asks, his voice full of awe and surprise.
"Yeah, my mom always pushed me to give speeches when I was younger because she thought that it boosted my self-confidence. I guess since then giving speeches just came naturally. Although, I don't like the feeling that I get when I'm up onstage."
"Oh, please, you're mad if you don't like that feeling." Harry waves his hand, dismissing the thought. "Solo, or with a group, the best feeling one can get is onstage."
"For you, sure." I scoff. Harry smiles and shakes his head, realizing that he's fighting a losing battle. Harry gets up and takes out his phone from his back pocket.
"It's almost time to go on stage, Bumper." I scowl at the nickname, yet again.
"Stop calling me that!" I protest.
"Sure thing, Bump." Harry says, chuckling. God, I hate him. "Bump, I'm going to go and join the others, but you stay put."
"Where can I go?" I don't know if I'm imagining it, or if the screams are actually getting louder by the second.
"Oh, and please pass me water bottles when I ask for them." Winking at me, Harry turns and jogs back the way we came.
"Asshole," I murmur.