once // calum hood

9

During the next two hours of waiting with Hayden and I got to know each other. Soundcheck was starting as I approached the line so we could hear a muffled version through the venue walls. I was trying not to let my emotions show, I didn't really want to answer a bunch of questions. 

Hayden respected that though and never really brought it up. We were at the front of the line, so once the gates opened, we'd have our choice of anywhere in the pit.

"Do you care if we stand between Calum and Luke?" She leans back onto the blanket, supporting herself with her elbows.

"Wherever you want to be is fine with me." I nodded, and she smiled.

"Are you excited to see them again?" Hayden lowers her voice like she's afraid someone else will notice that I'm here.

"I'm excited to see them in this environment. I never asked much about their music this summer. Slightly regretting that decision now, as I'm at a concert that I won't know any lyrics to." I laugh lightly.

"What? Really?"

"Uh, yeah. I guess it was my way of trying to stay detached so when I went back home, I wouldn't hear them on the radio and burst into tears or something. Let's not talk about that anymore. What do you do?" I press my hands into the blanket so she won't see that they're shaking.

Hayden starts talking about how she's in school, but she travels back and forth every day because with six other siblings they wouldn't be able to pay for dorms or rent. All of her siblings are girls, she doesn't have a single brother. We compare how bratty our 13-year-old siblings are, and we discover that it doesn't have to do with gender, it's just their age. It's only slightly relieving. Her youngest sibling is Asher's age, so we have more in common than I thought. After she explains that she is most likely going to be a teacher (even though she doesn't know if that's really the best choice for her), she asks what I'm doing.

I explain that I'm looking for a job and recently moved out. It feels weird to say that I'm not in school anymore, I always thought I'd at least get a bachelors degree. That doesn't mean I won't go in the future, but I grew up thinking college was the only option for me whatsoever.

When she brought up the fact that she knew I wasn't just a fan when we met in Turks, I knew I was going to have to say something to keep her from bringing up my personal relationship with the boys. I promised her that I'd take her to lunch sometime to explain everything if she was interested, but it's not something I can talk about today. I was honest with her when I told her I wasn't sure what I expected to get out of tonight.

It felt like the time flew by, and suddenly the doors were opening. We quickly scanned our tickets and ran for our spot. The girls in front of us stopped where we were going stand, so we took the place to their right. "This means we'll be closer to Calum, but we can move to the other side of them if you want."

"Here is good, unless you want to move." Hayden shook her head, and I leaned against the barricade in front of us. It was only another hour before the lights dimmed for the supporting band to come onstage.

The Aces were very entertaining and had such good energy. My feet already hurt after their set from jumping and dancing around. Everyone in the pit wasn't super squished, so it was easy to move and dance, I liked that. It had been so long since I've been to a concert that I forgot what it's like. Everyone around you talking about the same thing and realizing that this artist is something you have in common with almost every single person here is really neat.