It's a Sign of the Times

Chapter Five: After

Honestly? I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would, but I would never give my friends the satisfaction of knowing that I not only tolerated one direction, but I actually enjoyed some of the songs. They would hold it over my head forever, and rightfully so, seeing how much crap I gave them about liking a boy band's music. The lights are back on in the arena and the crowd is pushing its way out the exits in all corners of the room. My friends and I are holding hands so that we don't lose each other in the sea of people. And by lose each other, I really mean so that we don't lose Jobeth, because literally everyone here is taller than her. She grips my hand tighter as the people swarm on every side of us and I'm starting to feel claustrophobic. We couldn't have all lined up like this was recess time and head out in an orderly manner? I guess that's the price you pay for going to a concert where the entire audience is only made of teenage girls.
"Guys!" Caris tries to yell over the noise of the crowd.
"What??" Jobeth yells back.
"There's a security guard headed straight for us," she replies loudly.
I can't quite make out everything she said, but I do hear "security guard" and I certainly see the large man that's walking towards us. He's easily six foot two at the very least and an easy 250 pounds or more. A great match against three underage girls. Seems like a fair fight, right?
"We could probably dodge him honestly," Jobeth suggests. "I think it'd be easy enough to duck under some people and lose him in the crowd."
"Maybe for you," I say, pulling her back towards me and guiding her and Caris away from the guard. "Caris and I would have a harder time since we're not so low to the ground," I snicker. Jobeth makes an indignant noise and I  give her hand a squeeze so she knows I'm joking.
"Maybe he's not even trying to get to us," Caris throws out. "Maybe we're just coincidentally in front of the place he needs to be."
We're getting closer to the exits and he's only getting more aggressive in his pursuit of...us? I actually start to feel panic rising in my chest. "No, he's looking right at us, look," Jobeth points.
Full blown panic and adrenaline rush my body and without even thinking about it, I'm running through the quickly disappearing crowd and my friends are following me. We didn't do anything, there's nothing he can do to us, I try to remind myself as I run, but when I look back and see him running after us, those thoughts vanish. All I can think about is getting away safely and making sure my friends are with me. I can hear them running behind me and I peek over my shoulder to make sure they can both keep up. Caris is easily running behind me and she's grabbed Jobeth's arm to ensure that she stays with us.
We run out of the venue together and into the dark street, breathing heavy.
"What...was that...about?" Jobeth gasps for air in between her words.
Caris rests her hands on her knees while she catches her breath. "I'm not sure, but he seemed really determined to get to us."
"I'll say." I take a deep breath. "I think we should get back to the car, I don't trust him to not come after us," I say. I turn away from the venue and end up face to face with the very same man who was chasing us.
A gasp escapes Caris's mouth and I stumble backwards.
"Who are you?" Jobeth demands. Caris and I exchange a glance and that's all it takes for me to know that whatever happens, we're going to stand our ground.
"Okay ladies, calm down," the guard puts out his hands in an act of self defense. "I wasn't trying to scare you back there, I just knew you wouldn't hear me if i said anything since it was so loud. My name is Daniel and I work as a full time body guard for One Direction. They personally sent me out here to invite the three of you backstage to talk with them," he extends his hand toward the venue in an inviting manner.
I stare him down warily, not wanting to trust him. "What proof do we have that you-" I begin, but Caris and Jobeth's excited giggles cut me off.
"We HAVE to go!" Jobeth begs me.
"Chloe, think about this before you say anything to the nice man," Caris says. "We just personally got invited by the world's best musicians to go talk to them..."
While Caris tries to convince me, Jobeth is practically in hysterics over the whole ordeal. "Chloe if you don't go, I'll never forgive you," she says, tears forming in her eyes. "This is the best thing to have ever happened to us!"
"Okay! Okay," I say defensively. "I was just trying to be cautious, but if it means so much to you guys, we'll go. But if anything seems wrong, we're leaving," I say firmly.
"Of course," Caris agrees and Jobeth is quick to nod.
Daniel smiles at us and motions us towards venue and we head back inside the building that we'd run out of only moments before. He leads us to a door that I can only assume will take us backstage and we follow him up a narrow staircase and past way too many guards for my comfort level.
My friends are grinning like crazy though, so I guess I'm glad we decided to come back. It's not exactly how I'd be spending my night after this concert, but since it means so much to them, I'm happy to be a part of it. Even if I would rather be sleeping at home.
Daniel mutters something to the two large men standing at the door and they look us over and nod. He leads us inside the room and we're finally backstage.
I have to say, considering they're so popular, I'm kind of underwhelmed with how they decided to go about filling their backstage. It's not too impressive.
I don't think Jobeth and Caris are thinking this though. In fact, they look like they're having a hard time breathing. I follow their line of vision and it leads me to a group of five boys standing opposite of us. The boy that stands directly in the middle steps forward and gives us a charming smile.
"Hello love," he says with his sweet British accent. "I'm Harry Styles."