In that moment Adam walks in

The door opens and in comes a familiar face. You can’t miss that bald head. It’s Adam of course and he has his big ass mother fucker camera with him. You look at it and almost get some inappropriate thoughts. “Hey girls, glad you could wait for me, I was out meeting some fans” he says smiling. “That’s fine, what’s up?” Emily says all chilled out. “I just wanted to talk to you guys, you know photographer to photographer and model” he nods at each of us when saying this. It’s weird having a professional photographer call you just the same thing. It makes you very happy and excited to hear it come from him. “You wanna sit?” he asks gesturing to the sofa. You all three sit down and Adam starts to talk as if he had known you for a very long time. “What type of camera do you use? Do you usually do motion pictures? Was it a set up?” he asks all sorts of questions and sometimes you have a hard time following. “Have you been modeling for a long time?” he then asks Emily. Phew… That gives you a small break to catch up again. “Uh… well no. I’m not really a model. I didn’t even know that she took that picture of me. I was just dancing and enjoying myself. It was at a high school party” Emily says with a cute smile to her face, how could she be that relaxed? After talking a while the door opens again and it’s the band.

“Hey dude. Stealing our ladies?” Jack asks all gangster like. You giggle at that. “Yes I am” Adam answers very bluntly. “But we saw them first” Alex says getting in on the joke. “Actually no you didn’t. Wasn’t it Adam who invited us back stage?” Emily buds in looking like she just won an argument. “That is true, thank you Emily” Adam says. Zack comes in and sit next to Emily again. Did he like her or was that something you just imagined?

You keep talking and Adam gets your phone number. He wants to collaborate with you some day. You are quick to give it to him, inside thanking Emily for making you enter that competition. He even lets you take some photos now of you and the guys just chilling in the dressing room.

About fifteen minutes later three guys come in. It is warp up band New Politics. They are Danish, but it was the first time you saw them live, and they were amazing. “Hey guys, look what we got” the lead singer David holds up two bottles of vodka and a cheer spreads through the room. “Fire up those bastards!” Alex yells motioning for the guys to open the bottles everyone takes a sip and a bottle is handed to you and Emily. You look at each other, not knowing whether or not you should take one. If you do, you can’t bring the car home, which sucks because there are no trains at this time of night, and if you don’t you would have just passed out on partying with your favorite band.

You drink?

You pass?

Emily's experience

(Emily’s experience)

I still can’t believe that Adam actually recognized me, and it makes me wonder just how big this campaign is. I don’t think twice about it because as soon as the door to the dressing room opens and I see the guys in there my heart stops. I literally cannot feel it beating anymore. I see Zack sitting on a couch with a guitar in hand. It’s so cute that he after just doing an entire concert still feels like playing. We are introduced to the guys, and I sit next to him on the couch. Jack and Alex are being loud, but that doesn’t surprise me.

When Rian steps out of the shower and Alex has left the room I get a little one on one talk with Zack. He asks me how old Laura and I are. “We’re both 19” I tell him. “Cool, do you play any instruments?” he says gesturing to his guitar. I tell him no, but that Laura plays a bit Ukulele. He somehow finds this funny. “Why’s that funny?” I ask. And he stops giggling. “It’s not, I’m sorry.” “Don’t be.”

“So what do you do?” he asks. “We are both in High School. It’s our senior year and we don’t really have anything specific planned after summer” I tell him. Laura and I had discussed traveling, but we hadn’t really agreed on anything, mostly because we don’t have the money for it. “Yeah, what would you like to do, if you could just choose? No limits” he puts his guitar down and faces me. He actually sounds interested in what I have to say. My stomach makes a turn when he catches my eye. “If I could choose – and with no limits – then I want to travel the world. I’ve always wanted to go different places and experience different cultures, you know?” I say. I hope I don’t come off stupid, when I say it – I am pretty nervous. “Yeah, I do. I mean, I always wanted to just get the hell out of Baltimore, when I grew up, and well, it seems like I did pretty good” he says smiling. “Have you always wanted to be in a band?” I ask. “Yes! My whole life” he says. I see that Laura is talking to Jack and Rian is on his phone.

“Hey Rian, stop being anti-social and come talk to the girls. Cassie can wait” Jack says taking Rian’s phone. “I think it’s cute” Laura says “how long have you been together?” she asks. After that Rian is engaged in the conversation.

Next one in the showers is Jack. He makes a comment on his stinky butt before exiting the room. Laura seems to think this is terribly funny, and can’t help but laugh. “It’s okay, you don’t have to pretend he’s funny” Alex says as a joke. At last it is Zack who takes a shower. When he leaves I have to talk to the others – not that I mind, it’s just that Zack and I had been talking this whole time, just one on one and I almost hadn’t paid any attention to Laura Alex Jack or Rian.

When Zack reenters his hair is a bit damp and he’s not wearing a shirt again. I won’t show it, but every fiber in my body jumps at the sight. Laura is looking as well, she can see why he is my sweet spot. He quickly gets a shirt from a bag and when it’s put on Matt comes in to say that it’s time for autographs. “If you stay, we can talk afterwards” Zack tells me right before he leaves. I don’t get a chance to answer, but I’ll be there, that’s for sure.

Laura and I are left in the room alone. We look at each other and run towards each other while doing a silent squeal together.

Back to Laura's point of view

After the concert

You hear Alex say the words ”thank you, goodnight” after the encore, and you can’t believe that the concert is already over. You have been so ecstatic the whole show through – especially at the part where Adam talked to you. You look down and see your backstage pass hang around your neck in a black chain. The words ALL TIME LOW are written on it in big, fat, white letters and next to them is the ATL scull. A lot of the people around you hurry out – they want to get in line for the signing. You and Emily just keep standing and looking at each other.

“That was the best concert ever!” Emily yells. “Okay – fan girl with me here” you say and stretch out your arms for her to take. You start jumping and squealing. A man with broad shoulders walks towards you. His jacket says ‘crew’, so you know that he is a part of the ATL family. “Hey ladies are you ready to come backstage?” he asks. You both nod. “Okay, just jump over the fence and follow me – that’s the fastest” he helps you to get over the fence that you have been pressed up against the past two hours. He follows you to a black door at the right side of the venue. It leads to a long white hallway with lots of doors on its sides. At the far end of the hall way, there is a door on your left. You go through that and you realize that you are just behind the stage. You see All Time Low doing a group hug, or something like that, because it ends with them all lying on the ground on top of each other. You laugh to yourself, and you hear Emily do the same thing. “Feel free to talk to anyone, but don’t get in the way. If you want anything to drink or eat, there is a table over there” he points at the opposite side of the room “and you can just help yourself” he says with a smile to his voice. “Thanks” Emily says and he nods and leaves the two of you.

You take a deep breath. You are actually backstage, this is more awkward than you have ever imagined. What will you say to the guys, and what will you say to Adam? He wants to talk about your style – you don’t have a style, you just take pictures when you see an opportunity for it.

“Come on” Emily tucks at your arm and nods towards the guys. “Are you crazy, what are we gonna say” you freak out. “Easy, take a breath, they are just normal people. People who we have been fantasizing about for the longest time and call our future husbands, but still people” she says quickly. You move towards the guys and as you get closer you recognize some of the crew members. There’s Danny, and Vinnie, and Matt, who is walking towards you. Matt is walking towards you! You stop short when he reaches you.

“Hey girls. The guys are just gonna take a shower and then they’re gonna go sign some stuff, but when they get back, they’ll be all yours” he says and you see the band walking away and enter a door opposite the one you stepped in of. “That’s cool. Is there a place you want us to wait, or should we just stay here?” Emily bluntly asks. “No, no. you can wait in their dressing room. I think Adam will be there as well. It was him you wanted to talk to, right?” he asks and looks directly at you. You nod. “Well, him and the guys of course” Emily says smiling. “Okay, you can just follow me, and eh… take some water bottles with you. You look like you could use them” he says laughing a bit. You hadn’t realized just how thirsty you are, so you each grab a bottle from the snack table and follow Matt to the dressing room.

Before you enter, Matt knocks on the door and you hear Jack scream “NO, DON’T COME IN. I’M NOT DRESSED YET!” you can’t help but to laugh. “SINCE WHEN ARE YOU EVER DRESSED” you hear Alex yell. “Should we wait?” you ask nervous to barge in on something, they might not want you to see. “Naaah” Matt says and opens the door. He holds it for you while you step in. Alex and Jack are standing up, both with towels in their hands, and Zack is sitting on a couch with no shirt on. Rian is nowhere to be seen, so you guess he is in the shower.

“Guys, these are the girls Adam wanted to talk to, so don’t hurt them, kay? Matt joked before leaving the room. “Hi” you say awkwardly and raise your hand as a waving gesture. “Hey girls, come sit down” Alex says walking towards you and stretching out his hand. You take it first “Laura” you introduce yourself. Emily does the same and it is repeated with every member. Zack is sitting with a guitar playing some tunes while the rest of you talk. Emily is sitting next to him on the couch looking really happy, you think they look really cute together, but that could just be because you already ship them.

“So why does Adam want to talk to you again, because as I see it, we could just kidnap you now so we can all go party?” Alex asks. “Yeah, partying with some local chicks. Wooohoooo” Jack said raising his arms. “Jack, they are not stripper, remember that” Alex calmed his friend down. You laugh at that; it’s just too funny how they are exactly how you imagined.  “Haha, well Adam just recognized me from some posters I America. Laura entered this competition to have a photo as a national campaign I the US. And I just so happened to be her model for that picture” Emily says. “Oh so it’s a photographer thing?” Zack bumps in. “Yeah. He wants to talk about style and stuff with me” You say. “Well he should be here any minute now” Alex says before going to a door that is in the room. He starts knocking on it “RIAN YOU FUCKER. GET YOUR ASS OUT OF THE SHOWER. WE STINK IN HERE!” he yells and as soon as he is done, Rian steps out of the room.

“Perfect. Well, excuse me ladies while I strip naked and take a shower” Alex says in a deep voice. Rian introduces himself to you and within the hour all of the boys have showered. There is a knock on the door and it is Matt again telling the boys that it is time to go sign some stuff and they all leave. “If you stay, we can talk afterwards” Zack tells Emily right before he leaves. The two of you are left in the room alone. You look at each other and run towards each other while doing a silent squeal together.

In that moment Adam walks in...

(Emily's experience)

You buy the tickets for the concert and wait for the day

There’s three months to the concert and not a day has passed where you Emily haven’t talked about it. Plus it has given you the chance to brag about the photo competition you so glamorously won. Your mom and dad were so proud when you had told them, and Emily gave you the biggest hug and invited you out for lunch.

As the days go by you are getting more and more excited, and when the day finally arrives you and your best friends are out of your minds. You have spent the night at her house, and now you are getting ready to go. Emily is the designated driver of the night considering she has a driver’s license and you don’t. On the way to the arena the stereo is blasting with ATL music and you are getting a few glares from others in the traffic. You have a hard time finding a spot for the car, so you both agree that you should just get out of the car and hurry the fuck up to the line, while Emily finds a parking spot for the car.

As you are walking towards the line you realize that it is not as long as you had expected, which you are both happy and disappointed about. You are glad that you are almost in the front of the line, but it disappoints you that there are no more diehard fans like the bunch who have already arrived. As you take your spot in the line you are greeted with smiles from everyone. This is why you love this fandom so much, there is no rivalry between each of the members, just love.

Emily soon joins you and she is greeted the same way. She has brought a blanket for you two to sit on during your wait, so you sit down next to the others. The hours pass by and the line is getting bigger and bigger, you are very glad that you arrived as early as you did. Suddenly you hear a horde of girls scream like their lives depended on them. You turn and see a small glace of none other than Jack Barakat. Your end of the line starts to scream and cheer for him as well, but he is gone.

“Did you see him?” a girl asks you. “Only a sneak peek, there were too many people to see any more” you answer. Emily laughs and you two are introduced to Andrea and Jessica. They are right behind you in the line. They arrived 30 minutes later than you did. You spend the next hour or so just chatting with them. They are pretty cool girls, but they live in the other end of the country, so even if you wanted you wouldn’t be able to really see them after the concert.

It is getting closer and closer to the doors opening and you can feel that people are starting to get impatient. But even so, it is still very fun to be sitting in the line. Some people have brought guitars and playing cards, so everyone are singing along to All Time Low songs amongst others and are playing cards and talking to each other. It is like one big family.

Then the doors open and everyone are ready to push whoever is in front of them out of the way. You need to be quick to get good spots, front row. As soon as your tickets are checked you and Emily run as fast as you can to the main stage. It is a race with all the other fans, and even if the concert doesn’t start until an hour later, it is important to get the good spots now! Some girls have already gotten the spots in the middle, but there is some space right up front in the right side. Typical, you think. Everyone wants to be where Jack and Alex are. You look at Emily while trying to get your breath back. Her eyes are shining bright. She knows that this is the side Zack always stands. You look at each other and hug without saying a thing. You know what each other are thinking.

The remaining spaces next to you are soon filled and people are starting to push a bit. It is annoying that people can’t just stand still and accept the spots that they have gotten. It’s still a freaking hour till the show starts.

That hour goes by with several crew members fixing the last things up on stage, and the fans screaming every time a new tech-guy steps out. You all know who they are, because All Time Low is not just the band, it is just as much the crew members.

The lights go out and you feel your excitement taking over you, it is like you are in a whole different world at the moment. This is a world you would want to stay in forever. You hear the chords to Lost In Stereo being played and your stomach makes a twist. Before you know it Alex, Rian, Jack and Zack are all on stage and you scream your lungs out. You have never thought this moment would be so magical.

As the concert proceeds you get lost in every song. Half way through Emily pokes you on the shoulder and points to the right, not on the stage but in front of it. You recognize the person she is pointing at. You could never not recognize that bald head. It is of course Adam – Adam Elmakias. If all of your biggest dreams and whishes would come true, you will someday be able to work with him and go on tour with him as a traveling photographer. You realize that he is walking closer to you and before you at it you hear Emily call his name and he turns his head. He is smiling and makes a small wave.

“Oh my God! You did not just do that!” you say with disbelief in your eyes. “Oh, but I did. He waved at us!” Emily yells over the loud music. The song Jasey Rae is ending and Alex is getting ready to talk to the crowd once again. At this point some really stupid, but funny things has been yelled out to the crowd, mainly from Jack and Alex and each time has been funnier than the other.

“Damn, we’ve got some beautiful mother fuckers in the crowd tonight” Alex says and Jack yells something, but his mic is not turned on. “Let’s get some light out there. I wanna see all of your beautiful faces.”

The lights turn on and the crowd goes amok. You see Adam turning again, this time to take some pictures of the crowd. You realize that he has just snapped a picture of Emily screaming to the stage, but you don’t wanna tell her. She’ll just get so self-conscious. As Alex and the rest of the band talk, your eyes fixate on Adam. You see him check his pictures. Such a critic, you think and recognize the feeling yourself. He looks up at you and Emily and down to his camera again. What was that? You think, but before you can say that out loud Adam is walking towards you two. The girls next to you try to catch his attention, but he is walking straight to you and Emily.

“Hi” he says, and you immediately freeze. Emily is chocked too. “H-Hi” she blurts out smiling at him. “Aren’t you the girl from the ‘Teens for sports’ campaign?” he asks. You can’t believe that he recognize her. From your photo! “Yes! Yes, that’s me!” Emily says. He sticks out his hand greets her. “What’s your name?” he asks. “Emily, and this is Laura. She was the photographer” Emily introduces you. “Hi” you say awkwardly while shaking his hand. It is a bit sweaty, but yours’ is probably shaking. “It’s a great picture” he compliments. “Thanks” your eyes are as bright as a shining star at the moment. Adam Elmakias just complimented your photo! This is the biggest night of your life!  “Do you guys wanna come backstage and talk after the show? I would love to hear about your techniques” Adam proposes. Emily is quick to say yes, and Adam waves a guard over and tells him to get two backstage passes for us. The guard nods and os off to get the passes.

“Hey Adam, stop flirting those beautiful girls, and take some pictures of us!” Jack suddenly blurts out through the mic. The three of you look up on stage and the entire band is looking at you and before you know at it a camera is in your faces, and your faces are up on the big screen for the whole crowd to see. You blush – hard! You shake it up by laughing and Adam gives thumbs up and lifts his camera. Emily is looking at Zack, they have eye contact. You can only imagine the thoughts rushing through her mind at that moment. Alex is laughing, and he starts to play the chords for the next song: For Baltimore. Adam quickly says his ‘see you later’-s and is off to snap some more pictures. The guard is back and he gives us the passes. You hear the girls on your right snort, but you don’t care. This is the greatest moment ever! You and Emily look at each other and you both feel the excitement of what just happened. She takes your hand and squeezes it tightly, grinning at you. Your grin is as big as hers, you can’t help it.

After the concert...

You answered C

As you listen to the song Mannequin by The Summerset you can’t help but feel nervous. You know that you aren’t going to win. What are the odds?  You are pretty sure that C) Hopeless Records is the correct answer, but at this point your mind could just be playing tricks on you. Phone in hand you pray to whatever God you can to help you be lucky – just this once.

Towards the end of the song you think once again about the answer and this is where panic takes over your body. You are sure it can be seen on your face.

As the song slowly passes by you wait nervously. You are getting more and more impatient to hear your phone ring, but id doesn’t. You hear the ending tunes of the song, now you are sure that you will not win those backstage tickets. You throw you phone on your bed. You didn’t aim for it, it just happened to be there – and good luck too; your IPhone would have smashed if you had hit the floor.

You hear the speaker’s voice again.

“And that was Mannequin by the band The Summerset. I’m telling you guys. We have been receiving texts from you none stop, but the competition is over. That’s right; we’ve found a winner of the two tickets for the All Time Low concert in May, and we have her on the phone right here. Emily, are you there?” You feel sad that you didn’t win. This would have been perfect; actually getting to meet the guys.

“You bet I am” the voice say.

Was that? No it couldn’t be.

“Tell us what the correct answer to our question ‘What record label is All Time Low currently signed to?’ is”

“It’s Hopeless Records of course”

You hear a ding-ding-ding sound announcing that it was indeed the correct answer. You are confused. Did Emily – your Emily – just win backstage tickets to the concert?

The two of you are actually going to meet All Time Low

You answered D

As you listen to the song Mannequin by The Summerset you can’t help but feel nervous. You know that you aren’t going to win. What are the odds?  You are pretty sure that D) Lava Records is the correct answer, but at this point your mind could just be playing tricks on you. Phone in hand you pray to whatever God you can to help you be lucky – just this once.

Towards the end of the song you think once again about the answer and this is where panic takes over your body. You are sure it can be seen on your face.

What the hell?! You think. It’s not Lava; it’s Hopeless Records, they never even signed to Lava. How could you forget? Now you are sure that you will not win those backstage tickets. You can’t send another text message – it’s too late now. You hear the ending tunes of the song and throw you phone on your bed. You didn’t aim for it, it just happened to be there – and good luck too; your IPhone would have smashed if you had hit the floor.

You hear the speaker’s voice again.

“And that was Mannequin by the band The Summerset. I’m telling you guys. We have been receiving texts from you none stop, but the competition is over. That’s right; we’ve found a winner of the two tickets for the All Time Low concert in May, and we have her on the phone right here. Emily, are you there?” You feel sad that you didn’t win. This would have been perfect; actually getting to meet the guys.

“You bet I am” the voice say.

Was that? No it couldn’t be.

“Tell us what the correct answer to our question ‘What record label is All Time Low currently signed to?’ is”

“It’s Hopeless Records of course”

You hear a ding-ding-ding sound announcing that it was indeed the correct answer. You are confused. Did Emily – your Emily – just win backstage tickets to the concert?

The two of you are actually going to meet All Time Low

You answered B

As you listen to the song Mannequin by The Summerset you can’t help but feel nervous. You know that you aren’t going to win. What are the odds?  You are pretty sure that B) Emerald Moon Records is the correct answer, but at this point your mind could just be playing tricks on you. Phone in hand you pray to whatever God you can to help you be lucky – just this once.

Towards the end of the song you think once again about the answer and this is where panic takes over your body. You are sure it can be seen on your face.

What the hell?! You think. It’s not Emerald Moon; it’s Hopeless Records, they went back. How could you forget? Now you are sure that you will not win those backstage tickets. You can’t send another text message – it’s too late now. You hear the ending tunes of the song and throw you phone on your bed. You didn’t aim for it, it just happened to be there – and good luck too; your IPhone would have smashed if you had hit the floor.

You hear the speaker’s voice again.

“And that was Mannequin by the band The Summerset. I’m telling you guys. We have been receiving texts from you none stop, but the competition is over. That’s right; we’ve found a winner of the two tickets for the All Time Low concert in May, and we have her on the phone right here. Emily, are you there?” You feel sad that you didn’t win. This would have been perfect; actually getting to meet the guys.

“You bet I am” the voice say.

Was that? No it couldn’t be.

“Tell us what the correct answer to our question ‘What record label is All Time Low currently signed to?’ is”

“It’s Hopeless Records of course”

You hear a ding-ding-ding sound announcing that it was indeed the correct answer. You are confused. Did Emily – your Emily – just win backstage tickets to the concert?

The two of you are actually going to meet All Time Low

You answered A

As you listen to the song Mannequin by The Summerset you can’t help but feel nervous. You know that you aren’t going to win. What are the odds?  You are pretty sure that A) Interscope Records is the correct answer, but at this point your mind could just be playing tricks on you. Phone in hand you pray to whatever God you can to help you be lucky – just this once.

Towards the end of the song you think once again about the answer and this is where panic takes over your body. You are sure it can be seen on your face.

What the hell?! You think. It’s not Interscope; it’s Hopeless Records, they went back. How could you forget? Now you are sure that you will not win those backstage tickets. You can’t send another text message – it’s too late now. You hear the ending tunes of the song and throw you phone on your bed. You didn’t aim for it, it just happened to be there – and good luck too; your IPhone would have smashed if you had hit the floor.

You hear the speaker’s voice again.

“And that was Mannequin by the band The Summerset. I’m telling you guys. We have been receiving texts from you none stop, but the competition is over. That’s right; we’ve found a winner of the two tickets for the All Time Low concert in May, and we have her on the phone right here. Emily, are you there?” You feel sad that you didn’t win. This would have been perfect; actually getting to meet the guys.

“You bet I am” the voice say.

Was that? No it couldn’t be.

“Tell us what the correct answer to our question ‘What record label is All Time Low currently signed to?’ is”

“It’s Hopeless Records of course”

You hear a ding-ding-ding sound announcing that it was indeed the correct answer. You are confused. Did Emily – your Emily – just win backstage tickets to the concert?

The two of you are actually going to meet All Time Low

Now the only thing to do is wait

A week has passed and you have been a nerve wreck ever since you entered that stupid completion. You aren’t going to win, you know that. Then why do you keep checking your e-mail? It’s the third time just this morning, and nothing but a few newsletters and an e-mail from your uncle has arrived. You decide that you should just close your computer and leave it. It’s not healthy for you to be in this state. The past week you totally skipped lunch to have enough money for the concert – the only one noticing this was Emily, she even offered to buy you lunch, but it didn’t matter; you were too nervous to eat.

Now you needed something to take your mind off of the competition. You look around your room and your eyes fall on the Harry Potter books on your shelf. It has been a while since you last read those books, maybe it was time to open them up again. You get up and reach for the first book, and as you start reading your mind leaves your room and enters J.K. Rowling’s universe.

You haven’t noticed how long you have been reading until your mom knocks on your door asking you if you want some lunch. You realize that you are actually really hungry, so you close the book and follow her to the living room, where she has prepared some food for you.

After finishing your lunch you go back to your room, and your eyes fall on your computer. Maybe you should just check one more time. As you open your computer you feel those nerves come back. You click on the e-mail icon on your screen and patiently wait for the new e-mails to arrive. When you hear the little ‘pling’ signaling that you’ve got mail, you check if it’s the right mail.

And there it is. The subject only says congratulations so it must be positive. You feel our hands shaking and for some reason you are out of breath.

‘Dear miss Laura M. J. We are happy to announce that you are the winner of our campaign competition. CONGRATULATIONS…” as you read the e-mail your eyes start to water. You cannot believe that out of all the people entering, you are the one who has won this competition. You can’t believe that your photo will be a part of a US national campaign! This is too crazy. You pick up you phone and call Emily right away.

“Hey, aren’t you the girl on those posters all around in America?” you ask right away. She gets the message, and you both start screaming. It is everything you could wish for. And you even get 200 bucks; you know what to use that for.

You buy the tickets for the concert and wait for the day...

The next week

A week later you are locked in your room once again, this time listening to the radio and waiting for the contest to start. So far it has been a good show, with All Time Low Music, old interviews and even a special message from the band to the Danish fans. You are absolutely ready to win this thing; no way you aren't going to win it. You live and breathe for this band. The only person you know that feels the same way is your best friend Emily, who you know is sitting in her room just as excited as you are.

“Well well, ladies and gentlemen. This will be the moment you've all been waiting for. It’s time for our little contest. You heard that right; in a few minutes one of you beautiful people out there is gonna win two backstage tickets for the All Time Low concert, which will take place May 29^th. All you have to do to win this thing is answering the following question” the speaker holds a short break, “What record label is All time Low currently signed to? Is it A: Interscope Records, is it B: Emerald Moon Records, is it C: Hopeless Records, or is it D: Lava Records?”  As the speaker repeats and tells the sending information you quickly type down the answer press send! “Okay guys, after this next song we will have contacted the winner so have your phones ready, ‘cause it might just be you we'll be calling”

You answered A?

You answered B?

You answered C?

You answered D?

You don’t enter the competition

”I can’t do it” you say closing your computer.

“Why not?” Emily asks you sounding hopeless.

“Because I’m not gonna win, and it’s stupid, and I want to take photos like Adam Elmakias, not commercial photographers” you tell her. You are telling the truth, but you left out the fact that it’s because you are not confident enough to rely on your work to be displayed for everyone – this might actually be the only reason you are saying no.

You hear Emily sigh. You have had this conversation with her before, so she knows that she can’t change the fact that you won’t upload the picture. You are very conscious about your work. You care more about how your photos than anything else. They are your babies, and you don’t show your babies to everyone.

“How about we get that English assignment done before Tuesday?” you ask her, well knowing that she didn’t expect to be studying when she got here.

“Uh-okay” she says and opens up your computer. She closes the competition website and opens a document so the two of you can start writing.

After 40 minutes of intense essay writing the voice on the radio says the name All Time Low. You both shoot your heads up, haven forgotten everything about school.

“Yes, the boys will be guesting Denmark in about two months, and because of that we will be focusing on them and their band next week.” You and Emily look at each other; you both know what you’ll be doing next weekend. “And to make it all a bit more interesting, we’ll be giving out backstage tickets for one lucky winner”

At this moment your room is full of excitement. Emily is the first one to let out the scream she had been holding in, but you follow up soon. You mom comes barging in asking what’s going on.

“Nothing mom, we’re just happy” you tell her, never hiding the big smile on your face.

“Okay hun, I’ll just leave again” she says and closes the door again. You and Emily look at each other and scream once again.

The next week...

You enter the competition

You take a deep breath. Why shouldn't you enter this competition? A big campaign, people will actually get to see your picture, and Emily already said that it was okay to use the picture you took of her. You click on the ‘ENTER COMPETITION HERE’-button and write down your information, such as e-mail, name, where you live and name of the model. You hear Emily giggle about the fact that she is being referred to as a model.

“And this is how we become rich and famous. I want you to take all my top-model photos from now on.  No one else is good enough. I can’t have a crap photographer to take my pictures. No I want the best; you!” Emily jokes as she does her best Tyra Banks poses. It doesn't really work, but she is cute and funny, and you love her and you can’t stop laughing.

As you upload the photo you think of how amazing a life that would actually be. Now you just have to wait to hear if you have won or not. The competition ends in a week, so you’ll have to be a nerve wreck for the next seven days, but besides that you are actually happy that you did this. You turn to look at Emily.

“I love you, you know that” you say and hug her.

“I know love. And I love you too”

Now the only thing to do is wait...

The next day Emily comes over

It is around noon when Emily walks into your room. You are surprised when she does, you didn't hear her come in, but then again; you were listening to music on you radio. You do this every Saturday between 11am and 1pm, because they air a special podcast that you like to listen to. Emily also listens to it. Today they focused on the newest of Panic! At the Disco’s albums: Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!

“Hey babes” she said and sat down next to you.

“Hey. I didn't know you were already here. I didn't hear you” you said hugging her.

“Well I just walked in”

“Of course you did”

“What are you doing?” she asks you.

“Editing my photos… Here look at this” you open a file on your computer. This is a photo you have been working on for quite some time now, and now it was finally time to show Emily.

“Wow. Is that me? I look so pretty” her eyes got big. The photo was of her dancing at a party the two of you went to a month ago. All the people in the background were edited out, so it looked like she was dancing in a blur of lights.

“You always are, love” you told her.

“Aw, thank you” she hugs you “oh, that reminds me of something. I saw this thing. It’s a competition” she says. A competition, what kind? You think, but before you have the chance to ask she takes your mac and opens a website. It’s a photo competition.

“Winners get 200 dollars and the photo will be in some kind of big campaign. The photo just have to be of someone moving, you know like dancing or doing some sort of sport, and you have that right here. Isn't it perfect?” you don’t believe what you are hearing. This could actually be you chance to get into the photography industry; that was always your dream.

“Mmmm, I don’t know” you are a bit concerned, what if you are not good enough?

“You have to enter, or I’m entering for you” Emily threatened.

You enter the competition?

You don't enter the competition?

You tell her to stay out

You don’t want your mom to see you like this, and quite frankly you really just don’t want to talk to her right now. You have nothing to say to her, so you ignore her knocking.

“Laura open the door please” you hear her say.

“No stay out, I don’t wanna talk right now” you try to sound like you haven’t just been crying, but your effort is not worth it since she continues to knock. This is where you get an idea. You get up and walk straight to you stereo. You pick out an All Time Low album; you know exactly which song you should put on. The album is their newest one; ‘Don’t Panic’, and the song is of course ‘The Reckless and the Brave’. As you try to drown out your mother’s voice with the music you little by little forget that you were sad. This is what the music can do to you. You dance around in your room and don’t even realize that your mom has opened the door and is now watching you. You turn around and see her laughing. Your dad is standing right behind her smiling as well.

“What?” you ask.

“It really means that much to you?” your mom asks.

“YES!” you nod.

“Listen sweetheart” she starts “I can’t tell you that I understand, but I can see that this is actually something you really want.” She pauses and sighs. “You promise to stay with Emily the whole day and throughout the concert?” Is she really saying what you think she’s saying?

“Yes mom, I promise not to leave her side for even just a second” you tell her.

“Okay then, you can go, but on one condition.” A big smile just appeared on your face, you didn't really care what the condition was; you had your permission now. “Keep us contacted, we want to know how you are, or if anything happens, okay?”

 “And you have to pay for the ticket yourself” your dad buds in.

“I can do that. Thank you, thank you, thank you” you say over and over again.

Before they leave your room you tell them that Emily is coming over tomorrow, and they are fine with that.

The next day Emily comes over...

You let her in

You sit up. Are you really throwing a teenage tantrum at your parents? You never do that, you are always the one to listen to their rules and never do anything this unexpected. You are a bit ashamed of yourself, and figure that this is not really fair to your parents either. You dry your eyes and tell your mom that “yeah you can come in”.

The door opens and she slowly takes her seat next to you on the bed. “Listen sweetheart” she starts “I can’t tell you that I understand, but I can see that this is actually something you really want.” She pauses to look at you. You nod and she puts her arm around you. “You promise to stay with Emily the whole day and throughout the concert?” Is she really saying what you think she’s saying?

“Yes mom, I promise not to leave her side for even just a second” you tell her.

“Okay then, you can go, but on one condition.” A big smile just appeared on your face, you didn't really care what the condition was; you had your permission now. “Keep us contacted, we want to know how you are, or if anything happens, okay?”

“Yes mom. Thank you, thank you, thank you” you say over and over again while you hug her for dear life. Now you only need the money for the concert. You don’t want to ask your parents, figuring that this might change their minds. Instead you tell her Emily will be coming over tomorrow and she is fine with that.

The next day Emily comes over...

You tell them later

You decide to tell them later, maybe at dinner, that way you would have figured out a brilliant argument for why they should let you skip school to go to the concert.

You reach for the doorknob and open the door. You are met by the nice smell of bakery. This means your mother has been baking, which means that she is in a good mood.

“Hi mom, hi dad” you yell, letting them know that you are home. Your dad peaks his head out in the corridor you are standing in.

“Hi Hun, how was your day?” he asks.

“Great” you reply taking off your jacket.

“That’s good” he kisses you on the head and leaves you to watch football on the TV. You think to yourself that it was a wise decision you made. Telling them why would only make them mad because you interrupted them in their hour of great moods. You immediately go to your room taking out your computer and opening Skype. You need to ask Emily what she would say in a situation like this. Though you know that her parent will definitely be open for the idea, they are completely different people than your folks are. They will probably even buy her the ticket if she asks.

“Hello there honey bunch” she says. Her smile is big; she has probably already cleared it with her parents. “What’s up?” she asks.

“What can I tell my parents so they let me skip school to go to the concert?” you bluntly blur out.

As you had expected Emily does know the answer for this. “You say this ‘mom, dad, I’m 19 years old, so that means I can do things now, things that I haven’t been able to do before, for instance I can vote, and I can also take care of myself. This is why you should let me go with Emily to the All Time Low concert that will be happening exactly two months from next Friday, and you will also let me skip school that day so we can be sure that we can get front row spots on the floor instead of being smashed in the middle of a claustrophobic pit of people and losing ourselves from each other. This way we will have a much safer night and an experience that we can look back at and tell our grandchildren when we grow old’, oh and if you can shred a single tear at the growing old part that will be great.” Emily said this so believingly that even if she was your kid, you would have let her attend a rave-party all by herself and the junky from the corner downtown.

“How do you do that?” you ask stunned.

“What?”

“That. You can convince everyone everything you want and you don’t even blink or hesitate, you just know what to say” you say.

“It’s a gift and it’s called brilliant acting” she smirks her evil smirk at you, and as you say your goodbyes you try to memories her speech. You decide to tell your parents the news at dinner, that way they will be focusing on not only you, but also the food.

The rest of the afternoon you spend your time on Tumblr and YouTube catching up on what’s new. As you are in the middle of a Tyler Oakley video your mom calls for dinner and you – confident as ever – have the guts to get up and walk to the kitchen before any thoughts of hesitation hit you.

Half way through dinner, you find you right spot to tell them. “Mom, dad” you start and swallow a piece of chicken, “since I’m 19 now, I feel like I have more freedom than what I used to have. I can vote and uh, take care of myself, and uh I can, I can” oh no you are stuck, come on, just say it “Can I go to a concert with Emily Friday the 29^th of May? It’s with my favorite band, and they are quite popular, which means that if we want to make sure we stay together all night and don’t get lost from each other, we need to get up front, which means that we have to be there early, which also means that would have to skip school that day” okay this went pretty well, now you just need their verdict.

“I don’t see any problem in that” you mom says. Your eyes turn big – really big. You jump up from your chair to hug your parent saying “thank you, thank you, thank you” over and over again.

The next day Emily comes over...

You tell them now

You take a deep breath. There is no use in waiting, plus you don’t know if you can actually shut up about this, so you decide to just tell them now.

You reach for the doorknob and open the door. You are met by the nice smell of bakery. This means your mother has been baking, which means that she is in a good mood.

“Hi mom, hi dad” you yell, letting them know that you are home. Your dad peaks his head out in the corridor you are standing in.

“Hi Hun, how was your day?” he asks.

“Great” you reply taking off your jacket.

“That’s good” he kisses you on the head and leaves you to watch football on the TV. You think to yourself that it’s now or never, so you follow him and sit down next to him on the couch.

“I actually wanted to talk to you guys about something that happened today” you say with your cutest smile you can come up with.

“Really, and what’s that?” you mom says, just entering the living room. Her hair is pulled back in a ponytail and she is wearing an apron. Her jeans are covered in flour and she s barefooted. It is not rare that you see your mom like this; she has always been the funky, working at home, kind of type of mom.

“Emily and I just saw that our favorite band is coming to Denmark in two months and I was just wondering if I could go” I said.

“Laura you are over 19, if you wanna go, then there’s not much we can do to stop you” you mother told you. Wow, you didn't really expect this, but fine!

“When is it?” you hear your dad ask. He hasn't left his eyes from the game he is watching.

“It’s at Friday the 29th” you smile and add “…of May. We would need to skip school just that one day, so we can be first in line and get good seats”. Your dad looks up at you.

“You can go to the concert, but you are not skipping school” he said.

“But dad, this is important” you beg him.

“And so is your education” he says in his fatherly voice. You hate it when he uses that voice; it always makes you feel guilty about something. In this case it was wanting to go to an once-in-a-life-time concert instead of going to school, which you – by the way – do every week. Why can’t he see that? As you look at your mom for some support, she just shrugs and tells you that “your dad is right kiddo. You can’t skip school.”

You take in a deep breath, knowing that the tears are coming. You don’t want to cry in front of your parents, and you actually don’t know why you are reacting this way. All you know that this concert is important to you. You also know that Emily wouldn’t have any trouble with convincing her parents that this was actually a good idea. You know that her parent will be cool with this. They’ll probably even pay for her ticket. You don’t say anything; you just sit there thinking about how unfair this is. You hadn't even noticed the water gathering in your own eyes.

“Honey what’s wrong” you hear your dad say with a sigh.

“You just don’t understand how important this is to me, don’t you?” you almost scream. You are taken aback by your reaction. It wasn't meant to come out this way, but you are so worked up by now that you don’t even care, so you continue “this band is what has gotten me through EVERYTHING! Hard times in school, fights with you, fights with Emily, even after Grandma died, they helped me, and that is more than you can say about one single Friday in high school.” You feel the first tear falling from your eye, so you get up and storm to your room. Behind you you can hear your mom call for you, but you don’t listen. When your door is closed you throw yourself on your bed crying.

A few minutes later you hear a knock on your door. It’s you mom asking for permission to enter. You don’t really know if you should. For starters you don’t feel like talking, you look like a mess, but on the other hand, maybe she wants to understand.

You let her in?

You tell her to stay out?

This is how it all started

You sit in class, just waiting for the teacher to tell you good weekend. You are not the only one, you see. As you look around you spot every case of boredom. You see the front row has started doodling in their notebooks instead of writing notes, you see the smokers by the windows fiddling with their unlit cigarettes between their fingers, the girls in the back corner discussing which dresses to wear at tonight’s party, the middle row has opened several links to various gaming sites on their computer screens, and then you look at your own computer screen. PSYCHOLOGY is written at the top of the document reminding you which subject you are actually having at the moment. The rest of the document is empty. Guess psychology wasn’t what you had expected when you first signed up for it. You let out a deep sigh as you start chewing on your pencil. You can now feel how the skipped-over lunch wasn’t a good idea. You know that you should have eaten, but in times of economic stress, food is just a thing you can live without you had said. What a stupid thought. Your level of energy is fading away, but that is when you are being poked at. That’s right on your left side your true partner in crime and best friend Emily is sitting. You look at her, and quite frankly, she looks like she can’t breathe.

“What’s wrong?” you ask, curious to find out why she is acting like this. You see her turning her computer screen to you and she is pointing at something. You look a bit closer and see that it is tour dates. But for who? You get excited, though you don’t know the answer to this question. You and Emily do share the same taste in music, so this can only be good. She scrolls up and you see a picture of no one else than your favorite band All Time Low. Now it’s your turn to hyperventilate.

“Oh my God” you whisper.

“I know” Emily replies. By now you are both smiling like two maniacs. You just want to scream, but to do that in the middle of class wouldn’t be the best idea. You look at your watch, and it reads 15:24. That is only one more minute and you can…

“That’s it for today. Have a nice weekend everyone.” Okay never mind. You start squealing, and so does Emily. People passing you look at you two like you are crazy, but they don’t ask. All they can think about is getting this weekend started. Honestly, you are also looking forward to two days of freedom.

 You and Emily agree to meet Saturday to do homework together, well knowing that this is not the subject you will be discussing AT ALL! You have so much on your mind at the moment; get money for concert, make sure your schedule is free is the whole day, find outfit for concert, drool over Alex and Jack…. Wait what were you thinking about? Oh that’s right; how the fuck you are gonna make enough money to pay for the concert. You could ask your dad, but then you would have to come up with a really good excuse to ditch school already. You knew this was going to be a problem. A concert on a Friday? Even though school wouldn’t be a problem the next day, you wouldn’t be able to sit in line to the good seats. Fastest comes first, so you and Emily would need to be in the front of the line to even get a slightly good view.

 As all this processes through your mind you don’t hear Emily saying goodbye to you. When she snaps you out of your trance you feel like you have been awakened from a really good dream, but you just can’t remember how it went.

“Thinking about mr. Gaskarth and mr. Barakat again, honey?” Emily asks you jokingly.

“My two husbands” you say with a smile.

“Wannabe husbands might I add.”

You look at her like she had just spoken the words of the devil. “You are no better missy. You daydream about Zack all the time, and you know it!” you said pointing you finger at your best friend.

“That I can’t deny” she says with a shrug. “Bye honey. See you tomorrow”

As you hug and say your goodbye, your train of thoughts takes you back to where you were just a little while ago, and before you know it, you are home.

Before you enter you stare at the door for a while. You know that both of your parents are home at this point, so you try to decide whether you should tell them about the concert now or later.

You tell them now?

You tell them later?