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?