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...