Chapter 4

"Train 4873 to Mayville is now boarding."

I grabbed my stuff and headed to the train. I had never seen the train station this busy. What the heck. I boarded the train and sat down. I checked my purse to make sure I had all my things. Money, phone, camera, and tickets. Yup, that was it. After a while the train started moving. A smile slid across my face.

"Well, you look happy about something." I looked over to the girl sitting across from me.

"Yea, I am," I said as I smiled bigger.

"Where are you heading to?" she asked.

"To Lancton. I'm going to see Gone Away at the Smith's Theater."

The girl looked up in surprise. "Gone Away? How did you get tickets to that? I heard it was pretty much invitation only."

I laughed. "It is, but I won tickets off the radio."

"Lucky girl," she said as she placed her ear buds in her ear.

The rest of the train ride to Mayville and then to Lancton was calm. No worries and stress. Once I got to Lancton, I found a cab in front of the train station.

"What is the nearest restaurant next to Smith's Theater?" I asked the cab driver when I got in.

"The Brock Café is right down the street. It's the closest thing to the Theater besides Smith's restaurant, but that place is always filled with people," replied the cab driver.

"That's fine." Brock Café will be great." The cab driver pulled away from the curb and headed down the street. Even though the Café was only a couple miles away, it took us twenty minutes to get there. Lancton wasn't that big of a town, but with Gone Away playing at the theater, the traffic and city were busy.

"Here you are," said the cab driver as he pulled up to the curb.

"Thanks," I said as I handed him the money and got out of the cab. I walked into the café and found a table. The waiter walked up to my table to take my order.

I could barely eat my food because I was so nervous. The concert was going to be starting in ninety minutes. When I was done, I sat in my chair looking around. As I was sipping my coke, I noticed a blonde guy sitting on the other side of the restaurant. He was wearing a white button down shirt, a navy blue sweater, and red jeans. I stared at him for a while. He was sitting with another guy in a booth. His friend must have said something because the blonde guy let out an obnoxious and loud laugh. I started giggling to myself. I had never heard someone laugh like that before. I looked at my phone. I have an hour left. I should probably head to the theater. I took my bill to the cashier, paid, and walked out the door. The air was humid and heavy. That was summer in the Midwest for you.

I got to Smith's Theater and walked in. The theater was decent sized, but not big enough for a huge concert. I noticed a merch table against the wall. I walked over and looked at the things they had for sale. I noticed a shirt hanging on the wall. It was a simple black shirt that had "GONE AWAY" written on it. Since my dad had given me extra money, I decided to get the shirt. After I got the shirt, I went to stand by the wall. I slipped the shirt on over my tank. The shirt was bigger than I wanted. It went down to the bottom of my butt. I took a hair tie out of my purse and tied it up in the back. That was better. I put my purse back over my shoulder and went over to the ticket takers. I handed the man my ticket and he let me in. my excitement was building higher and higher. This was it. The concert was free seating, so I decided to take one of the few chairs left in the second row since the first row was filled. I now had thirty minutes left to wait. I got out my phone and sent a text to my dad, Karen, Liz, and Mel, letting them know I was here and safe.

Once seven came, the lights went out. People started screaming and standing. I stood up and started clapping. I wanted to jump and scream. A few minutes later, the lead singer of Gone Away came on stage with the other members behind him. I started jumping up and down, waving my hands in the air. I took my camera out of my purse and started snapping photos. This was something I really wanted to remember. After about half an hour of dancing and singing, people were starting to go near the stage. When will I ever get this chance again? I asked myself as I made my way toward the stage. Once I was up by the stage, people were pushing and yelling, trying to touch the members' hands. I reached my hand out and waved it in front of me. All of a sudden, one of the members came up to where I was standing and held my hand. I about passed out from anxiety and excitement. HE TOUCHED ME! HE TOUCHED ME! I yelled to myself. I continued to dance and sing with the huge group of people around me. This had to be one of the best nights of my life. I looked around to the people by me when I saw a familiar face. The blonde guy from the café. He was standing next to me in the mob of people. He was even cuter up close. Without even realizing it, I felt myself falling in his direction. I felt an arm grab me as I tried to steady myself. I looked up to see the blonde guy holding my arm.

"You okay?" he asked.

I smile and nodded. "Yea, thanks." He smiled back and started dancing again. I couldn't tell from all the noise, but it sounded like he had an accent. After the song ended, I looked over at the blonde guy just as he was looking at me.

"There's a lot of crazy people her," he said as he fixed his sweater.

"You're telling me, I said back. I didn't know what to say. I was one of the most awkward people to be around. I never knew what to say to guys. The music started up again and I started dancing again.

The concert ended an hour later. The mob of people all started walking away at once. I tried to get out of the mob, but it was impossible. I somehow made my way to the door, but not without pushing and pulling from everyone around me. When I could finally see some light and breathe my own air, I got out of the concert hall and walked over by the merch table. I needed to get myself together. That had been the best concert of my life. What a night! I got my phone out to check the time. I had an hour and a half to get a cab and get to the train station. I was about ready to leave when I saw the singers of Gone Away coming out of the concert hall. I ran over to where they were and pushed my way through the people.

"Oh my gosh! Can get a picture please?" I kept shouting. Finally, the singers agreed and took my picture with them. Once I got out of the group of people and my pictures, I heard a voice from the intercom.

"….Please take caution and stand by for further announcements."

I looked around but nobody seemed too worried about anything that was going on. I turned around when I heard a voice behind me.

"Looks like you made it out alive."