In An Aeroplane Over The Sea

“I still can’t believe you met All Time Low,” gushed Jan as she turned on my computer. Jan and Merel were two girls whose grandparents were friends with mine, and through them I had been introduced to the two Dutch teens. Amsterdam was everything I had hoped for, and more. The city was beautiful, the people warm and kind, and it proved to be the perfect spot to do my summer school work. I had been living here for nearly four weeks now, and I loved every minute of it.

As it turns out, Jan and Merel were pretty big All Time Low fans themselves, and when I casually mentioned that I met them on the plane ride, they didn’t believe me. Only when I showed them the myspace page Jack had made me, and the fact that I was still in all four of their top friend’s spot, did they believe what I told them.

“Yeah,” added Merel. “Do you think they could get us backstage passes to their show in Germany?”

I shrugged, lying back on my bed in my grandparent’s apartment. “I don’t know,” I replied. “I’d feel bad asking, though. I don’t want to take advantage of them.”

But they must not have heard me, because they were too busy giggling at the new comments I had received on my page. Every so often I would log on to that wretched myspace Jack had created (feeling obliged by the promise I had made to Jack, Rian and Alex to stay in touch – but mostly to Zack – even though I never commented on their pages) and see a handful of comments from their fans asking who I was and how I knew them. I never responded to any, but restraining Merel and Jan was proving more difficult. They always got a kick out if it. “Alright,” Merel said, grabbing my laptop away from Jan. “If we’re going to go to the concert in Germany, we’ve got to buy tickets, before it sells out.”

“Have you ever met Casper?” Jan asked, her question directed at Merel. We both shook our heads, though Jan didn’t see my response. “I met him at boarding school. You’d like him.” She turned to me, “You’d like him, too, Paisley.”

“So we can go to the concert, and then we can go out for dinner with Casper,” Merel concluded, reaching over to her purse and gripping her credit card. With a few more clicks on the keyboard, the tickets had been purchased. “You both owe me twenty-one Euros.” Jan nodded, taking out the money from her purse and handing it Merel, and I reached into my nightstand and took the money out as well. “Alright, so the concert is next week. Here’s the plan,” Merel concluded, “We take the train into Germany. Go to the concert. Paisley will introduce us to All Time Low, and then we can go out for dinner with Casper. All in time to make it back home by 3:30 in the morning.”

“Perfect!” Jan exclaimed, clapping her hands over her head. Even I couldn’t hide the smile on my face – I was excited to see them again.

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The train ride to Germany wasn’t so bad. Sure, it was four hours long, but Jan and Merel brought their computers, and I brought my schoolwork, so we all had things to do. Jan had finalized our plans with her friend, Casper, that she had met from school, and even went as far as to show us pictures of him. He wasn’t bad looking in the least bit, but he didn’t compare to Zack. I never told them about how I had fallen asleep on Zack’s lap on the plane ride; some things I wanted to be left for my memories only.

“Come on,” Jan groaned as we approached the growing long line outside the venue All Time Low was playing at. “We should get preferred treatment or something because of Paisley.” I blushed slightly, disliking it when Jan and Merel thought that my friendship with All Time Low was something that made us, as fans, more important than everyone else. We stood outside for another half hour or so before they started collecting tickets. Jan and Merel made friends with the people who stood around us inside, trying out the German they had been learning in school, while I struggled to keep the butterflies from flying around my stomach.

Soon, the opening band came and went, and the lights dimmed. Jan gripped my hand hard, grinning to me as the silhouettes of people moving around the stage became visible. The lights flashed on, and there stood the four boys that Jan and Merel would never let me forget about.

“What’s going down, Frankfurt!” Alex exclaimed into the microphone. The crowd cheered, and Jan and Merel exchanged excited squeals. “This is our third show in Germany, and we’re so excited! This first song is called Dear Maria, Count Me In. Sing along if you guys know it!” The crowd cheered again, and the band began the concert.

Merel and Jan sang along like seasoned pros. And while I cheered and laughed at all their perverted jokes, I’d be lying if I said I knew the words to any of their songs except Coffee Shop Soundtrack. I never got around to listening to them, perhaps because I didn’t want to spoil the interactions I had with them on the plane. I’m not sure. Still, the band was exactly as I imagined them to be: high energy, exciting, entertaining, and not to mention hysterical. The banters between Jack and Alex were one of a kind, though my eyes were constantly focused on Zack. I never imagined him to be that vocal on stage, but he seemed to be constantly scanning the crowd for something. I wondered briefly if it could have been me; after all, I did promise him I would come to a Germany show.

The concert began to wind down, with Jan and Merel constantly exchanging glances of pure glee. After the last song, Alex, Jack, and Rian stood up to exit the stage, but Zack took an extra second. The crowd slowly began to move towards the door, but the excitement still clung in the air. Refusing to turn around until Zack had exited the stage, I continued looking at him, until the unthinkable happened: his eyes seemed to find mine. I froze, and he froze, too, until he nearly jumped to the nearest microphone. “Paisley!” He yelled into it, and Jan and Merel shrieked next to me. The audience turned towards him, though most just disregarded it before continuing to exit. I grinned, my smile reaching ear to ear. He opened his mouth to speak again, but closed it quickly, before pointing over to a door near the stage.

I titled my head in confusion, with Jan rolling her eyes and grabbing my hand. “Don’t be stupid, Paisley! He’s going to unlock the door!” I smiled as the three of us ran to the door, and low and behold, Zack was already there with it open. I bit my lip, trying to hold back my smile, until I couldn’t take it anymore, and nearly jumped into his embrace. His arms tightened around my waist, and neither of us let go for what must have been at least twenty seconds. Finally, I pulled away, only to look him in the eye and wrap my arms around his neck for a second time.

“I missed you,” I heard him say softly, and I grinned as I buried my head in his chest. “Thank you for coming.”

“I’d never break a promise to you.”