Faded Memories

It was clear to me that I didn’t do enough research on Allstar Weekend. I expected only a couple of girls to be waiting outside. When I made it to the venue, there were tons of girls waiting in line waiting for the doors to open. Many of them wore t-shirts they made, t-shirts they bought from their merch website, carried homemade signs and more. Conversations differentiated from how attractive they were to their latest YouTube video. When I got to the front, a group of girls at the front gave me dirty look. I shrugged it off and turned my attention to a man who was monitoring the line.

“Excuse me, sir, but I was supposed to meet Cameron Quiseng here.” I told the man. The girls who gave me a dirty look scoffed. Those girls are lucky that I’m too nice of a person, otherwise I would’ve jumped them and beat them up. The man laughed at me.

“Sorry, but you’ll have to line up at the back of the line just like everyone else.”

“But sir, he told me to meet him here.” I tried to tell him.

“Go to the back of the line! I’ve waited 8 hours and there’s no way you’re cutting in!” One of the girls at the front snapped at me. Is she seriously asking for a punch in the face? Some fans can be so rude. Thankfully, Cameron came in to save me. Everyone gasped and some of them screamed with excitement.

“Hey guys.” He waved to all the fans. “She’s with me.” He told the man and the man nodded. “I’ll see you guys later. Have fun tonight!” He told his fans once more before we went inside the venue.

“Some of your fans are…quite defensive.” I tried to put my thought into nicer words.

“Sorry you had to deal with that. I’ll make it up to you.”

“Cameron, you just invited me to your concert and I didn’t have to pay a single dime. Shouldn’t I be making it up to you?”

“Oh, right.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “So, are you excited for the show?”

“Definitely. I even brought my camera with me.” I took out the camera out of my bag and showed it to him along with the lens.

“Whoa, so are you a photographer or something?” He said while toying around with the camera.

“Not really. It’s more of hobby than something I’m really passionate about.” I watched him try to figure how to work when suddenly a flash went off. We both looked at the screen and when the picture popped up I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well…that’s a flattering picture. We’re deleting it.” He tried to look for the delete button but luckily I was able to grab it from him before he could find it.

“No way, it’s staying there.” I turned the camera off and placed it in my bag.

“Come on, that picture is unflattering. Plus, it was unexpected.” He complained, hoping he’d convince me enough to delete it.

“That’s the best part though. Unexpected pictures hold so many memories.”

“How is me trying to figure out how to use your camera hold so many memories?” He stated.

I thought for moment and couldn’t think of a comeback. “Whatever. I’m still keeping the photo.” I climbed up onto the stage and sat on the edge letting me feet dangle.

“Fine, but you won’t be the one with the last laugh.” He said while climbing onto the stage and heading backstage to grab the guys. I stuck my tongue out at him. It was just me, myself and I on stage. It was somewhat quiet except for the faint voices outside. The silence gave me some time to think: why did Cameron just randomly come up to me this morning? It was obvious that he didn’t want the book and that I was just new to their music. I mean, what’s so special about me? I tucked my thought away for later and got up. I decided to take a couple of photos of the guys’ instruments and the stage. I then heard the bellowing voices I had heard once before at the book store.

“Hey, girl from the book store.” Michael came up to me and gave me a hug. “Abigail, right?” He asked while letting go of me.

“That’s me.” I said, saying it the same way Cameron had when I asked him if his name was, in fact, Cameron.

“Abigail! Good to see you again.” Nathan came up to me; his dreads swished from side to side as he jumped in front of me and gave me a hug too.

“Hey, you came!” Zach cheered and gave me a hug just like the others.

“You guys really do know how to make a girl feel loved.” I told them.

“Could you tell other girls that? You’d think that being in a band for so long, I’d least be in relationship at least once during the time I’ve been in this band, but no. I haven’t had a girlfriend for almost 3 years.” Zack complained. I nearly spat out my water and I began laughing.

“You sound a little desperate.” I blurted out.

“That’s because he is.” Cameron chimed in and we all died of laughter except for Zach who just rolled his eyes at us and just drank his bottle of water.

“I feel like I’ve known you guys for years.” I sat on the edge of the stage and leaned back with my hands supporting me.

“Yeah, it’s crazy isn’t it?” Cameron said. He sat beside me and did the same thing I was doing. I looked at him and smiled. He did the same, but his smile was softer and it was almost as if his smile wasn’t real.



“Thank you so much guys. We love you!” Zach said, trying to catch his breath. The final chords of Dance Forever ended and the crowd began to scream and cheer. I brought my camera up to my face and started shooting away. I took one last photo before they came off the stage and started heading back to their dressing room.

“That show was amazing!” Nathan plopped onto the couch and raved on about the show.

“I couldn’t agree more, but man, am I beat.”Michael sat down beside Nathan and rested his head on the wall. “I’m gonna take a quick nap before the meet and greet.” In a matter of seconds, Michael had fallen asleep.

“Alright, let’s see these photos.” Cameron clapped his hands together. I turned my camera on and the guys surrounded me. Each of them commented on the photos, saying how great the pictures were. We reached the last photo which was the photo Cameron had taken earlier when he tried to figure out how to use it. We all tried not to laugh.

“Nice picture there, Cam.” Zach commented.

“She wouldn’t let me delete it.” He tried to defend himself.

Then, there was a knock at the door. “Time for meet and greet.” Their manager announced. The guys woke Michael up and headed for the meet and greet except Cameron.

“You coming Cam?” Nathan stopped for a second.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute.” He replied and Nathan continued walking.

“So, what did you think of the concert?” He asked me, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“You guys were phenomenal. I had such an awesome time.” I answered.

His eyes were glued to the ground, his hands in his pockets. “Uh, listen.I was wondering if you wanted to—” Cameron was cut off by my phone ringing.

“I’m so sorry.” I apologized. “This’ll just take a second.” I looked at my phone’s screen. It was Daniel, my boyfriend.