A Chuisle mo Chroi

We bustled through the doors, entering the floor area of the venue. Spotting our seats, Jax led the way through the numerous chairs as Georgie and I followed shortly behind.

We made it to our seats just as the crowd from the line outside started to pile in, filling the countless rows of once empty chairs with their overly, sugar-hyped bodies. Luckily, I didn’t see the group of girls from outside anywhere; knowing Jax, she wouldn’t be so kind as to overlook them a second time.

“So who’s their opening act?” Jax asked.

Refocusing my attention on the stage, I admitted, “Uh, I actually don’t know.”

“Maybe it says on the tickets,” Georgie suggested.

The three of us pulled out our tickets simultaneously; examining the front and back of the rectangular shaped stub.

“Nothing,” I sighed.

“You’d think for VIP tickets they would include the name of their opening act somewhere,” Georgie stated, shoving the stub back into her pocket.

“Eh, it’s fine,” Jax dismissed, stuffing her ticket away as well.

“Well, who do you guys think their headliner is?” I asked.

“Big Time Rush?” my sister contemplated.

“You really think so!” Georgie exclaimed, showing her enthusiasm for the first time tonight.

Jax and I exchanged glances, staring at Georgie as if she had sprouted a second head.

“What?” she questioned, completely unashamed. “You guys know I’m more into Big Time Rush.”

Chuckling, I answered, “We know, but you just got so excited. For a second, I thought your head was going to pop off.”

“Then we’d have to spend the whole time searching for your head instead of watching the concert,” Jax added, laughing.

Joining our giggling, Georgie said, “With all these people here, my head would probably get trampled on.”

Unaware of how loud we were being, two of the girls sitting a row in front of us turned around and shushed us. Lowering our voices, we apologized for being so noisy and continued snickering silently.

Averting my gaze on stage, I saw that the opening act had already begun to set up. They didn’t look familiar; they were probably a small name band that was just starting to get recognition.

Peering over at Georgie, I grinned at the scowl on her face.

“Maybe next time, Georgie,” I stated, shrugging my shoulders.

Their lead singer introduced them briefly; listing a few random facts about them before they broke into song. I tapped my foot to the beat, resisting the urge to bob my head, not wanting to resemble a bobble head. Glancing over at Jax, I smiled as she drummed along to the beat; she easily deciphered the drummer’s rhythm and kept in time with the band.

Forgetting about not being a bobble head, I nodded my head along to the music. The band was actually pretty good. They sounded like something along the lines of Sex Bob-Omb, which was surprising, considering they were opening for One Direction.

They paused after a song and the lead singer announced the next one as their fifth and final song. Most of the girls in the audience cheered, happy that One Direction would be coming on soon. In truth, I was a little sad to see the opening act leave.

“Guys, I’m going to look for the bathroom,” I stated, realizing there wasn’t much time left.

Jax and Georgie nodded their heads, too distracted by the music to say anything.

Turning to leave, I shuffled past all the fans sitting in their chairs, apologizing multiple times for accidently stepping on people’s feet or elbowing the people in the other row on the head. I received several glares & snide remarks; none of them being understanding.

Finally making it past all the rows, I searched along the walls and found the side stage door. Slowly pushing it open, I peeked inside to check and see if the coast was clear. Not seeing any security I sneaked inside, tiptoeing around silently, looking for any of the guys except Niall.

Rounding the corner, I spotted a body guard at the end of the hall. Hoping he hadn’t seen me, I spun around, retracing my steps. It was too late; I could hear the pounding of feet, ricocheting off the walls, as he started running after me.

Beginning to panic, I took off in the direction I just came from, turning down another hallway.

“Hey! Stop!” the security man screamed.

I took a glimpse back to see him several yards behind me, waving his fists in the air. Turning down another hall, I spotted a door and raced towards it, pulling it open and closing it softly behind me. Placing my ear against the wood, I listened quietly, hearing the footfalls of the body guard as he raced on by the door unsuspectingly.

Resting my head against the door, I gasped, allowing myself to catch my breath.

“Boo!”

“Ahh!” I shrieked, spinning around suddenly.

I came face to face with a pair of dark brown eyes. Sighing with relief, I relaxed as I recognized Zayn.

Grinning, he asked, “May I help you?”

Composing myself a bit, I ripped out a scratch piece of paper from my sketchpad and jotted down my number.

“You look an awful lot lik-”

“Jax,” I interrupted, holding out the paper with my number.

“Yeah,” he mumbled, taking the paper. Looking back up he said, “Sorry love, but I’m not supposed to accept phone numbers.”

“Keep it,” I declared, shoving his hand back towards him. “Trust me, you’re going to need it.”

Scrunching up his eyebrows, he seemed confused.

“Are you Jax?”

“No,” I answered, shaking my head. “I’m her twin.”

“Wow, you two look so alike,” he commented, appearing dazed.

Laughing, I replied, “That’s kind of the definition of twins, but I’ll let it slide since in our case we’re not identical.”

“Wait, does that mean Jax is here?” Zayn asked.

“Yes, but don’t tell Niall,” I declared, then adding on, “Don’t tell Niall about any of this.”

A man opened the door, popping his head inside and notifying Zayn that he had five minutes until he went on stage.

“Don’t lose the number,” I stated.

Following behind the guy just seconds ago, I walked through the door, leaving before Zayn could say another word.

Being extra careful this time, I peeked around the corners, keeping an eye out for that security guard from earlier. Scurrying and sticking to the walls, I located the stage door and exited, entering the main floor again.

After making my way through the many rows of fans and begging a thousand pardons a second time, I made it back to my seat.

“What took you so long?” Jax asked.

“I ran into a little trouble trying to find the bathroom,” I answered, not completely lying.

“Trouble?” Georgie and Jax reiterated, speaking at the same time.

“Oh, look!” I exclaimed, pointing their attention to the stage.

Just as they turned to follow my gaze, the crowd exploded into a sound wave of screams and cries, wildly clapping at the sight of the boys stepping out on stage. The guys waved and smiled, earning more calls and strained voices yelling, I love you’s and proposals of marriage.

The five boys stood in a line with their backs facing us, getting in their positions. The instrumental to Jax’s favorite song began playing through the speakers; Liam spun around and sung the first line, confessing how he tried to keep his cool when looking at a girl. Harry joined in, mentioning how she shot him out of the sky and likening the girl to kryptonite.

All around me I could hear the tone deaf wails of fans singing along with the song; honestly, I wouldn’t classify what the fans were doing as singing though. They were more shouting at the top of their lungs than actually attempting to sing in tune with the melody.

Giggling, I turned to the two of them and started belting out the lyrics, accompanying the shrill screeching of the girls around us. Laughing at my folly, Georgie simply shook her head at me while Jax opted for punching me in the arm.

“Ouch,” I whined, rubbing my arm for effect.

“Then don’t sing like that,” she declared insincerely.

“Don’t sing like that,” I mocked grudgingly, poking my tongue out at her.

“Why couldn’t I be an only child?” Jax asked teasingly; gazing up at the gods, pleading for answers.

Laughing, I focused my eyes back on the stage to hear the boys performing, What Makes You Beautiful. I assumed this would have been their opening song because of its popularity on the radio, but was glad that they went with One Thing instead.

The emotions of the audience were similar to those in a soap opera; a heavy cloud of emotions swirling around in one, lone building, constantly changing. Glancing around the room, I started drowning in a sea of salty tears as One Direction announced this next song as their last; it was ironic that they should end this concert with their last song on the deluxe album, but very fitting.

I moved my elbow to nudge Jax’s shoulder when Niall started singing, but only sliced through air. Facing her direction, I saw her ducking down, hiding behind the seats in front of us.

“What are you doing down here?” I questioned, squatting down beside her.

“He saw me,” she explained, the panic evident in her eyes.

“Oh,” I mumbled, standing back up to see Niall staring at me. “It’s fine. He’s not looking anymore.”

Glaring at me, she said, “Stop lying.”

Chuckling, I looked back at the stage; Niall appeared confused from what I could see. The thought of waving at him crossed my mind, but I decided against it; I didn’t want matching bruises.

The crowd begged for an encore as the song ended, but the guys waved goodbye and disappeared behind stage.

“Are you going to hide there all day?” I inquired, turning to see Jax still crouched low.

“Maybe,” she challenged.

“They’re gone, Jax,” Georgie informed her.

Slowly standing, she dusted herself off then immediately began walking through the rows of seats towards the exit. Georgie and I followed after her at a slight jog just to keep up with her steady pace. Hurriedly, we rushed outside; not even bothering to check out the table full of merchandise.

As we rounded the corner into the back parking lot, a backdoor entrance swung open revealing five boys. For just a split second we froze; we recognized them and they noticed us standing there.

In the blink of an eye, Jax took off running; forgetting Georgie and I behind her. A moment later, we took off dashing after her, struggling to keep up.

I guess the guys were so shocked that we fled from them because it wasn’t ‘til seconds after that we heard them chasing after us. I could hear Niall calling us, wanting us to stop, but Jax didn’t miss a beat. She pushed forward, jogging ahead of us, Georgie followed shortly behind at a run, and I was slacking at the end, fully sprinting just trying to keep up with the two; if the guys did happen to catch us, I would be the sacrificial lamb.

We made it to the car; I fiddled with my keys before unlocking the doors and sliding in. Jax and Georgie climbed in, fidgeting with their seatbelts while I started the car; reversing faster than normal, I sped off, drifting out of the parking lot like Vin Diesel.
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I watched as the car raced down the dark street, disappearing completely from sight. We had not been fast enough to catch them.

Turning away from the shadowy road, I faced my band mates to see them hunched over and clutching their sides dramatically, while wheezing uncontrollably for air.

“Oh, man,” Louis panted, his body going limp as he fell to the pavement. “Wake me up when we leave, ‘kay guys?”

Seeing Louis sprawled out on the cement, Harry plopped himself down, sitting beside Louis.

“Wasn’t that Jax?” Liam asked, gasping less loudly than the rest of us.

I barely nodded my head, unable to bring myself to say yes.

“Why did she run away?” Zayn questioned, wondering exactly what everyone else was thinking.

Glancing back at the road, I stated, “I don’t know.”