Picture Perfect

Today was the day. The first concert of the tour. I’d been taking photos of the soundchecks and practices the boys have had thus far, but it was no concert. They also had a signing at a music store yesterday, which was quite funny (at least to me) because the boys – minus Liam – were hungover beyond all repair. Undoubtedly, because I was hanging out with the boys, girls had stopped and asked about who I was. They all received the same three word fragment – One Direction’s photographer - followed by a smile. Apart from those photo-taking events, I’d been documenting my personal time with the guys as a sort of digital tour diary.

I was beginning to get quite nervous. My anxiousness hadn’t shined through yet, though I could sense it was coming. Five years ago if you told me I’d be traveling along with a world famous band on a tour, I’d send you to the psych ward. I would’ve never believed such farfetched stories. Photography had just been a hobby – though I did dream of going on tour, it was the one goal I didn’t think I would ever achieve. I would’ve never expected to have all my wildest dreams come true in such a short time – especially considering my age. I was taken aback from my thoughts by one of the velvety soft voices I’d grown to love – Zayn’s.

“You nervous?” he asked; concern in his voice. He took a seat next to me on the loveseat and wrapped an arm around me.

“A little bit! But you should be far more nervous than me, Mr. Malik. First show of your first North American headliner!” His grasp around me tightened.

“I’ve played tons of shows. Doesn’t get me that much agitated anymore.” I felt lips press against my forehead. Back home in New York, I would’ve been repulsed by any guy do as much as look at me. Here, I was comfortable with the boys being around me – as in such a short time, these guys were becoming my best friends. “You’ll be fine. I’ve seen your photography – you’re amazing.”

“Thank you, Zayn. I really mean it.” A genuine smile crept upon my face. “Why aren’t you getting dressed with the rest of the guys?” I leaned my head back on his shoulder.

“I’m ready actually,” he said as he brushed one of the sleeves of his letterman jacket. I looked at him gasping. “Shocked that this takes the least amount of time?”

“Just a bit. Mostly because there’s an extra inch of volume added onto your hair!” I tried touching the sides of his hair, but to my dismay, his hand stopped mine from getting anywhere close to that birds nest.

“Ah ah ah! Not the hair,” he warned. “Take a picture of me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Just take a picture of me.” His voice was demanding, but full of friendliness. I silently pulled out my camera from the bag by my side and turned it on.

“Say cheese!” I held my camera up to eye level and used my free hand to adjust the zoom of the lens.

“Wait… get in the photo too!” Zayn smiled on of his goofy tongue-behind-teeth smiles.

“I’ll ruin it!”

“No you won’t. Do you want photo proof that you’re one of Zayn Malik’s best friends or what?”

“Not really, no.” I smiled mischievously as I snapped a photo of Zayn. “Oh, that one looks really good and you weren’t even -”

I was cut short by Louis running into the hallway Zayn and I were occupying.“SHOWTIMEEEEE BOYS!” He ran around in circles, banging on the ways with his fists. I jokingly glared at him with daggers in my eyes. “And our favorite girl, of course!” His arms found their way around me, enveloping me in a hug. “You nervous, kiddo?”

“Not so much. I’m actually really stoked on shooting you guys, actually! Hopefully the lighting will be a friend to me tonight.” The boys were all out of their dressing rooms now. They were dressed as usual; Harry clad in a blazer, stripes on Louis, a plaid shirt for Liam, polo and beige pants on Niall, and of course, Zayn was clad in his signature letterman jacket. “Aw look at you guys being all cute and stuff!”

“Thank you!” the boys chimed in unison.

Suddenly, Paul came through the hallway. “Lets go boys! You know where to go. Parker, you should follow me. I’m always sitting on barricade, anyway, so we’ll be stationed in the same area. The three song rule doesn’t apply to you. All the other press people will leave but you can either stay in the photo pit or you can go photograph side stage.” I nodded my head toward Paul, making this the first time I paid attention to anything ‘official’ that was said to me. “Good luck boys. I’m so proud of you,” he said as he turned back toward the boys. We all enveloped in a group hug before the boys scurried off for their microphone fittings.

Paul and I walked in silence through the backstage area toward the door that allowed us to go side stage and to the photo pit without causing much commotion. Once outside, we were greeted by thousands of screaming voices. I saw a couple people in the photo pit already; patiently sitting on the barricade waiting for the show to start. “Good luck,” Paul told me, smiling.

“Thank you,” I smiled politely, screaming over the noise the crowd was making. Though I screamed at the top of my lungs, it was still quite inaudible over the “ONE DI-REC-TION!” chant being created, but Paul clearly heard me, regardless, as he smiled at me once again before taking his seat for the night.

A girl from the photo pit approached me. “Oh my god, are you Parker Cannon?!” I was shocked; no one has ever recognized me before.

“I am! What can I do you for?” I gave her a smile.

“Holy... oh my god. You’re my favorite photographer. You’ve photographed and are friends with all my favorite bands - I’m so jealous, haha. I actually got into photography because of you! Woah, can you sign this?!” She extended her hand that was holding onto her photo pass for the show as well as a Sharpie. I nearly cried. People actually liked my photography. And the fact that I was responsible for getting others into photography was the biggest compliment ever.

“Aw sure, sweetheart! What’s your name?”

“Shelby.”

As I handed the Sharpie and press pass back to her, she asked me another question. “What brings you to Virginia? Especially a One Direction concert.”

“I’m actually touring with the boys! Best tour so far, ever.” She nodded her head in understanding.

“That’s so cool! I’m jealous.”

“Don’t be! Hey, want to take a photo together to commemorate the first time I’ve ever met one of my fans?” I whipped out my phone and went to the camera application as soon as she broke out into a huge smile and nodded her head profusely. “Smile!” As soon as I took the photo, the lights of the venue dimmed. “Hey, the show is starting, but maybe I’ll see you later? I’ll post the picture on my Twitter!” I smiled toward her as I awaited the boys presence on the stage.

As the drum beats filled my ears, I smiled. It’s been way too long since I’ve gone to a concert. The powerful guitar chords to What Makes You Beautiful echoed through the venue and the curtains were raised. At the sight of the boys’ shoes, the crowd went absolutely bonkers. The screaming got progressively louder as the curtain went up farther and I made a mental note to text Jon later and thank him for the gift of high quality ear plugs.

“You’re insecure; don’t know what for. You’re turning heads when you walk through the do-o-or,” Liam's voice transported through the arena as he left the group of boys and started walking forward. My camera had already began taking pictures. Since I was their photographer, I was able to steal noticeable glances from the boys as they poured their heart out in the form of lyrics.

When I turned back to face the crowd, I noticed girls were quite literally throwing themselves on the barricade. Girls were screaming. Girls were singing their hearts out; girls were singing along with so much soul. Girls were crying. The boys were shaking these girls’ worlds.

As I turned back to face the boys, I walked to the right wing and Zayn’s voice immediately sent shivers down my spine. Even as I watched their sound checks and rehearsals, the boys voices had the same effect on me. “So co-come on; you got it wrong. To prove I’m right, I put it in a so-o-ong. I don’t know why you’re being shy...” The boys were all huddled up on the right side of the stage and decided to point toward my camera. All the other photographers in the pit ran toward the area I was in, but they were too late. The boys had only held the pose short enough for me to capture the picture and then they dispersed in other areas of the stage to dance their incredibly cheesy (and crappy) dance moves.

The guys harmonized the last chorus of the song perfectly. “If only you saw what I can see, you'll understand why I want you so desperately. Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe you don't know. Oh oh. You don't know you're beautiful!”

They finished their song, immediately starting on their next song - One Thing. They only spoke after three songs; after the people in the photo pit were escorted to their seats. After their third song, they all reached for a water bottle clearly marked with each of their names. When they re-hydrated themselves, Harry raised his microphone to his mouth. “How are you guys feeling TONIGHT?” Screams and shouts were thrown at them. I began walking to the side stage entrance, smiling at Paul on my way out. The security guard standing by the door demanded I present my All Access pass to him, so I reached for the clip hanging from one of the belt loops on my jean shorts.

When I got to the stage, I saw the screen that displayed the Twitter questions coming from the audience, so I began taking pictures of the witty tweets being sent in. After they were done answering questions and doing some of the dares being sent it, they boys should’ve started singing Everything About You. Should’ve. Instead, Zayn’s voice rang through the arena. “You might’ve noticed there has been a girl hanging out with us all around the city this week!”

Screams.

“She’s kind of really cool and she’s the newest member of the One Direction family!” Louis screamed into his microphone, making his voice much louder than it should’ve been. I didn’t think Louis understood the concept of microphones projecting one's voice for them - so they didn’t have to scream over a large audience.

Screams.

“Well, she’s out newest photographer!” Harry yelled.

More screams.

“Come on out here, Parker! Give a warm welcome to our newest and favorite member of the band!” Liam cheered.

Oh no, oh no, oh no. This wasn’t rehearsed. No, no, no. I didn’t want to go up there.

The crowd was cheering, while I was becoming more and more embarrassed by the second. Niall walked over to the side of the stage I was occupying, looking completely mortified. “Come on, Parker, don’t be a baby,” Niall cooed softly in my ear when he was sure that no one was watching. I shook my head, letting him know my answer was no. He held his microphone up to his mouth and spoke. “She’s a bit shy. Give her a round of applause!”

He then charged toward me, easily picking me up and throwing me over my shoulder. I kicked the air and hit his back until he put me down - to my dismay - on the stage. I fixed my gaze on the sold out five thousand seat venue. Those five thousand seats cheered merrily. “Fuck you, guys,” I whispered, hoping it wasn’t loud enough to be transported through the microphones the boys were holding extremely close to me. Harry chuckled, as did both Zayn and Louis. Niall playfully put an arm around me, sending deadly glares in my direction.

“Parker, meet the fans. Fans, meet Parker!” Liam announced cheerfully. The fans never stopped screaming. I sheepishly waved to them. “We brought Parker up here to take a picture of us with the crowd in the background. Sounds good to you guys?”

Screams.

More screams.

Even more screams.

Screams galore. I hated screams. It had always been a pet peeve of mine, and going to concerts didn’t subside the fact that I truly despised screams. The boys huddled together, their backs to the screaming and crying audience. The quickly placed my eye over the objective of the camera and with a click, took a picture. The boys and I walked in sync to the left wing of the stage. Click. Walk to the very right of the stage. Click. Thankfully, that was the last of me being on the stage.

“Thank you!” I mustered. I assumed the crowd would be pleased with both my presence - they could now have a picture with the boys - but also with my absence, as they could watch the boys dance their foolish dances and sing their beautiful songs.

• • •

“Thank you all for coming tonight!” Zayn and Louis thanked the audience.

Screams.

“You all mean the world to us!” Harry added.

Screams.

“Seriously, Virginia! You’re awesome,” Niall then smiled, returning to the group huddle.

How the boys put up with this much screaming on a daily basis, I had no clue.

“Have a good night!” Liam said, before the curtains went down and they scurried off the stage. He approached me first. “So, how were we?!”

“Phenomenal!”

“You’re not just saying that, right?”

“Of course not. I don’t think you need my reassurance - you know how talented you are! Look at how far you’ve made it.”

“Thank you, Parker. It means a lot,” Liam smiled a sheepish smile as we walked to the limo that would transport us to our hotel.

“You’re very welcome, Liam,” I said, putting my shoulder on his as soon as we were seated in the limousine. “You are very welcome.”