I Shouldn't Be Interested

After the Jonas Brothers got offstage, Emilee and I pushed our way out of the crowd and made for the tunnel we had entered. I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket. I pulled out my phone and flipped it open and looked at the screen. It was a text message from my best friend. She had been at the show too, to take her own younger sister to see her idols.
Meet up?
I looped arms with my younger sister, so I wouldn’t lose her, and busily clicked away at the keys of my phone.
We’re running to a merch booth. Meet us in line at Best Buy?
I hit the send key, and pocketed my phone. Emilee was eagerly pushing her way through the throngs of kids milling about and out of the stadium. We found a merchandise stand, and after waiting patiently (or not-so-patiently, in Emilee’s case) to be served. Emilee told the vendor what she wanted. I slapped a twenty-dollar bill on the counter, and the vendor snatched it up and in exchange handed my sister a bag with her purchases in it. She pushed her way through the kids behind us, and as we made for one of the many exits of the stadium, my phone began to vibrate again.
Will do. Alicia and I are already in line. Come find us.
After reading the message, I pocketed my phone again, and was careful not to fall down the stairs as I chased after Emilee. She had taken the liberty of leading the way, obviously trying to get to the Meet and Greet as fast as she could. I jumped the last three stairs and jogged a little to catch up with her, and as we exited the doors, the cold evening air from outside washed over us. I took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly, before carefully crossing the street, Emilee in tow. We didn’t have to walk very far, before we reached the line leading out from Best Buy. As we stood there, taking it in, my sister nudged me.
“Erika, I got you something too,” she said. She reached into the bag, and pulled out a necklace. From the chain dangled the band’s logo. I smiled as she handed it to me. I wasn’t really into the band, but it was nice that my sister had considered getting me something. I took it from her carefully, and stuck it in my pocket.

“Erika!” I heard someone shout. At that moment, I recognized two faces in line. It was Alyssa, my best friend and her sister, Alicia. I imagine if you saw Alyssa, you’d assume she didn’t belong where we were now. Truthfully, like myself, she really didn’t. She did however have a crush on one of the band members, but I could never remember which one. She had long black hair, and dressed in a style similar to mine. Her younger sister was a lot like mine as well; long brown hair, and a Jonas Brothers fanatic. That summed it up for the most part.
“Finally, someone who doesn’t want to kill me,” I laughed as my sister and I joined them in line. “I assume you heard about what happened?”
Alyssa laughed. “Of course. There’s only one person here that would have pink hair, and that’s you.” Alicia was staring at me, probably plotting out my death for nearly flattening her darling Nick. Like the rude fifteen year old that was next to me at the concert, I ignored her and turned back to Alyssa.
“How bad do you think it will be when we get up to the front of the line?”
Alyssa chuckled. “I hope for your sake that they don’t bitch you out.” It was my turn to laugh.
“Seriously? They wouldn’t have the guts. You should have seen the look on that kid’s face earlier. You would have thought he was in the path of the Devil, not a pink-haired teenager.” I ran my fingers through my hair, as I felt a pang of panic starting to settle in my stomach. I had a couple panic and anxiety disorders. I prayed to god that I wouldn’t freak out, as the line got shorter and shorter. The anticipation of what would happen was unsettling to me, and Alyssa could tell.
“Don’t worry. Chances are they won’t even recognize you… Well…” she remembered my hair, “They probably won’t say anything. No worries?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Nothing I can do about it now.” The glances of other people standing in line were starting to irritate me. Some were casting glares; others were pointing and whispering, probably trying to figure out why the hell I was in the Meet and Greet line.

The line gradually got shorter and shorter, and Emilee and Alicia’s anxiousness was starting to drive Alyssa mad. I was much more patient than she was, but I could feel my heart slamming inside my chest. We were nearly inside, and looking through the sliding glass doors I could see the table that was set up, and the three of them standing behind it. There were only a couple girls in there, and there were about four bodyguards. I watched the girls walk towards the exit doors, and waited for clearance from the guard standing at the doors. He nodded at me, telling me it was okay to go in. I took a deep breath and looked at my sister. She had that expression on her face, the one that screams, “I think I just shit my pants, I’m so excited.” I glanced at Alyssa, who seemed to share that anticipated feeling of just wanting to get inside. I quickly gathered my thoughts together, as I stepped through the sliding glass doors, my sister in tow, with Alyssa and Alicia not far behind me.