Confessions of a High School Supermodel

Chapter 16

16

Maddie and Sundance looked at each other for a split second before every single girl at the party stampeded to the front of the stage.  It reminded Maddie very strongly of those Black Friday shoppers you see on the news who trample each other and start riots at department stores to get to the sales.  Except this was SO much better than some half-priced toaster.  This was 1D! 

Maddie and Sundance ended up somewhere in the middle of the pack as the five band members ran onstage to a deafening crowd of screaming girls.  Some of them were crying, letting out hysterical, earsplitting yelps.  A few started hyperventilating, looking like they were about to faint.

“Oh my god, it’s One Direction!” Maddie screamed above the din.  Her heart started beating faster.  This makes everything all worth it!  Again, she felt a slight pang that Bree wasn’t there.  Bree loved One Direction just as much as she did.

Liam picked up the microphone and began crooning, “You’re insecure, don’t know what for.  You’re turning heads when you walk through the do-o-or.”

Sundance turned to her breathlessly.  “Maddie, you have to get us backstage!” she demanded, screeching inside Maddie’s ear to be heard.  “Come on, it’s One Direction!” she begged.

For once, Maddie fully agreed with her.  The two girls quickly made their way to the side entrance of the stage, where several burly security guards stood menacingly.

An intimidating-looking bouncer was yelling at a couple screaming girls, “Stay away from the stage!  Stand back or we’ll kick you out!”

Sundance pulled Maddie to the front of the mob and yelled at the bouncer, “This is Maddie Fox!”

The security guard didn’t even glance in her direction.  “No one gets in!  No one!” he kept shouting over and over again.

“She’s a Victoria’s Secret model!” Sundance yelled.  “She’s famous!  This is her party!” Maddie looked at the bouncer hopefully.

“I don’t care if you’re god himself!” the bouncer bellowed into Sundance’s anxious face.  “I said no one goes backstage!”

All of a sudden, What Makes You Beautiful ended, and the beginning strains of Kiss You started up.  Maddie froze, dumbstruck and utterly stunned.  She forgot everything in that instant.  If someone had asked her what her name was, she would have gazed at them dreamily and mumbled “One Direction.”  This was her favorite song in the entire world.  She had one desperate thought running through her mind.  I have to hear this song!

Maddie wriggled her way closer to the center of the crowd, leaving Sundance behind, still arguing with the bouncer.  She felt somewhat dazed, as if she were moving through a dream.  She didn’t take her eyes off the stage the whole time.  Moving through the crowd should have been difficult; girls were jumping around, jostling each other, and trying to dance.  However, Maddie inadvertently used her heels to her advantage.  Those spiky stilettos were a nightmare to walk in, and they kept catching the fleshy bits of other girls’ feet.  She accidently stepped on so many girls’ feet that she unconsciously cleared a path for herself right to the stage. 

At last, Maddie made it to the front of the crowd, directly behind the metal barrier, just as the band was launching into their third song.  She had no idea where Sundance was, but she couldn’t care less.  All she wanted to do was watch the band and lose herself in their incredible performance.  In between songs, a couple of assistants began throwing t-shirts into the crowd and passing out One Direction posters.  Maddie was too close to the front to catch a t-shirt, but she did manage to snag a poster.