Girl In The Crowd

Chapter 2: The Show

(Pic above: Harry on stage)

"NEXT!"

Jessie bounds forward in front of me and hands our three tickets to the tall man in black guarding the entrance. The man regards Emily with hooded eyes.

"Hewwo, sir."

She coos, causing a round of aw's to echo from the people around us. The man's eyes soften slightly as he scribbles on our tickets before handing them back to Jessie.

"You'll need to put the stroller in storage. There'll be no room in the arena."

"What? Why not?"

I roll my eyes. Jessie has this need to challenge everything people with authority ask of her, even if it is perfectly reasonable.

"That's fine. Thank you."

"No, why should we put it in storage? What if we need it to-"

"-come on."

I whisper-shout, tugging my friend along in one hand and my daughter along in the other. We enter the arena with caution, making sure to avoid the clusters of overexcited girls lining the sides.

I've only been to a few concerts in my life, and none of them as grand as this. This place must seat at least 20,000 people. Emily ooh's and ahh's at everything, as usual, and Jessie is just as mushy, squealing excitedly as we identify our seats in the fourth row.

"Oh my GOD, we're so close!"

She gasps as Emmy claps her hands together.

"Hawwy's gonna sing!"

Jessie kisses her forehead.

"You bet!"

She giggles with a wink before helping Emmy up onto her seat, and I can't help my smile as I fold up the stroller.

"Did you hear where we're meant to put this?"

She shrugs and gestures vaguely around the back of the arena.

"Somewhere back there."

After at least ten minutes of scurrying around searching for the 'storage area', I finally manage to find it and hurry back to my seat.

The stadium seems almost full now, and just as I'm wondering when the show's going to start, the lights dim. Instantly the air is filled with shrill screams, the loudest being Jessie's.

Emmy jumps up and down on her seat, trying to get a better view of the stage where a giant silhouette of a man's body now stands.

"Shoulders?"

Emmy nods eagerly in response to my question, so I hoist her up onto my shoulders so she's towering above the people blocking her view. Her hands rest on my head as I steady myself, using Jessie's shoulder for balance.

Emmy squeals and giggles as the first song starts, waving her hands in the air excitedly whenever Harry approaches our side of the stage.

Jessie shrieks and jumps up and down as he cruises across the stage, easily high-fiving and grasping the hands of the many eager fans in the front row. I hold onto Emmy's legs to steady her and stand on my very tiptoes so she can see over them.

My shoulders are aching, and my feet aren't far behind them, but I don't mind in the slightest. The huge grin on Emmy's face makes it all worth it.

Two more songs go by before I finally have to put her down. She mewls and whines in protest, but only up until I force Jessie to carry her instead.

I must admit, I'm having a pretty good time tonight. Harry has an amazing voice, and he's thrashing around on stage like I've never seen anyone thrash around before. He's clearly enjoying performing for us.

The end of the song "Ever Since New York" is when he stops singing for a few moments and begins on a speech about choosing love and treating people with kindness...usually, I'd call it cheesy, but it was actually quite heartwarming. Plus, Jessie and Emmy were hanging on to his every word which was very amusing to watch.

I realize most of the crowd has settled back down into their seats for the slower song "Just A Little Bit of Your Heart", but we remain standing up. I switch my phone off at that moment- there are only so many drunken texts from Zac that I can take, and instead watch Harry saunter back over to our side of the stage. He's blowing kisses into the audience, and Emmy is squealing and sending them back to him just as eagerly.

Suddenly, I realize he's stopped walking and is staring at one place in the crowd. I can tell instantly from the direction of his gaze that it's Emmy who has his attention. She isn't hard to spot with her bright pink rain coat and vibrant blonde hair.

I hurriedly shake her leg, which is still hanging over Jessie's shoulder, to get her attention.

"Say hi, honey!"

I have to shout over the noise of the audience during the instrumental, but she seems to understand when I gesture towards the tall celebrity standing on the stage in front of us, beaming widely at her.

She waves with both hands, and he waves back. I can tell that from now on, she has all of his attention. I did realize, even before we came into arena, that Emmy was one of the youngest here, but I didn't think twice about it because she's mature for her age. Plus, she would've never agreed to stay home tonight knowing we were seeing Harry Styles live.

For the rest of the show, it seems as if every song is dedicated to her. Harry repeatedly blows kisses, smiles when she laughs, and at one point, even gestures for her to come forwards- almost like he wants her to come on the stage with him.

I watch with curious eyes as Emmy tries to find a way towards him, but there's no use- we're just too far back. She scowls grumpily when she realizes she can't reach him, and even he looks disheartened to find they can't meet.

That's just too damn adorable.

The second the show ends, I'm back into overprotective mom mode, and I'm ushering both Jessie and Emmy out of their seats as efficiently as I can.

"Okay. Let's go get the stroller, then we'll be out of here."

Jessie folds her arms.

"Are we not even gonna talk about how amazing that was? He's so hot, ugh the way he-"

"-not around the child, please."

I halt her, having heard these sorts of rants before and being well aware of what kinds of words and imagery that entail them.

"Okay, fine. Later."

She promises and I chuckle.

***