Making Up for Lost Time

Chapter 1 - Good to Go?

Song of the chapter: State of Grace, Taylor Swift

-------------

"Good evening."

And there it is again, that beautiful, loud, thrilling chorus of screams, echoing off the walls of the arena, filling all of our ears, and I can't contain my happiness. I laugh, and I want to dance around in excitement--but in a few minutes, I can do just that.

I raise my hand and wave at all of these wonderful people that paid so much money just to come see me sing and do what I love. They're what make this all work out for me; they're the reason my life is as enjoyable as it is.

This is the adrenaline rush I love. These are the people I live for.

-------------

"That show was amazing tonight, Taylor!" My mom can't stop smiling after the show, laughing at the littlest things; she's on her own Cloud 9 like the rest of us. "This tour is going to be absolutely wonderful. I'm so happy with the way the presentation of it all turned out."

I'm beaming too, of course. "Thank you so much, Mom. You're definitely the best judge of things." I hug her tightly and bury my face in her shoulder. She's shorter than I am by a lot, but that never gets in the way of anything.

"Congrats on all of this, Tay Sway."

Ed's behind me when my mom and I finally let go of each other, and I hug him as well. He seems just as happy as I am.

"Oh my gosh, this tour is going to be amazing," I say as I'm still in the circle of his arms.

-------------

That night, we decide to get takeout and eat it in our rooms on the buses. My parents' and Ed's rooms are in the same bus as mine; these rooms are tiny, with a bed and a small closet and bathroom, and barely enough space to walk in between. Ed decided to come and sit with me, and we pass a guitar back and forth as we eat.

"Taylor, this tour is going to be absolutely amazing," he says as he picks at his food. "The crowd tonight was so loud."

I laugh. "I know, they're always so loud and wonderful."

"They're always that loud? I thought maybe that was just since it's the first night. Geez."

"Yeah, and the world wonders why I love them so much."

He nods, looking at his food. "You really are an amazing person, Taylor."

"Why do you say that?"

"Why do you think all of those fifteen year old girls scream for you so much? Love is a two-way thing. They love you for who you are."

I sigh. "But most of them will never know who I am. All they see is what the media puts out there."

"Well, I promise you that they must see past any of the lies that the paparazzi spread and see the beautiful woman inside, because the media says bad things about everyone. No teenage girl is going to look up to someone that's actually as horrible as they make you out to be."

My mind can only wrap around the fact that he just called me a "beautiful woman," which is strange because I think of myself more as the average 24-year-old that doesn't have a clue what she's doing.

And now I have no clue what to say to him.

"I don't know... I guess you're right. But I just don't know. It's whatever."

"Don't doubt yourself. I'll doubt you for you."

"Did that even make sense?"

"Yes it did, like at the moment, I'm doubting that you'll be able to eat all of your food, and I'll probably end up eating it for you."

"Well, I'm going to have to doubt you on that one."

"Alright, let's go."

He does end up winning, of course, and my head is still spinning from the rush of the crowd and the idea that the next six months of my life will be spent spilling my emotions to people that have felt the same things as me.

Ed is one of my favorite human beings in the world. He's going to be right beside me throughout this whole thing; that's something I'm ready for. He makes me feel invincible--that combined with the adrenaline rush should make for the best tour I've had.