Save Me

Chapter 1

I guess you could say it all started with the thought of wanting my niece Kenzie to think of me as the "cool" Aunt. In retrospect, that was probably really stupid on my part considering I have absolutely no parental experience whatsoever. Because of that fact, I completely underestimated my abilities as any sort of authority figure. I should have known this was going to be a disaster. At least of sorts.....

It was going to be my oldest niece, Kenzie's thirteenth birthday. Not knowing what a thirteen year old girl would want, I called her and asked.

"Hey Kenzie, it's Auntie Vivie...how are you?"

"Auntie Vivie!!!!! Are you coming in for my birthday?"

"You know I wouldn't miss your birthday." I promised, "I'm actually trying to figure out a present..."

"There's only one thing I'm asking for and I want it more than anything but it's kinda expensive."

"Hit me..." I told her. Seriously, how much could whatever it is be?

"There's this band I love and all I want is to go to one of their concerts."

Grabbing my phone, I was probably going to have to google them.

"What's the band?"

"Oh my god, Auntie Vivie, you'll LOVE them!"

"What's their name?" I laughed at her excitement, asking again.

"Thirty Seconds To Mars. They're awesome. Their music is SO epic. I want to see them so bad!"

Kenzie was borderline hysterical just talking about them, I couldn't imagine how she'd be at the concert.

"Let me see what I can do, okay?"

"Oh my god.... if you got me tickets you'd be the coolest Aunt ever and I promise to never, ever ask you for anything else the REST OF MY LIFE!"

I didn't believe that but the thought of being awarded "The Coolest Aunt Ever" title was appealing. Basically living on the opposite side of the country, I wasn't able to be as involved in my nieces and nephews lives like I wish I could. I hung up with Kenzie promising I'd do my best but I was determined to make this concert thing happen.

That right there, was the beginning of what was to be quite a life changing adventure.

I was a midwestern girl having grown up in Ann Arbor, Michigan with my twin brother Ben. In fact, my whole family was still there and very happy. I, on the other hand, was always a warm weather girl at heart so after I finished college, I made my way to the always sunny and beautiful, Los Angeles, California. It was hard to leave my family and start fresh knowing not a single soul out there but as soon as I set foot in LA, I knew I was home. I missed my family, of course, but definitely didn't miss the freezing cold, snow filled winters and the barely warm summers.

Fortunately, I was able to make it back to Michigan for most holidays and family events. On occasion, everyone came to me so we were still a very tight knit family. Ben and I were always close, as twins usually are and even with thousands of miles between us, it was still as if I lived right around the corner.

Growing up only a few hours drive from such an amazing city like Chicago, as a family, we drove there often, especially around Christmas. It was one of the fondest memories of my childhood. I loved road trips. It might not have been the norm for most families but having parents that enjoyed traveling, we spent a lot of time on the road or in the air flying here or there.

Once Ben and I turned eighteen and starting driving to Chicago on our own , we probably spent more time there than anywhere else. If you wanted to see a band, hit a cool bar, lounge at the beach or even do some shopping, it was the nearest, hippest, least dangerous place to go. Detroit might have been a tad bit closer but why go there when you could go to one of the best cities in the world?