You're The One// Jake Kiszka

The Big Show

Today's the day. I got up a bit late, the sound of my phone buzzing woke me up. 'Crap it's 11 and Sage is probably freaking out' I thought to myself. I looked at the billion texts I had and sent her one back.

Me: Hey, sorry... my alarm never went off. Give me an hour and I'll be right over!
Sage: okay sleepyhead, but be here asap!

I jumped in the shower, got dressed, and rushed to do my makeup. It looked decent despite only having half an hour. I decided to do a "sunset" look, and it was actually kind of pretty. I sent a photo to an Instagram group chat I have and they seemed to love it... they're so supportive, and I love them to death. I was texting them about the shows and found out I'd be meeting some of them. I was absolutely ecstatic! By now I was ready to go and I texted Sage that I was on my way over.
-
"SAGE!" I yelled as she opened her door.

"LEX! I have another surprise..." she told me as we walked inside.

"I thought we could possibly go out to eat and grab a drink, since you are old enough now." She giggled.

Sage was a year older and has always bragged about it, in a joking way of course. But now that I was old enough to 'party it up' as she likes to say, I was actually excited.

"Of course! We'd better get going though, it's basically three already, heh." Which it was... Sage lives in the heart of Seattle, and I live about two hours away. She moved from our little town for art school, but I never ended up going for financial reasons. We stayed at her house for a bit to catch up, but she finally put her shoes on, and we were on our way.
-
We had been blasting Greta during our short ride to Mashiko, this fancy Japanese place I've always wanted to go to. We were seated, had our orders taken, and got some drinks as we talked about the night ahead.

"Hey I'll be right back," I said to her.

"I've got to go deal with my diabetes."

I excused myself and went to the bathroom. My diabetes was such a struggle to me... I hated it, but as much as I did, it made me, me. I walked back after taking insulin and sat down.

"You good?" She asked me. It seems like everyone does these days.

"Yeah, just took some insulin for food and my stress high. I'm okay though." I responded. I deal with needles and blood everyday and I've just become numb to it.

"That's good! Just looking out for you... I hope you know I care. I don't want you to be sad or stressed today, especially since we're seeing the boys!" She reassured me by saying that.

"Thank you. Anyway, I'm so excited for tonight, and the next two nights of course! I can't thank you enough." I almost had tears in my eyes.

"No need to. It's your birthday, and it's what you deserve. Looks like our food is here!"

We got to eating, and she had them sing happy birthday to me. We paid our check and now we were on our way to the paramount theatre.
-
As we entered the building, we see the massive merch line. Although it's long, it goes by quickly. I bought myself two shirts and the iconic fisherman's hat (which had to be Jakes idea). We went down to our seats and they gave us wristbands and special tickets. I was absolutely amazed that Sage and I would be right against the stage. It was a dream come true.

"Sage this is so beautiful, oh my god!" I yelled out from the chattering crowd. We had about an hour until the show started, and surprisingly, there was no opener.

"It really is, and I'm so happy you're here to experience it Lex." Sage gave me a hug, we took some photos, got a drink, and sat back down. I was so fucking ready. I was up against the stage. 'I'm so happy to be alive right now' I thought to myself.
-
"I can't believe they're right there!" Sage shouted.

"It's so unreal!" I yelled back. Jacob Thomas Kiszka was jamming right in front of me. It was so unbelievable, and I was on the verge of tears for most of the show.
All of a sudden, he looks down at me, grabs the pick from his mouth, and hands it to me. I look over at Sage and she's filming me. At this point, the show's almost over and I'm full on sobbing as a result of happiness.

"SAGE OH MY GOD!" I shout.

"I KNOW!" She yells as she hugs me.

We continue to dance and sing along. Sage continued to eye at Josh for the rest of the concert, while I was concentrating on Jake, playing each note as if it were his last.
-
"That was amazing." Sage raved.

"I know! Thanks to you, of course." I gave her a quick hug. She was probably sick of them by now. I was spacing out while collecting my things when she tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hey Lex, Troy told me to give this to you," She smiled, holding up two plastic cards and stickers. At first I couldn't quite tell what they were.

"He told me they're courtesy of the boys!" Sage looked joyous. Then it hit me: backstage passes.

"Holy shit Sage, did you set this up? Is this real? Oh my god..." I couldn't contain myself. I felt like I was going to cry, or pass out, or... both.

"No Lex, I swear." She reassured me and grabbed the water bottle we'd bought.
Troy came over to help us onto the stage, a weird way to get back there, but it works. Some of the leftover girls (and older women for that matter) were staring at us, giving us dirty looks, or video taping. I hated that. It gave me major anxiety, which didn't help the situation. I stood on the stage for a moment glancing back, then Sage snapped me back to reality.

"Well, we don't want them waiting, now do we? Let's go, sunshine!" She laughed. That was my nickname because of my hair. I collected my thoughts and we started walking back.
'Is this really happening? Why would this happen to me? I'm nobody, and somebodies don't talk to nobodies...' I thought to myself and we went through the left stage door.
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Heyo, so I hope this chapter is better than the last! I'm starting to like it more as it gets going heh. I'm hoping to get it going quicker, and I'll try to get my chapters out sooner. I'll probably have one up later, since I'm going back home.
- Lex ✨