Through the curtain, I watched as a group of teenage girls moved down the stairs and to their seats. They definitely weren’t the first ones to arrive. From girls celebrating their sweet sixteen to families trying to contain their excited children, the rest of the arena was pretty packed. They were eager for the show to begin and I knew that they wanted to have the time of their lives. I looked down at my brown clipboard, reading off the list silently. Patrick, my boss, wanted to make sure I did every little thing perfectly. He was sometimes a control freak like that. But I do see where he was coming from. Making a fan have a good time was the ultimate goal here. This was the first night of the new One Direction tour. A year ago, they announced that they were having a huge worldwide tour. Tickets sold out immediately and some people even had countdown going. Although I didn’t start working for Patrick up until a few months ago, we’ve been hard at work to make this perfect.
“Get some more music in there. I can spot people on their phones and that isn’t what I need when the boys are about to go on stage,” I said to one of the men running the sound board. After hearing a song go through the speakers, I dropped the clipboard to my side and walked down the hallway to the dressing rooms.
“Alexyss!” A voice called from behind and instantly, I recognized it as Patrick.
“Yes, sir?” We had developed a relationship over the past few months but he was still my boss, so I never wanted to be rude.
“I’m glad I caught you. It has been a bit crazy back here,” And he was right. Crews pushed their equipment throughout each hallway and onto the stage. With any show, there were different types of media personnel with microphones or recorders. It was never a dull moment backstage. “Please tell 5 Seconds of Summer that they’re on deck to perform. It is almost showtime. Then visit with me and the boys, okay?”
I nodded and instantly turned towards the dressing rooms. 5 Seconds of Summer, the popular Australian band, was yet again touring with One Direction. They apparently had a lot of fun last tour and didn’t mind signing up to do it again. It had been Patrick’s idea and since he managed both bands, he wouldn’t have to travel from America and London every night. I enjoyed this a lot, saying I am dating Zayn and best friends with the rest of the boys. It really is a win-win situation.
I opened the doorway only to collide with someone. “Sorry!”
“Don’t apologize. You’re fine.” I realized that it was Zayn and he smiled, taking my hand in his.
“Hey! Shouldn’t you be dressed? You have a show to put on.”
“I’m going now. Just wishing these boys good luck. But I still have awhile. How about we forget about me getting ready and just hang out until the concert starts?”
I pretended to get really excited. “Yes! We can just skip the show part. We can head back to the hotel and stay up all night. Don’t mind the pun.”
“Come on. I want to spend time with you.”
“Okay, okay. That was cruel. But we both have our jobs to do. I promise, I’ll be in there after I talk with them, okay?” He nodded so I didn’t mind giving him a kiss. I got the interview for this job from Zayn and I was always afraid that if I showed any affection towards him, I’d get fired. Patrick was nice but he wasn’t that nice.
Zayn left to go get dressed and I stepped into the room that the Aussie boys were camping out in. They were all over the room, getting out their first night jitters. Luke was in the mirror, messing with his hair. Ashton twirled around his drumsticks on his practice kit. Michael was jumping around with headphones on and Cal was trying to distract himself with his cell phone. “Are you boys ready?”
“Ready as we’ll ever be,” Luke said as Michael took off his headphones.
“Is it time already? Damn, today went quick!”
“Yeah, you all should get going. You know, prep your instruments and stuff.” I shrugged, trying to find the words to say. I really didn’t know what they had to do before they went on stage that they hadn’t done already. They agreed that they should get going and filed out the door.
“Watch us from backstage?” Calum asked, staying back from the rest of the boys.
“Of course! Wouldn’t miss the first night that you guys rock it.” He grinned before running to catch up with the group. I stopped to think about how close Cal and I had become while they were rehearsing for tour. But as a reporter walked down the brightly lit hall with her camera crew, I snapped back into reality and realized that I had more work to do.
One Direction all stood in one of the sitting rooms. They were all laughing about something that I walked in on way too late to catch. Zayn excused himself from the crowd, taking my hand. “Did Patrick make his speech?” I asked, seeing that the bald man was nowhere to be found.
“Yeah. Is he going to do that every night?”
“I think his was long tonight because it is the first show. But the rest should be really short. Whatever, we’ll see.”
“Do you want to sit?” He pointed to one of the black couches that wasn’t taken. “You’ve been running around a lot. I want you to rest.”
“I’m okay. I promised I’d watch the concert so I’m gonna head up there. Do you want to come?” I gripped onto my clipboard and intertwined my other hand with his, walking to the side of the stage to hear them perform.
