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My sister squealed as I told her the news that I would be bringing her with me to see our favorite band live. I had been planning this trip for over a month now.  At the last minute,  my big brother decided to bail on me and leave me with my non-refundable 100$ ticket. I know you may be thinking that 100$ for a weekend ticket is nothing compared to the amount people spend these days, but with my crappy job, it’s a lot.

‘I can’t believe it! You’re letting me come with you?’

‘I don’t really have a choice...I can’t go alone and none of my friends can come with me. Mom gave me the money to buy you a ticket; so really, I’m not the one to thank.’ I grinned at my little sister. She might have only been 14 years old, but we got along pretty great.

‘Oh my God! I’m so happy! It’s going to be so much fun! We get to stay in a hotel and everything! I have to go call Matty and tell him!’ She ran off to the phone, and I laughed.

‘Skye? Are you done packing?’

I turned around and frowned at my mom. ‘Yes, I am.’

‘Go help your sister. If you want to leave by noon, you better hurry up.’

I nodded and went up the stairs, yelling at my sister to hang up the phone and get her stuff ready. ‘We’re leaving in an hour!’

***

We were finally on our way to the island, and I must say we were having a good amount of fun screaming the words to the songs that were blasting from the CD player.

‘Hey, Skye?’ My sister asked me with her big green eyes open in shock.

‘What?’

‘Do you think we’ll get to meet the band?’

I laughed and shook my head. ‘I doubt it Shan, do you know how many people are going to be at this festival?’

‘A lot?’

‘You could say that.’ I grinned and started singing again, while my sister hung her head in disappointment. ‘Hey now, don’t be sad. You never know, right? We might just bump into them randomly.’ She looked up and smiled, nodding in agreement. I focused on the road, convincing myself that this was going to be a good weekend.

***

‘Room 125, here we are.’ I slid the card in the slot and unlocked the door. We hauled our suitcases in, and I flopped on the bed. ‘Who knew that 4 hours could feel like such a long time?’

‘I did! Remember that time you made me watch Titanic with you? It felt like forever!’ She sat next to me and poked my arm.

‘Yeah, but you actually liked that movie! So it doesn’t count. Try driving for that long.’ I silently cursed my 17 year old self for getting a license.

‘But we get to see our favorite band, and you get to spend the whole weekend with me!’

I couldn’t help but smile. ‘Good point.’

After getting ready and making sure that we had everything, we headed out into the rain to find the field that the concert was being held in. ‘It better not rain when they get on stage.’ Shan sighed. I agreed with her, and soon we found it. We were pretty happy to see that we were one of the first ones to get in line. We stood behind a shorter girl, and I checked my watch.

‘Only like 2 hours left until we can get in.’ I told my sister. She groaned and sat on her poncho. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see the brunette in front of us. ‘Uhm, can I help you?’

‘Hi! I’m Michelle!’

We spent the whole two hours talking to this girl that quickly became our new friend. She had also traveled quite a while to get here and was just as in love with the band as we were.

‘...so I’m really happy to see Martin again! He’s really cool!’ She smiled widely.

‘Martin? You mean Martin Anderson? You’ve met him?’ I gawked.

‘Yes.’ She laughed. ‘We’re pretty good friends actually. I’ve been to most of their concerts, and I get to see them after every show, so...’

My sister looked at her with eyes as big as beach balls. ‘You got to meet Alibis?’

Michelle nodded, and my sister looked up at me. ‘Does that mean we might meet them too, Skye?’ I shrugged and glanced at Michelle.

‘They always hang out at the merch tables after shows, so you might get lucky.’

A half an hour later, we were waiting for the first band to get their a*s on stage and leave, so we could see Alibis. I looked up at the stage. I was in the front row, standing against the railing, with Michelle to my left and my sister to my right. You could feel the excitement in the air as hundreds of people gathered in the field and cheered. The rain had finally stopped, and it looked like it might actually clear up. The first band flew through their set, which might I add, was pretty lame, and the stage was now empty and for the taking. Sadly, it started raining again. Hard. My already soaked tee-shirt got even wetter, and I silently wished I had brought a poncho like my sister, or at least a hoodie. I heard the screams before I saw the drummer, guitarist, and bassist get on stage. Michelle yelled ‘Oh my God, it’s Martin! He just waved at me! Oh my God!’ And I laughed, looking for the singer.

‘Where’s Josh?’ I asked her after realizing that he wasn’t there.

‘Well the song is going to start, and he’s going to show up right before he has to start playing. It always starts like this.’

‘Oh.’

A couple of minutes passed, and I watched as the musicians made sure that everything was the way it should be, and waited for the rain to slow down. Of course it didn’t stop, but whatever. The music started, and I screamed along with all of the other fans, and when Josh got on stage and started to strum his guitar, I almost died of happiness. I’d been waiting for this moment since I heard their CD for the first time two years ago. He started to sing and the tears fell down my face. I laughed, as I sang along and realized that I had no right to laugh at all of the fans I had seen crying when their favorite bands got on stage. I knew how they felt now, and let me tell you, it was a great feeling. They got through their set way too fast for my liking, and it sucked that they had to get off earlier because of the lightning that had started invading the sky. After they left the stage empty and sad, and the mosh pit got too intense, we decided to leave. The security guards lifted us over the railing, and we walked away.

‘I don’t even care that I’m missing the next band.’ I told my sister as we sat down under a tree and waved at Michelle as she left for the stalls selling food, merchandise, and other random stuff. ‘I got to see Alibis live, and I made a new friend. I can’t wait to add her on MSN and keep in touch.’ I massaged my ribs and cringed.

‘We should go see if they’re over there, Skye, Michelle said that they hang out after shows. We could get autographs!’

I smiled and laughed. ‘You can go see, but I’m staying here. I doubt that they’re over there, and I’m way too tired after that mosh pit to get up.’

‘Ok, I’ll be back.’ I watched her run off and gazed at the clouds, which had decided that they’d shed enough tears for one night.