Sasha Rashid 09/22/2015
Humanities Always From a Distance, Never Close
July 9, 2015 was the day I had been waiting 250 days for. I didn’t know what to expect of the day. Would I cry? Would I have a face-splitting grin the whole night? Would I be so shocked that I would be speechless? I couldn’t even fall asleep the night before; I probably only got three hours of sleep because of all the adrenaline running through my body. I had been waiting for so long and when it was finally time I couldn’t process it. I had been to these things before, but I knew this one was going to be different; it was going to be the couple of hours where I felt true happiness. That might have been the first and last time I experienced seeing the people that have helped through so much.
I woke up that morning feeling like I was on top of the world. I laid there for a while soaking in the happiness that was radiating around the room while I could. Getting out of bed, I ran around my room getting my clothes together. I sprinted into the bathroom to change and brush my teeth. As I brushed my teeth, I looked up in the mirror. Even though I had toothpaste around my mouth and bed head, I felt as though I looked more alive than ever. It seemed as if the purplish bags under my eyes from the lack of sleep had disappeared, the slight discoloration of my skin had suddenly cleared, and I looked like a new version of myself. I was wearing a black t-shirt with an Adidas logo that I had cut shorter; light washed skinny jeans and black vans.
“Are you ready to go?” My mom said through my bedroom door.
“Yeah, I’m coming, just one second,” I replied quickly.
I ran around gathering all the last things I needed and shoved them in my backpack. I quickly walked out of my room, down the hall and out the front door. I opened the car door and sat down inside. My mom reversed out of my steep driveway and started driving towards one of my closest friend Rylie’s house. When we finally got to her house, my mom turned to me with a sincere smile on her face,
“Have fun.” She spoke softly, knowing that I would be having the best time of my life that night, “And wave to me when Rylie lets you in so that I know you’re safe.”
“I will,” I answered, referring to both of her statements.
I got out of the car and walked up to Rylie’s front door. After ringing the doorbell and waiting for a minute, she opened the door. I turned around to wave at my mom, and when I saw her leave, I walked into Rylie’s house. As soon as she shut the door we both enveloped each other in bear hugs, holding on as if we hadn’t seen each other in months when in reality we had just seen each other a couple days before. But you couldn’t blame us. We were both so lucky to experience that night, her for the fourth time and me for the first time, but the first time we would be going together.
“I’m not ready but so ready at the same time, how is that even possible?” she asked me.
“I have no idea, but I do know that tonight is going to be amazing,” I told her.
“Yeah, are you ready to go?” she asked me, checking her phone and seeing that it was already three o’clock.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I told her.
“Okay,” she chuckled, “Dad! We’re ready!” her loud shouts echoed through the house.
Her dad’s footsteps could be heard throughout the house as he came down the stairs and told us to get in the car. We walked into her garage and opened the doors of her sleek white Range Rover. Her dad got into the car and we started making our way to the stadium. When we reached the stadium we both got out of the car as fast as we could and stared up in awe. Grinning, I turned my head to face her; she looked at me with a huge smile on her face. We slowly made our way to the entrance, trying to savour every step, every word, every breath, knowing that tonight wouldn’t last forever. We finally entered after waiting in the line and going through security. We walked around for a while after finally going down the stairs to where we were supposed to be. The security put hot pink wristbands that said One Direction on our arms; they were the type you get at fairs and amusement parks.
I could feel the love and happiness as we walked through the stadium. It was such a strange thing, feeling at home with 52,000 strangers. We passed all types of people, probably the most diverse crowd of people I had ever seen. But, what made it a truly amazing crowd for me was that these 52,000 people all had different backgrounds, different stories and different lives but we were all here for the same reason. To finally see the people that made us happy.
The stadium lights suddenly shut off and the crowd that collectively gasped and went silent for two seconds erupted into cheers and screams. It was so loud, my ears were hurting and ringing but in that moment I couldn’t have cared less because I was right there along with everyone else, screaming my head off. Fireworks went off and fog started pouring onto the stage and all of a sudden, in that stadium full of 52,000 people, I could see nothing except the four on the stage. My vision went blurry and I realized that tears had started streaming down my face. They weren’t tears of sadness or misery but they were tears of joy and delight.
The four boys on stage sang their hearts out, song after song, and I was there during them all, singing along, jumping around, and having the time of my life. The nighttime seemed to have sped up; the two and a half hours of the concert went by in a blur. Soon enough, they were belting out their last song of the night and I was in a mix of emotions, bliss, and delight but at the same time sadness and heartache. I just didn’t want this night to end. I felt at home there. I felt as though I could be my true self and it would be fine.
“We are One Direction, thank you so much for coming out tonight, we love you and we’ll see you very soon,” they spoke through their mics.
As I watched them walk off of stage, I thought about why they meant so much to me. They helped me through so much. It might sound cheesy, but they were always there for me. They were there for me on the nights where I didn’t feel like I was good enough. Whenever I felt like there wasn’t anyone that could make me feel better, they were there to do just that. Anytime I needed them, they were there to help me. They are my rock, my shoulder to lean on. In those final moments of happiness, I felt a pang of hurt; I realized sometimes you will watch the ones you love the most always from a distance, never close.
Humanities Always From a Distance, Never Close
July 9, 2015 was the day I had been waiting 250 days for. I didn’t know what to expect of the day. Would I cry? Would I have a face-splitting grin the whole night? Would I be so shocked that I would be speechless? I couldn’t even fall asleep the night before; I probably only got three hours of sleep because of all the adrenaline running through my body. I had been waiting for so long and when it was finally time I couldn’t process it. I had been to these things before, but I knew this one was going to be different; it was going to be the couple of hours where I felt true happiness. That might have been the first and last time I experienced seeing the people that have helped through so much.
I woke up that morning feeling like I was on top of the world. I laid there for a while soaking in the happiness that was radiating around the room while I could. Getting out of bed, I ran around my room getting my clothes together. I sprinted into the bathroom to change and brush my teeth. As I brushed my teeth, I looked up in the mirror. Even though I had toothpaste around my mouth and bed head, I felt as though I looked more alive than ever. It seemed as if the purplish bags under my eyes from the lack of sleep had disappeared, the slight discoloration of my skin had suddenly cleared, and I looked like a new version of myself. I was wearing a black t-shirt with an Adidas logo that I had cut shorter; light washed skinny jeans and black vans.
“Are you ready to go?” My mom said through my bedroom door.
“Yeah, I’m coming, just one second,” I replied quickly.
I ran around gathering all the last things I needed and shoved them in my backpack. I quickly walked out of my room, down the hall and out the front door. I opened the car door and sat down inside. My mom reversed out of my steep driveway and started driving towards one of my closest friend Rylie’s house. When we finally got to her house, my mom turned to me with a sincere smile on her face,
“Have fun.” She spoke softly, knowing that I would be having the best time of my life that night, “And wave to me when Rylie lets you in so that I know you’re safe.”
“I will,” I answered, referring to both of her statements.
I got out of the car and walked up to Rylie’s front door. After ringing the doorbell and waiting for a minute, she opened the door. I turned around to wave at my mom, and when I saw her leave, I walked into Rylie’s house. As soon as she shut the door we both enveloped each other in bear hugs, holding on as if we hadn’t seen each other in months when in reality we had just seen each other a couple days before. But you couldn’t blame us. We were both so lucky to experience that night, her for the fourth time and me for the first time, but the first time we would be going together.
“I’m not ready but so ready at the same time, how is that even possible?” she asked me.
“I have no idea, but I do know that tonight is going to be amazing,” I told her.
“Yeah, are you ready to go?” she asked me, checking her phone and seeing that it was already three o’clock.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I told her.
“Okay,” she chuckled, “Dad! We’re ready!” her loud shouts echoed through the house.
Her dad’s footsteps could be heard throughout the house as he came down the stairs and told us to get in the car. We walked into her garage and opened the doors of her sleek white Range Rover. Her dad got into the car and we started making our way to the stadium. When we reached the stadium we both got out of the car as fast as we could and stared up in awe. Grinning, I turned my head to face her; she looked at me with a huge smile on her face. We slowly made our way to the entrance, trying to savour every step, every word, every breath, knowing that tonight wouldn’t last forever. We finally entered after waiting in the line and going through security. We walked around for a while after finally going down the stairs to where we were supposed to be. The security put hot pink wristbands that said One Direction on our arms; they were the type you get at fairs and amusement parks.
I could feel the love and happiness as we walked through the stadium. It was such a strange thing, feeling at home with 52,000 strangers. We passed all types of people, probably the most diverse crowd of people I had ever seen. But, what made it a truly amazing crowd for me was that these 52,000 people all had different backgrounds, different stories and different lives but we were all here for the same reason. To finally see the people that made us happy.
The stadium lights suddenly shut off and the crowd that collectively gasped and went silent for two seconds erupted into cheers and screams. It was so loud, my ears were hurting and ringing but in that moment I couldn’t have cared less because I was right there along with everyone else, screaming my head off. Fireworks went off and fog started pouring onto the stage and all of a sudden, in that stadium full of 52,000 people, I could see nothing except the four on the stage. My vision went blurry and I realized that tears had started streaming down my face. They weren’t tears of sadness or misery but they were tears of joy and delight.
The four boys on stage sang their hearts out, song after song, and I was there during them all, singing along, jumping around, and having the time of my life. The nighttime seemed to have sped up; the two and a half hours of the concert went by in a blur. Soon enough, they were belting out their last song of the night and I was in a mix of emotions, bliss, and delight but at the same time sadness and heartache. I just didn’t want this night to end. I felt at home there. I felt as though I could be my true self and it would be fine.
“We are One Direction, thank you so much for coming out tonight, we love you and we’ll see you very soon,” they spoke through their mics.
As I watched them walk off of stage, I thought about why they meant so much to me. They helped me through so much. It might sound cheesy, but they were always there for me. They were there for me on the nights where I didn’t feel like I was good enough. Whenever I felt like there wasn’t anyone that could make me feel better, they were there to do just that. Anytime I needed them, they were there to help me. They are my rock, my shoulder to lean on. In those final moments of happiness, I felt a pang of hurt; I realized sometimes you will watch the ones you love the most always from a distance, never close.