I met him on a Friday. I woke up that day with no other expectations than to have a good time at the concert that night. Turns out that what I didn't expect would change my life forever.
It was the day of the 3rd ever Backstreet Boys concert in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I had just bought a new outfit, a clingy white tank top and camel coloured drawstring cargo pants. My best friend Jayme, her sister Natalie, and I, had front row center tickets to the concert. To say we were excited was an understatement. That's not the best part though; earlier that week I had managed to win three backstage passes to meet the Boys after the concert.
All day long I was distracted. Work seemed to drag on forever, and the kids at the school, where I worked as a teaching assistant, all seemed to have had a lack of sleep the night before. Finally, at 3:30, when my patience was just about to snap, it was time to go home. I had never been so happy to climb into my beat up old car as I was that afternoon.
When I got home, I found a pleasant surprise: my brother had graciously cooked supper so that I could leave earlier that night. I thanked him on the way to my room. As I got changed into my new clothes, the only thought in my mind was: "I'm finally going to meet them tonight!" All of a sudden, the ringing phone broke into my thoughts. "Samantha, it's for you" my brother called impatiently. Dashing into the hallway, I picked up the phone and said a breathless "hello?".
I was greeted with "I'm a nervous wreck and I have no idea what to wear; Natalie's driving me nuts and my mom hasn't stopped yelling at me since the moment I got home from school; I can't find my ticket and I think I lost my VIP pass too; and to top it all off, I gave some girl a perm today that ended up looking like a rat's nest!"
It was Jayme. I smiled to myself as I took a deep breath and took my best shot at calming her down. "Ok Jayms, here goes. Either wear your navy tank top and overalls, or I'll bring my body suit and you can wear that with the overalls instead; ask Natalie to help you get yourself in order and talk to your mom for you; your ticket is in the top drawer of your dresser in the envelope with your VIP pass, underneath your new shorts; and hey, perms grow out and you can always fix it with a little trim and some gel."
"What would I do without you?!" she asked as I laughed and told her, "I don't know, but I'm pretty sure it would include a room with white padded walls and a straight jacket. Anyways, I'm just going to grab a bite to eat and then I'll be at your place probably around 5:15. Ok?"
"Alright", she said, "and don't forget your pass and ticket."
I hung up and ran back into my room, grabbed my purse, my overnight bag, the poster I had made, and the envelope with my ticket, my pass, and five other little envelopes each containing a letter and a gift. As I entered the kitchen, I saw that everything was already on the table for supper. I sat down and started eating.
"Dad called and said to have a good time, he won't be home tonight; he's stuck in Brandon. Mom called and said to drive safe and to wait out the crowds a bit before you start driving home", said my brother, all the while not taking his eyes off of the TV.
"Thanks", I said as I finished my milk and put my dishes away. "Remember, I won't be home tonight either since I'm staying at Jayme's."
"I know", he said. I grabbed my stuff, said a quick "bye" as I dashed out the door and jumped into my car.
When I finally arrived at Jayme's, she and Natalie were all ready and waiting. We all piled in to start our trip to the arena.
"I can't wait", Natalie said as she adjusted her seatbelt, "This has been the longest day of my life!"
"I know, me too!" Jayme and I chorused. As we drove into the arena parking lot, we began to witness pandemonium. Thousands of girls were gathered with huge posters, signs and grins, and as we drove by them we noticed the Boys tour bus parked behind a huge fence.
"They're here!" I cried breathlessly. I found a place to park and we all got out.
The hour before the concert was a blur. We waited to get in for half an hour, then when we finally found our seats we waited less than patiently for the lights to dim. As they did, we heard a voice say "Everyone, please welcome the young and talented Britney Spears!" We clapped and listened to both of Britney's songs, and agreed that yes, she was very talented. But the real talent was about to come.
As they announced the group, I held my breath and suddenly, there they were. I just about fainted as the five of them - Nick, Brian, Kevin, A.J., and Howie crowded onto the stage and sang the opening notes of "Get Down (You're the One for Me)". I was only 5 feet away from them! At one point, Nick reached down and held my hand for a second. It was unreal, like my wildest dream come true. As the concert progressed, the screams from all the fans grew louder and louder, and the energy in the room got higher and higher. After their 3rd encore song they waved and blew kisses to everyone, and disappeared behind the stage. I let out a huge sigh as Jayme said to me excitedly "Let's go find the VIP entrance!". So all of us jumped out of our seats and pushed our way through the crowd, showing our passes to at least 10 security guards along the way. Finally, we reached the entrance. We all took a deep breath as another massive security guard opened the door for us and said "Right this way, ladies". We walked down a long corridor until finally we reached the dressing rooms. We entered a big room labeled "Lounge" and looked around. There, standing in front of us in all their glory, stood the Backstreet Boys!