You’re now entering into my inner circle. What I’m about to tell you, I’ve only told five people before now. It is time, however, that this secret be made known. I’m ready if you are.
I’ve been to many concerts for many reasons. While I have seen some that I proudly tell everyone about, there are others that I speak of only in hushed tones, if I speak of them at all. In the spirit of getting it all out there, I have seen Nickelback, it was in Sarnia, I was fifteen, and I can live with that truth, so you should too. But that is not the concert I speak of today.
When I saw seventeen years old, it went to see the Jonas Brothers. I went with the girls who had been my closest friends for the past six years. Midway though grade eleven, our friendship hit a rough patch. Between school and skating, I never had the chance to work it out, and as track season began in the spring, I literally ran away from the problem. I missed those girls, but I couldn’t figure out how to make it right. That is, until they asked me to go to the Jonas Brothers concert with them that summer. We had been fans the summer before — I can picture your scandalized expressions now — but I had been unable to go to the concert with them. When the invitation came for the coming summer, I thought it was the moment I had been waiting for. It came as a revelation: “I can go to the concert to save the friendship!”
That was in February. The concert was in August. I had largely forgotten about the date until I looked at my calendar and realized that I was going to camp with my synchronized skating team at around the same time. Actually, at exactly the same time. Now this was not a skating camp, as in the time when you learn the program. This was thirty-two skaters sleeping in cabins and going canoeing. I actually had to leave the camp early along with several other girls, all of whom were fourteen or under, so I could make it to the Rogers Centre in time. Between camp and the car ride, I hadn’t had the chance to shower. I smelt like campfire and had leftover s’mores in my hair. But nothing could stop me. I was saving the friendship!
When I arrived, everyone at the Rogers Centre looked like they were about thirteen, including my friends who all wore Jonas Brothers t-shirts. I, on the other hand, was wearing a bandana wild west style. (My questionable affair with bandanas, you see, is long standing.) My friends looked lovely. I stood beside them as their greasy friend who didn’t know any of the Jonas Brothers’ latest songs. The car ride home was long and silent. Long, because we got stuck in Jonas traffic, and silent, because needless to say, I didn’t manage to save the friendship.
But in the words of the Jonas Brothers… Hell, I can’t remember any of the words of the Jonas Brothers. We all go concerts we’re not so proud of, and we all try to impress people who no longer find us impressive. We learn from it, we move on.
A week later, I saw Weezer open for Blink-182 with a friend I’ll have for life. All was right in the world.
Song of the Day: Perfect Situation by Weezer
P.S. I plan to have Story Time Wednesday as a weekly feature. Please let me know if there is a specific story you want me to tell!
