As my dreary eyes started to open slowly, and as my rested brain began to realize where I was, my whole body jumped with excitement. I quickly pushed my covers away from me and jumped off my bed. I couldn’t believe the day had finally arrived! I bolted to the kitchen faster than a cheetah furiously chasing his powerless prey. I gobbled up my frosted flakes so quick I don’t even think I had time to breathe. Today was the day I got the opportunity to do something that millions of girls my age have dreamed of doing. Today was the day I got to meet the group One Direction.

About three weeks earlier, I received a phone call I would never forget. It was 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning when my phone ringtone started blasting. “Ugh.” I groaned. “Who could possibly be calling me this early on a weekend?” I grudgingly stretched for my phone and saw that it was an unknown caller. I usually never answered phone calls from an unknown caller, but this time I decided to answer it. I had no idea why, but I felt like I needed to answer it this time, and I’m sure lucky I did! “Hello?” I responded with a raspy voice. “Hi! Is this Selena Parker?” a women’s voice said from the other end. “Yeah, this is Selena. Who is this?” I asked. “This is Katherine Jenson from Twist magazine!” I was quiet for a while, so she continued. “I was just calling to congratulate you for being our grand-prize winner from our 1D contest! You, a parent, and one lucky guest have won an all-expense paid four day, three night trip to New York City. You have won front row tickets to a One Direction concert, and not only that, you will be able to meet all five of the guys!” “Wait. Are you serious?” I exclaimed breathlessly. “Yes, I am completely serious! In about three weeks we will fly you out here to New York City! But, the big question is who are you going to bring with you?” She asked. “Madison Larson.” I stated proudly.

I didn’t even need a second to think about that one. Madison and I had been best friends for close to eight years, and she was the only one I could imagine going on this trip with. “Wonderful!” Katherine said. “I will be personally emailing you and getting all your important information. I will let you know everything within the next week! Congrats sweetie! Talk to you later! Bye!” She hung up the phone, and the conversation had finished as quickly as it had begun. What had just happened? Had I really just won a contest to go meet One Direction, THEE One Direction? And I got to take along my best friend. In the middle of my thoughts, it abruptly occurred to me that I should probably call Madison. I quickly dialed her number.

“Hello?” Madison answered. “Hey Madi! I kinda have some crazy news to tell you…how quickly can you get here?” “Four minutes if I’m lucky. Why?” she said. “I’ll tell you when you get here.” I replied. “Now hurry up!” “Fine. Fine. See ya soon!”

Madi arrived and the conversation went just how I thought it would. I blabbed the whole thing to her, and she didn’t believe a single word I said. So, I ran and grabbed my laptop from upstairs and showed her one of the emails I had just received from Katherine. “So, this is for real!” Madi said surprised. “You get to go New York and meet the 5 most handsome guys in the entire world!?” “WE.” I corrected. “WE get to go to New York and meet the 5 most handsome guys in the entire world.”

Two weeks had passed and it was finally two days before Madison and I were to leave for New York, and Madi, being Madi hadn’t even packed yet. Luckily I was there to help. “Why do you always do this?” I groaned. Let’s just get this over with…

Finally after an hour of picking and choosing, her suitcase was jam-packed with adorable outfits. “Thanks for helping, Selena. I don’t know what I would do without you!” She laughed. “Horribly dressed, that’s for sure. Honestly you wouldn’t know how to dress without me.” I snickered. “I still don’t know how to dress up! You still help me!” she joked. “That I do. That I do.” I answered.

In the excitement of packing for our big adventure, we started joking about what would happen when we meet the guys from One Direction. “Just imagine, you’ll trip right as you meet them, you’re very clumsy, you know!” I giggled. “Yeah? Well, you should see the faces you unintentionally make! You’ll give them quite the show!” Madison giggled.

Madi and I making fun of each other was a usual occurrence. We never took anything too seriously. We were so careless, laid-back, and constantly laughing at something. I couldn’t imagine life without her. We did absolutely everything together and always managed to have a good time no matter what we were doing. So, I was extremely thrilled that I was able to bring her to New York with me.

The day had arrived for us to leave. And, to remember the “once in a lifetime experience” I brought my new camera I recently got for Christmas so I could take a picture of everything we did. So, I took pictures going to the airport, waiting for and getting onto the plane and our long trip to NYC. When we finally landed at the airport there was a man dressed in a black and white suit holding a sign that said our names. He was going to be our driver for the next couple of days. He went by the name of Harold. He was an older man, probably in his late fifties. He was about 6ft tall and had short gray hair. He was very quiet and kept to himself, but was very polite. When he walked us outside I was astonished to see that we would be riding in a limo! I have never ridden in one before, so I was super excited to ride around New York City in one for the first time. Once we got to our hotel it was pretty late, so as soon as we got into our suite we passed out immediately.
The next day was set aside for our interviews and a photo-shoot for our cover in Twist magazine. I felt like a superstar, my hair and makeup were done by professionals and there were cameras everywhere! Next, came the interview. It began with the typical “Where are you from?” and “How old are you?” questions. Then, gradually got into the “How did you come across One Direction?” and “What is your favorite 1D song?” All of which were simple for me to answer. I wasn’t one of the “extreme” fans, but I would certainly consider myself a big fan of the band. After a dreadfully long and tiring day at Twist, Harold drove us back to our hotel where we all decided to spend the night in resting for the next days of excitement.

The morning of the concert arrived and my mom, Madi and I agreed to take a stroll in Central Park and go shopping for a little bit. It was amazing! Central Park was so calm and peaceful, and there were so many beautiful trees and ponds. And, of course, the shopping was great too. After just a few hours we all had our hands full of shopping bags.

A couple of hours before the concert we went back to our hotel to get ready. I settled on my black skinny jeans, a grey V-neck, purple zip up hoodie, my white vans, and a simple silver necklace. I figured since I was going to a concert, I might as well wear something comfortable. The entire way to the concert I was beyond excited and jittery. We got to the gigantic arena and were taken to our seats. They were incredible! I couldn’t believe how lucky we were.

The concert at Madison Square Garden was absolutely marvelous, and really loud. Ed Sheeran gave a surprise performance and when one direction took the stage, the crowd went completely crazy! My favorite part of the concert was when the guys chose their favorite tweets and answered funny questions, like what they would do if a chicken attacked them. After the concert, we got to go backstage so we could meet them! It was overwhelming knowing that in a few minutes I was about to meet, touch, and hug them! I felt so nervous and unprepared.
We went in and I immediately gave Harry a hug. I was so nervous that I couldn’t even talk. Madi and I got to meet all five guys and take a picture with them. The guys acted just like I expected them to, like silly teenage boys

in a good way! While they were signing my poster, they were goofing around with each other. Madi was holding on to her new One Direction T-Shirt she just bought at the concert, and she was so nervous she accidently dropped it on the floor. But, it was hilarious when Louis said in his strong British accent, “Opps! I’ll help ya with that!” and picked it up off the floor and handed it to her. I almost died I was laughing so hard. And Madi sort of just stood there speechless not realizing what had just happened. Then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere Niall came skipping out of another room with a laundry basket on his head! It was so random and so funny! I think he was trying to make us laugh! And it worked because Madi and I thought they were all so hilarious! I had a great time I never wanted it to end. It was a wonderful experience. But, even though my trip was amazing, I was excited to get back to Nebraska and tell all my friends about it. On the plane back home, Madi and I listened to One Direction on our iPods. I’ll never get sick of them! It was a trip of a life time, and I will never forget all the great memories we made for as long as I live.