Reaching Out to the Stars by Donna DeMaio Hunt

eight dollars for crappy seats, I didn’t mind spending one hundred and forty five for decent ones. In the end, it cost close to four hundred dollars after shipping and convenience fees. So yes, I did spend a crazy amount of money, and yes, this is absolutely ridiculous, but oh, so worth it in the end.
    The night before the show, I found out that one of our best friend’s parents, Marilyn and Gerome, had VIP seats and backstage passes because they were acquainted with one of the idol favorites, Michael Johns. I knew that I had no chance of meeting my idol because you can’t transfer passes, but I was hopeful for an autograph.
    We arrived at the show early, at about six o’clock, to get my program and my eight by ten photo. I had a lot of anxiety because I did not know where Marilyn and Gerome’s seats were located. I wanted to be able to find them so that I could pass off my program and eight by ten photo to them for a possible autograph. I did not know if they would be meeting the idols before or after the show and I knew that if I did not find them that my chances of getting even an autograph would be as good as gone. Getting the autograph meant so much to me because I knew that realistically it would probably be the closest thing I would ever get to meeting him.
    As we found our seats, we ran into our friends Jude and Sierra. It was so funny because five years ago the four of us met at the same place for American Idols Live, Season Two. That’s right, that was the year I foolishly thought that on my birthday I would meet Clay Aiken. Insert laughter here!
    As we were all having a conversation, I kept looking around for Marilyn and Gerome and now that I am thinking about it, they probably thought I was acting weird or even maybe a bit rude. I was in luck because I finally caught sight of Marilyn and Gerome and I took off like a bullet, again rude. They were actually seated in the same section as us, which by the way were pretty good seats. I remember Bryce saying, “These are the best seats I have ever had at a show.”
    I said in response, “They should be for what I paid for them.”
    Then he asked, “What? How much did you pay for them?”
    My response was, “Never mind.” I was now going to have to prepare myself for the ass ripping I was going to get for the crazy amount of money I spent on the tickets. Gladly, nothing was ever said.
    Anyway, I was able to pass off my program and my picture to Marilyn and Gerome, as they were meeting with all of the idols after the show, the luckiest people ever.
    As the show began, I was so excited. They started with the number ten contestant and worked their way down, each contestant singing three songs. I thoroughly enjoyed all of them and of course they decided to have an intermission right before my favorite hit the stage. It was alright because I was starving and it gave me a chance to get some food since I skipped dinner to get to the show early. I had so much anxiety waiting in the snack line. It seemed to take forever and if I did not make it back to my seat when the show started back up again, nobody was going to want to be in my way.
    I also felt like the break was good because, as it never fails, we had the biggest group of tools sitting in front of us. Through the entire show, they kept getting up for beers and would come back double fisted. They were so loaded and obnoxious and I was getting really irritated. Who the hell gets trashed at an American Idol concert? It’s a family show for cryin’ out loud!
    As I did make it back in plenty of time, unfortunately, so did the ensemble in front of us who continued to get up and come back several times for their frequent bathroom breaks after drinking two beers every ten minutes.
    I was excited to watch my idol perform but he was a little off that night. I wondered if he was sick or even losing his voice a bit. I felt that although he only performed three songs, it seemed to go by so fast. I regretted not bringing my