Chapter Six
Madilynn's original plan consisted of being up at four the next morning, getting ready, then being dropped off outside of First Avenue, then sitting and freezing her ass off in line until the walk started in the skyways. But with her luck and backstage passes, she slept until ten am. Getting out of bed, she brought her suitcase into the nearest bathroom and got ready for her day.
"Ryan should be here any minute, and then we can go." Brenda said the moment Madilynn stepped into the kitchen. This time she was making macaroni and cheese.
"Alright. Do you still have to get ready?"
"Yeah."
"Then I'll do lunch."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Go ahead."
"Thanks!"
"Whatever gets us there faster." Brenda nodded, relinquishing her spoon, then ran off to her bedroom. Picking up where Brenda had left off, Madilynn tested a noodle. While they finished cooking, she studied her reflection in a nearby mirror in the dining room. She wore her hair straight and sleek this time, pinned back away from her face with barretts with multi colored crystals on them, and her make up as usual, but purple eyeshadow this time, to bring out the green in her eyes. For the last concert she had worn her hair in curls. She wondered what way Taylor would like best. Last time she wore a green fitted Abercrombie tee shirt, long flair jeands and four inch heels. This time she wore a long sleeve black shirt, sweetheart neckline in front and a cout out in back, and skinny jeans with the same shoes. She felt awesome. She went back to the noodles, tested them again, then drained them. After the kids had eaten, and Ryan had been home for twenty minutes, Brenda came out, finally ready.
"It's a good thing we didn't wait until Ryan was home for me to start getting ready. That took longer than I expected."
"But you look really nice."
"Thanks." She was wearing black ballet flats, black pants, and a dark blue long sleeved shirt, long blond hair in big curls. Madilynn felt comfortable, since she guessed Brenda was probably a size ten, and Madilynn was wearing a size four. And this outfit didn't require her "skinny" jeans. She waited for Brenda to say good bye to her kids and husband, then they went to the truck.
"I'm so excited!" Brenda squealed.
"I know. I can't believe this is happening. Again!" The whole way they talked about Hanson, and the last concert they had gone to, together.
"So now what do we do?" Brenda asked, as they approached the group standing outside the doors in winter gear, waiting. Along the side of the building was the line that had been waiting for a while.
"We stand around with them and wait."
"Shouldn't we be in the line?" Brenda turned and looked at them.
"No. We're doing the Walk."
"Alright." Madilynn looked at her watch. It said five to three.
"It should start any minute, but they're usually late."
"Helllooo Minneapolis!" Zac called into the megaphone. The crowd screamed in response.
"Or not." Madilynn said in Brenda's ear.
"We know you guys are freezing, so lets get into the skyway and we'll do our usual speech. Come on guys." Taylor called over the megaphone. The crowd followed Hanson a block into the City Center. Once all inside, the three of them stood on a bench, and Taylor began his speech. As Taylor spoke, he scanned the crowd. Madilynn and Brenda were listening intently, watching Taylor. When he spotted Madilynn, he smiled and gave her a small wave. Madilynn felt her cheeks grow hot with a blush. She returned his smile with a shy one of her own. As he continued, Brenda turned to Madilynn.
"He just smiled and waved at you." She said with envy. Madilynns smile turned smug.
"He did, didn't he."
"Oh my god!" She whispered, loud and excited.
"So repeat after me. I took the walk!"
"I took the walk!" The crowd said.
"Let's go!" Taylor said. Following them, they spaced themselves out within the crowd.
"Should we go up to Taylor first?" Brenda asked.
"Not yet. Let's find Isaac first, then work our way up to the front."
"Alright." They waited for a minute for the majority of the crowd to chase after Taylor and Zac.
"There he is." Madilynn lead Brenda through the crowd, and approached him on his left. "Hi Isaac. I'm Madilynn, and this is my friend Brenda."
"Hello. Wait, you look familiar." He pointed to Madilynn. She just nodded. "From one of the recent shows, you had a meet and greet, right?"
"Yeah. Vegas."
"Right. I remember. Nice of you to make it."
"I wouldn't miss a show in my home town. This is Brenda's first this tour, and first since the Underneath tour." She stepped around Brenda, so she wasn't between them anymore.
"I'm glad you could make it. How are you enjoying yourself so far?"
"It's amazing! I can't wait for the show."
"It should be fun."
"Well, it was nice meeting you again, Isaac. Maybe we'll catch up with you again later."
"Sure." Madilynn pulled Brenda aside, letting Isaac get lost in the crowd.
"I can't believe I just talked to Isaac!" Brenda said.
"Awesome, right?"
"Yes!"
"Let's find Zac."
"Zac?!" She exclaimed. Madilynn laughed and began winding her way through the cowd. After a couple of minutes, they cought up to Zac. "This is a dream, right?"
"Nope." Madilynn fell into step with Zac. "Hi Zac." He turned from his conversation with the girl on the other side of him.
"Oh. Hey. Hey! You're- ah, wait, don't tell me. The m&g in Vegas. Ah- oh, right. Madilynn. Like the song but spelt different."
"You remember! How sweet. This is my friend Brenda, and her first show since the Underneath tour."
"So it's been a while. Nice to meet you."
"You too, finally! So how do you like Minnesota in the winter?"
"It's really cold."
"That it is."
"So are you planning on making a stop at the mall before you leave?" Madilynn asked.
"We might, seeing as this is our last stop. We're just going home after this."
"Well, if you need a guide for the mall, I know it like the back of my hand. But I bet you're excited to get home."
"Thanks for the offer. It's been a lot of fun touring, especially this tour. It'll be nice for a break, but we love touring, playing live."
"So maybe you'll stop in Phoenix next year?" Madilynn batter her eyelashes. Zac smiled.
"I'll keep it in mind."
"Thanks."
"So Zac, tell me about your trip to Africa." Another girl jumped in. Madilynn took it as her cue to find Taylor. They were about to stop and Taylor would make his speech, she was sure. And not ten steps later, he stopped in the middle of a skyway over 7th Avenue. Madilynn and Brenda stopped, standing next to Zac, watching Taylor make his second of three speeches. Ending it with another rousing shout of "I took the walk!", they began walking again. Leading Brenda slowly through the slowly thickening crowd, she managed to walk next to him a block from the nevue.
"Hey." He greeted Madilynn, smiling at her warmly. "I'd give you a hug, but out here..." He leaned into her and told her, " I left the passes at the window in your name, like I said."
"Thanks so much. That's really sweet. This is Brenda, who'll be coming back with me."
"Oh. Hi Brenda, nice to meet you."
"You too. It's an honor." Taylor have her a brilliant smile, then turned it on Madilynn.
"It's nice you finally decided to join me up here." He nudged Madi gently with his elbow.
"I had to let Brenda say hi out here, to get the nerves out. For some reason, when it's in the venue, it seems so different. Like out here, you're normal people, but in there, in your realm, that's when the nerves set in. That's how it was for me in Vegas."
"Really? That's interesting."
Madilynn laughed. "I feel stupid now."
"Don't. It's good to know. So Brenda. Having a good time?"
"The best. It's amazing. Surreal."
"Well, if you guys can hold on for two seconds." They nodded and watched him pull out a black sharpie from his jeans pocket. "Hand." He turned slightly, so his back was to the girls on the other side of him while he took Madilynn's hand and wrote a number one on her hand. Then he took Brenda's and wrote a number two. Recapping the sharpie, he said, "I'm going to tell the staff about the walk numbers again before the show, so when you get in line, you'll be first before the line, but after the m&g'ers."
"Alright. Thank you."
"No problem. I look forward to hanging out afterwards, and I expect to see you dance during the show." He smiled at Madilynn. "Oh, and by the way, I like your hair like this." With that, he stopped while the crowd gave him a small birth around him for his final speech. Zac and Isaac made their way to stand next to Taylor. After the speech, while the crowd was following Hanson to the hot chocolate being passed out, Madilynn and Brenda parted ways with an agreement to meet in line. Brenda waited in line, and Madilynn went to the will call window for her backstage passes. And just as Taylor had said, they were there, and were handed over after she showed her ID. Squealing and sending a silent thank you to God, she went to join Brenda in line for the hot chocolate. After about half an hour, there were about twenty people with numbers on their hands and in line.
"Do you ever wear your TOMS?" Brenda asked.
"No, they're not my type of shoes."
"Right. I forgot. I think they're kind of cute. So. How long are we going to have to wait out here?"
"Until the doors open. Then our line goes first, then that line. We'll probably get second row if you want center."
"I'm not picky. This is all so amazing."
"Well, you're going to have to think of what spot you want and stay there because we're not going to be able to leave then expect to get it back."
Chapter Seven