Ella’s face lit up like a candle. Her tone and her features became excited, “Are you serious!?”

She screamed so loud it made me flinch, “Yeah, as long as you promise not to scream anymore, especially if you see them.”

Ella rolled her eyes, “They are used to it.”

“Yeah, but don’t you think you would get more attention if you actually talked to them instead of bursting their ear drums?”

She just stared at me then spoke, “You know… You are pretty smart.”

I snorted, “Gee, thanks. Now hurry up! If we are gonna go, then we need to go.”

She started jumping around the small kitchen, “Okay! I gotta go get my stuff! Oh and my phone!”

​Ella finally stopped jumping and ran up the stairs to get her things. About ten minutes later, we were getting into my mom’s old 2005 red Chrysler Sebring convertible. We were both freshly changed: Ella and I both wearing shorts to withstand the Kansas heat. Ella was wearing her favorite One Direction shirt with the 1D logo. I was wearing a crème colored baggy tank-top with white Sanuks. Ella hadn’t shut up the whole time we drove through downtown Kansas City. “Oh my God! If I meet Harry freaking Styles, I will die.”

Ella had the biggest crush on Harry. It was safe to say he was her favorite, but if you tell her that, she can get a little defensive. Over the last few months, I had heard everything there was to hear about One Direction. I knew their names and what they looked like, where they were from, everything, thanks to Ella. I did have to admit, they were really good at singing. My biggest fear out of doing this was Ella not getting to see them. I just knew she would be upset.

“People are saying they are at the Hilton,” Ella said from behind her phone.

“Well, I guess we will stop there,” I muttered. I drove about fifteen more minutes and stopped about two blocks from the hotel. I parked the car, put the money into the parking meter, and waited for Ella to get her things before locking the car. Ella and I walked down the sidewalk. We soon reached the Hilton, where there were hundreds of girls camped out. I turned to Ella, “Well… This looks like the right place…”

She laughed, “Ya think?” We made our way over as close to the door as we could. Then we waited. Ella started talking to a couple other girls. Some said they had seen Niall from behind, others had no luck. The girls said they had been here since 6 A.M., which is honestly insane. I backed up against the wall and pulled out my phone to keep me entertained. It sounded like this could take awhile. I started playing solitaire to pass the time. Time went past and the sun began to fade. My phone vibrated in my hands and the screen went black. I sighed; putting it back in my pocket and making my way back over to Ella. She was still chatting with the same group of girls, “Hey, Ella, what time is it?”

Ella glanced up at me and pulled out her phone, “9:32… Why?”

“Don’t you think we should get home?”

Ella’s expression dropped, “But we haven’t seen them yet…”

My heart grew heavy. I was afraid this would happen, but it was a chance I had to take, “I know babe… but it’s getting really late.”

Her shoulders sagged and her head lowered, “I guess so.”

I twirled my ring around my finger, in a way, asking for strength. Ella said goodbye to her new friends and we began walking to the car. I put my arm around her, squeezing lightly, “its okay. We can try again tomorrow.”

She shrugged her shoulders, “I guess.”

We got a little further down the sidewalk and then we heard screams from behind us. We both instinctively turned back around. The girls in front of the hotel were jumping around like caged monkeys. Before I knew what was happening, Ella was sprinting towards the girls and I was following in tow. We reached the group of girls who were pushing and squishing each other just to get a look. Girls were wincing in pain, others were shouting for people to move. It was honestly chaos. I grabbed Ella by the arm and turned her to face me, “I don’t think this is a good idea, El,” my voice very apprehensive.

Ella’s face pleaded, “Please Victoria? This is my only shot. I’ll be careful.”

I held on a few seconds longer. I looked at her, deciding what I should do. I let go of her arm and nodded. A grin spread across her face and she pushed herself into the pack of girls. I watched her as she got elbowed and watched as she elbowed back. Soon she had disappeared into the sea of teenage girls. From behind, it kind of looked like some sort of girl zombie invasion, something I was sure to have nightmares about. Out of all the shouting, there erupted a shrill and pains stricken scream. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on ends and my stomach dropped.

The scream pierced again, “Victoria!”

Before I knew what I was doing, I was pushing through the crowd of girls, no caring about the others around me. I just needed to get to Ella. Girls were trying to push me back but I pushed harder. The only thing going through my head was Ella.

The scream came again, “Victoria!”

I began pushing harder and I finally made it to the front. Ella was pressed up against the metal restraints, fear and pain written all over her face. There were girls behind her, pushing and pushing, hands extended around her to touch the person standing in front of Ella. Anger washed through my body as I pushed my way over to Ella. I began pushing the girls back but it was no use. There were too many. I began frantically screaming, “Back up! She’s hurt! Back up!”

They ignored me, still reaching around to touch whoever was standing on the other side of the restraints. I looked at Ella who had tears running down her cheeks, “Victoria, my leg,” she cried out in pain.

I tried to look down at her leg, and I saw a screw sticking out from the restraint bars. It was piercing into her leg, dark blood running down her bare leg. I tried elbowing the girls that were pushing but it was once again, pointless. I looked over to where all the girls were reaching. There were three boys I recognized. One was blonde, Niall, another had black hair styled upwards with a blonde highlight, Zayn. They were both on the other side, signing autographs and taking pictures. The other one had shortly cut brown hair and a distinct birthmark on his neck, Liam. His attention was drawn toward the commotion. There were two men dressed in black standing close to them, who I guessed was security. I did the only thing I could think of: I tried making eye contact with one of the security men,” She needs help,” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

I screamed it over and over again. Neither one of the men looked, but one very important person did: Liam. Liam nudged one of the men and he looked over at me and Ella. The guy rushed over to us, the other man following. I turned to the man who looked to be in charge, “They keep pushing! She’s bleeding,” I cried out in panic.

The man looked at my sister’s pained face and muttered something to the other man. The other man nodded and began shouting with a distinct British accent, “Back up! Someone’s hurt! Back up!”

The girls paid no attention and kept up with the pushing. They actually began to push harder, causing Ella to scream louder. I turned back to the men. “Do something,” I screamed angrily.

They either didn’t hear me or chose to ignore me. I looked around again, making eye contact with Liam once again. I took advantage of the opportunity, “Help her! Please.”

My face must have really looked desperate because he nodded and muttered something to one of the men. The man seemed reluctant at first but did as he was told. He walked over to Ella and me and opened up the gate. Ella cried out in pain as the screw was withdrawn. She stumbled through the opening and me following behind. Ella fell into my arms, sobbing, as the two men forced the girls back and shut the gate closed. The two men ushered us and the boys inside the hotel lobby. Ella was too out of it to even realize she was this close to 3/5 of One Direction. I guided Ella over to one of the sofas that sat in the lobby, sitting her down. Tears were still streaming down her face and I crouched in front of her, wiping them away, “it’s okay, babe.”

I looked down at her leg, which had a trail of blood streaming down her leg. I followed the blood trail up her thigh to see the dark, bloody wound. I looked around the lobby. Niall, Zayn, and one of the body guards were standing close by, muttering to each other with concerned expressions. Liam and the other man were nowhere to be seen. I turned back to Ella, “We need to get you cleaned up.”

Ella nodded, still slightly crying. I felt someone kneel beside me and then I saw Ella’s eyes widen with shock. She began wiping her face and I turned to look at the person beside me. Liam was going through a first-aid kit, pulling out all sorts of medical items. He took out a roll of gauze and some antiseptic. The wound wasn’t extremely deep, but deep enough to need stitches. Liam looked up at Ella and smiled, “You okay, babe?”

Ella’s mouth parted a little, no words escaping her plump lips. She managed a nod. He tried making small talk while he bandaged her wound, “What’s your name?”

“Ella,” she muttered quietly.

Liam smiled, his deep British accent humming through the air, “Nice to meet you, Ella. Not very good circumstances, although.”

Ella giggled slightly, “I should have listened to my sister. She told me it was a bad idea.”

She nodded towards me and Liam glanced at me and smiled, “Sisters are always right. Trust me, I’ve got two.”

I laughed, “Yes we are.”

Ella looked between Liam and I and smiled, “This is Victoria.”

Liam turned to me fully this time and smiled sweetly, “I’m Liam.”

My heart skipped at beat at the sight of his brown eyes. Shit.