Silhouette

Chapter 1

Silhouette

Chapter 1

‘Send To: All,’ Flashed across my iPhone screen. Not that ‘All’ was very many people. But this text was to be sent to everyone I knew. Everyone was going to know this. This was huge.

Huge for me anyway. Many people would be bored with what was about to happen. In fact, my friend Erika would think it was stupid. Definitely stupid. 

In fact, I could just picture her, precisely saying those words. “Really?” Erika said in my imagination, “Owl City? Come on, they’re lame!”

I could also picture my smart mouth response. “One, Owl City isn’t a ‘They,’ it’s a he. Adam Young. And just because he doesn’t sing about getting rich, or getting the hot girl, it doesn’t mean he’s lame. His music actually has some emotion to it.”

If I did indeed say this, Erika would roll her eyes dramatically, and most likely change the conversation. This was one thing her and I disagreed on. Music. She liked alternative, while I liked… well, Owl City. 

Then I could see Cami. She goes to concerts all the time, so me saying that I was going to an Owl City concert would mean almost nothing to her. I could picture her response even more precisely. “Cool,” she would say, and then begin to talk about something she recently bought. Not that that fascinates me. She’s been spoiled since day one, and just because she grew up didn’t mean her parents planned to stop giving her whatever she wanted. Not to mention her just as spoiled husband, Kenny. 

I laid down my head on my pillow, my heart fluttering at the very thought of Saturday night. I finally won something. I finally got something I wanted. That one phone call to the radio station was all I needed. This was my dream. I was really going to see Adam Young live. I was going to an Owl City concert.

My iPhone vibrated under my pillow. I had a weird habit of putting any phone I ever had under my pillow. It was strange, but I couldn’t sleep without it. It was just comforting knowing it was there.

I could immediately see what it said. 

‘Cool! Guess where Kenny is taking me tomorrow night???’

I shook my head, knowing it was Cami. My friends really didn’t seem to understand me, especially Cami. And her response was exactly what I pictured it would be. She was oblivious to how important this was to me. ‘Some best friend,’ I think to myself, silently counseling myself for even thinking that about her. She really was great to me, but sometimes I felt like she didn’t truly care about me.

Another response came, this one from my mother.

‘That’s great sweetie! I hope you have fun, be careful!’

I smiled, not quite enthused enough to laugh. Mom. Still being a mother. I knew she would never stop. However, she did at times try to control my life. No, I take that back. She always tried to control my life. She didn’t like the choices I made on my own one bit. Not that I really did either, but it’s not her life to control. It’s mine.

Another came almost directly after mom’s.

‘Owl City, huh? I never understood your obsession with them…’

I felt a  pang in my heart at the harsh words, but I shook it away. This was Owen. Owen wasn’t exactly my dream guy, but he was my mother’s, and I found him to be sweet. He was my boyfriend, but I felt I couldn’t exactly confide in him any more than my other friends. He was kind of harsh, and I didn’t appreciate it at all. However, I often felt inadequate, and I felt like he was the only guy I would ever get. Plus, I couldn’t upset my mother any more than I already had in the past. Breaking up with him would probably hurt her more than him.

Not wanting to respond to any of the people, I put my phone back under my pillow. I peacefully closed my eyes, imagining the concert. I whispered the words to my favorite song of his, Silhouette, to myself. 

“I’m tired of waking up in tears

Cause I can’t put to bed these phobias and fears”

Sometimes, I swore Owl City was just about the only thing that kept me going strong. The words were so powerful, the metaphors so clever, the language so emotional. No one else in my life seemed to understand this, and that fact alone was extremely upsetting. 

I thought back to the radio announcer’s voice, the words sending chills through my spine and increasing my heart rate immensely. 

“This is George with WXY, who is this?”

“This is Maddie,” I responded, hands shaking at hearing his voice, hearing someone actually pick up.

“Where are you from, Maddie?”

“M-Milwaukee,” I stuttered. 

“Well Maddie from Milwaukee, are you an Owl City fan?” He said enthusiastically. 

“Of Course!” I practically yelled, extremely ungracefully. 

“Would you like to see Adam Young live in concert?” 

“Y-Yeah!” I exclaimed, my voice rising a little at the excitement. I did everything in my power to keep from screaming, and making me seem like more of a fool than I probably already did.

“Well we’re going to hook you up! You are receiving one ticket, in the front row, to see the sold out Owl City live in concert this Saturday night!”

Okay, I lost it right there. That moment, I screamed so loud, little children in China were probably covering their bleeding ears. I jumped up and down in my small apartment, and all this noise received shouts from just about all my neighbors. I quieted down, and leaped onto my old couch. Unfortunately, it’s a very uncomfortable couch, but I didn’t notice any pain. The excitement overtook my entire being.

He gave me the details after cutting to a commercial. I won. I had actually won something. I was so used to losing, to failing at everything I ever did. But I had finally won.

I fell asleep, the sweet memory dancing along in my brain. Owl City inhabited every dream I had. Thankfully, this wonderful dream would soon come true. 

“I’m tired of waking up in tears

Cause I can’t put to bed these phobias and fears”