A Memory Passed By

I cemented my golden blonde curls with a thick coat of hairspray for one last time as I blissfully gazed at my reflection in anticipation. My bright blue eyes were sparkling with excitement and my gleaming grin was uncontrollable. At sixteen years of age, I was finally about to experience the thrill and joy that I had been awaiting for months. My heart jumped inside my chest as I paced back and forth dragging my feet across the beige wool carpet. I wiped my clammy palms along the sides of my auburn-colored, knee-length skirt and fidgeted with the ruffles on my white blouse. I bit my lip to keep it from trembling. I tried to relax for a minute as I hastily assembled myself on the cold leather of my faded-brown couch.
I stared at the clock obsessively. The ball of anxiousness grew in my stomach at every “tick” that the clock made. Five more minutes…, I thought to myself. My best friend Dorothy would be arriving at anytime. Still intently fixating my eyes on the clock, I thought, Just 3 more minutes…Then suddenly my stomach did summersaults as the door bell rang. I slowly stood, straightening my skirt and took a deep breath as I took one last glance at myself in the mirror. The time has finally come, I thought. I scampered over to the door and swung it open. There was Dorothy beaming with glee in her light blue button up dress. We scurried over to her car and quickly got in.
We sang loudly and off-key the entire way to our destination. Then finally we arrived. I saw bright lights flashing from the arena. There were hundreds of girls frantically lined up to get in the building. We parked the car and bolted out to wait in line with the hundreds of giggling teenage girls. Finally they opened the doors and began letting people in. When we got in the building we rushed to find our seats. By now my heart was beating so fast I could hardly catch my breath. I couldn’t take it anymore! I couldn’t wait any longer to see him. Then suddenly the lights started to dim and the music began to play loudly. Dorothy and I leaped out of our seats and began screaming and jumping up and down hysterically. And finally we heard,
“You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog…”And there he was. Elvis Presley in the flesh! He was so beautiful in his sparkling white suit. I couldn’t catch my breath.
“It’s actually him!” I screamed to Dorothy. My emotions were overwhelming. I couldn’t believe it. Suddenly I became plagued with dizziness. I could hardly stand and then….. BLACK. Everything went black. Yes, I had lost all consciousness. The next thing I knew I was lying on the floor in the lobby with Dorothy standing over me with a terrified look on her face.
“Oh thank goodness! You’re awake! Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m okay. What happened?”
“You passed out right when Elvis came out,” replied Dorothy. She then went on to say that she had carried me all the way out to the lobby (which wasn’t too far because our seats were so far back). I had been unconscious for about five minutes and had missed almost two songs. I felt terrible for ruining the concert for her because we had both been waiting for this moment for so long. Then one of the ushers came over, interrupting my repetitive apologies to Dorothy, and asked, “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine. My friend just passed out,” replied Dorothy in a sorrowful tone.
“Oh I’m sorry to hear that. Let me get you some water.” We both stared at him as he walked away and disappeared into another room. While he was gone, Dorothy and I talked about how cute we thought he was. We decided he looked like he was around eighteen years old. He had adorable dimples when he smiled and stunning hazel eyes. When he came back he was carrying a glass of water. Then he said, “You guys wouldn’t be interested in front row tickets, would you?” We giddily shrieked and thanked him. He smiled as he held his hand out to help me up. Then he directed us to our seats in the front row.
“Enjoy the concert,” he said as he winked at us. “You lovely ladies come find me after the concert and I’ll let you into the V.I.P. party.”
“Okay,” we both said as we giggled flirtatiously.
“This is amazing,” I shouted to Dorothy. We were so close to Elvis that we could almost touch him. I reached out my arms to try and touch the flare of his glittery pants. The girls around us were screaming so wildly that I thought they were going to pass out also. I made sure that I was taking deep breaths to ensure that I wouldn’t lose consciousness again. Dorothy and I exchanged glances and smiled. We didn’t say a word but knew that we were both thinking, I can’t believe this is happening! I really couldn’t believe that this was happening.
He announced that he was about to sing his last song for the evening. He began to sing, “Love me tender, love me sweet…” I could hardly listen to the last song because all I could think about was if we would be able to get into that party and if we would actually get to meet Elvis. I daydreamed about what it would be like to meet Elvis and what I would say to him.
“Hurry! We need to find that usher!” Dorothy screeched as the lights began to turn back on. We walked around searching for the cute usher who offered to let us into the party. Finally we saw him.
“You guys ready for the party?” We nodded our heads and smiled.
“Follow me,” he said with a playful smile. We both grabbed hands, jumping up and down as we shrieked excitedly. As we neared the entrance to the party, my hands began to shake.
“Right this way, ladies.” We looked at each other and took a deep breath before we continued walking. My heart was jumping around so much that I thought it was going to jump right out of my chest. I was taken back when I saw Elvis Presley standing only fifteen feet away from us. We waited in line behind three other girls so that we could meet him. The three girls walked up together to meet him.
“It’s almost our turn,” I whispered to Dorothy in a shaky voice. I was so nervous. I couldn’t help from shaking. I kept thinking, please don’t faint, please don’t faint. I was a nervous wreck. I began to feel a large lump develop in my throat, making it hard to swallow and I kept bouncing around uneasily. Dorothy nudged me,
“It’s time to go meet him.” I took another deep breath as we both walked over to him.
“Hello, ladies,” Elvis said casually.
“Hi,” we shyly said in unison. I stared at him in awe. His creamy brown hair was so silky and shiny. I gazed into his dazzling blue eyes as my heart melted. I shivered every time he smiled as chills went up and down my back. The sweet fragrance of his cologne and sweat made me feel too weak to stand. I would give anything to just get one kiss from him, I thought. He asked us our names and then took a picture with us. After nervously chatting with him for a few minutes, he gave me a hug and kissed me on the cheek. My knees began to weaken and I was overwhelmed with dizziness as I thought, Oh no, not again.
When I regained consciousness, I saw Elvis standing over me with a concerned look on his face. I thought it was some kind of a weird dream, but then it all came rushing back to me when I noticed Dorothy standing right behind him. Dorothy gave me a half-smile and we both giggled. This was definitely a night that I would always remember… or at least parts of it.