"And in my mind, every one of these memories looks the same to me. I see all of these moments in bright, burning red."

The moment I laid my eyes on Taylor Swift’s The Red Tour 2014 poster, I can’t stop thinking about attending. The last time she had her concert, which was her Speak Now Tour way back in 2011, I wasn’t allowed to go because I was too young. I remembered crying at home all night long while the news about the concert was as if sharp knives stabbing me. I felt so down in the dump. Taylor Swift has always been my inspiration and she was the first person who I ever became a fan of and started collecting stuff. She was the reason why I wanted to learn guitar and write songs. And because of her, I have composed my own original song when I was in fifth grade. I have always thought and dreamt of meeting her, seeing her perform live and sing along with her. Holding her hand or simply be close to her was my biggest goal ever since.

And I never thought last night’s concert was the answer.

When they opened the sales to the tour, believe it or not, tickets were sold out after two hours. I was so sad back then and my parents cheered me up with simply saying to me that they have a surprise for me if I do well in our finals. Of course, I love surprises, and I did well and have gotten my grades higher by two points. The day after my parents issued my report card; they called me in their room and started scolding me about my grades. Who wouldn’t feel bad about your parents scolding you for high grades? I was nearly crying because I felt so terrible because maybe I made them disappointed. But before my tears fell, my Mom got something out from her pocket. It was a ticket for Taylor’s concert.

Instead of crying because of being scolded, I cried because they really looked so hard for these tickets. They contacted some friends who had connections to the venue who were also selling tickets. They reserved me a seat and they bought it for me. They told me I deserved the tickets because I did my best and that they really know how much I adore Taylor. Ever since she debuted as an artist, I am a fan of her.

So, fast forward to last night’s party! Yeah, it was one hell of a party!

Since it was Friday, we had classes and coincidentally, it was the day where we will fill out the application forms for UPCAT (the hardest college entrance examination!) and me and my friends who also had tickets were dismissed very late. As soon as we exited the school, we turned into Flash and literally changed from our uniforms to our concert outfits in a speed of light! We left my house (since it was the nearest) around 5:30 or so. But we didn’t expect the heavy traffic on the way.

Now that’s where the story becomes magical. We were stuck in the road for three hours just to go to the venue which meant we arrived there at 8:27 PM (yes, I will always remember the exact time.) but the concert starts at 8 o’clock, the reason why we panicked. What made us more worried is because of the long line. But we had fun talking about our expectations while waiting in line with other fans. What we didn’t expect was the concert hasn’t started yet! It was a very big relief to us! So we took pictures in the lobby with Taylor standees, posters and even fellow fans! But what made us really excited was seeing a celebrity, Robi Domingo, and we took a picture with him! He was in the VIP seats while we were in the General Admission, which was upstairs. General Admission is the cheapest and the farthest seats and I was really okay with that. So, me and my friends made a tiny circle in front of the escalator going up to talk about what we’ll do and stuff.

Suddenly, an American guy in grey walked to us and looked at me. I was studying his face, the ID he was wearing and he looks like a staff. “Do you want to seat upstairs or downstairs?” He asked me. I just stood there and stared at awe. Questions were on my mind like what if he isn’t really Taylor’s staff? What if he is a kidnapper? What if he’s fooling us? So, he rephrased the question for us.

“Would you like to see Taylor up close?”

No questions, no arguments, no comments. “Yes!” He asked us to follow him to where Robi Domingo entered, which was in the VIP area. My mind was blank; are we really going inside the VIP area? But we did.

As soon as we were settled somewhere nears the stage, everything became dark and then the spotlight was on a beautifully colored red curtain with a silhouette of the girl who won Grammys and wrote hit songs: Taylor Alison Swift. She sung State of Grace, which is one of my favorites, and her voice was amazing and goose bumps all over! After some more lines, the curtain finally went down and there she was, wearing her elegant white top and black shorts. She also wore tights with diamond studs and a fedora, which she gave away and threw to the crowd. She was stunningly beautiful and so thin (in a healthy way) and so flawless. Her face was so small and her eyes were so pretty. She was perfect that night.

All I ever did was record some parts and sang along but I danced and jumped and screamed all the way through. I was having the time of my life. But that’s not all! Not only that we get to seat (or stand because we never really sat the whole time! We were dancing so much!) in the VIP area, but while Taylor went down the stage after her acoustic performance, which was so amazing and I love the feeling of everyone singing along, she went near where we were.

Seconds later, she was in front of me and held my hand tightly and looked at me.

Taylor Swift, the artist who had multiple tours and had several awards who performed in so many countries, states and events, looked at me and held my hand tightly. Taylor Swift, the girl that I have always adored ever since I was young. The person who I want to thank the most held my hand and looked at me. Taylor Swift who I thought I could never ever get near to and that I’ll only see her in YouTube.

Taylor Swift held my hand and looked at me.

Who will not feel happy about that? No, not happy. There are actually no words to describe the feeling! After she walked back to the stage, I cried so much. Call me over reacting but it was really special to me. Like, it was the most special thing happened. After every bad thing that happened to me this year, something good happened. Everything has changed; I promised to be better. Actually, before I slept (which I didn’t sleep at all) I reflected on why it happened. Thought of things and remembered every single thing from the concert.

I just couldn’t stop thinking of how lucky I and my friends were. That was the most magical moment in my whole life. I will never, ever, forget that. I can’t even forget the feeling; I’m still having goose bumps as I write this post. I’m really thankful and lucky.

After the concert, we decided to make The Lucky Ones, Holy Ground and Starlight as our theme song. Because, well, the songs just describe what happened that night.

Who knew this will happen to us, to me? To think that I have the farthest seat, the cheapest one, and I get to see Taylor up close, hold her hand, have eye contact with her, and seat on the area where its price is nine times higher? Never really expected that.

Well, everything happens for a reason.