We were sitting in journalism class when we found out Ariana Grande was coming to Dallas. We scoured the internet looking for the best seats we could afford, until we came across section 113, row C,  seats 7 and 8.

Mikayla Flores: When I got home one day in late October, my mom was looking at Ariana Grande tickets. I went to go sit down with her, and we found the tickets that we wanted. Then I messaged Zoie and told her that my mom was about to buy the tickets. Then, she pushed the purchase button.

Zoie Shaw: That’s when I started freaking out. Not because of the fact that we were going, but of what my parents would say, because Mikayla got them without my parents’ consent. After calming down, we decided to go to bed and discuss this abrupt “situation.”

Mikayla: When we got to school, we discussed a plan for how Zoie would talk to her parents. We would tell her parents that it was my early birthday present, which was partially true. Then she would try to convince her parents that I could bring a friend, but they would have to pay us back.

Zoie: I messaged her a video of my mom’s response. We had to discuss it with my father first, so it could be confirmed. They said YES!

175 days…

67 days…

12 days…

3 days…

CONCERT DAY!!!

Mikayla: On the day of the concert (April 1), it felt no different than any other day. Everyone kept asking me if I was excited, but I honestly didn’t know how I felt. The entire day went by normally, up until the end of the day. As soon as I got out of dance, I ran as fast as I could to the main building to get Zoie. She was still in musical theater, and I was trying to keep calm until she got out. Then we ran as fast as we could to my mom’s car and headed home to get ready.

Zoie: On the car ride to Mikayla’s house, it was difficult to understand how I was feeling. This was our first concert ever, and we didn’t know how we were supposed to feel or act. When we got to her house, we calmly went to her room to get ready. I was doing my hair and putting on my clothes, so that I could look presentable and concert ready! We were listening to music softly in the background.

Mikayla: Then we piled into the car and we were off. We stopped at Subway to eat before the concert. Once we got to the American Airlines Center we ate outside then gave the attendant our tickets and we were in. We roamed around for a while before the concert then we found our seats, which were way closer than we thought.

Zoie: We waited for awhile, and then the lights dimmed. The opening act came on, which was Cashmere Cat, who was a really good DJ. Then the lights turned back on and we waited some more. Then the lights dimmed again and Rixton came out. I wasn’t as excited for Rixton until they got me pumped up. We were jumping and screaming, and I was really surprised at how good they were live. After they were finished, the lights turned back on and we were sitting there waiting once again.

Mikayla: Then once again, the light dimmed and a video popped up on the screen. It was Ariana Grande! Then we had the luck to find out that there was a 60-second countdown. So we sat there with our voices half gone and our hearts beating fast. That’s when it happened. Her dancers popped up one by one on the stage and then Ariana Grande came out and we screamed our heads off.

Zoie: I was ecstatic and shocked. I didn’t think that this moment was real. I even screamed, “She is not real!” I looked over at Mikayla whose mouth was agape. She was in total shock. Ariana began singing and it felt heavenly. She got both Mikayla and I standing and screaming at the top of our lungs singing every lyric of every song.

Mikayla: The more fun we had, the faster it came to an end. We didn’t want to leave our seats, but then the attendant had to yell at us to leave. We slowly trudged up the steps and exited the building. We could not believe what just happened. We were breathing the same air and in the same room as her.

Zoie: When we were waiting outside, I was still in shock at what just happened. Once we got in the car, we both fell asleep. All I know is that I got to spend the best night of my life with my best friend.