What was meant to be the most perfect and euphoric experience of my entire life took several turns for the absolute worst and was nearly, completely ruined.

It was Thursday of May 7, 2015 therefore I had to attend school that day as well. I have 7th and 8th period off and the pal that I was bringing with me, Cara Morton (12), has a full load. So I decided to nap until she was home and ready to go. I wanted to get up by 4:30, yet before I even laid down I knew I would be staying in bed way longer than that because I am always tired and extremely lazy.

I didn’t get up until 5 and my mom was super mad at me for leaving so late, because there would be a ton of traffic on Beltway 8 and Highway 45 (and she was right). I ended up leaving around 5:30 even though I had intend to get to Cara’s house at 5.

We get on the road, after I fill up my car with gas, and head for Lana. It already takes roughly and hour to get to the Woodlands and the traffic was heavy on every single one of the exits I had to take. We also got turned around on Highway 59 and had to U-turn to get back to the exit we were meant to take and then ended up in a bunch of rush hour south bound traffic until we did finally get to our exit, avoiding missing it this time.

Since this was basically an entire road trip, to pass the time, we were jamming Lana the entire way there. I mean obviously were not going to listen to anything besides her on the way to her concert. During the drive Cara discovered that the opening acts were DJ who would  play from 7:30-8:15 and then Courtney Love from 8:30-9 and that the Queen (Lana, obviously) wouldn’t start until 9:30. So we came to the conclusion that it was totally bueno if we are late because we both don’t like Courtney Love so we could miss set anyways.

Around 7:45 when we were about 15 minutes away,  we  decided we would stop to get food. The traffic on 45 was heavy, but I saw a Chick-fil-a sign so I dip into the exit lane and get off the highway and head for CFA.  Unfortunately at that moment  but I heard a strange noise and became aware of the smell of burning rubber. So of course I panic.

My stomach turns and my neck get hot and my shoulders heavy. I can feel the anxiety boiling up instead my body and I KNOW something is wrong. I can’t find the CFA, but I see Whataburger directly in front of me. I frantically move into the right lane and B-line into the Whataburger parking lot. I pull into a spot and get out of the car, leaving Cara inside and my car running.

And of course, I see smoke pouring out of the hood of my car. Cara then jumps out and says, “Well turn the car off.” I am so anxious and upset at this point I just shake off my stupidity and forget about it. I turn the car off and we go inside to get some delicious Whataburger.

We get it to go and decide to sit in my car while we eat and try to figure out what to do about my car. As we munch I attempt to start my car and the engine turns over, not easily but it does, and instantly is making this ear piercing, screeching noise. I immediately turn off the car and look to Cara, with probably with the most terrified look on my face possible. and say, “Okay, let’s wait a little bit more,”

I was devastated and worried I would not be able to get us to the concert. Whenever we were done eating I tried the ignition again and this time the car wouldn’t even start. So I decide to call my dad and I tell him everything that happened and he tells me that he will come get us, but that we will have to miss the concert.

At this point I’m just like no, nope, no way, there is no way this is happening, there is no way that there is no way to get there. My dad suggests we walk and he can come get us after the show, so I look up how far we were from the Pavilion and it was a whole 3 miles. NOOOOOOPPPEEE.

Then I get the brightest idea that I couldn’t understand why I, not anyone else, had not thought of this yet: call a taxi!

My dad tells me he’s going to set it up and send a taxi our way. Just 10 minutes later a man in just a black small car pulls up asking if we broke down and tells us he is our ride. I am a little concerned  by the fact that this is not a regular taxi car. I call my dad and ask if he got a Uber instead because it was not a taxi that showed up. So my dad asked to talk to the guy and it was him so we got a ride, leaving my car there at Whataburger.

But there was still a lot of traffic and our driver was getting worried about us getting there in time At this point it was about 9:10 so we really didn’t have much time.

He dropped us off at one of the side entrances and it lead us directly to where we needed to be. We got in with our tickets and headed for the lawn. When we got up to the top everyone was screaming and the place was dimming the lights. Lana was going on AS SOON AS WE SET FOOT ON THE GRASS. It was a literal miracle that we made it in time to see her walk on stage and it was the most beautiful sight of my life.

When she was finished her last song, the angel went down to the pit area to take pictures and talk to friends which almost made me cry because she is just the sweetest person in the world. Cara and I didn’t even get to meet up with our friends that were trying to find us the entire time until Lana was done and off stage.

She was more perfect than I had ever imagined. There are no words strong enough to describe her magnificence. She was a true Goddess that night and I felt like the luckiest person in the world to be able to go through so much and still get to see my idol that I’d been waiting for years to see. I loved the concert and I just can’t wait for her to come back.