It’s an almost surreal feeling. Like she’s in another person’s body. Like she’s seeing things through someone else’s eyes. Because she hasn’t seen things that bright in a long time. She hasn’t seen that much color in a long time.

She doesn’t quite understand how it works. She sits alone, but she sees everything as if she’s the happiest she’s ever been. She watches the people below her have the time of their lives with their friends, and she somehow has the time of her life by herself.

The way that the lights shine down makes everything glow. They brighten everything, even her mood. She feels like a real teenager with a normal, cliche teenage life. Except for the fact that she sits alone. She’d prefer being alone to the other options though.

She doesn’t have to be alone. There are people she could sit, or rather stand, with, but she doesn’t want to associate herself with those people. The people she does want to associate herself with have responsibilities. More than she does. So she takes it all in alone.

She is perfectly okay with that, prefers it even.

She finds peace in the cheers and the boos. She finds peace in the overplayed music, the chants, the band, and the announcer. She finds peace in the noise that surrounds her. She finds peace in the chaos. She finds peace staring down at the people, worrying about the people that she’s never even talked to.

It confuses her sometimes, why she’s so happy sitting up there alone. Sometimes she gets sad that she’s sitting alone, but she also knows that if she wanted to she could sit with other people. She chooses not to. She watches the game, she loves the game. If she wasn’t sitting alone she would be ridiculed for caring.

So she sits up there alone, and she does what she wants. She cheers without being judged because no one can hear her. She watches everybody else and wonders if they’re in the same position as her. She wonders if sometimes they wish they were sitting alone.

Even when it’s all done and she’s not alone anymore it still feels surreal. It still feels like somebody else’s life, because how can she possibly have this amazing life with these amazing people? But this is her life, and that’s why it’s unbelievable. It’s unbelievable that she gets to be at peace when she’s alone, watching it all from above, and when she’s surrounded by her favorite people. She’s at peace in the chaos and in the calm.

She gets to live her best life, watching her favorite game, and being with her favorite people. She gets to be a teenager. She loves those nights more than she can comprehend. She will never forget the feeling of the blinding lights and the deafening, overwhelming noise.

Her Friday nights will forever exist under those lights.