I decide that sounds strange, so I re-record it. "Anyways, since I've been off Twitter recently, I figured I'd fill you guys in on my life!" That's good enough, so I keep on going, "Basically, yesterday I had a nice day with a good friend of mine, Dan! Yes, I do mean Danisnotonfire. We're pretty much the same person, which makes hanging out with him pretty great. Sorry I don't have any footage, but we all know daily vlogging is not my thing."
I pause to think of what to say next. SitC happened, I can talk about that.
"Now, jumping pretty far back in time, I was at Summer in the City! I know, it was crazy, and I'm sure you've all been blowing up the internet re-posting my epic fall moment...Is it safe to say I regret those heels? But yeah, that was fun. Here's some footage from that, thanks to FunForLouis and a million other people who were nice enough to give me their recordings with me in them."
Just then I look at the clock leaning against the wall (I can't bother to buy any nails to hang it up) and realize it's basically time to go to dinner and leap up, shutting off the camera as I run towards my bedroom. I pull on a short casual dress and some tights, since it's getting pretty cold.
Without time to really do anything with it, I just pull my hair down in a braid and grab my bag, ready to run out the door. Soon after leaving the door I realize I don't have to run, as it's really still half an hour until the dinner, and the restaurant is only about ten minutes away by walking. I take my time and look at all the city lights, becoming mesmerized before nearly getting slammed into by a bus. I've always loved looking up at the lights in skyscrapers and wonder who's inside, if they have families, wives, mothers and friends. I tend to make normal things much deeper and depressing than they really are.
I get to the restaurant, a little pub not far from a bookstore I buy my textbooks at, just on time. The waiter shows me to the table where my five other friends are waiting.
"Mia!" cheer my friends, waving and grinning. I smile and loop my purse over the back of an empty chair, hugging a few girls and receiving a few kisses on the cheek. There they all are, Katie, Zoe, Alexandra, Maya, and Lia. Zoe looks different, she's dyed her hair a light purple rather than her original blonde. Everyone looks so grown up, I wonder if I look old too. No, I haven't dyed my hair or gotten a piercing somewhere crazy and obvious, but I'm sure I've grown.
"I missed you guys so much!" I say, leaning across the table to hug Lia. She's always been a hugger. I nearly catch the sleeves on my sweater on fire with the little candle sat on the table, but it's totally worth it. I haven't seen these girls in so long.
"You look so different!" I say, unable to keep my eyes off Zoe's luminous new hair. I always figured at least one of us would end up with some unnatural hair color, but I didn't think it'd be Zoe. She was always the shyest, nerdiest of us all, least likely to want to draw any attention to herself ever. She smiles confidently and brushes a strand of lilac behind her ear.
She blushes, "I know, the hair... Do you like it?" I smile at her.
"Of course. It's gorgeous!" She grins back at me and we join the rest of the conversation.
Katie, who sits next to me, smiles like she knows something I don't, "So, Mia," she says, "I've been stalking your Snapchat, and I couldn't help but notice that you've been hanging out with the Dan Howell."
I blush, everyone staring at me, eyes wide. One reason I was friends with all these girls was because they knew about YouTube, specifically Dan and Phil. None of us ever guessed one of us would meet the men, or even become friends with them.
"Well, yeah. We have been hanging out. Anyways, you guys know I'm mostly into girls," I say, nervously brushing them off. I know that if they hear about anything that could even hint towards a relationship, they would hound me forever.
"If by hanging out you mean going to the London Zoo then riding home on a romantic carriage, then yeah, you've been "hanging out." And anyways, it's not like you're totally lesbian. You've dated boys," says Maya. Sometimes she can say things without really thinking about how they effect people. I've explained to all the girls that the chances of me dating a boy are slim to none, but sometimes they still seem to think that because I'm the tiniest bit attracted to one in a million boys, I'm going to get another boyfriend. They're wrong.
"Well, even if you are just friends, tell us about him. You didn't befriend Dan Howell to stay quiet about him," says Katie, grinning. I shrink into my jumper.
"Well, he's very nice. And even more awkward in real life, if you can believe that." They smile, all listening intently like children around a campfire. "He's about six inches taller than me, and his feet are absolutely huge. And no, he isn't dating Phil. Sorry." I realize that I'm smiling almost as much as my friends are, just thinking about this boy.
Lia grabs my hand, "He sounds even nicer in person. I'm really happy for you, Mia. Even if you are just friends. It feels like just yesterday we were writing shitty fanfictions about Dan."
I laugh, "Thanks, Li. Honestly, I don't even know how I got here. Who knows what's next. Maybe I'll be besties with PewDiePie next."
After dinner, Katie takes me aside, walking out to the curb to catch a cab. "You know Gale is back, right?" she asks.
I freeze, taking in a sharp breath of cold air.
"What do you mean?" I ask, looking at her with a confused expression.
Katie puts a hand on my shoulder, "He's coming back to London in a few weeks. I'm sorry if you didn't know," she says.
I shake my head, "No, it's fine, I had to find out somewhere. I'll see you later!"
I take off down the street before she notices something is wrong.
