"You never called to report in." I heard a nonchalant Simon say.
"I'm sorry. I was getting sort out and looking through the upcoming events and all and fell asleep." I said clearing my throat which was scratchy because I had just awaken.
"Impressive." he chuckled.
"You're underestimating me, old man." I shot back.
"You're actually taking this seriously?" I could literally see him smirking through the phone.
"Well it is my job now. I'm going to earn my money, not slack off." I said sitting up right now stretching.
"Can you really stop yourself from- what's it called- fangirling?" he said with another chuckle.
I started coughing uncontrollably. How in the hell did Simon know I was a fan? I didn't even mention it to him. AT ALL.
"What makes you think that I'm a fan?" I said finally regaining control of myself.
"Little bird. One thing though, it's 10 am over there now. How long are they going to sleep in for? They have work, you know. Don't spoil them too much. I'll call later to check up." he said genuinely and hung up.
I groaned and lightly tossed my phone to the side and looked up to see a sleeping Costanza. I smiled as I saw how peaceful she looked sleeping. I moved closer to her bed and shook her lightly side to side.
"Mm." she stubbornly turned around pulling the sheets over her head.
"Get up lazy bum." I said as I walked over to my phone.
I dialed my boyfriend's number. One ring is all it took.
"Mornin' sleeping beauty." he said excited as a puppy.
"Are you guys ready?" I smiled to myself at the nickname.
"For two hours now." he said with a laugh.
"We'll be there in 5 minutes." I said into the device then hung up.
I finally got Chrissy to get up and be productive. It only took us half an hour to get ready. We were finally walking out of the hotel room and were immediately met with familiar faces. Will gave me a peck before we made our way to the girls hotel room. I know I should've been over the nerves by now, but here I was feeling the same as yesterday.
I finally managed to knock on the door clearing my throat in the process. Chrissy gave my shoulder an encouraging squeeze.
The door finally swung open and I was met with another pair of brown eyes, not the same as yesterday though.
"Don't you have a key or something?" Ally spoke, moving to the side to let us in.
I gave her an apologetic look, which she rolled her eyes to. We all stood there for a second and she rolled her eyes again.
"Don't you know where the living room is? We only showed you yesterday." I could here the sarcasm pouring continuously out of her.
I hate to say it but, as a fan it hurt deeply having Ally treat me like this. I decided to put my feelings aside though and continue into the living room.
"Why do you guys flock around her like that? Sit down, goodness." Dinah remarked from the closest side of the couch the girls occupied.
Chrissy looked at me for approval and I nodded giving her a small smile. They all took a seat on the couch that was across from the girls.
"So here's the plan. First-" I got cut off, again.
"You said 8 in the morning. Not 10." Lauren sassily said cocking an eyebrow up.
"Uh-Um. Sorry. That was my fault, I overslept." I said looking down at the schedule paper to hide my embarrassment.
"It's only natural for young people to do whatever they please." Normani decided to jump in.
"So today, you girls have to go on air for a radio questioning, nothing too personal though, I took care of that, and a photo shoot. Against the Current is going to be out of the picture for a week because they need to start writing their upcoming album so they will be out with Nick." I said as quickly and clearly as possible.
"What the hell?" I heard Chrissy finally say after a long, awkward silence.
"Don't fight it. It's already done." Nick said in a calm tone.
"We can't just flipping leave and let you be in charge of things." she said standing up now.
I know she was just mad, and didn't want to mean it in a bad way, but it hit a spot in me knowing she didn't approve of me being in charge, and I knew deep down it was because of my age too.
"You leave in two hours, so suck it up." I said with my signature poker face and gulped waiting for her reaction.
Her eyes widened and a flash of hurt was momentarily shown before taken over by annoyance.
"Fine. I'm packing my bags now, to avoid seeing your face anytime sooner." she shot back.
She walked by, but before bumping into me. I ignored it to avoid causing a scene in front of the others.
"Guess we should get packing too." Dan said following Chrissy. "When she cools down, I'm sure she'll apologize."
He gave me a hug before leaving patting the top of my head, like one would do to a dog. Nick followed behind giving me a friendly wink before going by and Will gave me a peck before leaving the room and following the others.
"So much drama." Camila said now.
"Lets get going." I said before any of them had a chance to say anything else.
The girls were talking about something on our journey to the limo, but all I could think about was how my best friend had blown up from the news. The limo was made in a way that it could sit two people per seat. Dinah and Normani sat in the front, Ally and Camila in the middle, and I got to sit next to Lauren.
I stiffened up as soon as I realized how close I was to THE Lauren Jauregui.
"Dude, are you okay?" I heard Lauren say from right side.
"U-Um. Y-yeah." I said trying to figure out why I was illiterate all of a sudden.
"Are you sure? I mean, you can talk to me if you want, about the whole thing." she said shrugging in in conformity.
"I'm fine, thanks." I said finally catching my breath.
She smiled and went back to her phone. I looked over to see her scrolling through her tumblr. I smiled dumbly at myself because I remember back before this, I probably sent more than 100 questions to get her to notice me, but here I was sitting next to her.
"What?" she said looking at me me with a goofy smile. "You want me to follow your tumblr?"
"Sorry. No, I don't have one." I managed to say too quickly.
"Get one, I'll follow you and re-blog and you can have followers." she said with a genuine smile.
I smiled back at her. And then turned to look out my window. Okay so I did lie. I do have a tumblr. But that tumblr is only for my harmonizer obsessed self and I can't risk my cover up so far, I'm on a roll here for goodness sakes.
We finally got to the building. The girls stopped to take pictures and sign things. I smiled at the fans, because that's how I felt inside the whole time: screaming & crying. I had managed to push those feelings aside somehow and behave like a normal person. Once in, the girls chatted around until they found their seats. I reminded the the hosts that nothing personal should be discussed like family or relationships or anything stupid. They were having fun until the last question was spoken: 'So Camila, Austin huh?' Before my brain could react I was taking of my shoe off and throwing it at the host.
"What the hell?" he said turning around rubbing the back of his head.
I gave him the universal cut-it-NOW waving my hand side to side in front of my neck. He rolled his eyes and looked back at the girls.
"Kidding, those things are left to be unresolved. Back to the music. Buy Reflections on Itunes. Say bye girls!" he said taking his headphones off.
"Bye!" they said in harmony.
The booth went off air and I quickly ran in there. Camila's face seem a little distraught.
"Uh, guys." I said motioning to the security guards."Get these girls back to their ride. I'll follow after."
They nodded and the girls were now exiting the room.
"I said nothing personal, you irrelevant used napkin." I said trying to control my violent thoughts.
"Do you know who you're talking to?" he said scoffing now.
"Do you?" I said raising an eyebrow.
He looked confused and furrowed his eyebrows.
"Get out. I don't have time for low-life wannabes in my place." he said turning around now.
"You're a selfish, lonely man. Just because they're celebrities doesn't mean they don't have feelings." I said going towards his chair.
I grabbed my shoe and put it on and made my exit now. The fans were crowding the limo and I sighed as the guards tried to peel them off so I could go in. I almost jumped when I saw who was seated next to me: Ally. Don't get me wrong I love this ball of sunshine to death, but I'm highly intimidated by her also.
"We didn't need your back up, Camila had it, right Mila?" she said looking between Lauren and Dinah in front of us.
"Mhm." she said looking down at her phone.
"Well you received it anyway." I said looking out the window avoiding her eyes.
We drove to the photo shoot's location and I stood in the back smiling occasionally at their silly poses. I felt bad in a sense because as a fan I felt I had advantages and I knew there were some hardcore fans that deserved this more than me. But it was such a blessing to see my idols interact and laugh and goof off.
They were now done and were eating some food that was cooked for them. There was exactly 5 chairs per table, so the staff sat with each other and I ended up sitting by myself, although I really didn't mind. I was scrolling through my phone on my twitter when I jumped slightly at a presence behind me: Camila.
"You scared me. How long have you been there?" I said putting my hand to my chest.
"Long enough to see you probably miss Chrissy already since you're scrolling through her profile." she said with a smirk.
I sighed relief she didn't see the earlier accounts I stalked.
"What's up? Talk to me. I give great advice, I promise that my talent is not limited to singing." she said with giggle.
I felt my stomach travel to my feet; WHY WAS CAMILA CABELLO TALKING TO ME? HER GIGGLE JUST KILLED MY ABILITY TO EVEN BREATHE.
"We just had a moment. She didn't call before leaving, so I guess I'm just worried." I said as compose as I could.
"Why don't you call her?" she said raising an eyebrow.
"Because my worst fear is probably getting rejected, about anything." I said with a nervous chuckle.
"Hmm. Well don't let your fears control you." she said with her signature, pearly grin.
"I'll keep that in mind." I said with a small smile looking down at my hands.
"Thank you, by the way." she quickly said.
I looked up confused at her sudden outburst. She was now sitting next to me fidgeting with her fingers.
"For what you did at the radio station. I mean, I'm over it, Austin and I, but it's still hard talking about it. I don't like it. It's personal, it should stay that way, you know?" she said looking up now in search of empathy.
"I agree, and that's why I thought it was disrespectful." I said making a bold move and reaching for and squeezing her hand.
"I hope that shoe made a mark." she said with a smirk.
"With my softball skills, I'm sure it did." I said with a devious smirk.
She threw her head back in laughter and I smiled at the sight; It was nice having someone you admired so much laugh like this.
"Yo J. We're ready to go." I heard Dinah say.
I smiled and Camila and I got up and followed the others to the car. Camila sat next to me again on our way to the hotel, but this time it was a quiet ride. We were now going up in the elevator, it finally came to an end. I looked at my phone, 6 p.m. I waved at the girls before walking to my own room.
"Where are you going? Are you staying alone?" Camila said jogging to catch up to me.
"Yes?" I said confused to where else I would stay.
"Come sleep with us. We have 3 rooms and we sleep in pairs all the time." she said with a huge grin.
"I'd love to Camz, but I'm not really welcomed by all of the members." I froze when I realized the nickname that come out of my mouth.
"Camz?" she squinted at me sketchily.
"I saw it on Twitter." I said mortified by this point.
CAN YOU BE ANYMORE REVEALING AND STUPID, JENIFER.
"Just come. I'm by myself in the room, so there can't be an objection, because it's my room." she said pulling on my arm.
"I can't. It'll be stepping over the line." I said relieved she let go of the earlier nickname.
"Please?" she said now batting her eyelashes and making a puppy face.
How can I possibly say no to my idol when she's doing that to me!? I mentally slapped myself for having such a vulnerable spot.
"Fine. One night. That's it." I sighed in defeat.
"YAY!" she said starting to drag me away.
"Wait I have to take a shower and get ready." I said chuckling at her excitement.
"Ugh, fine." she said with a pout. "I'll be waiting."
She said jogging back to her room. I smiled and opened my door. Everything seemed so surreal but here I was, excited like a child going to Disney for the first time, showering and putting on my PJs. I was a little embarrassed because it was a One Direction onesie but I shrugged it off. I hesitantly walked to the girls' hotel room and knocked.
"For the love of God, someone get that girl a key to our room, I'm tired of standing up." I heard Dinah say from the other side.
I suppressed a laugh threatening to escape my mouth.
"I've got it you lazy bum!" I heard Lauren say back at her.
I smiled when the door swung open and was met with her unique green eyes.
"Um, Camila said for me-" I began to say but I got cut off.
These girls never let me finish a sentence, I promise.
"Yeah, I know. She told me." she said with a smile. "Come in."
I shyly stepped in now that it was just me and not the whole gang. I followed Lauren to the living room where the whole gang was seated on the sofa, Lauren joining them now. I sat on the couch opposite of them . It was awkward for a moment because they were all on their phones, but I understood that they had social media to keep up with.
I put my feet up on the couch and turned my attention to the TV. Luckily How I Met Your Mother was playing and I liked the show. I was actually into the episode until the TV shut off. I looked to the side a little displeased at the action only to see Camila with a smile.
"Okay guys. Let's get to know each other properly." she said and the girls turned their attention to her.
"You mean, get to know her properly." Ally said annoyed, rolling her eyes.
"I'm fine just watching TV." I chuckled nervously and bit hurt at Ally's tone.
"I'm going to my room. I'm tired." she said getting up and entering a room, slamming the door in the process.
I felt my throat go dry and I couldn't bring myself to look back at the girls so I looked back at he hands fidgeting with them.
"Camila, I told you this was a bad idea." I said playing with the zipper on my onesie.
"Don't mind her. She's still mad about our old manager leaving." Lauren said speaking up, sitting next to me now.
"It's fine.." I said still looking down at my PJs, feeling tears threatening to escape.
It's reasonable to feel like shit after your idol is mad at you, and you have no control over it, right?