I finally came back to life from my daze, and realized I'd been standing in one spot for who knows how long. I was a but surprised that they didn't send anyone to escort me out, since I could steal something or get lost.
"Jessica." I murmured to myself.
I took one final look at the room. The white walls, the shiny brown table, the couch that 3/5 of One Direction sat on. I tried to take it all in, absorb every detail of it.
This is it. The room that may, or may not have, changed my life.
After a final look and a few deep breaths, I turned and sprinted out the door and down the long hallway. Luckily, I remembered where to go...sort of. The lights were actually on now, and it was a lot brighter that it was earlier, which was good.
While I was running down the hallway, I realized that it was almost empty. The One Direction management and security seemed to be gone, and the only people remaining were those who worked at the arena (judging by their uniforms).
I kept runnning until I reached the door that lead to the actual seats. I urgently needed to find Jessica, tell her everything, and make sure we can stay in Orlando for the next week. Where could she be by now?!
I pushed the heavy door open, and it lead into the gated area which I had entered through earlier. There, to my releif, I saw Jessica arguing with a security guard.
Jessica looked tired. Her hair, which was previously in black, shiny curls, had fallen. Now it was in loose waved. Her face was rather red from all of the excitement, and her lip gloss had come off. Her eye makeup was smeared under her eyes, it wasn't too terribly bad, but it was noticeable. Yet, she still managed to look gorgeous. Maybe I shouldn't bring her with me to hang out with the boys. They might fall in love with her and forget about me. Nah, I'd bring her.
She seemed to be really getting into her argument with the guard. At first glance, the man was scary. He was facing toward her, with his back to me. I couldn't see his face, but I didn't have to. His voice was deep and threatening, and he was BUILT. At about 6'4, he looked like a wrestler. Classic security guard, like the ones you see in movies. But Jessica isn't scared of anything. Or anyone, for that matter.
"No! That was my best friend on stage! I need to go find her!" She stomped her foot on the cold, hard ground like a character. She obviously didn't notice me standing by the door, and I watched in her in amusement.
"Sure it was. Look, the boys have already-"
"I don't care about the damn boys! Ok, that's a lie. But that really was my friend, Charlotte. We came here together, and I need to find her!"
"Mam, go home. Do you know how many people have claimed to be her best friend tonight? Give it up."
"But-"
"No buts! Goodbye now. Have a nice night.
At this point, I moved directly behind the bodyguard, and I was hiding behind his monsterous back. Was she really that blind? Geez, Jess.
Jessica rolled her eyes in annoyance, and it was obvious she wasn't going to give up. Before she could continue arguing, I popped out from behind the guard.
"Well hi!" I said cheerfully and calmly, even though I wanted to tackle my best friend and tell her everything that happened.
"OH MY GOSH!" Jessica screeched, and tackled me into a hug. "See?" She turned around and said to the guard and stuck her tongue out at him.
He held his hands up as if she was pointing a gun at him. "Sorry."
"Mmmhmm." She might as well have been pointing a gun, with the death glare she was giving him.
She finally turned towards me with a crazy smile. "What happened?! Oh my gosh I can't believe it! Tell me everything! Every detail! Don't leave anything out!"
"Ok!" I laughed, "But you have to promise me to breathe."
She playfully punched ny arm. "Seriously! What happened?!"
"Well first, this really no-nonsense lady came up to me-"
"Yeah?!"
"Annnnnnnd," I dragged out the 'and' just to bug her She was the most impatient girl in the world, always has been. "She lead me backstage, and this other man with a really sweet smile explained that I would go onstage with the boys when he said 'go'-"
"So were you, like, freaking out? Like about to die?! I would have died." Jessica rambled, sounding like she was having a panic attack of some sort. It was actually kind of funny, although I was freaking out the same way when it happened.
"Yes! I thought I was going to hurl! Or pass out... Anyways, he said 'go' and I went on stage, you know what happened then..."
"Well yeah! But what happened afterwards?! Why were you back-"
"I'm getting there." I chuckled. "Calm your mammaries."
"Don't you dare tell me to calm my mammaries! I want to know what happened!! This is HUGE!" She yelled at me, throwing her arms all around spastically. We attracted weird looks from the workers around us, but she didn't notice.
"Well, Harry whispered into my ear 'meet me backstage',"
She gasped. "Oh...my..."
"Yeah! So I did! And I met them after the show! Their management was kind of mad at Harry, though, for inviting me. But it didn't matter!"
"Were they nice?"
"Extremely. Extremely extremely exteremly. They were so geniune."
"Were they hotter in person?"
"Yeeaaaah." I said in a sing-song voice. "They were perfect."
"Describe them."
"How?"
"Just do it!' She was about to pop something important.
"Ok, well they all looked tired...but not. You could definitely tell that they'd just performed, because they looked exhausted. But they were so full of life at the same time! Does that make any sense?"
"Yeah...kind of! Not really. But who cared?!" She laughed hysterically, stomping her feet under her. I think she was having a spasm. "So what did you talk about? Did anything...happen?"
"That's the best part." I grinned slyly, trying to decide how to tell her. I huge grin popped onto her face, showing all of her perfectly white, perfectly straight teeth.
"Harry kissed my cheek again....and I got his number!!" I screeched, as did she, and she grabbed my arms and we started jumping up and down together.
"OHHHH MYYY GOSSSHH!" She partially sang, partially screamed. We got more strange looks, but I guess the workers labeled us as fangirls and decided to leave us be.
She stopped jumping, so I did too. She looked at my sinisterly, and whispered, "Let me have the phone..."
"Jessica, no-"
"Let me see the phone!" She practically pounced on me, causing me to lose my balance and almost...almost fall over. She didn't seem to notice my graceful moment, however, she was too busy trying to snake her arms around me so she could reach my purse to get my phone.
"JESSICA!" I yelled, no longer caring about the workers who actually stopped what they were doing to watch us. I think one of them was actually recording us on their phone. "You won't need his number."
"What's wrong with you?! Why wouldn't I need his number? I love him!" She screamed at me, and honestly, she resembled a wild animal. Fangirls Gone Wild. That could be a TV show...
"Listen," I said as calmly as I could, although, once again, I was having a mental heart attack. "You won't need his number because...we're spending the week with them."
If she looked crazy a minute ago, now she looked like a psycopath. Her eyes became huge, and an overjoyed grin slowly overcame her whole face. "No way..."
"Yes way." I loved watching the way she reacted to things.
"NO WAY PINCH ME PINCH ME NOW I MUST BE DREAMING!" She started jumping.
"Jessica! Calm down! If you act this way with the boys, they'll think you're weird!" I warned her, trying to fight my laughter.
She stopped jumping and trying to act collected. She failed. "Ok... Ok. Ok. Just have to...get it out, you know?"
I nodded, preparing myself for her next outburst. It didn't come, though.
It probably would later.
"So...How? How did you meet them and end up making plans spend the week with them?" She was trying. Trying so hard to be cool. She wanted to freak out so bad.
"I don't know! Harry told me he wanted to get to know me, and he gave me permission to bring my friend!"
She squealed.
"They're picking us up at 10 tomorrow morning!"
She looked up toward the ceiling with a goofy smile. "Thank you, God!"
In the car on the way to the hotel, we blasted Up All Night. But this time it felt completely different. Besides the extra excitement, there was a sense of satisfation. We got to hang out with these boys the next day! It was surreal. When you love something that much, it's like you have two separate lives. Reality, and your dream life. You just never expect them to intersect.
I leaned my head against the window to watch my surroundings. It was about 11:30, but the city was still very much alive. I bet a lot of people were coming from the concert and got caught up in traffic.
How lucky am I? All of the people at the concert were going home to a normal life, probably to spend the rest of their summer on Tumblr, dreaming about the boys. I got to meet them. I get to spend genuine time with them. How fortunate? Harry said they've never done that before...it was a one in a million chance, and I was that one.
I closed my eyes, and just felt...happy. Obviously I was happy about hanging out with the boys, but it was more than that. That was the first time since my dad left that I felt like things were actually looking up. That's what the emotional part of me said.
The fangirl part said 'OH MY GOSH I'M HANGING OUT WITH ONE DIRECTION TOMORROW WHAT IS AIR'.
Just then I got an idea. I opened my eyes, and I saw a Walmart just off the next exit. Perfect.
"Jessica, go to Walmart. I need to get something."
"Ok? What?"
"If we're spending the week with the boys, someone has to document it."
We walked in, and I went straight to the school supplies. I skimmed through the notebooks, trying to decide the perfect one to become my journal. There were purple ones with flowers, pink ones with sparkles, lots with puppies, and anything else you could possibly imagine. My eyes settled on a pale blue one. I picked it up, and it had 'Dare to Dream' writtened in the bottom right corner.
What could be more perfect?
When we were standing in line at the checkout, and at another register, a group of 5 girls caught my eye. They were whispering to each other, then looking over at me. The first thing I noticed was their T-shirts. They were white with the One Direction logo on the front. That must be it. They must have seen me at the concert. Would they remember my face, though?
They were pretty, all of them were. There were 3 blondes and 2 brunettes. They were all thin, with perfect makeup and perfect skin. They looked about my age, and they were a lot prettier than me. As a teenage girl, I started feeling insecure. I turned around to face Jessica so that they couldn't see me. They were probably talking about how much prettier they are than I am...How they should've been serenaded instead of me...
"Hi!" I heard a preppy voice from behind me.
Crap.
I reluctantly turned around, and sure enough, it was one of the brunettes. "I'm Amy. Those are my friends, Abby, Margrett, Mallory, and Madison." She said, pointing at her friends. They all waved at me and giggled to each other. "We were just wondering...well...you look familiar. Were you at the concert?" She asked with a smile, an obviously fake one.
"Yes..." I answered skeptically.
"Yes. We were." Jessica joined in.
I shot her a look as if to say 'I don't need your help.' She apparently caught it.
"Were you, by any chance, on stage?"
"Yes." I smiled. Something about her told me not to trust her. I don't know why, though. I guess she seemed nice, apart from the too-sweet-to-be-real smile.
"Lucky bitch!" She laughed. "Did you get to meet the boys after the show?"
"Yes..." I see what she's doing.
"Did you get numbers, did anything happen? Not that it's likely. I was just wonderi-"
"As a matter of fact, yes. I got Harry's number!" I said, joining in on her falsely sweet act.
Her deep brown eyes got huge. Her jaw dropped, and she looked like she believed me. It was obviosuly true, but if someone told me they got Harry's number, I wouldn't believe them. This girl must be gullible.
Her face turned skeptical. "Can you prove it for me? Can you call him or something?"
"Actually no. He's had a long night and I don't want to bother him..."
"You're lying." She groaned. "Bitches like you only want attention sometimes." She flipped her hair. Was this girl being serious? I didn't really care if she believed me or not, but who calls someone they just met a bitch? Twice?
"You know what? You can believe what you want. I don't really care if you think I'm lying, because I know I'm not. And I wouldn't give you his number even if you begged for it. I know that's the only reason you came over here, to get something."
She looked stunned. Princesses like her aren't used to people talking to them that way. I would know, they're all over my school.
"Bye now." I smiled.
She spun on her heels and stomped away without saying another word to me. Heels? Who wears heels to a concert? Nevermind that. "Have a wonderful night!" I called to her, without reply.
"Way to handle!" Jessica shoved me, and I handed my notebook to the cashier.
"Thanks." I shrugged like it was nothing. But really, it was something.
Bye bye, Shy Charlotte.
The drive to the hotel was short and uneventful. We got got into our rooms, and spent the rest of the night freaking out. It's a broad statement, I know, but we spazzed out the way we had earlier, except now we were free to do it without people seeing.
"And to think you had a meltdown about how much life sucks." Jessica teased at 3:07 am, when we were finally settled down into bed.
"I know, I know, I was wrong." I said with a smile.
Jessica was ready to go to sleep, but I was wide awake. I got out the notebook I bought and one of the provided hotel pens.
June 23, 2012
Here I am, in a hotel in Orlando. I'm with my friend, Jessica, and we just went to a One Direction concert! I got asked to go onstage with them, and I got to meet them backstage after the show! It was a dream come true.... No, that's an understatement. I can't find the right words to describe it, though. I was just unreal. I even got Harry's number!! And the best part is that we get to SPEND THE WEEK WITH THEM!!! This hasn't happened to any other fans before, so I'm extremely lucky!
Just today, I was thinking about how dreams don't come true. I said that true love isn't real, and good things never last. Crappy outlook on life, isn't it? Well, I got the biggest surprise of my entire life tonight, and I'm convinced that I was wrong about the world.
I'll try to write in here very often, documenting my time with One Direction. (!!!!!!!!!!!)
Xxx
Charlotte