Kayla and I's Uber dropped us off outside the front entrance of the Wiltern. There were already two long lines of girls standing outside the doors singing PRETTYMUCH songs.
"So.. where exactly are we suppose to go?"-Kayla
"The guys said to go around to the back entrance."
"Okay, let's go."
You guys pass a line of girls and go around to the the back of the venue. Kayla knocked on the back door and some guy with a shirt that said "CREW" opened the door.
"Sorry, no fans are allowed back here. Go back to the front."
'Uhm.. we're not fans.. well like we are, but we-"
"We we're invited by the boys tonight, and told to come to this entrance. My name is Kayla and this is Vanessa."
"Oh, the boys did mention two girls being added to the guest list last minute. Sorry about that. Follow me."
"Thank you."
The crew guy took us around a corner into a medium sized room where the guys were. Edwin's girlfriend was sitting on the couch with him, Zion was talking to a group of guys, Nick and Brandon were on their phone, and Austin was talking to some guys with head sets on. There were a couple other people in the room that I recognized from the party and from the boy's Instagram.
"Hey, Vanessa. Hey, Kayla."-Brandon
"Hey, guys."-Both of us
"Glad you guys could make it."-Zion
"We wouldn't miss it."-Kayla
"Hey, Vanessa and Kayla. This is my girlfriend, Tiffany."-Edwin
"Hey, nice to meet you guys."-Tiffany
"Nice to meet you too."-Kayla
We talked to the guys and met some of their friends like Wolfie, Diamond, Haley, and some others. It felt unreal. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that it felt like I was just hanging out with my friends... that so happened to be my celebrity crushes. The boys left the room to go do meet and greet and then came back into the room to get ready for the concert. Kayla and Austin started to hit it off and were talking on the couch. Austin was always Kayla's favorite. She was into the whole skater boy type. I went over to plug in my phone so I could have it charged to take videos during the concert. I opened Snapchat and started snapchatting some of my friends. The boys started putting in their earplugs and getting ready to go on stage. People started moving out of the room and started heading towards the VIP area on the balcony. Kayla said bye to Austin and we started walking to the balcony. The opening act, Gunnar, came on and performed really well. He went off and it was about 10 minutes before a countdown started on the screen and every girl went crazy. The countdown finished and the intro for Real Friends started. Edwin came out then Zion and Austin, Nick, and Brandon followed onto the stage. The show was absolutely cray. There had to be almost 3,000 people there. Girls were going crazy for them and you could tell they were having the best time on stage. They finished the dance break down of Would You Mind and then said their goodbyes. Everyone started going back to the room where we were earlier to congratulate the boys. The guys came back into the room sweat and all and everyone started clapping and cheering. The boys had the biggest smile on their faces. It felt good to see them enjoy what they do best. I noticed my phone was about to die so I went to grab my charger from the wall.
"So how did you enjoy the show?"-Zion
Even though at this point I've had a few conversations with the boys I still get nervous when Zion talks to me. Like it's Zion. Have you seen his face?
"It was amazing. You guys did soo good! "
"Thank you, thank you. Thanks for coming out to support us, the boys and I appreciate it."
"I should actually thank you guys for inviting us, and continually making me have the best nights of my life."
'"Haha, you're welcome. I'm glad we got to meet you guys."
"Same."
"So what are ya'll doing after this?"
"Kayla and I were probably gonna head back to my apartment and chill."
"Ya'll wanna come back to our place? We're probably gonna have a little kickback with our friends and celebrate the show."
"Uh.. Yea, yea sure. That sounds fun."
"I'll see you there then. Well, we gotta go greet some fans outside. I'll catch you later."
Zion and the guys got up to leave the room and two guys with the crew shirts on followed them out. Kayla got up from the couch that her and Austin were sitting on and walked over to me.
"That was crazy! They did so good!"-Kayla
"I know! Tonight was so much fun, and it's about to get even better."
"What do you mean?"
"Zion invited us to their kickback that their having at their place to celebrate the show."
"Are you serious!"
"Yes!"
"What is our life right now!"
"Tell me about it, if you told me last month that I was going to meet the boys and end up becoming friends with them and hang out at their house.. I would have laughed in your face."
"Same."
People started clearing out of the room and I overheard some guys talking about heading to the house.
"We should probably head over there, I think other people are starting to."
"Okay, let me order an Uber."-Kayla
Kayla and I headed out the door toward our Uber and heard tons of screaming girls standing near the boys tour bus.
"I remember when that was us."-Kayla
"I know."
We got into the Uber and headed toward the boy's house. We pulled up to their house about an hour later thanks to LA traffic. We passed the boy's tour bus in traffic. They pulled up to the house like 30 minutes after. We partied with the guys and jammed out to music.
"Hey, Austin and I are gonna go check out his room. He has this really cool drawing he wants to show me. You good here?"
"Yea, I'm good. You and Austin have been quite friendly with each other tonight.."
"Cause he's super attractive and super easy to talk to."
"Just be careful. We just met them, lets not go falling in love now."
"You are you're "realistic" talk is foreign to me. Let me live."
"Fine, fine. Go have fun with your new boo."
"Thank you."
Kayla went back over to Austin and they went to his room in the back. I went outside to the patio to call my mom.
"Hey, Mom."
"Hey, sweetie. Is everything okay?"
"Yea, yea everything's fine. Just wanted to call you and see how you were doing."
"Aww, how sweet. I'm good. How are you?"
"I'm doing.. pretty great actually."
"That's so good to here. I can't tell you how happy that makes me."
"Mom, let's not go there, okay?"
"I'm just letting you know it makes me happy to see you happy. You know after everything that happened. I'm glad that you have been so positive lately."
"I appreciate that, I know that was pretty rough on you and dad."
I'll explain later...
"So, what ended up happening at the party that you were gonna call me late about?"
"Oh sorry I forgot to call you back about that, but literally you will not believe what happened. So I told you about how Kayla dragged me to that party. Well guess who's house it was at?"
"Uhm.. Beyonce?"
"That would have been amazing as well, but no."
"Uhmmmm..-"
"I'll just tell you. PRETTYMUCH, Mom!"
"Isn't that that boy band you're obsessed with?"
"Obsessed is a strong word but yes. Literally it was crazy Kayla and I we-"
I was cut off by the sound of the patio door opening behind me.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was out here."-Zion.
"Uhm... Mom.. I'm-I'm gonna call you back."
"Okay, sweetie by-."
I hung up the phone.
"No, you're fine. I was just talking to my mom."
"Oh, sorry to interrupt."
"It's all good."...... I'm just gonna head back inside. You probably wanna be by yourself."
"No, stay. I just was kind of just coming out here to clear my head."
"You sure?"
"Yea, I could use someone to talk to."
We both went to sit on the steps next to each other. For a second, he kind of just sat there and let out a big sigh. I didn't want to pry cause it seemed like he had a lot on his mind, but it didn't hurt to ask right?
"Is everything okay?"
He started to talk, but kept his face fixated on looking into the distance.
"Yea... yea I'm good."
"You sure? You seem like you got a lot on your mind."
"...Yea.. it's just a lot of stuff going on."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry."
"Nah, you're not prying. I just.. got a lot of stuff in my head I'm thinking about. I just really want this tour to go well, and I want to do my best you know for the fans, and make them proud. It's just a lot to think about, you know?"
"Yea, but you guys are doing amazing. Your show tonight was incredible. I'm not just saying that like as a fan. It showed that you guys loved every minute of it. You should be really proud."
"Thank you, I really appreciate that."
"You're welcome."
We kind of just sat in silence for a little bit. Until...
*SOLITA RINGTONE*
I really gotta change my ringtone.
"Sorry, it's Kayla."
"Oh no problem. Thanks for sitting out here and talking with me."
"Anytime."
I got up and walked back inside to the kitchen.
"Hello?"
"Hey, where are you. I searched the whole house."
"I was on the patio with Zion."
"Oh, that's new."
"Stop, we were just talking."
"That's how it always starts out."
"Is there a reason you called?"
"Oh yea, Austin and I went out to drive around and get something to eat. He's gonna drop me off at my place."
"Okay, well be safe. Tell Austin to not drive like a crazy person."
"Haha, okay I will."
"Bye, love you."
"Love you too, Nessa."
Zion opened the patio door and walked into the kitchen.
"Oh, hey again."
"Haha, hey."
"Is everything okay with Kayla?'
"Oh, uh, yea she's good. Her and Austin went to get something to eat and he's taking her to her place."
"You need a ride home?"
"No, I'm good. I ordered an Uber."
"You sure?"
"Yea, I'm fine. Thank you though."
"Well, thanks for everything tonight."
"Again, I should be thanking you."
"LA isn't the most well known place for having genuine people so I appreciate it when I find someone who's like that. So thank you."
"Well, in that case you're welcome."
I got an alert on my phone that my Uber arrived.
"I'll walk you out."
Zion and I walk to the car and he opens the door.
"Thanks."
He brings me in for a hug. Probably the best hug of my entire existence.
"Goodnight, Vanessa."
"Night, Zion."