Not so English love affair

Girls' day out

After the taxi driver dropped us off at the station we find the right platform and wait for the Bakerloo train towards central London. I keep asking JJ what we are going to do but knowing her stubbornness she’s not going to tell me anytime soon.  The train finally arrives and we take a seat opposite two gorgeous boys.  I plug my headphones into my phone and put my music on shuffle. When I look over at JJ she is smirking at one of the boys opposite us. I follow her gaze and look at the boy. He has blonde hair that ends just on his shoulders and the bluest eyes I have ever seen. He looks like a mixture of Kurt Cobain and Luke Hemmings and that explains JJ’s smirking. Since my older brother gave me his nirvana collection when I was younger I have been utterly in love with Kurt, and I haven’t been able to like any boy who does not have blonde hair and blue eyes ever since. That is probably why I found out about 5 seconds of summer too. About a year ago we had both been their biggest fans and I had the biggest crush on Luke. We went to see them in concert last summer in Amsterdam and thinking back about those days make me start to daydream. We had booked a hotel in Amsterdam because we both live on the other side of the country and it had been the best week of my life. Lately we have been way too busy fangirling over any band but my secret crush on Luke will always be there.

 I wake up from my daydream by my music that switched from Ed Sheeran’s wake me up to Jesus of Suburbia by Greenday. I look over to JJ to see that she was the one who changed the song. That is one more difference between us, we liked the same bands, but I preferred the love ballads and she preferred the hard rock songs with loud guitar. I listen to JJ singing along when we arrive at Camden Town station. I start laughing and say “I could have known you would take me here.”  Whenever I came to visit London the one place we always ended up was Camden. The whole atmosphere and alternative scene was exactly what we liked about London and we could wander around for hours and hours.

 After we had lunch relatively late we walked around the markets a little bit more and we decided to get matching henna tattoos. It took us a while to decide what we wanted since I had my eyes set on a small heart tattoo and she wanted a moon. After deliberating what to get, since they had to be matching, we went for half a moon with a star on the inside of our ring finger. “We should have gotten real tattoos Jess” JJ says while we sit down at the river for a cigarette break. JJ was already covered in tattoos but I was still a little bit scared to get my first one done. I knew what I wanted, I just wasn’t ready for the pain and commitment. “Maybe someday” I smile while throwing my cigarette into the empty cup of hot chocolate JJ had stolen from a coffee stand when the owner wasn’t looking.

 “What are we going to do after this?” I ask JJ while she is looking up some guy with hair until hiss butt. “Mmm what?” she mumbles. “I asked what we are going to do after this?” When the guy is finally out of sight she turns around to face me again and responds: “I was planning on taking you out for dinner before the big surprise but knowing you and knowing me dinner is not going to fit after having lunch at 3pm.” “Big surprise?” I gasp, thinking this day out was my surprise.  JJ looks full of excitement and I know she won’t be able to keep her secret anymore when she blurts out: “ Okay two names: James Bay and KOKO” while holding out two tickets. I start laughing, I am extremely excited to go to KOKO since it’s our favourite club but I know pretty damn well she bought those tickets mainly because she is in love with James Bay. Nevertheless I am beyond happy with her surprise and I reach out to hug her tightly when JJ turns away from the hug “alright, enough with the sentimental touching, let’s get us drunk since I have already spend all my money on those stupid VIP tickets and now I don’t have any money left to buy us drinks in the club.”

 After we bought a huge bottle of Vodka and several cans of Red Bull in a Tabaco shop we head back to the river. I decide to start off with a little bit since I am a lightweight, nothing compared to JJ who could easily down a whole bottle of Vodka on her own without passing out or being sick. The sun begins to set and I rest my head on my friend’s shoulder looking at the river when JJ shouts: “JESSS HOLD ON STOP! HOLD BACK THE RIVER” and rolls over from laughter. I look back at the bottle of Vodka to see half of it is already gone. I laugh at her horrible pun and decide it is either none or two drunks tonight while I pour my cup with the strongest Vodka Red Bull ever made.

 By the time we stumble to the VIP entrance of the club we are both quite drunk and the bottle of Vodka is completely empty. We hand in our ID cards to be checked and walk through the entrance towards the VIP section upstairs. It is still completely empty since the concert doesn’t start until 9 and it is only 8 but we don’t mind being early. After chatting to JJ for an hour we did not realise the VIP section is completely packed with people and when the lights go out we realise it is time for the concert to start.

 After three songs I get a little bit bored and start looking around the venue. It is such a beautiful venue and I can swear I recognize it from something. I am trying to think of where I have seen it before while looking over at JJ who is singing and dancing like her life depends on it. When I look further back into the VIP section my heart drops. This can’t be true.