glitch | jack hughes

Chapter 50

Josephine

Tonight is my final show opening for Taylor and her last show in the US. Pheobe and I are opening for her, making this a really special one because Pheobe has been my favorite artist for such a long time and this will be my first time really meeting her. She's opened for Taylor a few other times but none of those times were ones where I was the second opener. I walk into the venue to hear 'Enchanted' being sound checked. 

God, I'll never get tired of listening to her. This entire experience is surreal and I can't believe we crossed paths. I'm so distracted by her performance that I don't even notice someone around me until I'm bumping into it, by the feel of it they weren't paying attention either. "Oh, I'm so sorry," I look away to apologize to the person to be met with Pheobe herself. 

"H-holy fuck," I press a hand to my mouth to restrict myself from speaking anymore. Pheobe puts her phone in her back pocket and laughs softly. "Hi nice to meet you, you're Josie right?" She opens up an arm to me to hug me. "Mhm," I mumble against my hand but hug her awkwardly. "I'm sorry, it's so good to meet you," I recover and talk to her like a normal human being. 

She squeezes my hands gently as we keep talking, getting to know each other before we both have to go. "Alright, I got to get ready, but I'll see you soon Jo," She says, shortening my name. I'm obsessed with her, holy fuck. I watch her walk away before walking to where Stassie set up. "Hi Josie, how are you today?" She smiles before pumping some primer onto her hands. 

"Amazing, I just met Pheobe, she's cooler in person," I go off before asking her how her day was, mainly for my sake. If I keep thinking about meeting her I'll overwhelm myself and I don't want that. Once my makeup is done I throw my outfit on deciding to wear a very tiny black dress and boots. I hear my cue and walk out on stage.

I blow a few kisses to the crowd, feeling the love from California. I sing 'Difficult' searching for my friends before I sing '21' When I see my friends jumping up and down I walk over to them, pointing the mic in their direction when I sing, "If it doesn't go away by the time I turn thirty I made a mistake and I'll tell you I'm sorry," I smile at them, before turning my attention back to the crowd. 

I run through the rest of my setlist before getting to 'All Of The Girls You Loved Before' "Really quick I want to thank Taylor one more time for letting me open for her. I'm so grateful for this experience, I love you all so much! This is All Of The Girls You Loved Before!" I use my mic to push down my smile but it's nearly impossible.

"Now you're all I need. I'm so thankful for all of the girls you loved before," I sing regularly but add "But for the record LA I love him more!" I finish the song and blow a few more thousand kisses to the crowd before once again bumping into Pheobe. "Good Luck out there, I'll be watching!" I hug her before running off stage to hand my equipment to Mel and then to my friends.

I'm not changing out of my outfit if Pheobe is on in the next few minutes. No way I'm missing her set. I hug all of my friends, thanking them for coming before Theo throws my Pheobe merch at me, to put on over my dress. I see he's wearing the same zip-up and I throw it on, getting ready to yell all the lyrics to her songs. 

She sings 'Waiting Room' making Theo, Quinn and I unstable. And because she's Pheobe she plays 'Scott Street' right after. I look over at Theo to see tears flowing down his cheeks, I grab his hand, smiling at him as tears threaten to spill over. I watch as Pheobe looks around before waving at me and running off stage. 

Theo looks at me, his hand shaking in my shaking hand. We exchange the same look wondering if we're about to get Scott Streeted. She runs over to me, handing me the mic as I share it with Theo. "Anyway, don't be a stranger," We sing into the mic, making her jump up and down and clap. She wraps her arms around the two of us, kissing Theo's temple before running back on stage for one more song.