I woke up June 26, 2014. I was more than excited. I got out of our somewhat rundown hotel bed, got dressed, brushed my teeth, tied on my Mythical shoes, gathered and got ready to go. The convention center wasn't far, but we drove to it anyways. There it was, the giant VidCon billboard on the side of the convention center. We headed inside and registered. We went to the entrance, where we were in the front of the line. There I stood, in front of a door about twenty feet long, behind it was VidCon and all of its booths. I felt nauseous. The door opened and I was overwhelmed. I couldn't believe I was in the same building as my favorite YouTubers, Rhett and Link. I ran to the bathroom and calmed myself down. Once I got out, I looked around and went to buy my merch so I could have that out of the way. After doing so, I stood in line to see Smosh, which I wasn't a huge fan of.
After standing in line for about fifteen minutes, I got bored. I looked up on the billboards that were providing entertainment for people waiting in line. It showed clips of videos from people doing meetups there, and it showed photos from #VidCon on Instagram. I noticed Toby, Tobuscus as his YouTube channel is called, and I saw that he was outside. He was one of my favorites, so I told my dad I wanted to go outside to find him.
We stepped out of line and headed to the food trucks, which were outside. We looked left and right as we walked. We saw many crowds of people surrounding YouTubers, most of which I didn't know. I was pretty new to YouTube, only knowing who I watched. We stepped around the large fountain at the convention center.
My dad called for me, "Hayleigh, it's Rhett and Link!" he shouted to me. I went into shock, not knowing what to say or how to react. I looked over, seeing only their hair. I pulled out my phone without realizing and snapped around five pictures. I don't remember doing this, but I have the pictures on my phone to prove it. ( https://instagram.com/p/puxXj8rpLF/ ) My dad pushed me into Link, but Link didn't mind. He looked at me and smiled, not caring that I had ran into him, but was trying to focus on what he was doing. He was being interviewed on live television. Rhett and Link were talking to a girl, who talked about her favorite episode, which was a episode from that week. I, personally, didn't believe she was a true fan. ( https://instagram.com/p/puKMYArpMB/ )
After they talked to the girl, Rhett noticed my Mythical shoes. Rhett pulled me in and started to talk about the shoes. We took a picture together.The interview ended shortly after. I was nervous. My dad tried to pull me away, but I fought back, saying I needed to hug them. I would regret it if I didn't. I silently tapped Link on the shoulder. He turned to me and smiled.
"Yeah?" he asked sweetly.
"Can... Can I have a hug?" I stuttered. Link leaned in, putting two fingers behind his ear.
"You're going to have to talk louder, sweetie. I have hearing problems," he told me apologetically. I melted, feeling bad that I didn't speak loudly. I couldn't help it. I'm quiet-voiced.
"Can I have a hug?" I asked again. Link threw his arms in the air and smiled.
"Of course you can!" he exclaimed and wrapped me in a tight hug. The hug felt like an eternity. It felt like nothing else I'd felt before.Right before I let go, I got a good whiff of deodorant. He wasn't lying when he said in one Good Mythical Morning that he shared deodorant with his wife.
I made my way over to Rhett. It took me a few minutes to get to him, since the two were surrounded with fans. Once I got to him, he turned and said to everyone, "Sorry guys! We gotta go. We're running late for something." He stated to run off.
"Rhett! Wait!" I yelled at him. He stopped and turned to me, looking concerned.
"What?" he said to me.
"Can I have a hug?" I asked. I knew Rhett wasn't a hugger, but I figured it was worth a try. He thought about it for a second, rolling his eyes since he isn't a hugger before saying, "Sure."He gave me a side hug. He noticed my dad taking the picture, as you can tell here. After he hugged me, him and Link ran off. I was stuck with a smile on my face for the rest of the day. That, alone, was the best moment of my life.