Joey Gatto: Not Just A Fan

Chapter 2- An Unexpected Detour

"Quick, reply to Joey's tweet! We have enough seats for the six of them, and Nolan and Chomik can squeeze in somehow!" Alicia was so excited about this idea that we had to pull over. I quickly typed out a tweet and tagged all boys, as well as DM'ed Ryan and Adam, as they are the only ones who have noticed me on Twitter before. I decided to shoot Joey a DM as well just in case. To my surprise, about six minutes later, Joey replied.

@JoeyGatto: Are you serious? That would be gucci actually. I know we're strangers but you don't seem suss and this is kind of an emergency... How long do you think it would take to get to us? We are about an hour away from Adam and Nick's in Iselin.

I sighed. Of course he would say Gucci and suss in the same DM. Have I mentioned I find him a bit... obnoxious? I typed a quick reply after checking with google maps.

@LanieMueller: Google says about an hour. Where exactly should we come meet you?

@JoeyGatto: There's a Dunkin about half a mile away that we can walk to. I'll message you the address once we get there, if that works for you.

@LanieMueller: Ok, sounds good. See you in a bit.

Unlike Alicia, who preceded to freak out over this interaction, I felt surprisingly calm considering I was about to meet some of my idols. I was actually glad Joey had been the one who replied, as annoying as he may be sometimes, because out of all of SDK, he treats fans the most normally. Like, he doesn't make a big deal about things. As we continued to drive, I was getting more and more excited about meeting everyone, especially Ryan Abe. I had watched his videos the longest, and he seemed so sweet. After a little while, a message popped up on my phone.

@JoeyGatto: Made it to the Dunkin, the address is 247 Maple Ave. Genuinely thank you so much for going out of your way.

This actually made me smile, as I could tell Joey was being sincere. I shot him a reply telling him we would be there in a little over half an hour and that we were excited to meet them in person. For the rest of the drive, we blasted some of our favorite songs, including Like That, by Jack & Jack, who we had tickets to see the next day. I agreed to drive the rest of the way after we picked up the boys, as Alicia was getting tired. As we pulled up to the Dunkin Doughnuts a while later, I looked through the window and spotted 8 guys crowded around a small table, drinks and doughnuts in hand. Alicia and I smiled at each other in anticipation as she tossed me the keys to her car. The excitement made the 30 second walk across the parking lot feel like ten years. We walked in, and the little jingle of the bell filled our ears. It was a bit of a cold day out, and the store was toasty and filled with the smell of baked goods and sugar. Alicia and I cautiously approached the guys, as I began to wish I had put more effort into what I was wearing... I basically looked like I was about to go to the gym. I scolded myself on my head for being lazy as we made it to the boys table in the back corner.
"Hi, I'm Laine, and this is Alicia" I said as I felt eight pairs of eyes on me as we approached. Joey smiled at us, and I noticed how blue his eyes were in person.
"Boys, these are the ladies who are driving us!" A look of recognition filled the boys faces as they all chimed in with hellos. I tried to hide the annoyance in my face. What are we, your chauffeurs? I smiled anyway, especially once I saw Ryan sitting next to Nick and Sobo. Joey and Jonah were sitting closest to us, and they both stood up and looked at each other at the same time.
"SHOTGUN!" They yelled alms it at the same time, but unfortunately for me, Joey was just a little faster than Jonah... meaning I would be sitting next to him for the next three hours in the car. I would have way rather say next to Jonah, as he seems like such a nice and interesting guy. I had watched him on YouNow a few times and he could get really deep and philosophical. The rest of the boys laughed as they began shuffling out of the booth, all nodding and introducing themselves to Alicia and I. When Nick got to Alicia, I could practically feel her happiness radiating off me. We had spent hours on the couch watching MannnTV videos and she always laughed the hardest whenever Nick did anything funny. Looking over at them, I could see Nick's smile was just as big as Alicia's, and it was like witnessing sparks fly. Nolan was introducing himself to me at the time, and he looked over at the two the same time I did. We exchanged a knowing glance as he whispered to me, "They should sit together in the car." I nodded and giggled, as he laughed and made his way towards the rest of the guys who were standing by the door. Last out of the table was Ryan, and I tried my hardest to play it cool as he introduced himself.... I don't think I did very well though.
"Hi, Lainie, right? I'm Ryan" He said, smiling and sticking out his hand. I shook it and smiled back, stumbling for words. I ended up mostly giggling, as I muttered back a "Yeah, hi." This was so unlike me, I usually pride myself on being cool and level headed. "He's just a person" I told myself. Soon after, we all piled into the car, as me and Joey took the front seat and Adam, Ryan, Chomik, and Sobo took the middle and Nick, Alicia, Jonah, and Nolan took the back.
"I always told my mom I wouldn't get into vans with strangers," Chomik joked, and everyone laughed as we pulled out of the parking lot.