Travel // Shawn Mendes

six

For the record, I am completely, one thousand percent against this whole thing.

If we were back at home? I'd leave them on the spot. But we weren't in New York, and unless I felt like walking home in the dark (where I had absolutely no clue on how to get back, and asking around could result in my kidnapping), I was stuck with Julie's insane friends.

At first, I completely objected the idea, receiving a bunch of comments from the group on how I just had to join them.

Turns out, they were right. I did have to join them, because there was no other way home. While I could have called Aunt Carmelita for a ride, that would have gotten Julie in trouble, and although I'm a lot of things, a snitch isn't one of them.

So, here I was, in Natalie's car, going to Shawn's hotel.

To be completely honest, I wouldn't be surprised if they made me wait all night with them, and Shawn wouldn't appear once. But according to Cat, she saw Shawn's manager in the same hotel she was staying at, which obviously meant that Shawn would be there too.

Me being the friend I am, I texted all of this to Jen, and she responded a second later, with the same thoughts as me.

Somebody has got to tell this girl that just because it's a white guy with glasses, that doesn't mean it's Andrew Gertler..

I mentioned this to the group before we got in separate cars, just not in the same way that Jen phrased it.

"It was him." Ended up being the three words Cat chose to respond with, and I can't say that they were spoken too softly.

I hope the next three days I'm here in Spain don't have anything to do with her.

Ten minutes later and here I am, across the street from Cat's hotel, hiding behind shrubbery.

If I just went home after the concert, this would be marked as the third best day in my life. Instead, I'm playing James Bond make believe with Julie's friends.

I could tell that my cousin wasn't a hundred percent towards the idea of stalking Shawn either, and although I'm no Dr.Phil, I sensed some peer pressure coming from her friends, which made me feel a bit bad for Julie.

"Jules, how long are we gonna be here?" I whisper to her as her friends begin to talk about the concert, and my cousin shrugs, a tired smile on her face.

After about fourth five minutes of waiting in the dark, the only source of light being our phones and the lamps across the street that lit up the entrance of the hotel in a welcoming way, I began to feel a twist of complete hunger in the pits of my stomach, and groaned aloud.

Thinking back, I came to a realization that the last time I had so much as to drink or eat was at the cafe, around one in the afternoon. Now, at almost midnight, I felt sickly hungry, and since Julie's friends had eaten all the food in my cousin's bag pre-concert, I was going to have to do something.

"Do any of you have food?" I ask, and just as I had expected, the group shook their heads.

"Are you hungry?" Valarie, one of the girls who had barely spoken directly to me at all tonight questioned, and I nodded rapidly.

Obviously, the complete desperation in my eyes was showing, because she grew a concerned look, and double checked her purse before coming up empty handed.

Cat, however, must have thought I was faking it so that I could get out of here, because after looking at me like I had a contagious disease, she spoke to me hastily, her voice laced with dislike.