Bad Reputation (Shawn Mendes)

fifty four

The last song on Shawn's album ended and I was speechless. He went to say something but I cut him off by pressing my lips against his.
"I take it that means you like it."
I wrapped my arms around his neck before kissing him once more. "It's amazing!"
"What song is your favourite?" He asked with the biggest smile on his face.
I smiled. "You know what song is my favourite."
He didn't say anything.
"What's on your mind?" I asked.
"My album drops tomorrow night and I can't shake the feeling that it's not good enough."
I looked at him for a moment and I knew this was getting to him. "If it's getting to you this much then why don't we turn our phones off when it's released and wait to see everyone's reaction when we go home."
He scoffed. "We can't do that."
"Yes we can."
"What if there's an emergency?"
"Then we give our families the hotel
number and tell them to ring it if they need to contact us."
"Are you sure you're okay with that?"
"Are you kidding me? Ever since you got popular all I've gotten is trolls commenting hate on my instagram photos because they are jealous I have you and they don't."
He laughed and then looked at me for a second. "I love you."
I took his hand in mine. "I love you too and I'm so proud of you."
The next day we decided to go to Anne Frank's house. It felt like we were standing in the line for days but we eventually got in. We went through the door disguised as a bookcase that lead to the secret annex. The first room we came to was the room where her parents and her sister slept. We moved on to Anne's room next. The walls were covered in pictures that our tour guide told us Anne put up herself, some of the pictures were of the original hollywood stars and one was the Queen of England. The tour guide told us alot of things I didn't know. To make sure Anne and her family weren't discovered they had specific schedules for everything. There were times of the day where they had to be in complete silence and because the house they were hiding in was made of wood so the people who worked in the offices could hear them. Only four people knew they were hidden so they couldn't even flush the toilet, they could only do it at specific hours because the pipeline that connects the restroom to the street passed through the offices meaning the people working would be able hear it and grow suspicious. Written on the mirror of the sink was a section from Anne's diary and it said. "At the stroke of half past 8 we have to be in the living room, no running water, no flushing toilets, no walking around and no noise whatsoever."
After spending sufficient time in Anne's room and her parents room we headed up a set of stairs which lead us to the kitchen and the living room but also the place where the other family slept. In her diary Anne refers to the family as the Van Daan's but their real name was van Pels. She changed their name in her diary in case someone found it. Clever girl. Anne also explains in her diary that the two families argued a lot which is normal as they both lived in confinement for two years. Without knowing what's happened they listened to the radio to hear news about the war. There were also growth lines on the walls where Anne and her sister Margaret measured themselves.
The final part of the house was the attic and we had to climb up another set of stairs but this set was a small. All the pictures of the family were on the wall. I held onto Shawn's hand as we listened to the audios that were playing. It was very moving.
After we came out of the Anne Frank house we grabbed some food to eat for lunch. As we were walking along the canal after I saw a sign for kayaking and immediately turned to Shawn "Can we please kayak along the canal?"
He shook his head. "No."
"Why?" I asked.
"Me and kayaking do not mix, I'm not good at it."
"I'll teach you."
He stared back at me with a blank expression on his face.
"It will be fun please." I gave him my best puppy eyes and he eventually caved.
We both rented out a kayak and then put on a wet suit and life jacket. The guy taught us how to get in and out safely and then we were ready to hit the water. I went in first and then it was Shawn's turn. Once we were ready to go we set off down the canal.
About half an hour in I heard Shawn yell from
behind me. I quickly turned around and saw his kayak go head first into foliage. I couldn't help myself and burst into laughter.With my help and the help of a couple of who were walking by he got back out. Only going a few more inches he found him self getting stuck again.
"What are you doing?" I said through laughter.
"I can't steer this thing." He replied trying to push himself back.
When I watched him struggle to steer his kayak I realised he was doing it wrong. "You do know that left goes right and right goes left?"
"What?" He frowned.
My face dropped. "How do you not know that? You said you'd kayaked before."
"I lied to try and impress you."
He got himself back out onto the water properly.
"Watch and I'll show you." I paddled forward so I had enough room to show Shawn how to turn. "Place your paddle in the water on the left side to turn right." I turned myself 360 degrees to the right. "And then on the right side to turn left." I then turned 360 degrees to the left.
He nodded. "Okay I think I can do that."
We set off again and for another half an hour there were no crashes. I turned my head to the side to look at one of the buildings but as I did I realised Shawn was holding onto the end of my kayak for safety and I had been pulling him along the whole time. I pushed his hand off and his face suddenly dropped as his kayak rocked back and forth on the water. I burst into laughter once more as he struggled to keep his balance.
"What did you do that for?" He said as he regained his balance.
"You were cheating."
We decided to mess around for the last part of kayaking as Shawn thought it would be funny to keep splashing me with his paddle.
Once we'd had enough we returned our kayaks and got changed out of our wet suits. I needed to shower so we headed back to the hotel before going out for dinner. I quickly hopped in the shower and then Shawn went in after me. As I was setting my outfit out on the bed Shawn emerged from the bathroom and then got changed. Once we were ready we headed out and found a small Italian restaurant to eat at. We both ordered some pasta and Shawn kept making me laugh by attempting to say everything in an italian accent.
After dinner we walked along the canal and everything was lit up. It was beautiful.
We got back to our hotel and midnight was getting closer.
I got ready for bed and when Shawn was in the bathroom I decided to post something on instagram. I picked the candid picture of Shawn I took on our first night in Amsterdam.