La Vie En Rose

“Can you sit down and watch tv or something?” Sharon asked me in an irritated voice. “You’re giving me a headache.”

“I’m sorry!” I apologized as I paced around my hotel room. “I can’t help it. It’s my legs, not me!”

It was Friday early afternoon and also the day of the Nylon party in Hollywood, California. Sharon and I landed at LAX earlier this morning. Ever since we arrived at the hotel, all Sharon did was sleep and sleep some more. I, on the other hand, couldn’t even comprehend the thought of sleeping. I was too busy texting Garrett, begging for updates on their location, changing my outfit every half an hour and occasionally checking John’s twitter to see if he updated today. You could say the lack of sleep combined with a dash of nerves can turn me into a complete maniac.

I continued to pace back and forth the quaint hotel room in my black skinny jeans, a slouchy white t-shirt and mustard yellow/navy blue varsity jacket I bought from H&M. I was anxiously waiting for a text from Garrett, who said he would notify me once they were at the hotel. All the guys were in on the surprise now, so it was easy to plan around both of our schedules. Tim managed to convince John that they had to stay the whole weekend because they had an acoustic show scheduled at some magazine office. The past three weeks felt more like a year since I was anticipating up to this very moment. Luckily, I had a lot of school work to catch up, plenty of fashion-related interviews and planning for my first fashion show. However, it was difficult talking to John on the phone or skype without wanting to desperately blurt out ‘I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU’.

Just as I started my twentieth round of pacing, my phone finally buzzed.

From: Garrett.

We’re here!!!! Tim is checking us in now. What floor are you on!?

I immediately texted him back, telling him I was on the fourth floor. I bit my lip to refrain from squealing while bouncing up and down on my toes. Sharon rolled her eyes and stood up. “I’m going to my room to order food and nap some more. Remember, you have to be back here at exactly seven thirty. Thats when your stylist, hair and make up people arrive. Got it?”

“Yes, mom.” I grinned and waved goodbye as she closed the door behind her.

A few minutes later, I received another text message from Garrett, telling me that we were staying on the same floor and that they just got to their designated rooms. Before I could even text back, Garrett started calling me.

“HI DAD.” Garrett said loudly when I answered the phone. I started to giggle while he pretended to continue the conversation. “Yeah DAD, I’M GREAT. JUST GOT TO THE HOTEL.”

I continued to laugh before finally responding. “Alright, whats the plan?”

Garrett immediately lowered his voice to a small whisper when he replied. “Kennedy, Jared, John and I are in the same hotel room. What room are you in? Kennedy and I are coming to get you.”

“Room number 423.” I answer, grabbing my hotel key and bag. “I’ll meet you in the hallway!”

The minute I closed the door shut behind me, I could see Garrett and Kennedy’s heads popping out of their room, a couple of doors down. When they spotted me, both Garrett and Kennedy began jumping uncontrollably and ran towards me. Before I knew it, the three of us were on the ground.

“G-spot! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!” Kennedy threw his body on top of me, hugging me tightly. “We missed you SO MUCH!”

“LET’S NEVER PART AGAIN.” I replied dramatically.

“No seriously.” Garrett chimed in. “You are literally never leaving our sight again.”

When we finally composed ourselves, we immediately got down to business.

“Okay, whats the plan?” I asked. “Where is John?”

“Jared and Tim are distracting him in our room right now.” Kennedy exclaimed as the three of us began walking towards the elevator. “But we just heard him talking about getting food.”

“He thinks we just went to scope out the pool area.” Garrett explained. “So we figured you can surprise him downstairs.”

“Sounds good. So do we-” I was cut off by the sound of a door opening behind us. Kennedy, Garrett and I spun around and immediately spotted Jared, who was making a quick hand motion towards them. He was indicating John was about to leave.

“Run!” Garrett yelled in a harsh whisper, pushing both me and Kennedy forward.

We scrambled toward the elevator area and started to jab the button wildly, looking in Jared’s direction with panic. When I noticed more people walking out of the hotel room, I crouched behind Kennedy and Garrett, who started jumping up and down to keep me hidden. If I wasn’t so nervous of getting caught, I would be laughing really hard at how ridiculous they looked. The sound of their keys & tour passes clanked against their thighs as they moved swiftly up and down.

“Hey! You guys are still up here? Good because we are starving.” My heart stopped when I heard John’s voice. Luckily, before John got any closer, the doors of the elevator finally binged open. I pulled Kennedy and Garrett by the back of their shirts and yanked them inside.

“Guys hold the doors!” John yelled after them.

“What was that?” Kennedy yelled back as he pressed the ‘DOORS CLOSE’ button. “I didn’t catch that!!”

“HOLD TH-”

The elevator doors closed shut.

“That. Was. So. Close.” Garrett panted. “And I also really need to start working out. I’m actually out of breath.”

“Alright new game plan since John is on his way down.” Kennedy said when we got to the lobby. He paused as he looked around quickly. “Gigi! Hide behind that plant!”

“Wha-”

“QUICK THEY’RE ON THEIR WAY DOWN!” Garrett yelled when he jabbed his finger in the air, pointing at the top of the elevator which showed a countdown of floors. Three.....two....

Kennedy pushed me behind the tall plant the minute the elevators binged open.

“What the hell is up with you guys?” John immediately started the minute he spotted a not so innocent Garrett and Kennedy waiting in front of the elevators looking smug. “You’re acting SO weird.”

Jared was the first to notice me behind the plant and had to refrain from grinning at how stupid I looked. I waited for John to turn his back towards me before quietly approaching him. When I reached the empty space to his right, I crossed my arms across my chest and spoke loudly. “Yeah, what is UP with you guys right now?”

At the sound of my voice, John immediately whipped his head towards me. When he saw me smirking back at him, he did a double take before backing up against Jared and covering his mouth with his hands in complete shock.

The rest of the guys started laughing and clapping when John smothered me in a tight hug as he continuously chanted: ‘GIGI. OH MY GOD. GIGI. OH MY GOD.’ My cheeks turned pink when he picked me up and swung me around.

“What are you doing here!?” He managed to finally ask as he put me down on my feet. He carefully cupped my face with his hands, smiling down at me in disbelief.

“I was invited to the NYLON party too” I explained. “but I didn’t tell you because I wanted to surprise you!”

“Gigi...” He searched my face before pulling me into another hug and kissing the top of my head. “I’m...speechless. I...I can’t believe you’re here. I’m so happy. So happy.”



“Look at them, pretending that there aren’t six other people sitting at this table right now.” I heard Jared say in disgust while John and I shared a couple of innocent kisses. “They’re in their own little world right now.”

“They’ll start undressing any minute now. Completely unaware they’re in public.” Kennedy chimed in.

I broke away from the kiss and laughed. “Kennedy!”

After the huge reunion with John in the lobby of the hotel, the whole band, their manager Tim, and I walked around West Hollywood and eventually ended up at Chilis for lunch. Naturally, John and I couldn’t get our hands off each other.

“I still can’t believe you’re here right now.” John said quietly as he placed his hand on my knee. I smiled as I gently ran my fingers across his knuckles and kept them there. I couldn’t really explain the feelings I obtained when I was around John. They always strengthened every time I was with him. I felt relaxed, happy, content. I was finally feeling like I was at home when we were together. I love every second of it and I know I was in love with him too. The past couple of days, I’ve been arguing with myself whether it was okay yet to tell him that. After many sleepless nights, I decided that I would say those three crucial words to him some time this weekend and hope for the best.

“We get to spend the whole weekend together too.” I finally spoke. “Four whole days.”

Before John could respond, Kennedy cut into the conversation. “Oi lovebirds! We’re ready to order!”

By the time we finished eating and walked back to the hotel, it was a couple of minutes past seven.

“I believe the limo will be here to pick you guys up at eight thirty.” The Maine’s manager, Tim, began to explain as we walked through the lobby and towards the elevators. He turned to me and pointed. “You’re riding with us, right?”

“Yes!” I nodded. “I should be ready by eight fifteen at the latest.”

“Perfect.” Tim responded. We were now on the fourth floor and I had stopped at my door. “We’ll meet you downstairs! Come on, John, you need to get ready!”

John was still standing next to me, our hands locked tightly. He looked at me with a pleading look. “I don’t want to leave you, though.”

I chuckled and pushed him in the direction of his room. “Don’t be such a big baby. I’ll see you in an hour!”

I shook my head and rolled my eyes as John walked backwards down the hall so he could salute me. Never a dull moment when I was around John, or the rest of the guys for that matter. I finally dropped the key into the lock and pushed my door open. Inside, there were four people, including Sharon, setting up a chair in front of the mirror.

“Come now, Gigi!” Sharon instructed when she saw me. “Time to turn you into a woman!”