It’s something I had always joked about with my friends–as soon as I got my license, I always said that I’d come to New York on a moment’s basis if something exciting was happening. When I heard that Louis Tomlinson was going to be in the city, it was as if fate had planned everything down to the wire. I had some extra money, my car and didn’t have class. I had always thought it would be a no-brainer to pack up and leave. When it came down to it though, it was terrifying!
I knew that my parents wouldn’t be thrilled – or even agree. It was sort of a fluke thing that I had the car in the first place. Usually it stays at my house near Pittsburgh, but I had taken it to school with me so I could use it to drive to a doctor’s appointment.
My friends (who live in New York) definitely played Devil’s Advocate. They kept telling me that I would regret it if I didn’t go and I knew that this was true. At the same time, I also knew that if I went and got into an accident, I would regret just as much. I’m pretty sure I watched about four hours worth of Youtube videos centered on “driving in Manhattan.”
Finally, in a moment’s decision, I decided to just live a little. I knew that if I took any more time to think about it, I wouldn’t go. So I quickly packed up my things, turned off all the lights and set out on the road.
About two or three hours in, I really started to think a mistake had been made. I was already getting exhausted and I wasn’t even a third of the way there. I feel like a majority of my time driving was spent wondering if I should turn around. There was one point where I almost did, but at that point it would’ve taken just as long to go back as it would to go forward. Looking back, I’m thankful that I stuck with it.
To make a long story short, I finally did make it to New York. And I ended up meeting Louis two or three times in a row.
The first time, it was literally just one friend and I. I was so nervous that Louis would be tired or simply not in the mood. I’ve actually met him quite a few times before, but I don’t think it’s ever any less nerve wracking despite how nice he always is. Unsurprisingly, this time was no different. He wasn’t annoyed at all and he didn’t rush me or my friend as we got our pictures, even though this was right before rehearsals for Jimmy Fallon. He even joked with us as we talked with him briefly.
We were so excited and happy at how great things went, but we did feel bad that our two friends weren’t with us. We arranged some things and decided to take them the next day, before I left to go back home.
When the next morning came, we were sort of torn on whether or not we should ask for another picture. We thought that it might come off a little rude, since we had just met him the day before. While my friend was talking to him, we sort of just brought it up but made sure to tell him it was okay if he didn’t want to. He was more than happy to though and more or less encouraged us to take as many as we wanted! He was running a bit late that morning, not to mention it was like 8:30 AM, but he still didn’t rush us at all. He was all smiles, holding his little cup of tea. We wished him good luck on Fallon and congratulated him on all his recent solo accomplishments. He seemed so happy that people were recognizing everything that he was doing and thanked us as well. As I said before, I’ve met him quite a few times, but this was probably the happiest I had seen him in a while.
After rehearsals that day, I decided to stay just a little bit longer so I could take my last friend to meet him. As much as I wanted another picture, two times was definitely enough. I decided to sit this one out in the car. Since this meant there was no one to take my friend’s picture, Louis offered to take a selfie instead. She was pretty set on a “full body” photo though, which made Louis laugh. He started joking about “you girls and your full bodies”.
After that I definitely had to go, so I dropped my friend off at her dorm and started the long drive home. It was hard not be on twitter or texting my friends telling them what an amazing experience I had. Now that I wasn’t busy, it’s like the whole weekend came rushing back. On the bright side, I wasn’t nearly as tired as I had been on the way there, because the excitement of the situation still had me buzzing.
Thankfully I avoided the temptation and made it home safe – and just in time for my doctor’s appointment. Though I had failed to tell my parents about my New York trip while I was there (Disclaimer: not recommended), they were surprisingly not too upset when I told them after the fact. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that I almost didn’t go.
(Photos courtesy of the author)