by Lizzie Bowen
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: I wish it was you
I woke up the next morning to the beautiful sounds of Texas. We had flown overnight to Texas. I was asleep when we had arrived to the hotel. I didn't even really remember how I had gotten to my room. I assumed, they convinced me to get up and shuffle to my proper place. I was super excited for the show tonight. I decided it was time to pick up some pre-show snacks. I got dressed and went down to the lobby. Connie was sitting there sipping on a steamy cup of coffee.
“Good morning.” She greeted as I slid into the booth with her.
“Good morning, Connie. Hey, do you know where a nearby grocery store might be?” I asked. Connie nodded.
“There's one a few blocks from here.” She stated.
“Do you think I could walk?” I asked.
“Of course, do you want me to write down some directions?” She questioned. I nodded. She scribbled vigorously on a napkin and then passed it to me. I grabbed the napkin up and headed out the door.
“Thanks, Connie!” I cried as I jogged out. It was farther than I'd thought, but I could use the exercise anyway. I drank in the beautiful sight of Texas as I jogged down the quiet road. It was early in the morning and hardly even the sun was up. There were birds chirping softly in the trees and the morning air was cool. It was an enjoyable and refreshing walk. I reached the grocery store and headed straight for the frozen food aisle. I was gonna need some ice cream to get through this show. By the end of my shopping trip, my cart piled so high with snacks I could barely push it. I put my back into it and tried to push it to the check out line. As I waited in line, I looked over at the magazines hanging on the rack. My eyes nearly popped out of my head at what I saw.
“Hollywood's 'It couple' at the awards last night” was the title. I ripped the magazine off the rack with wide eyes. It was a picture of the two of us kissing on the red carpet. I flipped to the proper page and saw a whole article written on us. There was a huge, blown up picture of him holding me bridal style in his arms. There were smaller pictures of him kissing my head, both of us embracing, him whispering my ear, and us smiling at each other. I couldn't believe it. We were the “It Couple”?
Hunter Thompson made his first public appearance with girlfriend of six months, Samantha Baker. The couple packed on the PDA with many hugs and kisses to go around and even had an awkward run-in with Hunter's newest ex- actress/singer Bailey Andrews. (Picture on left) The band won “Best New Breakout Artist” where Hunter thanked his girlfriend for being there. “I would like to thank my beautiful girlfriend for supporting me tonight.” He said. The camera then pleased to a very please Sam Baker. Well, we have our fingers crossed for the new, happy couple.
I looked at the picture of Bailey, Hunter, and I. The caption “Awkward Reunion” was above the photo. Called it! I flipped to the next page. I gasped and dropped my magazine. The clerk looked over at me.
“Miss, are you going to check out, or what?” He asked, impatiently.
“Oh, hold on!” I said, waving him off. The people behind skipped ahead of me in line, but I didn't care. I saw a huge picture of myself blown up. “A new America's sweetheart?” There was a smaller picture of Lilian and I. Lilian had her head thrown back in laughter at something I said.
“Making friends quickly with superstars.” Was the caption above the above picture.
Then there was a picture of Kenny and I hugging. “Rubbing elbows with Kenny Ortago” There was a picture of Logan and I as he was lecturing me about how to treat Hunter right.
“Deep discussion with fellow band member, Logan.” Man, they really did get my every move on camera. There was a photo of a group of girls waiting for All4U and then a boy in the middle holding a sign reading “Sam, be mine.” The caption was “The men love her.”
Then, there was a picture of all the celebrities surround me. They all had their mouths wide open with laughter as I was talking. The caption above the shot was “And the miss popularity award goes to..”
Sam Baker, who made her fist public appearance at the award show last night was a huge hit. Onlookers said, she was “radiant and the perfect definition of beauty” that night and had a group of stars surrounding her and giving them her undivided attention most of the night. A source says, “There were dozens of people completely circling here and laughing at every word she said. She was just so glowing and radiant that it was hard not to love her. She has beauty, style, and humor. I mean, what's not to love?” She appeared on an episode of “That's the Dress for Me” last night, and shared her story with the world. She spoke of her past bullying experience, getting kicked out of her last school, and the abandonment of her older brother. First we fell in love with her story, then her style, and now her. Since her episode on the number one television show she's a trending topic on twitter and multiple fan sights have been created revolving around her. Her boyfriend, Hunter Thompson currently reins as “Hollywood's It Man” but does he now have a little competition? Only time will tell...
“Competition? That's ridiculous.” I muttered to myself. But I couldn't shake the fact that people...liked me. Did they really “fall in love” with me? Was the magazine just milking it to sell a story? I just couldn't believe this. I dropped my magazine in my cart and stumbled over to the check-out counter in a daze. This was incredible. Was I really “Hollywood's It Girl”? I really didn't deserve this. All I did was show up in a cute dress and stand beside a hot guy.
“Hey, that girl looks a lot like you.” The check-out guy said as he pointed at the cover of the magazine.
“Really? I get that a lot.” I said absently. He shrugged and continued to check out my things. I just couldn't believe the reaction I had gotten. I hoped Bailey saw this magazine and knew that I wasn't just another girl in Hunter's parade of girlfriends. I had made my mark. I had made an actual impression as opposed to all the other girls that had frolicked in and out of Hunter's life. I looked down at my cell phone and logged into twitter. I checked the trends. The number one trend was #weloveyousam
There were tears in my eyes and I begged them not to slide down my face, but this was literally the nicest thing anyone every could have done.