So. Worth. It. (pt. 2)

The countdown.

At about 9:45 Beth and I headed into the mall. By now we were just jazzed to see the set up. There were 4 girls already lined up outside Hot topic - Laura from Alabama among them. Keeping in mind that we had our wristbands and a guaranteed autograph & face-to-face, we decided to wander the mall a bit. The Q&A was set up in a common area in front of Macy's. The Q&A was set for about 7:30 that evening, after the 500 autographs were given. There were roughly 100 people already camped out.



We strolled the mall a bit, then decided to just sit. We grabbed my bag out of the car & plopped out butts down for the duration. We were pretty much just waiting for Melissa & Joy so we could get some food! Holding someone's spot for 18 hours has to earn you some grub, right? Now there's a decent time lapse. Honestly, I don't really know how the time passed. There were more reporters & chatting with people we met in line (Melissa & Laura). But at about 2, we all hit a collective wall. There were people crashing all around us (including the stinky girls on either side. Seriously, ladies, showers rock. So does deodorant). Allow Beth to demonstrate the proper way to sleep in line:



Melissa & Joy got there around 4 and got us some much needed Mountain Dew. We were now caffeinated & ready to stand up. More and more people were arriving and getting loud and, God help me, starting to chant a countdown. *shiver* The doors open & we squeeze in 3 or 4 at a time. (Let's say we're 14-17 at this point - we got tired of walking around the mall very quickly) Wristbands are cut off & we weasel our way to the back of the maze/store one by one. I round a corner and there he was. Sans hat so that hair was in full effect.

Lovely.

Honestly, as I told Kris, the most beautiful man I've ever seen in person, and I have seen some pretty people. He was very charming and polite and in the 5 seconds I was face to face with him, could have charmed the pants off of anyone. I walked up to the table where he sat surrounded by 5 huge, unfriendly looking fellows.

Me: Hi, I'm Jenny
RP: Hello *immediately distracted by my shirt which he reads aloud*
RP: "Meanwhile, in a town called Spoons"
(in the split second it takes me to realize he's not just checking out my rack, I strike that hip forward, shoulder back 'this old thing' pose. My body is retarded)
Me: You like it?
RP: *crooked Edward smile* *chuckle*
Me: Thank you so much (as he slides poster to me)
RP: You're very welcome

Then I'm rushed from the store so the girl behind me can go all doe-eyed, too.

The 4 of us squeeze through the people crowded around the door to congregate in front of the jewelry store around the corner. We are all, dare I say, dazzled. (I know, groan all you want) Oh, and there was NO chance for a thumb-wrestle, shocking I know. So we head down to Macy's to see the madness, calling everyone we know on the way there. Depending on which newcast you caught, there were between 2,000 -4,000 people there. And they were all screaming. We sidled over to the Auntie Anne's to let Beth sit down (you know that scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off right before Cameron falls in the pool? Yeah, kind of like that). We also noticed there there were some gates ready to be made into barricades by the door. And we thought, "Hmm, I'm sure it would be much easier (not to mention safer) for them to take him out of Hot Topic the back way and bring him in this handy little door right here." Which they did. And this is the video from where we were standing. Turn your sound WAY down. Did I mention I hate screaming girls?



So yeah, the Q&A was lousy with screaming teens so we went outside. We waited as he was whisked away (literally pushed into the car). It would be really easy to say it was a waste of time or not worth it, but we had a lot of fun. I met Beth about 2 weeks before we tackled this insanity. We had a blast and I have a nifty signed poster, some new friends and a long, long story.




On a side note, I had an epiphany on the way home. A moment of clarity. I have mentioned how physically beautiful this man is. The character he is portraying is described as the ideal man. After being up for 40 hours, you can marry those 2 together pretty easily. My moment of clarity was this: If there is this just, knockout specimen in the world, why on earth am I wasting any time or energy being bitter about a relationship that should have ended long before it did? Sure, I was treated very poorly at the end by someone who called me his best friend and will probably have occasional fits of rage, but my opinion now? Who gives a good gosh darn? I'm done. It was so very Not. Worth. It.

So thank you, Stephenie Meyer for giving me a great escape during that breakup, and thank you, Robert Pattinson for helping me put an end to it in my head (my heart was over it a while ago).