Song: Sunny - Papa Ya
Sorry about my absence I've been busy.

summer 2013
natalie

I stared out the plane window as we neared the ground. We had just made it to San Francisco, and I was ecstatic. I'd never been anywhere in California but Los Angles, so it was exciting to be here. Emily would have been excited too if she weren't asleep on my shoulder. She had worked the night before, and crashed halfway through our flight since she got little sleep when she got home. She was laying on the little girl next to her before I yanked her off and had her lay on my shoulder.

I gently shook her shoulder. "Wake up, sleepyhead," I said quietly.

After a minute or so, she began to groan. "No...no waking up," she replied.

"We're in San Francisco, are you sure you don't want to get—" I was cut off by Emily sitting up, wide-eyed.

"WE'RE HERE?!" She shouted with a grin. Half of her black curly hair was frizzed from laying on my shoulder.

The little girl who was sitting next to Emily began to laugh at her crazed hair.

"Hey, what's so funny, squirt?" Emily asked, turning to her. The girl said nothing and continued to giggle.

"Emily, don't be rude. She's just a kid," I said.

"No, it's okay," the girl said. "She already laid on me today anyway."

"I did?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, but it's okay because you didn't mess up my shirt. The paint is still kinda wet so you could've gotten it on you." She placed a finger on her black shirt. "Oh okay good, it's dry now."

I looked over at her shirt to see none other than the Twenty One Pilots symbol, with silver sharpie written above it, reading "Twenty One Pilots."

"Well I'm glad I didn't ruin it," Emily replied.

"You like Twenty One Pilots?" I asked abruptly, still eyeing the shirt.

She looked over at me, then down at her shirt. "Oh, yeah! My big brother loves them. We're going to see them in concert tomorrow! I don't know many of the lyrics, but my brother said he'd help me."

My eyes widened with surprise. How did I not notice this girl's shirt before? "Cool, we're going to see them tomorrow too."

"Wow! Did you get VIP tickets? My parents got them, so we get to meet them! Hopefully they like my shirt. I made it myself since my brother couldn't afford one for me."

"That's cool. We didn't get the VIP tickets." I was going to tell her that I knew Josh, but I stopped myself, thinking that it would cause a very shocked and excited reaction.

Suddenly, the P.A. sounded, announcing that we would be landing and exiting the plane in one minute.

"Well I might be able to see you at the concert! It will be fun!" She smiled. This girl was nice.

"Ashley," a boy said from the seat adjacent to her. "Are you bothering these people?" He looked as though he had just woken up, as his straight black hair separated in different directions.

"No, Terrance. I'm just talking to them," she replied as she turned to him.

"Okay, buckle your seatbelt! You're supposed to do that when they make the landing announcement."

"Alright, alright. Get off my back, will you?"

I smiled at the two bickering kids. I feel like if I had an older brother at that age, we'd do the same thing.

After a minute had passed, the plane landed. Emily and I decided to wait until everyone exited the plane to be nice. We watched Ashley stand up as her family did, and waved to her.

She waved back and smiled. "Nice to meet you two. I hope you enjoy the concert!" She then rushed off the plane.

"Thank you, you too!" Emily said in reply.

Both Ashley's parents and Terrance gave us a half smile as they walked through the aisle.

Once most people left the plane, Emily and I began to gather our things and leave the plane.

"Welcome to San Francisco, Emily."

She squealed. "I'm so excited! I'm so excited for tomorrow the most!" She shouted as we walked through the airport. "And I'm even more excited to eat! I'm starving."

"Want to eat here?"

"Eh, not really. We should go rent a car first, then check into our hotel. Then we should go eat."

"Alright. You're starving though, not me."

"I guess I can wait."

I chuckled. "Okay." And with that we walked through the airport.

After leaving the airport, I got a text from Josh.

Josh: Did you land safely?

Natalie: Yep, thanks for asking.

Josh: Good, I'm glad.

Natalie: Em and I are stoked about the concert.

Josh: So am I. It's gonna be fun.

"Nat, where are you going?" I heard Emily ask. "The car rental shop is this way."

I stopped and looked up from my phone. "Oh, sorry." I chuckled.

"Talking to Mr. Dun, I presume?" A smirk drew across her face.

I rolled my eyes playfully. "Yes, I am."

"Well don't be playing in traffic while you're caught up in your texts."

"Okay, mom." I looked back down at my phone as I followed Emily.

Natalie: I have to go. I'll text you after we check in.

Josh: Okay, see you tomorrow.

I found it strange how I reconnected with Josh after all of these years, but I was kind of glad I did. I was always so mean to him, and now we might actually become good friends.

-

"Emily will you open up?" I asked, knocking on the bathroom door of our hotel room. "It's been almost an hour and I need to get ready for this concert too! I already have my clothes picked out, I just need to shower and shave!"

"I'm almost done! Promise!" She shouted back through the door.

I sighed and sat back down on the bed. I wanted to look at least a little decent for this concert. When I was younger I always tried to look 'nice' for a concert. I would wear a t-shirt or tank top of whatever band I was going to see and made sure everything else I was wearing matched with it. My mom always told me that I would make a great model for Hot Topic, but it never happened.

Emily suddenly opened the door and hopped onto the bed. "It's all yours!"

I smiled, standing up and walking into the bathroom. "Thank you," I replied while shutting the door.

-

I stepped out of the bathroom after forty-five minutes of showering, shaving my legs, and getting dressed.

Emily looked over at me and squealed. "You look so cute in that shirt!"

I smiled and looked down at my new Twenty One Pilots shirt. It did fit pretty well. "Thanks, Em."

"Well what are we waiting for? The concert starts in an hour! Let's go!" She grabbed the keys to the rental car and we left the hotel room.

-

They started with "Ode To Sleep,"and I was already feeling this energetic feeling just from being there. The crowd—the music—the duo on stage—it made me feel so alive.

Josh was beating away at the drums, and he looked so focused. I had to say he looked quite different from what I remember. His hair was still brown and he wore a bandana over it. He also had a sleeve tattoo on his right arm. It was hard to tell what it was from where I was sitting, but it was clearly visible since he was only wearing a t-shirt.

The singer, Tyler Joseph looked just as focused on the lyrics and the crowd. He sang just as well as he did when he was recording in my opinion. It was definitely different, but still good.

I turned to Emily, who was singing along. I decided to stop studying the two and enjoyed the energetic vibe I was getting.

After "Ode To Sleep" ended, "Migraine" followed. Emily began cheering since she knew every word to this song, and began to sing along. I sang as well and Emily grabbed my hand to hold.

"You like the show?!" She shouted into my ear over the crowd.

"So far, I love it!" I shouted back.

She smiled and continued to rap the first verse.

-

As "Screen" came to an end. Tyler sat down at his piano and began to play some notes.

"I just wanted to pause the show for a moment to talk about something. Firstly, give it up for Josh over there on the drums!" He started. The crowd erupted in cheers, and Emily and I cheered as well. He began playing again when the crowd settled down to listen to him. I was eager to hear what he was going to say, since I thought this was the surprise speech that Josh told me about. "Now, I want to talk about something that some of you may have experienced, and that's the death of a relative." I felt my heart jump, and not in a good way. Why would Josh do this when he knows how much I don't want to talk about it? "Whether it was a close relative or not, or if it happened years ago or just recently, they cannot be forgotten..." Tyler continued talking, but I stopped listening. I felt rage bubbling in me. Josh knows me. He knows that I don't want to talk about this. I understand that he may have wanted to talk about it to other fans, but he said that it was for me.

Emily looked over at me and immediately recognized that I was getting mad. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

"Not quite," I responded calmly. Emily only knew a few things about my dad passing, but she respected that I didn't want to talk much about it.

Everyone suddenly began to cheer, so I assumed his speech was over and tuned back in. Tyler then began to play "House of Gold," which brought me back to my initial feeling of happiness. I couldn't help but be mad at Josh, however. He said that the speech was for me, but it was also for other people. Maybe those other people were happy to hear someone talk about it, but if it was initially for me, then he wasn't listening when I told him not to talk about it, let alone mention it in front of thousands of people at a concert through his friend.

I couldn't concentrate on the lyrics and think at the same time so I just stopped being so angry and listened to Tyler play the ukulele and sing. Being around all of these people seemed more comfortable than it was at other concerts, which was a nice change. Emily turned to me, singing the lyrics.

"I will make you queen of everything you see," she sang, slightly off key.

I smiled at her and began to sing, "I'll put you on the map, I'll cure you of disease."

-

The concert was closing as "Guns For Hands" came to an end. Tyler and Josh moved to center stage and took a bow. "We're twenty one pilots, and so are you. Have a good night, everybody." The crowd cheered and people began to make their way toward the exit. Emily and I decided to stay put and wait until there were less people to leave.

"You should text Josh," Emily said, turning to me.

"What for?" I replied.

"So we can go meet them. I'm sure that he won't mind since you know him."

"Are you sure?" I still wasn't in the mood to talk to Josh, but I didn't want to let Emily miss the opportunity to meet them because of it.

"Only if you want."

I smiled at her. "Alright, I'll text him." I pulled out my phone and began typing away.

Natalie: Can we talk?

Josh: Sure, I'm about to do a meet & greet so maybe after.

Natalie: Well Emily wants to meet you and Tyler, but if we aren't allowed she'll understand.

Josh: Oh yeah you guys can come. Just  go find the other entrance. Don't worry about your tickets, I'll let them know you can come in.

Natalie: Thanks.

Josh: No problem. :)

I didn't respond to the smiley face like I usually did, but I looked up at Emily. "Let's go meet them."

Emily squealed. "Yay!"

Suddenly, my phone vibrated again just before I put it in my pocket.

Josh: Just don't hit on Tyler. He's cute, but he's got a girlfriend.

I didn't respond to that text either and continued to put my phone away. "Alright, let's go."

We walked toward a line of people who were waiting excitedly to see Tyler and Josh. Eventually, the doors opened and everyone walked in. Once Emily and I made it through the doors, I saw a smiling little girl and boy standing next to Tyler and Josh: Terrance and Ashley. The little girl's smile grew bigger with every second she stood next to them, and her brother just gave a subtle half-smile.

"I really like your shirt," Tyler had said to Ashley.

"Thank you! I made it myself!" Ashley shouted, grinning.

Ashley hugged them both and his brother followed her. As they re-grouped with their parents and approached us, Ashley gasped.

"You were the girls on the plane!" She beamed, nearing us in line. "They're really nice, you'll love them."

I smiled. "I bet I will."

"Have a good night," Ashley's mother said to us, taking Ashley's hand, and the family had left.

Once it neared our turn to see them, I grew nervous. "Hey Em?"

"Yeah?" Emily replied.

"Stand next to Josh for me in the photo, okay?"

"Why, did something happen?"

"No, don't worry about it. I'm just a bit shaken up about the whole speech thing in the middle of the concert. It was Josh's idea."

"Oh, I see."

"Yeah." I turned around, realizing we were the last ones in line. The two girls in front of us who looked practically identical began to exit the room, and it was our turn.

Emily and I began nearing the two boys—each of us exchanging pleasantries—and Emily wrapped her arms around Josh with excitement. Once she exited the hug, she stood next to him. I said hello to both of them and stood next to Tyler. All of a sudden, Josh grabbed my hand and pulled me around Emily, wrapping his one arm around me.

I stared at him for a moment, saying nothing, but he just turned to the camera and smiled. I decided to do the same, even though I was kind of confused. The photo flashed and I hoped that I hadn't blinked during it, since I had a bad habit of doing that. Josh retrieved his arm and smiled at me.

"Hey," he greeted.

Sorry it took so long to publish this. I hope to have another update out soon. Anyway, what were your thoughts on the HDS video? I screamed when I saw them tweet it.