ELLY
   I quietly murmur what had happened to Griffin while staring down at the floor. When I'm finished after a few unbearably long minutes, I look back up at him. He shakes his head before pulling me against his chest and into a hug.
   "You know I love you, right?" Griffin asks with a sigh as he embraces me.
   "Yeah."
   "And you know that I want whatever is best for you, right?"
   "Mhm."
   "I don't think you should date anyone for a while. I'm not saying that I don't think you aren't mature enough for a relationship, but I think maybe you should wait until you can find a guy your own age that is a little more trustworthy than Jaden, alright?" Griffin asks, pulling away to look down at me.
   "Yeah, alright."
   "Good. Are you all ready for the event?"
   "Yeah," I mutter.
   "Good. We leave soon, so let's just go take it easy for a while, alright? And then the event will go nice and easy, and you can stand next to me."
   "What if I don't want to stand next to you?" I mumble, looking up at him as a slow smirk crosses my face.
   "Funny little kid, aren't you?"
   "Well, I think I'm funny, at least."
   "You aren't standing next to Chase and Noen. By the end of the event, they would have you married off to someone," Griffin says with a laugh as he knocks on the door. A slight blush crosses my face at the mention of Noen's name, and it only grows brighter when he opens the door.
   Griffin walks past him with the remainder of a smile on his face, but when I go to walk past, he catches my arm. "All good?" he whispers.
   "Yeah."
"Can we talk later? In private, after the event, I mean."
"Sure." I smile, sliding out of his grip and going over to the table where Chase is still seated. I sit down in a chair and get on my phone as we wait for Anthony to finish getting ready.
When he finally gets out of the bathroom with his different set of clothes on, we all stand up and gather our phones and such before heading out the door. We go to the elevators and wait for the next one to arrive.
"Are you excited?" Anthony asks, grinning as we step into the elevator. "It's your first time."
"Yeah, but you might be a little more excited than me," I reply with a smile.
"Aren't you excited?" Chase asks with a wide smile.
"Well, of course I am! But I'm also nervous," I admit to them after the doors close.
"It'll be fine. All you have to do is meet some fans, Elly. You can do it," Griffin adds.
"We believe in you!" Anthony yells right before the elevator doors reopen, revealing the lobby. We step out and start towards the entrance. The venue is a few blocks away, but with the crowded sidewalks, we decide on getting an Uber to take us.
The car comes quickly, and we load inside. The driver is friendly, and after a few minutes, we arrive at the front entrance of our event's location. After hopping out, we go inside quickly.
"It's big in here," I say, looking around the place as we walk in. The others murmur similar comments as we head toward the manager walking around.