Kayla and Whitney's Bogus Journey.



Kayla and Whitney's Bogus Journey; Following The Academy Is For Three Days.


I'm sitting here in my living room watching Sex and the City with Whitney and Terra, and I'm going to write about my epic weekend.

Whitney came on Wednesday, but I pulled an all-nighter the night before and I was sleeping when she needed me to come pick her up, so that wasn't the most fantastic way to start. Well, for her anyways. I very much enjoyed my nap.

Anyways, Thursday morning, I accidentally slept through my math class and when I woke up, I looked at the time and my class had let out like, ten minutes before, so I was like "shit", but that just meant that I was one step closer to the awesome weekend! So I didn't go to class Thursday, and spent the day...doing laundry, printing out driving directions, packing, just...preparing.

We went to bed at a decent time and on Friday morning, my alarm went off at 7 AM. I got up right away, surprisingly, and got ready, packed the last of my things. We managed to be ready earlier than planned, so we were in the car and driving by 8 and we got to House of Blues by 9:30-ish. There were a few people in line already, we settled down, walked around to the Virgin Megastore, blah blah blah. The line was excruciatingly boring for a while, and I decided that I wanted to study for one of my three tests that I had right after the weekend ended, so Whitney and I left to go to my car so I could get my book.

We turned the corner around the Virgin Megastore and bam. There was William, Michael, and Jack. William was on the phone, though, so I wasn't going to bother him, so we just waved as we passed them, and they all waved back. Then when we were walking back, we saw Carden and I got all fluttery on the inside, but he, too, was on the phone, so we didn't bother him, either.

I didn't even study because I couldn't concentrate. Then, later, we were in the Megastore again, up on the second floor on the balcony, and Cayla called me, so I was on the phone with her as I was watching Travis down below buy a movie ticket and go see a movie all by himself.

We bought lunch at House of Blues and ate it in line. But seriously, that line was so fucking boring. We talked to the girls that were in front of us and they were pretty cool, despite their young ages. The girls behind us in line were the most obnoxious people I've ever had to hear. They would not shut up about anything. They were dropping names all over the place, and talking so loudly to each other that it was so obvious that they were basically bragging. But they were talking about bands like, All Time Low and shit, so...the bragging rights there are, um...basically non-existant.

There were a fuckton of SLH kids, and even though I bought my ticket through the SLH presale, I didn't get meet and greet or early entry because my membership expired like, last month and I don't have the money to renew it just yet...or ever. So all those people went in before us but we finally got in and we got a decent spot in the second-ish row off to the side, where Carden was gonna be.

Gay Hey Monday went on and, you know, they weren't as horrible as I thought they'd be. Cassidee is actually really cute irl and she has a really good voice, surprisingly. I mean, they're not my new favourite band or anything, but they aren't bad.

Carolina Gay Liar came on next and I really didn't even pay much attention to them because all I could focus on was their fugly ass drummer. Seriously, it was like a bad car crash -- I didn't want to look at it, but I couldn't help it. I know, that sounds so mean, but at least I'm being honest, right?

Then, We The Gays Kings. Again, not bad, but not my favourite. I knew about half of their songs so I wasn't entirely bored. My main problem was that my feet were killing me and my back hurt like a bitch. Seriously, I think I'm starting to get too old to be standing in crowds for long periods of time. I'm eighteen going on eighty. By the time WTK ended, I was so ready for TAI to just COME ON already, but I still had to sit through a set change.

But as soon as they came on, all of the pain in my lower half and back just disappeared. It was my tenth time seeing them, and yet, I was still blown away by how amazing Bill is as a frontman. Seriously, he's incredible. And the set was fantastic. I was very happy with the new songs that they played. The Test, Summer Hair = Forever Young, About A Girl, Rumoured Nights (FUCKING SO AMAZING LIVE), and After the Last Midtown Show (ALSO FUCKING SO AMAZING LIVE). Whitney had to leave like, halfway through the set because she was like, about to die, so I had to cry during After the Last Midtown Show by myself.

When the show ended, I found Whitney and we went outside. I felt like I was going to die, so we sat on the ground for a while, and even though we had a three hour drive ahead of us and the amount of sleep we would get that night depended on how fast we got to West Palm, we didn't leave right away. Mainly because Robert was gonna come visit. So, while we were waiting for Robert, we hung out outside, and eventually, Michael and Sisky came out. We were hanging around by Michael, but since he was being swarmed, I didn't even attempt to get in there. But holy shit. Some fucking stupid-ass girl was like "I have a weird question" to Michael and then she fucking asked about the baby. I was just like =0 and didn't even hear what Michael said. But of course he wasn't gonna be like "omg, yeah, there's a baby and I'm gonna tell you just because you asked even though Bill is trying to keep it as private as possible." I mean, really. Whatever.

Then Bill came out and the crowd around Michael drastically reduced, so we finally talked to him. Basically, I was just like "Hi. I don't have anything for you to sign or a camera, so I just wanted to say hi and that we'll be at the show tomorrow and the day after that," and he was all sweet and was like "Oh, well, hi, then!" and he like, waved, and then he was like "I'll shake your hand, then," and then he shook my hand. And I told him that I had a large gift to give them. I don't remember what else.

Then we moved over to where Sisky was and just kind of stood there, and I heard a girl talking to him and she was like "I have a weird question" and in my head, I was like "Oh FUCK NO". And then, the same girl as before, ASKED ABOUT THE FUCKING BABY. Seriously, I was getting so fucking pissed, holy shit.

And then Bill had to move, so there was a sudden stampede of fourteen year old girls rushing past me, pushing me up against the wall that I was standing by. And then Bill was passing me and he got squished right up against me and his butt like, pushed right up against my vagina and I was really grossed out because I love William Beckett to death, but I don't want any part of him near my vagina. Ever.

So then Jack came out and we said hi to him and then he told the guys that they had to move the bus or something, so they had to go. Then Robert called me and told me to meet him at Planet Hollywood, so Whitney and I left to go in that direction.

It was nice to see Robert again. I saw him the last time I visited home, but that was before he moved to Orlando and I wasn't sure when I would be able to see him again.

So we ate some food and then we got in the car and left. Stopped to fill up on gas, I got some coffee, and then I drove to West Palm Beach. The drive was so long and boring and at certain times there was literally nobody else on the roads and it was like a scene from a horror movie and I was expecting my car to break down and someone to come murder me. But we made it to my mom's boyfriend's house in one piece around 3:30 AM. But I hadn't seen my mom in a few weeks, so I was awake for a while just talking to her. And I told her about the girl that was asking about Bill's baby and my mom was like "What a bitch! That's obviously something that he doesn't want people to talk about!" Hahaha, I fucking love my mom.

We finally went to sleep and way too soon, my alarm was going off. So, we got up, got ready, my mom gave us some breakfast and gave me some money, then she walked us out to the car and we left for Fort Lauderdale. We got there around 10 and parked in a nearby parking garage, found the venue, saw that there was a cheaper, closer parking lot, went back to my car, paid $2 for ten minutes, drove to McDonalds to pee, then parked in the cheaper, closer lot in spot 11 because it was my eleventh time seeing TAI.

We got our spot in line, and then these two girls got in line next to us and they recognized Whitney from LiveJournal. So we became instant friends with them and we walked around Fort Lauderdale and got food with them, made fun of screaming girls with them, you know, the fun stuff.

There were a lot of screaming girls in Fort Lauderdale. Like, an insane amount. I honestly have no idea when TAI fans got so fucking...crazy. And not the good kind of crazy.

Christy and Nicole (the TAI LJ girls) left us eventually for SLH, and then it started raining and people were getting annoying, but luckily, I was under the overhang thing, though, and didn't get wet. Doors finally eventually opened and we got in the crowd behind Christy and Nicole since all of the SLH kids took up the barricade. But after like, five minutes, without even the show being close to starting, the crowd was too much to handle. It was fucking ridiculous. So we got out of the crowd and went upstairs to the balcony thing. And I was able to sit! Seriously, getting too old for this. But, since I was up on the balcony, I was able to watch the crowd and it was INSANE. There were several times when I thought to myself "I am SO glad I'm not in there!"



Hey Monday, Carolina Liar, We The Kings, same as the night before, whatever. Then TAI came on. And as nice as it is to be up front and watch them up close, it's just as awesome to see them from like, up above. With a good view, but able to watch the entire stage. And god, William Beckett is the most amazing frontman ever.

They switched the set list up a little bit, basically instead of "Rumored Nights", the played "Beware, Cougar!" and instead of "LAX to O'Hare", the played "Down and Out". It was Hey Monday's hometown show, and during "Down and Out", Cassidee came out and sang with them.

ALSO, when they were playing "The Phrase That Pays"... William brought the Thriller dance back! I seriously fucking started crying, I can't even begin to explain how much I fucking missed that 3-second long dance move. I mean, it's just a dance move, but holy shit, it was amazing.


During the last song, "Checkmarks", William went into the crowd, as usual. Oh, the poor man. It was painful to watch, all of these hands in his face, poking him, doing inappropriate things to him. And he picked the wrong day to wear a button-up shirt because these girls? Definitely stripped his shirt off. I honestly had to look away because I was almost ashamed of my fellow fans. Plus, I don't like looking at William Beckett when he's less than fully clothed. Once he managed to get out of the sea of pre-pubescent girls, he laid on the stage with his shirt ripped open and I felt awkward, and then he got up and left the stage.


People started leaving the floor and I noticed that the entire floor was FLOODED with water from all of the rain. It was crazy.

We couldn't really hang around because we had a four hour drive back to St. Pete, so we left pretty much right away. Filled up on gas, got a huge cup of coffee, a can of Red Bull, and some snack food. And then we set off on the longest drive of the weekend. But it was a good drive. Whitney and I had some deep conversations. And in a moment of silence, I decided to ask Whitney what she would do if she was talking to William and he farted. I swear, my mind gets so weird late at night, but it was the funniest conversation ever. We had to stop a second time to get gas and to pee and then we finished the drive to St. Pete and got back around 3:30 AM.

We walked back to my dorm and decided that we weren't even going to sleep. We were just going to go right down to Jannus Landing and get in line. So I changed my clothes, brushed my hair, put on some fresh deodorant and perfume, and then we walked down to Jannus Landing. We met up with Jo and her sister and just hung out in a pile of blankets and pillows on the ground.

Around 5 AM or so, we were getting pretty delirious and we started talking about bears and none of us could stop laughing and it was the funniest thing in the whole world. And then we gave all of the TAI guys bear-themed nicknames. Jack was Polar Bear, Tony was Panda Bear, Butcher was Grizzly Bear, Carden was Teddy Bear, Michael was Koala Bear, William was...Marsupial (...?), and Sisky was Colourful Speckled Bear. I really have no explanation to what the hell was wrong with us. I honestly felt like we were all on drugs.

The gates to Jannus were open and nobody was there, so there was a point when Jo and I went in and went onstage. And it was so cool. I got to see what the bands see. It was pretty awesome.

So, finally, the sun came up and Starbucks opened, so I went there to pee and got a chai tea latte and came back. I'm pretty sure that we had already had a run-in or two with a couple hobos, but none that really stuck out until Dock Ellis.

The "owner" of Jannus Landing, who told us that we were crazy to be waiting so early and said that he could get us in to "sit wherever we wanted". He also told us that he was paralyzed from Vietnam and that he drank alcohol every single day. Then he said that he was going to go get breakfast and come back in an hour so we could get in. And then he reminded us again that he was paralyzed from Vietnam. And he never came back.

And we waited.

And napped a little bit.









It was like 9 AM soon, and nobody was there still. It was weird. No fans, no buses, not even any Jannus workers. But FINALLY, another group of girls came. And then workers showed up. And then the buses arrived. And then these other girls showed up and they were being total creepsters and sitting outside of TAI's bus. Like, not even inconspicuously. Just...creepy.

So, after a while, it was getting close to noon and I was hungry, so I walked to Publix and got some sushi, omnomnom. And then we came back and I was eating my sushi when Butcher walked by and he said that he had to use the bathroom and he'd be right out. He was out a few minutes later and was like "that bathroom was disgusting!" and then he disappeared. A little while later, we saw him over by the bus with a cigarette and a cup of coffee, and I was a bit reluctant about talking to him, but then everyone else was. So I grabbed my painting that I'd been carrying around for the past two days, and went over to him. I honestly hardly remember our conversation, but I gave him my painting.






He asked me if it was acrylic and I was like "yep!" and um, yeah, he liked it. Whitney also mentioned that we had met him at Warped and was like "I don't know if you remember us", just kind of like, in passing, but he was like "Yeah, of course I do" which was pretty awesome. And I told him that there a Dunder Mifflin post-it note on the back of the painting which was very urgent and he smiled and said he'd make sure to read it. Basically, the post-it note was me begging them to play Almost Here. So yeah. He told us that him and Tony were the only ones awake right then... Then we mentioned how we'd been at the front of the line for all three shows now and we hadn't been able to get up front because we're not in SLH and Butcher was like "I'll talk to Jack" and it was pretty much awesome, and then we decided to leave him alone and stuff, and then we went back to our spot in line.

A little while later, Jack came out and Whitney and I went over to him and talked to him and told him our situation and he was like "I'll see what I can do."



I really don't remember much of what happened during the day, honestly. It was all one sleep-deprived daze. I know eventually, though, Michael walked by, and he came over to talk to us and he remembered us from Friday, and I mentioned the painting and he said he loved it, then he brought set lists up and said that they were going to be switching the set list up that night. And I kind of raised my eyebrow and was like "Any chance of...you playing Almost Here?" and then he smiled and was like "Well....I don't want to give anything away."

So that kind of gave it away that yes, they were probably going to play my song.

We waited some more.



There was one point during the day when I was being weird a turned the leaf of a plant into a dinosaur and I was making it growl at Whitney, and Whitney was just kind of looking past me, and when I looked to where she was looking, Carden was passing by and I was really embarassed because I was making the plant growl.

Victor and Beth got off their bus around 4 and then I took them, Grace, and Molly back to my dorm so that Victor and Beth could put their stuff there. On the way back to Jannus, it started raining. It started POURING. It was too late to turn around and get an umbrella because my umbrella was in my car and my car keys were in my dorm and it was just too much, so we sucked it up.

But it didn't stop raining.

It kept raining.

And it kept raining. And it kept raining. And there's no overhang at Jannus Landing, so every person there was getting soaked.

Then Jack came over to us and was like "Did you guys want to go to the meet and greet?" and we were just like "Not really, we just want a good spot up front" and he was like "Alright, I'll see what I can do, I'll be right back."

And we stood in the rain some more. It got really ridiculous, like, it was FREEZING. I was shivering so much, and everyones tickets were starting to fall apart from being so wet.

Jack never did come back, but I forgive him because everything was getting beyond stressful.

FINALLY, the gates opened, and Whitney and I were the first ones in after the SLH kids, and luckily, there was a spot open on the barricade right on Carden's side, so it worked out well. So we got there, got our spots, Victor and Beth got their spots next to us and then we waited.

And we waited.

And we waited.





And nothing was happening. An hour passed and Hey Monday hadn't come on yet, we had no idea what was going on. Another twenty minutes passed. Nothing. More time. Nothing.

And then finally, We The Kings came on. No Hey Monday, no Carolina Liar, just straight to We The Kings. I'll admit, I was a little bummed to not be seeing Hey Monday again because...yeah, they were starting to grow on me.

When We The Kings came on, Travis said that they were having a lot of problems because of the rain and people were getting shocked and there was a small electrical fire, but that they were going to try and play anyways.

Two songs in, people were on the side of the stage, waving their arms and telling them to stop.

Travis went over to talk to them, came back, and told us and he'd be back out to do an acoustic set and so would The Academy Is.

I was immediately bummed because, for one thing, that meant that they wouldn't be playing my song. It also meant that Carden wouldn't be out. It also meant that for Victor and Beth's first TAI show, they wouldn't get to see how amazing and energetic they are.

Travis came out and played Skyway Avenue, Check Yes Juliet, Secret Valentine, and This Is Our Town, which was awesome because those are all songs I know and This Is Our Town is actually my favourite WTK song and I actually think that it's a very, very good song. And it was pretty much amazing acoustic.

And then William and Michael came out to do the acoustic set. And as soon as they started playing, I knew that it was going to be amazing. And William kept thanking us for staying and apologizing for the rain.

They played 40 Steps, Time After Time, About a Girl, Summer Hair, Down and Out, Checkmarks, Classifieds, and The Test.

And as soon as they finished, William jumped off the stage and behind the barricade and shook every. single. person in the front row's hand and personally thanked them for staying. Not a half-hearted thank you, either. Like, he stared directly into my eyes and held my hand between both of his and said "Thank you so much for staying". I seriously started crying.

Because if it had been any other band in the world, they wouldn't have gone through all of that trouble. They would have packed up and left and cancelled the show. And William was thanking US for staying when we should have been thanking him. This is why I love this band so fucking much. They're the most amazing and dedicated men on the face of the planet and even when everything goes wrong, they still manage to put on the best show that they can for their fans. I have never in my life seen a band that's just as dedicated to their fans as their fans are to them. And what more could you ask for?

So we got out of there and thank god it had stopped raining, and we went over to the bus so we could talk to them. The first one out was Michael but he was immediately swarmed, and then Jack was there and we talked to him and he was just so adorable like he awlways is. No, seriously, Jack is one of the cutest guys I have ever seen in my entire life. Like, cute like adorable-little-puppy cute. I love him to death.

We saw William go in the bus and since Michael was swarmed, we decided to just wait for William. And he eventually came out, but it was like, a mad rush towards him. It was crazy.

AND THEN, OMG.

So William was by the bus door and Jack was trying to get in, and then he said "I'll be back" and then William was like "...That's what she said."

Whitney, Victor, Beth, and I all looked at each other like "OMG" and it wasn't even until later when we realized how LAME that was, but just the fact that he said THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID was so fucking amazing.

So then William had to move and a group of girls followed him, so we decided to talk to Michael. And of course he was sweet and we basically just got pictures with him since we'd already talked to him several times.




And then Sisky came out, so we went over to him. Talked about how we went to all three shows and didn't sleep at all the night before, then I mentioned my painting and he was like "Oh yeah, the one with no faces?" and I nodded and he was like "Very nice! Very well done. It was the first thing I saw when I woke up this morning." So that was cool, and then we took a picture.



Then we went over to Bill who still had a pretty large crowd around him and we waited for some of the people to clear out, but of course, he's so damn friendly that it took quite a while. But then finally I got to talk to him.

I thanked him so much for staying and playing the show because we'd been there since 4 AM and we went to all of the show, and I warned him that I was sleep deprived and that made me emotional and saying things I wouldn't usually say, and then I told him how much he meant to me and how much he's done for me and how much he's given me, and he just stood there smiling and listening to me babble and then he hugged me and thanked me.

Then I asked him if he saw my painting and he was like "Wait, what's your name again?" and I was like "Kayla" and he was like "Yeah! Okay, yeah, your name's on the painting, yeah." and then he told me how much he liked it and then he was like "That's one of the pictures that my sister took" and that was really cute. And um...I know we talked more, but I just can't remember about what. I remember mentioning something about how I had like, three tests that week, and Bill was like "I'm sure you'll do fine." And I can't remember much else. But I'm pretty sure we talked for several minutes. And we took a picture.



Now, all who was left was Carden. My man. So we walked around to the other side of the bus and there he was. But he was talking to these girls and I wasn't about to interrupt, but then The Butcher was there! So we decided to talk to him again.

I've gotta say that he's probably one of the easiest people to talk to. Like, every time, it's just so easy to talk about like...anything. He thanked me again for the painting and he told me that he put it at the front of the bus and then he hugged me and then we kind of walked away, but we remembered that we didn't take any pictures with him, so we turned back and did that. We apologized that we kept bothering him, but he was like "No, it's fine!" and then he told us to go get some sleep. <3





Carden was being very talkative with everyone which was a pretty immediate givaway that he was slightly intoxicated. And then we finally got up to him and god, fuck, I can't even begin to describe some of the things I want to do to that man. It's weird because the rest of that band, I can't look at in any type of way that's more than just friendly, but Carden? It's like all of the sexual energy that I DON'T have for the other four guys is added to the sexual energy I have towards Carden and it's just...IYFSGHSKGJHUH.

So he was amazing and wonderful and I don't remember what we talked about, but we took pictures.


(I wasn't ready.)

And then I brought up my painting, and he was like "Oh, that was you! Yeah, that's just so awesome! I love art, you're so talented, you know, you gotta keep doing that, you're talented, you have to keep painting for the rest of your life because that's just so awesome" or something along those lines, but holy shit, he was trashed and he just went on about how awesome it was and how talented I was.

And then he pulled me into the best hug of my entire life. Seriously, it was amazing. Like, his arms wrapped around me and kind of like, stroked my back a bit, and my body was all pressed against his and my face got buried in his neck and it wasn't just a quick wrap-your-arms-around-each-other-and-pull-away kind of hug. It was a press-your-bodies-together-and-hold-that-position-for-a-while kind of hug. And holy fuck, I was dying inside. Like, my stomach was all fluttery and oh my god. I honestly didn't want to let go but eventually I did.

And then we said goodbye to Carden and he went back on the bus... probably to jack off while thinking about me. JUST KIDDING OMG.

...Now I have that thought in my head. Excuse me, I need to go-- just kidding again.

And then we began the walk back to my dorm -- of course as soon as I was out of sight, I had to do a little victory dance because I was in such a happy, giggly mood since I'd just had the best hug of my life with the love of my life.

Got back to my dorm like, ten minutes later (I seriously love living so close, omg) and we were starving, so we changed into dry clothes and went to IHOP and got food. We got back and Victor, Beth, and Whitney all went to bed, but I had to type up some homework that I had finished in line on Saturday. Then I slept. Then I had to wake up at 8 for class.

And that was the end of the best weekend of my life.

Victor and Beth left in the morning, but Whitney stayed for a few more days. Wednesday, The Rocket Summer played at the State Theatre and Whitney went, but I didn't because I went to a gay film festival with my roommate, Terra, and we saw this amazing movie Clapham Junction. We were literally the ONLY girls there in a room full of gay men. It was amazing.

And after the movie, we walked down to State Theatre and I met Bryce. Very productive evening.



It's Thursday night and I just got back from driving Whtiney back to her car. Life is back to normal. I'm sad. The Office is about to come on soon, though, so....

And this took me three days to write. Holy shit.

And even longer to finally post. Wtf. Whatever.

The End.