Untouchable

Zoe

We touched down in sunny LA at roughly 9am Pacific time. For us, it was evening time and having been up eighteen hours already, I was feeling the strain. The thought of having to get through another whole day seemed tough. But I had to stay awake. That was the only way to defeat the jet lag.

It was relief to get through customs and outside to where the car would be. We had a large minivan picking us up, so we could all fit in and it was cheaper too. As soon as we stepped outside, the intense Los Angeles heat smacked us, devouring the space around us and instantly warming our bodies. Planes can be chilly, and back in Britain it had certainly been chilly, so this felt amazing. What made it even more amazing is that I saw a familiar face beaming at us, leaning against a waiting minivan.

"Well helllooooo everyone!" he shrieked, waving animatedly at us all.
"Tyler!!" I called, breaking into a huge smile. Everyone rushed over and we all hugged and greeted him. I had met him once very briefly but we had kept in close contact online and seeing him again felt great. I couldn't wait to hang out with him more.
"Good flight?" he enquired, as the boys helped the driver lift all our stuff into the boot.
"Not too bad," I replied, unable to stifle a yawn at that exact moment. Tyler frowned and laughed.
"But fresh as a daisy, I see?" He laughed his unmistakable laugh but then said "just kidding, you still look great. Even a long-haul transatlantic flight is no match for Zoella, Miss 3 million subscribers," he said nudging me playfully.

I smiled. I had put some make up before the plane landed, focusing mainly on moisturising my skin before putting on thin layers of foundation, concealer, then a little blush and some mascara. Just enough to look remotely human.

I noticed Tyler was looking round shiftily. "You alright Tyler?" Tanya asked.
"Yeah I'm just looking for...oh there they are!" he clasped his hands together. Following his gaze, I saw...Joe and Caspar coming towards us?!

"What are you both doing here?" I shouted, my face breaking into an uncontrollable grin as Joe picked up speed, running and crashing into me for a hug.
"Uh, we lied obviously," he said in my ear chuckling. "We actually caught the earlier flight out. Will teach all you lot to think we're lazy," he said, pointing a joking finger at everyone.
"There was no way we wanted to miss the first day with the squad," Caspar said, going round and hugging everyone.

"And are you OK?" Joe asked me, his arm still around me.
"What do you mean?" I said.
"I had a garbled voicemail from a panicked Tan at about 6am your time saying you were having a panic attack and what should they do?" I shot a look at Tanya who had an apologetic look on her face.
"Sorry Zoe, I panicked too! I thought Joe would know what to do." I gave her a small smile, to show her I wasn't annoyed at her, although I was irritated it was being brought up now.
"I'm fine," I said, not wanting to draw attention to the situation that was bound to be awkward still. I had barely been able to look Jack in the eye since.
"Good. I heard Alfie Deyes here was a bit of a hero!?" Joe declared loudly, causing everyone else to clam up, sensing there had been some tension around this. Oblivious, Joe slung his arm around his shoulders. "Cheers man."
"Oh yes, he was a hero alright," Jack mumbled, just loud enough for everyone to hear. He looked at Alfie, who stared straight back at him not blinking.

Sensing the tension, although unsure exactly what, Tyler yelled "right, let's get on this bus and to the hotel. The pool won't wait forever!"
"I'm pretty sure it will. I mean, swimming pools can't up and walk out..." I heard Caspar say, as everyone clambered onto the bus. I caught eyes with Joe who mouthed "everything alright?" I shrugged lightly and made a gesture with my face that indicated maybe it wasn't. He looked concerned, but got on the bus anyway. We would have to talk later.

This was all my fault.