The elevator closed gently with a soft beep, and the group was enveloped in a brief moment of silence.
There they all were: Andrew, Reggie, Archie, Steve, Kevin, Howard with the camera in hand, Cam and Mitchell up front, and Kevin's older brother in the back, serious, but curious about everything that was about to unfold.
Steve, arms crossed, broke the silence, "How about we go up one more floor? That way we can see from above if anyone's by the fountain. We can scout the area before heading down."
Andrew gave him a sideways glance, "Scout the area… like we're some kind of special forces?"
"Exactly. I don't want to go down there and find it empty. Better to know ahead of time," Steve replied.
Cam raised his hand as if approving a motion in a school assembly. "I agree. I love the drama. If we go down and there's people, it's exciting. But if we look from above and see the crowd first, it could be cinematic."
Mitchell sighed, "Or a silent disappointment if there's no one."
"Thanks, Mitch. Always the optimist," Cam said, rolling his eyes.
"I'm just trying to be realistic," Mitch replied. He wasn't really sure how a YouTuber meetup worked.
Andrew pressed the button for the third floor.
The fountain was on the second.
From the third level, they'd have a direct view down into the open space of the central plaza, surrounded by glass railings and ringed with shops.
It was the perfect place to see if anyone had arrived.
The elevator continued its ascent while Howard filmed everything.
Ding.
The elevator doors opened slowly.
A breeze of cool air and soft background music greeted them.
Cam and Mitch stepped out first, followed by Andrew and the others.
They walked a few meters, past an electronics store and a café, where a few people sat quietly sipping their drinks.
Then they reached the railing.
The heart of the mall opened up before them in a vast, oval-shaped space spanning three stories high, with a glass ceiling that let natural light flood in.
And in the center, by the fountain, they saw them.
A sea of people. Hundreds.
Many held signs and cameras. There were people in sports jerseys, caps with the Palisades Eagles logo, and printed sheets with various messages. One that Andrew managed to read said: I train thanks to you; No pain, no gain; Andrew, sign my abs, and so on.
People chatted with visible anticipation, many holding up phones or cameras as if waiting for the exact moment of his arrival.
And there were still about fifteen minutes to go before the scheduled time.
Howard raised the camera and recorded the crowd at the fountain, then also filmed the silent reactions of Andrew and the others.
The whole group stayed quiet until Reggie finally spoke, amazed, "A hundred people, huh?" he said, looking at Andrew with a grin. "Looks like you underestimated yourself, man."
"Yeah..." Andrew murmured, his eyes scanning every corner of the place: the crowd surrounding the fountain, the signs, the faces.
He'd always been cheered at football games; hundreds, even thousands, came to watch his team play. He'd always handled nerves well, and they never affected his performance.
But this was different.
All these people were here specifically for him. Not to watch a football game.
But because of the videos he uploaded to his YouTube channel.
"This is insane…" Archie muttered, swallowing hard.
He knew the crowd wasn't here for him, but still, the thought of being the second most popular on the channel after Andrew made him nervous.
"This is history, Mitchell! History!" exclaimed Cam, eyes shining with excitement, not caring how dramatic he sounded.
That shout from Cam made several people near the fountain turn their heads.
First, a couple of guys. Then a girl holding a poster that read Eagle Power. Their eyes shifted upward to the third floor, to the railing.
There, they saw a boy with a bowl haircut pointing a camera their way—and standing next to him, someone they instantly recognized.
"IT'S HIM!" shouted a female voice.
"Andrew! He's right there!" yelled a boy, raising his arm and pointing like no one else knew where to look.
The collective murmur erupted within seconds. Like a spark lighting a damp fuse... and suddenly exploding.
More than a hundred heads turned upward.
And then came the cheers, the applause, phones held high in the air.
A father even lifted his small child, maybe seven years old, so he could see Andrew.
Howard, still filming as if he couldn't believe what his lens was capturing, said, "I did not see this coming…"
"Me neither," Andrew murmured, more to himself than to anyone else.
He knew he was in YouTube's top 10.
At school, people asked for photos, autographs, even after away games, people who weren't from Palisades came up to him. Even on the street or in the supermarket.
But seeing over a hundred people cheering just for his YouTube channel?
That was something else entirely.
Mitchell's forehead began to sweat. His brain switched into overdrive, entering full security and logistics mode.
"Let's head down before someone decides to come up here…" said Andrew, waving at the crowd as they chanted his name.
The others nodded and moved toward the escalators.
The group descended in a tight formation. Howard, just behind Andrew, filmed every second, framing his face with the roar of the crowd in the background.
As they reached the second floor, the noise turned into movement.
Several people rushed toward the spot where they knew Andrew would step onto the ground.
Luckily, as Andrew had predicted, his subscribers were civilized.
There was an enthusiastic energy, but nothing wild, no chaos.
No one was shoving or pushing to get ahead.
And the area was spacious.
A central plaza that could hold over five hundred people standing without being overcrowded, and by quick estimation, it looked more than half full.
Maybe a few more people would still show up.
Every face was expectant.
Phones held high. Arms outstretched with notebooks, t-shirts, footballs.
Andrew kept a steady pace.
He walked calmly but efficiently, greeting people, shaking hands, taking pictures, chatting.
He tried to keep it effective and not spend too much time talking to just one fan, because he didn't want to leave anyone out.
Most of the people there from his channel were teenagers, between 13 and 18 years old.
Mostly guys, but more girls than he had expected. Some shy, others more expressive.
One girl handed him a letter that looked like it had 18 pages written on both sides.
Another asked him to sign her forearm, strange as it sounded.
There were also younger kids, around 7 to 10 years old, brought by their parents.
One of them, wearing glasses and barely over four feet tall, hugged him without saying a word.
And when he let go, his eyes were watery. Cam, seeing this, gasped dramatically, nearly crying more than the kid.
Mitchell began organizing to prevent any social chaos.
He used his obsession with control and structure, he didn't even need to raise his voice. Everyone was respectful, but some order was definitely needed.
Cam, meanwhile, had fully embraced his role as the official photographer, with the seriousness of a film director.
He asked fans to stand at the right angle, took multiple photos to avoid closed eyes, and even gave small posing instructions.
"Smile! Right there! Yes, perfect! Now a serious one! Now dab!"
Everything was flowing smoothly.
Almost miraculously, the event turned into something functional and well-organized, just enough so that the mall staff didn't kick them out.
Andrew had just finished taking pictures with a boy and girl who were dating and had started working out together thanks to his routines. He moved on to the next group.
This group consisted of a boy, a girl, and a middle-aged man.
The girl looked about fifteen. Straight dark hair with a healthy shine, falling neatly into place. Her eyes were serious, steady, and her posture was almost military.
She wore black athletic wear with red accents. Everything fit her perfectly.
She was attractive, athletic, and at the same time… intimidating.
"Hi…" she said, trying to sound as confident as possible, though her nervousness was clear. "I'm Monica Geller. I've been a fan since before you hit a hundred thousand."
Andrew froze.
Not because of how she looked, because of her name.
He knew that name. Not from this life… but from the one before. One of the shows he'd watched in his past life was Friends.
And Monica Geller was one of the main characters: the neat freak, the relentlessly competitive one, the woman who had to have the last word and a spotless kitchen.
The name and the appearance, though younger, nearly identical, told him he was standing face-to-face with the real Monica Geller.
A teenage version, yes. But unmistakable.
Andrew felt a chill run down his spine.
'What the hell!? Why is she a teenager!?' he thought, confused.
-------------------------------------------------
You can read 15 chapters in advance on my patreon.
Link: https://[email protected]/Nathe07