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this was given to me by wizzy, or, as she is more recently known, the wizzah.
Disclaimer: This story is an absolute fabrication. I don’t know Jimmy Fallon or Carson Daly or any of the people that I mentioned. If this in any way resembles an actual encounter or real people, it is purely coincidence. This is a figment of my imagination, so there! Don’t go making up some story that this really happened to you, because you know it didn’t. You’re just jealous of my genius writing skills. I have one thing to say to you: Don’t hate, congratulate! Hehehe.
Only In New York
by: the Wizzah
It was a Friday when my mother told me those five little words. “We’re going to New York.” Of all the things I could’ve said, I chose, “Why?”
“For Christmas. We do the same boring thing every year. We need some adventure, Talia. And, I’ve always wanted to see Rockefeller Center during Christmas time.”
So many thoughts ran through my head; “What am I going to wear? How long are we going to be there? New York...SNL! Wait! SNL isn’t taping right now! What am I going to do in New York without SNL?”
“Talia, are you all right? Did you hear what I said?”
“Yeah, what?”
“We’re flying there on the 23rd. We’ll return on January 3rd. I want to go the Time Square for New Year’s.”
“This is crazy, mom! I’m so psyched.”
“Everything is booked and reserved. Oh, and, Talia? You can invite a friend.”
After some serious pondering, I finally decided to take my next door neighbor and close friend, Nicole. I was so excited. I knew it was going to be so much fun.
* * * * *
I’d been sitting for two hours, and my bum was falling asleep, and that was not good. I was going to have to sit for three more hours when I got on the plane. Nicole didn’t seem to mind. She was sitting next to me, completely relaxed, moving her head to the beat of some Limp Bizkit song. My mom, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. She kept getting up from her seat and pacing back and forth around the terminal. She never was a patient person. I had had my fill of boredom, so I headed over to the gift shop and purchased a magazine. “Thirty Ways to Get His Attention!” I chuckled as I read the headline.
Just as I returned to my seat, I heard, “Good afternoon. The 3:30 to Chicago will begin boarding, at gate 12, in 10 minutes.” I looked over at gate 12 and saw a line quickly forming. I harshly nudged Nicole and started gathering my bags. My mom was already in line. I told you she’s not very patient. I leisurely strolled towards my mother, with Nicole not far behind.
When you’re in an airport, 10 minutes can seem like 30. Finally, a flight attendant appeared, and began taking tickets. She repeated, “Thank you, enjoy your flight,” to every one of the boarding individuals. I took a deep breath before I walked through the jet ramp. I thought, “Please, God, let everything go right.”
We transferred planes in Chicago, and soon, we were nearing JFK International. Suddenly, the flight became a bit bumpy. Over the speakers, I heard, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot, speaking. We are experiencing some turbulence. Don’t worry, everything will be fine. It’s just a little stormy here in New York, so I’m gonna have to ask you to remain seated and buckle your seat belts. Thank you.” I did as he said, and looked over at Nicole. She was looking straight ahead and taking deep breaths. I guess she was trying to keep from throwing up. My mother, however, was not bothered at all by the slight jerking of the plane that occurred every so often. She sat quietly and continued to read her romance novel. I smiled. I had managed to find some humor in this serious situation, and I was very proud of myself.
* * * * *
I had never been more afraid in my entire life. I thought we were going to die. I knew it. I closed my eyes and imagined that I was back home, in a city where it is safe to drive. Since entering the car 20 minutes earlier, my mother had nearly killed a total of five pedestrians, and we had narrowly escaped too many accidents. And, to add to the horrible drivers, it was raining. New York was a scary place. Finally my mother pulled in front of the hotel. As soon as the engine died, I let out my breath. I turned and looked at Nicole. Poor girl, she had been permanently traumatized.
Nicole and I walked around the hotel lobby, while my mother checked in. Thank God for credit cards. Otherwise, we would have had to wait until 2:00 pm, the next day, to check in. There wasn’t much to do but wait. Finally, Mom was finished and we headed up to our room. It took a while, but I finally found room 124. I inserted the key and threw open the door. Nicole managed to get ahead of me, and dove onto one of the beds. It was 11:30, but I was wide awake. That’s because I’m used to West Coast time. It was really only 8:30. I noticed the grumbling of my stomach and looked at my mom.
“You guys hungry? Let’s get something to eat.” So we headed back down to the car.
Driving along, I spotted a Denny’s. Right then, a Grand Slam sounded really good. So we stopped. Isn’t it funny how you can go to a restaurant with a specific item in mind, but when you look at the menu, your craving goes away? I know, you don’t have a clue what I’m talking about. Anyway, that is exactly what happened. Instead of the Grand Slam, I ordered some french toast. After placing my order, I happened to look over at the register. I did a double take. You know, like in movies. Jimmy Fallon was standing there, donning a watchman’s cap and a scarf, paying. I started to freak out. I noticed that I was staring at him, but not before he turned around and caught me in the act. He waved at me and left. I nearly died. I’d had the chance to talk to Jimmy Fallon and I did nothing. My mother noticed my strange behavior and asked what was wrong. I lied and told her that I was just a little “weirded-out” by being in such a different place. I couldn’t eat my french toast. I was too excited. I couldn’t sleep that night, either. However, I was more calm than I would’ve been, if I’d known what was in store for me.
* * * * *
The next day was Christmas Eve, and we decided to go ice-skating in Rockefeller Center. It was 11:00 am, and it was cold. I felt like a sumo wrestler in all of the jackets and sweaters that I was wearing. It took me three tries to get onto the ice. I could barely move, and it was a sad sight. Nicole and I started off holding on to each other, but she soon “got the hang of it”, and ditched me. I had to make it on my own. I was doing pretty well, until this idiot pulled a hit-and-run on me. I lost my balance and hit the ground quite hard. I could feel the cold of the ice seeping through the many layers of clothing.
Even though my eyes were closed, I could tell that someone had come up next to me. I heard a familiar voice say, “Are you all right?! Here, let me help you up.” I opened my eyes and took hold of his hand.
“Thanks.” As soon as I looked up at him, I fainted, falling to the ground once again, this time more forcefully.
I woke up, laying on a bench. I saw my mother, Nicole, someone who I assumed was a doctor, and my rescuer. There was also about 50 other people around. You know, the kind who slow down when they see an accident, because they’re so damn nosy.
I heard my mother’s voice, “Oh thank goodness you’re all right!”
Next came Nicole, “I’m so sorry. I wouldn’t have left you if I’d known this was gonna happen. I swear.”
The doctor chimed in, “Talia? My name is Steve Wilson. I’m a doctor and I’m gonna take a look at you.” After a quick examination, the doctor told me that I was fine and could even go back into the rink if I wanted to. No thanks. I’d had enough. Nicole and Mom decided to continue skating, while I stayed on the bench. I was joined by the kind soul who had “saved my life”.
“Oh, wow. I never introduced myself. Sorry. I’m Jim,” he said after a couple of minutes.
“I know. I watch you every Saturday...on SNL.” Stupid response. He knew what I was talking about. I can be such an idiot at times.
“Really? That’s awesome. Working there is the coolest! Those dudes are so so so nice! It’s like a party every week. I love it! It’s a dream come true. Literally. Man, listen to me. I’m going on and on about myself.” He laughed. I love that laugh. I love that smile. I love him!
The only thing I could think of to say was, “So, you’re here by yourself?”
“Why? Oh wait, is that like a pickup line? I get it. Haha. Actually, I’m waiting for Horatio to get here. We’re supposed to go skating together. I guess they ditched me.”
“Oh.”
“You don’t talk much. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah! I’m just...nervous.”
“Over what? Not over talking to me!”
“Yeah,” I blushed when I said this.
“I get like that, too, when I’m talking to certain people. But, you don’t have to be nervous around me. It’s not like I’m some big celebrity.”
“Yes you are. Do you know how many girls there are, that would kill to be where I am and do what I’m doing right now?”
“Well, yeah. There’s that. But, I try not to think about it. I get embarrassed. I don’t think I’m that hot. Haha. I’m just...me.”
“Oh my God, you are very hot!” I was mortified. How could I have sad that? It was official; I’m the king of idiots.
I nearly died when he ruffled his hair, “Wow, um, I underestimated you. You’re very outspoken. Haha, but that’s cool.”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. I mean, it’s not that I think that you’re not hot, but I just-...I’m sorry.”
He laughed at me, but not in the cruel sort of way. “So, are you from here?” Thank God he changed the subject.
“No, I’m from California. We came from California, for Christmas.”
“Whoa! That’s a long ways from here. What part of California?”
“Santa Clara.”
“Really? I used to live in LA. So, how do you like New York, so far?”
“Uh...it’s interesting. There are so many people!”
“Yeah,” he chuckled, “there are. Hey! Weren’t you at that Denny’s last night? Are you the girl I saw?”
I was so embarrassed. I knew exactly why he remembered me. Who wouldn’t remember someone who’d been gawking at them?
“Yeah. Guilty as charged. I’m sorry if I creeped you out.”
He said, “small world”, like he was in awe, but then quickly added, “Aw, no. Why would you creep me out?”
“Because! I was staring at you. I know I’d get freaked out.”
“Nah, I’m used to it. I think that everyone who lives here is. New York is home to some of the creepiest creeps in the world. Millions are stared at everyday. Nothing new.”
I began to laugh uncontrollably, and he smiled. “What’s so funny?”
“You. This. Yesterday I would never have thought that I’d be sitting on a bench in Rockefeller Center talking to you. I’m so confused.”
“That’s because this is all a dream. I’m not real, the ice isn’t real, the jerk who bumped into you isn’t real. You’re imagining all of this.”
“Aw, man!”
“Relax, I’m just messing with you.”
“Don’t do that. The one awesome thing that happens in my life, and you try to take it away from me. Damn you!”
Our laughter was interrupted by, “Hey Jimmy!” Horatio Sanz had arrived and Jimmy had to go skate. He asked me if I wanted to go with them, but, being the idiot that I am, I declined. It would’ve been too weird.
* * * * *
Even though I’d said that I was never going to talk to her again, Nicole managed to get every detail of my private conversation with Jimmy Fallon. My mother had allowed us to wander around the city by ourselves. I have no idea what possessed her to let two 16 year olds explore New York City on their own, without adult supervision. Her reason was that she needed to do some shopping, but I think it was craziness, caused by lack of sleep. It was pretty close to four o’clock and we were in a Tower Records. As we browsed through the selection, I told Nicole what happened.
Just as I was finishing up the tale, I heard, “Okay, now you’re creeping me out. I’m beginning to think that you’re stalking me.” It was him. I was facing Nicole, so I was lucky that he didn’t see my face turn beet red.
Nicole responded for me saying, “How do we know that you’re not stalking us? You yourself said that there are a lot of creeps here. You could very well be one of them.” Why did she have to say that?! I made a mental note to kill her later. I felt instant relief when Jimmy laughed.
“I swear, I’m not stalking you guys. I’m just a nice boy from Brooklyn.”
“Saugherties,” I corrected him. “Same difference. I just think that Brooklyn sounds better.”
“Well then,” I continued, “if you aren’t stalking us, then what are you doing here?”
“Looking for a CD. You know, like everyone does.” I felt like an moron. Of course he was looking for a CD. I mean, look at where we were.
Nicole rescued me, “Oh really? What CD?”
“Uh, like a mix of songs. Like,” he quickly changed into an announcer type voice, “Now That’s What I Call Music, Volume 56.”
“Yeah, you’re really gonna find that in the ‘R&B’ section.” Sometimes I really hate Nicole.
“I know. I was over there, and I saw you guys,” he said as he pointed at the ‘Soundtracks’ section,“ So, I came over here.”
“Nicole shut up. Why are you being such an ass?”
“It’s what I do best,” she responded.
“Apparently,” muttered Jimmy, but then he changed his mood and said, “nah, I’m just playing.”
“Fine then. If you two love birds are gonna be so difficult, I’m just gonna go look at stickers. I don’t need this!” She pretended to stomp away. I was extremely embarrassed, now.
“Wow. Love birds? Is there something you’re not telling me?” Jimmy joked.
“I’m sorry. She’s just...being Nicole.”
“That’s okay. I’ve dealt with worse than her. I know she’s just messing around. Hey, how long are you gonna be here, Tal? Is it okay if I call you that?”
“Sure. Um, in New York? Uh, until the 3rd. Why?”
“Oh,” he sounded kind of bummed, “I was gonna get you some SNL tickets, like, for when we start taping again, since you’re such a big fan and all. But that won’t be for a few weeks.”
“Oh, well, that’s okay.” I faked a smile. He saw right through it, though.
“I’ll tell you what, I’ll give you a tour of 8h. Right now.”
“Really?! You can do that?”
“I don’t know. I think so. I mean, I work there. Let’s go find Nicole.”
Next thing I knew, we were walking around the SNL studio. I didn’t have my camera with me, and I was kicking myself. Jimmy showed us everything, even Lorne Michael’s office. I actually sat in Lorne’s chair. But I quickly got up because it was emitting this power, that I just couldn’t handle. By the time we finished sneaking around the studio, it was 5:30. “So, you’re mom really let you walk around by yourselves?”
“Yeah, she’s a horrible parent. I tried to report her, but they wouldn’t listen.” I had begun to feel really comfortable around Jimmy. I had a huge crush on him already, and this made it worse.
“Hey! Let’s find her and then we can go have dinner or something.” Nicole began to laugh, and Jimmy and I looked at her with concern.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because. This is really really weird. Jim, you’re really starting to creep me out. Why would you want to hang around with two 16-year-olds, like us? What are your intentions, buddy?” I wanted to kill her, yet she had a point.
“You have a sick, twisted little mind, Nicole. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna do anything to you. I just think you guys are pretty cool. Besides, I don’t have anything else to do until tomorrow. That’s when I’m going to my parent’s. You know, the whole family/Christmas thing. Does that put your mind at ease?”
“Hey, I’m just checking. Tally, here, is too caught up in her crush, to worry about these kinds of things.”
I was angry, but I managed to get out, “Nicole, shut up! You are so retarded!” I should’ve known what was coming.
“You are!”
“Dude, if you’re gonna steal people’s lines, you’ve got to at least say them correctly. It’s, 'You ah!'” laughed Jimmy.
Just then, my (actually it was my mother’s) cellphone rang. “Hello? Oh, hey mom. We’re okay. Uh, you’re never gonna believe this, but we’re in Studio 8h. No, it’s not a club, it’s in the NBC building, in Rockefeller Center. Well, Nicole and I ran into Jimmy Fallon at Tower Records, and he said that he’d give us a tour. You know, Jimmy Fallon. The guy from SNL. Mom, he’s the guy who helped me out over in Rockefeller Center. Right, him. Mom! He’s not psycho. Relax, we’re fine! He hasn’t done anything overly creepy...yet. Mom, I’m just playing. Where are you? On your way? How long? 10 minutes?! Try 40. Why?! Look where you are! Okay, love you too. Bye.”
Nicole and Jimmy were laughing hysterically. “I know,” I said. Jimmy suggested that we go downstairs and wait in the lobby, so we did. Sure enough, 40 minutes later, my mother arrived.
“Thank you for baby-sitting, Mr. Fallon.” I was so embarrassed.
“Oh, no prob.,” he laughed, “And please, call me Jimmy. I’m not old enough to be Mr. Fallon, yet.”
“Hey mom,” I quickly changed the subject, “how about we get some dinner?”
“Sure, you guys must be starving. Would you like to come with us, Jimmy?”
“Uh, sure. If you’ll have me.”
“Of course, it’d be our pleasure.”
What had happened? First my mother thought he was some psycho lunatic who was going to kill us, and now she was inviting him to dinner? Maybe she was just being nice.
We ended up eating at a pizza place. It was so awesome. Jimmy and I had a Mortal Kombat show down. We wasted a good $20’s worth of quarters, each. In the end, I won. Jimmy insisted on a rematch because he was convinced that I had somehow cheated, but I refused. I had never had so much fun, in my life. We also had a very immature pizza eating contest. Nicole came in first, with 10 slices (which she soon “un-ate”), Jimmy came in second with 8 slices, I came in third with 5 slices (what can I say? I’m a light eater), and my mother came in last, with only 1 slice. We had tried to get other diners to join us, but they all, surprisingly, seemed to have proper etiquette. We finally decided it was time to leave, the parlor, around 10:00. Actually, we kind of had to leave, because they were closing. My mother offered to give Jimmy a ride home, but he said that he preferred to walk. My mom thought it was because he was tired of us, but I think he’s just used to walking. But, before he left, I got a hug. I was so happy, that I nearly fainted.
That night, I couldn’t sleep. I really needed to get some rest, but I couldn’t stop thinking about all of the things that had happened to me. It was all so magical. Oh man, I sound like Drew Barrymore.
* * * * *
Christmas Day. It was snowing when I woke up. In the hotel room, we opened our presents. It was a different experience. We had no tree or decorations. It was kind of a bummer. We ate “breakfast” at McDonald’s, and then we went to Church. After that, there really wasn’t much to do. Practically, everything was closed. We went to the movies, but it was something that I’d seen. My mother and Nicole enjoyed it, but I pretty much fell asleep. Imagine that, I couldn’t sleep in the hotel room, but I could sleep in a movie theater. Madness, isn’t it?
My mom would have liked to cook a Christmas dinner, but there was no stove in our hotel room. Duh. So, we ate at The Olive Garden. The food was so good. We feasted on salad and bread sticks and Fettucini Alfredo. It was so much better than the honey baked ham that my mother purchases every year for Christmas. After dinner, we stopped at a 7-11 and bought some popcorn, which we ate while watching “Almost Famous” on HBO. All during Jimmy’s part in the movie, I kept saying, “I know him!” I finally shut up when Nicole smacked me on the head with her pillow. Our movie-fest continued with “Dude, Where’s My Car” and “Hannibal”, during which, we managed to laugh ourselves to sleep.
For the next few days, we did normal tourist stuff. We visited Central Park, we took pictures in Time Square, we toured the Statue of Liberty. You know, the usual.
Finally, the 31st arrived and it was time for the big Time Square/ Dick Clark New Year’s celebration. That day, we went shopping so Nicole and I could get some awesome outfits to wear. Not Broadway Play dressy, just something like you’d wear to a concert. We got ready and headed for the “party” at about 8:30 pm. There was already hundreds of thousands of people there. By 10:30, there was millions of both tired and wired people waiting. I looked around and saw all the cameras and specials taping.
When I spotted the TRL studio, I saw Carson Daly, joined by someone who was bouncing around like crazy. I screamed to Nicole, “Oh my God!!! Nicole, look up there!” I pointed to the studio and continued, “That’s Carson Daly, and that’s Jimmy!”
“Where?!”
“Up there! Where they film TRL!!!”
“OH!!! I see him!” My mom didn’t seem to care. She was too busy dancing to the Aerosmith; they were performing live. I grabbed Nicole and pushed through all the people, toward the sidewalk next to the building. “What are you doing, Tally?!”
“I’m gonna try to get Jim’s attention!”
“What?! Why?! How are you gonna do that? You actually think he’s gonna see you?!”
“I hope! Dude, where’s the flashlight?!”
“Right here,” shouted Nicole as she reached into her backpack.
“Give it to me.”
“Hold on!” She handed me the flashlight, and I turned it on to see if it was working. Nicole started to scream something that I couldn’t understand. Finally, I was able to decipher that she wanted me to look up. I did and Jimmy was looking down from the studio. Apparently, they were at commercial.
I waved the light all around and sure enough he looked right at me and pointed. He said something to Carson, and they busted up laughing. “Haha, he’s laughing at you, Tally!”
“Oh God! He doesn’t recognize me!”
“Why are you so surprised?!”
“I know! Lemme get up on your shoulders!”
“Oh, uh-uh! No way!”
I tried to climb onto her, but she resisted. When I looked up at one of the monitors, I saw my crazy antics being displayed. Then I looked over at the studio and saw Jimmy waving for me to come up. I ran into the building, with Nicole in tow, saying, “I can’t believe it worked!” A woman led us onto the set and immediately everyone started applauding, even Carson Daly. It was awesome.
Jimmy suddenly recognized me and said, “Oh my gosh! Haha, Tal?! And Nicole!”
“Wait. You know these two freaks?” laughed Carson.
“I’m not the freak. She was the one waving the flashlight. I tried to stop her,” said Nicole as she pointed at me.
Jimmy put his around my shoulder and said, “These are my buddies, Talia and Nicole. They’re really awesome, so say ‘hi’ everyone.” We were greeted with about 50 hello’s.
Carson joked, “All right, shut up! So, where are you guys from?”
“California. Santa Clara?”
“Not sure, eh?”
“No! It’s just that I don’t know if you know where that is.”
“Suuuuure. Just playing. Of course I know where it is. So, how do you know Jimmy, here?”
“Well, I was skating in Rockefeller Center and some dude bumped into me, I fell over, and Jimmy helped me up.”
“There was no point, though,” continued Jimmy, “She fainted right after.” Everyone started to laugh.
“And then, we ran into him again at Tower Records. And again, here.”
“Yeah. They keep “running into” me. Coincidence? I think not. I think that “running into” is their secret code for stalking,” laughed Jimmy.
Carson said something like, “Oh man. You’re watching MTV’s New Year’s Bash, here with Jimmy Fallon and the Flashlight Freaks, so stick around.”
“That sounds like some band,” added Jimmy, and we went to commercial.
Jimmy turned to me and said, “Guess you really wanted to get up here.”
“Yeah. I just wanted to say ‘hi’. So, hi!”
“Thanks, you’re so sweet,” he looked at his watch, then continued, “Hey! At 11:00 I gotta go over to the main stage. I’m supposed to entertain the people until it’s time for the countdown. You guys wanna come with me?”
“Sure!,” exclaimed Nicole and I.
“Didn’t have to ask you twice.”
“But wait. Nicole, we gotta find my mom and tell her where we are.”
“Good luck,” said Nicole.
“What? No way, you’re helping.”
“It was your idea to leave your mom to come over here. You find her!”
I would’ve finished, but everyone started screaming, so I knew that we were coming back from commercial. Jimmy whispered, “We’re being broadcast on a huge screen. I’m sure your mom can see where you are. Besides, when you get to the stage, there’s no way that she can’t see you.” Nicole and I were shown a place to sit, while Jimmy continued talking with Carson.
“So Jimmy. You’re gonna be performing on the main stage in a little bit. What’s that gonna be like? What are you gonna do?”
“Uh, the usual...guitar, songs, jokes.” “Any new stuff?”
“Yeah, actually, I’ve got some new stuff that I’m gonna use. But I don’t want to talk about it. I mean, I, um...I...I can’t...can’t tell you...about my, um...my plan.”
“Because you’d have to kill me, right?”
“Right.”
“All right, awesome. Thanks for hanging with us Jim. Jimmy Fallon, everybody. Now let’s check out what’s going on with *N Sync down there.”
Jimmy quietly said, “C’mon. Let’s go,” and we exited the set.
We stood backstage for a while with Jimmy, while he tuned his guitar and practiced a couple of songs. He did a little of his new act for us, just to see how we’d react. It was hilarious. Soon, Jimmy was on stage, and all of Time Square was filled with non-stop laughter.
Nicole and I were really hungry, so we started to eat the bags of chips that we had brought with us. Luckily, there was a soda machine, so we were able to quench our thirst. After what seemed to be only a few minutes, I checked my watch, and was surprised to see that it was already 11:50. “Nicole! It’s almost time! Like 10 minutes.”
“Really? Wow! Hey, maybe you’ll get a kiss from Jimmy at Midnight.”
“No way. That is just wrong. I’m 16, Nicole. He’s 27. It’s kind of illegal.”
“Not necessarily. It’s just a kiss.”
“A kiss that’s never gonna happen. I really really really don’t think he likes me the way that I like him. And if he did, that would make him, I’m sorry to say, a perv.”
“True. But wouldn’t you just freak?!”
“Like, oh my God! I’d soooo totally freak! Man, Nicole. You sound like a you’re 13.”
“What? I know you’re imagining him whisking you into his arms and passionately kissing you.”
“I should have never introduced you to romance novels. I’ve created a monster. But, anyway, why does it even matter? Wait. Nicole, it sounds like you want to kiss him. Well, no way. He’s mine. You don’t even like him!”
“Correction: I didn’t like him. Now that I’ve met him, I think he’s...sweet.”
“I can’t believe you! I’m the one who’s always talking about him. You always tell me that I’m an idiot for being in love with him, and now you’re dreaming of him kissing you?!”
“What? I have just as much a right to that kiss, as you.”
“No you don’t! I can’t believe this. We’re arguing over something that won’t even happen. Let’s call the whole thing off. No one is getting a kiss from Jimmy!” We both turned back around to watch Jimmy, only to find that he was standing right there in front of us.
“Whoa. Did I miss something?” he asked.
“Um...how long have you been standing there?”
“All I heard was, ‘No one is getting a kiss from Jimmy!’. I swear. But, what’s going on?”
“Okay, good,” I breathed a sigh of relief, “Nothing’s going on.”
“Actually,” started Nicole, “we were arguing over which one of us deserved a kiss from you.”
I wanted to die. Jimmy looked down at his feet and began to laugh. “Oh, really? Well-..” he responded, but I interrupted.
“But, I told her that it’d never happen because of the age difference. It was a stupid conversation, really. I’m sorry you had to hear that.”
“Nah, it’s okay. And you can stop blushing now, Tal. You don’t have to be embarrassed. I don’t mind it at all.”
“That’s because you were the one we were talking about. You’re not the shy 16 year old who’d never admit that she had a crush on someone, to their face. And I sound like an idiot, so I’m just gonna shut up,” was the only thing that I could think of to say.
There was an uncomfortable silence. Jimmy broke it by saying, “I don’t think you’re an idiot. I think you’re awesome. You’re sweet. And someday, you’ll find the right guy for you. But, trust me, Tal, I’m not him.”
“I know,” I choked, “but a girl can dream.”
“Yeah,” he smiled. We heard Dick Clark’s voice and knew, immediately, that Midnight was very close. “It’s 11:54,” said Jimmy, as he looked at his watch. A few minutes later, Dick Clark was calling all of the entertainment from that night, back onto the stage. Jimmy started to walk, but then he stopped and grabbed Nicole and I. He dragged us on stage with him.
I looked out and saw all of the people. “Wow! You performed in front of all this?!”
“Yeah,” he laughed, “no biggy.”
“Dude, you’re amazing. I’d probably die...or throw up and then die,” exclaimed Nicole. I looked up and saw the huge illuminated ball.
I heard someone say, “Are you ready? Let’s start the countdown. 10...” I watched the ball slowly come down.
“C’mon! Count!” shouted Jimmy. ...5...4...3...2... Finally, in unison everyone shouted, “One!!! Happy New Year!” Jimmy was jumping up and down hugging everyone. Streamers and confetti were thrown around, every which way. A band started to play “Auld Lang Syne” and people sang along.
Finally, Jimmy got to me, and said, “Happy New Year, Tal.” Then he hugged me and kind of rocked back and forth to the song. I’d never felt so happy in my life. I started bawling like an idiot and Jimmy laughed. Nicole came over forced her way in between us, and it became a group hug.
I realized that I hadn’t asked Jimmy for his autograph or a picture yet. So, I pulled out my camera and went wild. I wasted a whole roll (36 pictures) on Jimmy, the people on stage, Nicole, and “the ball”. They handed out party hats, and I asked Jimmy to autograph mine. He wrote: To my pal, Tal. Stay awesome and Happy New Year! Love, Jimmy. I was in shock when he asked me to autograph his hat. I wrote something stupid like: you’re awesome. Beware the creeps. Love, Talia. We eventually found my mom and went with Jimmy to an NBC party. I met all of the SNL cast members. They were so nice. Excuse the informality, but I had a blast! The party didn’t die down until about 6:00 am. Even then, everyone was still pretty wired. But, we knew that we had to get some sleep, so we decided to leave.
I found Jimmy and told him, “Sorry, but we’re gonna go now. Thank you soooo much for inviting me. You have no idea how much fun this was. I’ll never ever forget this.”
“Aw, you have to go?! Okay, well, I’ll talk to you later. I’m glad you had a good time,” he said as he hugged me.
“I really wish I could stay longer. But my mom keeps talking about this thing called ‘sleep’. Apparently, everyone is doing it nowadays. I don’t wanna be un-cool.” We laughed.
“Hey, Tal? I was thinking...do you wanna be like...uh...I know this sounds kind of dorky, but...e-mail buddies?”
“No, that’s not dorky at all. Of course!”
“Awesome. Here’s my address.”
He grabbed a napkin and wrote it down. I did the same. We exchanged napkins, and I said, “You’re sure that this is really your e-mail address? You’re not just messing with me, are you?”
“No way! It’s legit. Trust me.”
“Jimmy, you’re the only creep that I trust.” We started laughing and he hugged me again.
“Bye, Tal. I’m gonna miss you. Really.”
“I’m gonna miss you, too, Jim.” Then I waved goodbye, and left.
* * * * *
Now, I’m back home in Santa Clara. I e-mail Jim all the time, and he always replies, so that’s really awesome. I had the pictures developed, and I’m going to scan them and send them to Jimmy. SNL has resumed taping, and every time I watch an episode, I can’t help but smile. I told everyone at school about my “adventure”, and now people come up to me all the time, asking for tickets (for SNL). I don’t know why. It’s not like I’m on the show. Just because I know Jimmy, doesn’t mean I can get tickets whenever I feel like it. Oh well. I guess I’m just an attention whore. I still can’t exactly swallow all of this. I am so grateful for being able to meet my hero, because I know that not everyone can. One phrase comes to mind, when I think of my experience: Only In New York.
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