Date With David : Part 1

Sorry if it’s too long.
I had to split the recap into several parts too, because altogether it’s just too, too long.
A lot can happen in seven hours.
I’ll be very brief on some moments, because I already talked about them in the AAM video. All the things that I wasn’t able to cover in those videos, I’m covering them here.
So – happy reading, I hope!


Part 1
After getting over the shock that David Archuleta was IN THE SAME BUILDING – because I’d always perceived him as this angelic creature from an alternate universe that was billions and billions of miles away from wherever I was, completely out of reach – and that I was ACTUALLY going to meet him in person, I followed the group that composed of DiGi, Sony BMG and Seventeen Magazine reps into an elevator that was going to take us to wherever David Archuleta was.


In there, Yuen-See from Sony BMG started explaining who I was to everyone else.
“Oooh, so you must know everything about him, huh?” Amanda – from Seventeen Magazine – teased, grinning at me. “You must be the greatest fan in Malaysia – the No. 1 Archie…!”
I blushed, and mumbled in reply, “No, no, no – there are much more fans out there more devoted to David than I am…”

Which was definitely true. Take the AAM moderators, for example. They were amazing. They were such loyal, dedicated, passionate fans of David Archuleta, and they’d made so many awesome preparations for his visit to KL…

“Yeeeaaaah, right!” the others laughed. “It’s OK, no need to be modest…”

We got out of the elevator on the twelfth floor – it was a very special floor; instead of the usual narrow hallways lined with hotel room doors, it was just this one huge apartment that took up the whole floor – and went into this room, which was some sort of lounge area; lots of armchairs and round coffee tables.

The Seventeen Magazine photo shoot was being set up there – spotlights, cameras, and clothes rack with all the clothing items on it.
My heart jumped a little when I realized David Archuleta would actually be wearing those clothes.

And I resisted the disturbing urge to touch the clothes, less I wanted everyone to think I was a creepy stalker and call security.

Yuen-See told me to prepare about five questions to ask David later in the day – as in, they’d be giving me the chance to interview him – and I kind of freaked out.

I didn’t know I’d get to interview him, and I was terrified because I had no idea what to ask him. I didn’t want to ask him questions that’d been asked so many times before already; I knew how much other fans were put out with that. But there was no way I could think up a decent question – forget about it even being good – that’d never come up before, not to mention in just a few hours!

Bee Yoke calmed me down and suggested I tried to write the questions down, to make things easier.
So I was struggling with that when I heard voices from outside… and I looked up.
And then I froze.

OH… MY… GOSH.

Two people walked into the room.
One was bald, bulky, wearing a black shirt and jeans, with a goatee and piercings in his right ear.
I recognized him immediately.


It was Ray, David Archuleta’s manager.
The second person… OH MY GOSH.

OH MY GOSH.

OH MY FLIPPIN’ GOSH.

… David Archuleta.

OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!

DAVID ARCHULETA!!!!!

I lost all feeling in my fingers. And legs. Thank goodness I was sitting. If not, I would’ve immediately fallen over, cracked my skull on the floor, and died.
Then the showcase would be cancelled for fear of fans passing out and sustaining comas, and once that happened, all the other Arch Angels would hunt for my corpse and once they’d found it, they’d chop it up and burn the pieces.


I dropped the pen I was holding.
DAVID ARCHULETA!!!!
HE WAS THERE! HE WAS RIGHT THERE!!!!
OH MY GOSH!!!!
And, WHOA, I never realized he was that… fair.
He was so, SO fair! Like, ‘Snow White’ fair! ‘Edward Cullen’ fair!
And… I didn’t know if it was my eyes playing tricks on me… but it was as if David’s skin was glowing. Literally.

It was so bright, compared to everyone else’s in the room.
He was so, so fair, and so, so radiant – like there was some sort of light source within him.
He was just… GLOWING!!!

OH MY GOSH!
DAVID ARCHULETA!!!

And then I noticed… hey, he’s not that short!
In fact, to me, he was… tall!
All I could think was, I didn’t know he was that big!
Gosh, the cameras made him seem so small and young and kiddish.
Seeing him there, he did NOT look small or kiddish at all.

Young, of course… and GORGEOUS – absolutely freaking GORGEOUS; TEN TIMES MORE GORGEOUS IN REAL LIFE THEN ON-SCREEN – but so NOT short or like a kid.

OH MY GOSH, DAVID ARCHULETA WAS IN THE ROOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HE WAS RIGHT THERE!!!
AND HE’S… REAL!!!

OH MY GOSH, I CAN’T BELIEVE IT, HE’S ACTUALLY REAL!!!
HE’S NOT AN ANGEL FROM ANOTHER UNIVERSE!HE’S REAL! OH MY GOSH, HE IS REAL!!!

David walked in… and was immediately hurried to the other end of the room by the photo shoot crew for hair and make-up.

Wait.
WAIT.
You mean, he WASN’T in make-up yet?!

That his skin was NATURALLY that FAIR and FLAWLESS and GLOWING???!!!
OH MY GOSH.

HOW?!
HOW IS HE REAL?!

I was sitting very far in the corner, almost invisible, so David hadn’t seen me.
Which I was completely grateful for, because I would’ve died of shame if he’d actually seen the expression I’d been wearing when he’d first walked in.
OH MY GOSH.

Bee Yoke must’ve called me for about the seventh time before I heard her.
“Come on, get up – we’re going to introduce you to him,” she said.

I froze again.
This time in terror.
The question that’d been bugging me earlier came back – what was I going to SAY to him?!

But then Bee Yoke had stood me up and before I knew it, she was walking me towards the end of the room where David was having his make-up done.
My legs were moving of their own accord; I barely felt them.
My brain was chaotic, thoughts totally incoherent.
In short, I was panicking.

David had his back turned to me, and his eyes were closed while the make-up artist started to work on him.
Yuen-See and Ray were standing a few feet away, speaking in low voices.
As I approached, Yuen-See casually pointed me out to Ray.

“This is Yvette – she’s going to be part of David’s entourage for the day,” she explained.
“Oh, hi!” Ray said, smiling and holding his hand out to me.
For a guy with a seriously intimidating look, he sure was friendly.
“Hi,” I squeaked, shaking his hand. And I continued, out of habit (thank goodness, again), “Nice to meet you!”
“Yeah, nice to meet you, too,” Ray replied, still smiling. And then his face became very serious. “Two things, OK? One – NO EYE CONTACT with David. Two – NO MORE THAN FIVE WORDS AT A TIME. Understood?”
Whoa.
“Um… OK! I’ll make sure to keep count,” I replied quickly, eyes wide.
Ray laughed, “Whoa, whoa, hey – I’m just playing around.”
I knew he was joking, too, but I was just too nervous right then to laugh.
OH MY GOSH.



Then Yuen-See told the make-up artist to hold off applying color to David’s cheekbones for a while… and then she said, “David, say hi to Yvette – she’ll be part of your entourage for today…”

And then.


AND THEN.


… David turned right around in his seat…
… and looked RIGHT. AT. ME.

OH MY GOSH.

I totally froze up AGAIN.
I didn’t breathe. My brain went blank.
Not exaggerating here.

David was smiling that huge, cheerful smile of his that I knew so well… and he looked SO GORGEOUS. Oh my gosh, he was SMILING AT ME.
DAVID ARCHULETA WAS SMILING AT ME.

AAAAAAAAIIIIGGGGHHHH!!!!


“Hey!” he said, cheerfully.
Ouch. I think that was my heart hitting the wall of my ribcage with the force of a wrecking ball.
OH MY GOSH.
David’s voice was so… PERFECT!
It was so warm and sweet and gentle and angelic, and at the same so strong and powerful. It was just… amazing!
He’d only said one word – said; we haven’t even gotten around to him singing anything yet– and I was already craving the sound of his voice. OH MY GOSH.

“Hey,” I replied. My voice, again, was squeaky. And it made me want to die of embarrassment. I was such a mess!
“It’s really nice to meet you,” I went on, cringing at how high-pitched and… and fangirl-ie my voice sounded. Oh my gaaaaawd…
“Aw, nice to meet you, too!” David replied, holding out his hand.
It took me half a second to realize he wanted to shake it.

OH MY GOSH.

And when I finally did, I immediately noticed how huge his hand was.
Like, my whole hand could almost fit into his palm!
Wow.
Oh, and his hand felt really… warm, too. And hard.

Good grief – sensory overload here.

And his voice is so… aaaah!!!!

AMAZING!

A few seconds passed.
… why were still holding hands????

I was waiting for him to let go.
But he still hadn’t.

… awkward.

It was logical, I thought, that you held onto a person’s hand – at least, a person who’s of higher rank or more respectable or something – until they let go. I mean, right?
Like, if you were to shake the hand of, let’s say, the town mayor, or something, you don’t just simply drop his hand right after shaking it, because it’d seemed kind of rude, right?
So I held onto David’s hand – OH MY GOSH – wondering why he hasn’t let go of mine yet.
Then it came to me.
Wait – was he waiting for me to let go????

The second I realized that, I immediately dropped his hand.
My face was burning.
Another second passed.
David was still staring up at me. Still grinning that huge, amazing grin of his.
I took Ray’s words seriously – NO EYE CONTACT.

So I stared at the space in between his eyes instead, and I wondered what he was waiting for.
And then it hit me again.
He was waiting for me to say something.
Uh oh.

AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!

This was what I’d been scared of since forever.
What was I gonna say to him?!
Earlier, I’d been ‘greatly’ encouraged to tell everyone and anyone who asked me about the entourage that I owed it all to DiGi.
So, of all things to say, I blurted out,

“Well, I won a DiGi contest, and the prize was that I’d get to be part of the David Archuleta entourage… and now here I am!”

OH MY GAWD, I DID NOT JUST SAY THAT.

“Oh. OK,” David replied, still smiling at me.

I concentrated on not making eye contact with him, so I definitely couldn’t tell what he was thinking or feeling at the moment – because everyone keeps saying that all of David’s emotions are always clear in his eyes – and it killed me worrying like heck if alarms were going off in his head or something.

Of course, immediately after that crappy introduction, I wanted to say other things.
I wanted to tell him how much of an inspiration he was to me.
I wanted to tell him how huge a fan I was.

I also wanted to ask him how he was doing – how was everyone treating him, how the service was at the hotel, how breakfast was…

Then Yuen-See’s suddenly pulling me away.
“OK, will let David have his interview with Esther now,” she told me.
Esther, as in the journalist from Seventeen Magazine. She was already interviewing him while he was having his hair and make-up done.


So David turned around again, and I let Yuen-See pull me away.
That was it.
I had completely messed up and made the worst first impression ever.
Yuen-See lead me to the back of the room again.
She advised me to stay put – to just remain invisible in the corner, to just watch David and do nothing else.

I really wanted to do something right.
So I asked, “Is there anything I can help with?”
“No, I think everything’s OK. Why don’t you get back to working on your questions?”
Yuen-See had to answer a call after that.

Bee Yoke told me she had to go back to the office. She was leaving Seong to ‘look after me’ – I was pretty sure he was there to make sure I wouldn’t get up to something stupid.
Like text all my friends and tell them David’s exact location.
I couldn’t work on my questions.

David was talking again. And his voice was so mesmerizing – hypnotizing, enthralling – that I couldn’t focus on anything else but it.

Esther was asking him questions that so many people before her had already asked – she asked about his vocal paralysis, about life on Idol, about his relationship status…

I didn’t care that David was giving almost the exact same answers he had given at every other interview, I just wanted to listen to his voice. It was the most beautiful sound in the world.
Eventually, the make-up artist was done with him, and they paused the interview so the photo shoot could take place. David got up and turned around.

I panicked.

I twisted in my chair so I was sitting with my back to him, and I bent low over the blank piece of paper in front of me, clutching the pen in a death grip, pretending to be extremely focused with what I was doing.

Honestly, I had to look like I was doing something. What would David think if he turned around to see me staring at him instead?

He’d just have more proof that I was some creepy stalker.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as David was handed an outfit and he headed for the bathroom just right outside the lounge to change out.

He was gone for a while.
I took the time to BREATHE.

Seong noticed how shaken up I looked, and he too started telling me to calm down.
Which I immediately felt really bad about, because he had a sore throat, and I was troubling him so much to the point he’d forced himself to speak to me.

Ugh!

I couldn’t sit still for long.
I just felt too restless. I needed to do something.
Yeah, I could’ve worked on those questions… but I just couldn’t think properly at the moment. I didn’t know why. I was just… incoherent.
But I had to do something.
So I got up… and started walking around the room… and cleaning it.

Yes.
I’m nuts.
There were tissues and sweet wrappers and stuff on the floor here and there, some of them stuffed in between the cushions and whatnot, and I just started collecting them and throwing them away. When I couldn’t find anymore trash, I just straightened the cushions and rearranged them a little more neatly around the tables.

Again, I am nuts.
It was as I was cleaning that I heard it.
Oh my gosh.
I heard it.
I so heard it.
It was coming from outside the lounge.
Oh my gosh.

“… you want a reason… to keep believin’…!”
I froze.
My eyes were popping out of their sockets again.
David was singing.
He was so singing. And, for some reason, he’d chosen to sing a line from Desperate.

OH MY GOSH.

I’D JUST HEARD DAVID ARCHULETA BURST RANDOMLY INTO SONG.
And his voice was so, SO AMAZING!!!

Again, I was so grateful I was sitting. Hearing him sing almost knocked me unconscious – totally stole my breath away! He sounded so GOOD!
His voice was just so loud and powerful and pure and… AMAZING!!!

A second later, he strode back into the lounge, in his new outfit.
White shirt with a red bulls-eye on the front, a black vest, and black slacks.
I glanced up as normally as I could.
I just wanted to see him properly, you know?
Then I was staring.

Whoa.

How much blusher did the make-up artist use???
David’s cheekbones were really rosy red.
It was such a contrast with his really, really pale skin.
Good thing David didn’t look my way as he came in.
I became a little hopeful.
Maybe he’d ignore me the whole time.
I had a strong feeling he would.

For all I knew, I was probably just this annoying girl who David had no choice but to let hang around him for an agonizing seven hours, because it was what his management had planned… or something like that.

I could totally help with being ignored.
I was very good at being invisible.

So I sat back in my chair and sunk really low into the cushions and tried to stare everywhere except at the glowing, gorgeous eighteen-year-old boy that happened to be the centre of my whole world.

I watched as discreetly as possible as he went to stand against this wall of white paper. I had no idea why he toed off his shoes – he wore black socks underneath, I noticed – but maybe it was because he didn’t want to get dirt on the bottom of the white paper.
So there he was, standing against the white background, in socks, while people fussed over him, adding last minute touches and stuff.

I heard someone raise his voice to say something to someone else.
On instinct, I just glanced up.
BIG MISTAKE.
When I looked up… David looked at me right at the same time.

AND WE MADE EYE CONTACT.
AAAAAAHHH!!!! RAY’S GONNA KILL ME!!!

But I only thought about that later.
Because the second I saw his eyes… oh my gosh.
From afar, his eyes were chocolate brown with very faint streaks of green. And they were so unique.

So fascinating.

And they were staring right back at me.
I was totally frozen.
It wasn’t just because his eyes were the most unique, most interesting I’d ever seen, but because, for some unexplainable reason, that one casual gaze packed a really, really huge punch.
I couldn’t explain it – his gaze was piercing, even though he was just glancing around.

And when we made eye contact – oh my gosh, that sounded so WRONG – my breath actually caught (very painfully) and I also had this very, very strange feeling like David was looking right past me and into my head. Like, he was trying to read my mind or something.
No! No, no, no, don’t read my thoughts!!! AAAAHHH!!!
Two seconds passed, then David looked away.
OH MY GOSH.

Now I understood why Ray had told me ‘NO EYE CONTACT’.
He hadn’t meant it as a rule, he’d meant it as a warning.

NO EYE CONTACT (ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE OBSESSED)… UNLESS YOU WANT THAT TO HAPPEN.
OH MY GOSH.

The photographer started snapping photos.
And David was posing so casually. Like, it was completely effortless for him to pose.
I hadn’t even realized at first he was posing. He was just standing there, looking at the camera… then I noticed the way he was smiling.

It was the ‘fake’ smile.

Like, not the genuine one he wears when he’s really happy about something, but the fake one he has for cameras.

I… kind of realized I didn’t really like the fake smile. Well, at least, not as much as I liked the real smile.

The real smile made his face really bright… and made him look really perfect.
Fake smile… nothing.
Whoa, was I comparing?
Good grief, since when did I suddenly think I had the right to compare?!
After a while, I spotted the laptop where all the pictures were being uploaded.
Amanda was whispering to the make-up artist and pointing to David’s face in the photo.
I studied the photo.

Oka-a-ay… was David supposed to look that pale in the photo?
And were his lips were supposed to be… that red?

“… he’s too pale,” I heard Amanda say.
Oh, she noticed, too.
But as I kept listening, she didn’t mention anything about David’s lips.
OK, that had sounded WRONG, too. On many, many levels.
But his lips were just so… red.

Now, this was probably the stupidest – seriously the stupidest, the most ridiculous – thing I had ever done, but I couldn’t help it.

I’d seen so many of David’s photos, read so many comments from other fans… and I know when a picture of him doesn’t look… that good.

I was sitting only a few feet away from them.
I got up silently and crept towards Amanda.
She noticed me approach.

“Sorry,” I apologized quickly. I was so nervous, I stumbled over my words a little, “Um, m-maybe… maybe it’d be… like, um, better… if there was… um… less color… on his lips?”
Amanda frowned at me, and I so knew I’d made a huge mistake.
I mean, seriously, what right did I have to give my opinion to professionals?!
Ugh!
Her face was grim as she replied me, “That’s his natural color. We didn’t put anything. His lips are that red.”

Oh.

“Oh. Wow. Ok,” I replied, surprised.
I was actually pretty taken back. I really thought they’d put color on him or something. His lips were, like, so red and full and…
… and Amanda still looked really pissed off.

I’d done it again.
I’d messed up. BIG TIME.

“I’m so sorry,” I mumbled quickly.
“No problem,” she replied, without looking at me.
I went to hide again.
OK, seriously, no more getting involved, I scolded myself. No moving around, no talking to anyone, no looking up, no nothing! Just don’t do anything! You get to be near David, that’s good enough!

They took at least a hundred photos of David.
The whole time, I stared fixedly at my hands in my lap.
I heard David speak once in a while, and I was glad enough just to listen to him talk.
His voice was so perfect.

And – even more perfect – once or twice he giggled.
It was so, so adorable when he giggled.
Involuntarily, each time he giggled, the corners of my mouth would immediately hitch up, and I’d duck my head even lower to hide the stupid grin that I couldn’t keep off my face.

After awhile, everyone started moving around, and I realized David was going to go change out again.

They handed him the second outfit – dark green shirt, grey coat, jeans, and a pair of white sneakers.

My heart sped a little because I knew he’d be walking past me on his way out.
I kept my head down, eyes still on my hands…
Any second now he’d walk past me.
I’d just have to hold my breath and not think until he’d left the room.

Then…
… the unthinkable happened.

“Hey,”
I jumped, then looked up.
David Archuleta had paused on his way out… and he was looking right at me, again.
And there was this curious – not concerned, no way – expression on his face as he looked at me.
“How are you doing?” he asked.

OH MY GOSH.

I completely overreacted.
“I’m good! How are you doing?” I gasped, eyes wide.
“I’m doing well! Thanks!” David replied, grinning and giving me a thumbs-up, before he left to change.

Immediately after he left, I thought about Ray again.
Oh, shoot, how many words had I spoken?!

I counted on my fingers. I’m… good… how… are… you… doing.
Six words. Uh oh.
Ray won’t kill me for that, will he?

David came back in later, in his new outfit.
This time he was going to pose sitting cross-legged on the floor.
I watched as they fussed over his hair and helped him wear this really huge, dark brown watch. One woman kept sticking tape to his jacket and jeans and shoes and peeling them off very abruptly, removing as much dust particles as she could from the clothes.

When he sat down on the floor, my view of him was totally obstructed by all the armchairs and tables. I knew the only way I’d be able to see him was to stand up.

I was terrified of doing that. Wouldn’t I draw a lot of attention to myself if I stood up to watch?
Well, sure, everyone else in the room was standing up, too, but I was the one with the DANGER: OBESSED FAN sign flashing above my head here.
It was around ten minutes before I couldn’t stand not being able to see David anymore and finally stood up. And, incredibly, no one noticed.
Slowly, I didn’t feel so nervous – more like, worried about not belonging – being in that room anymore.

It was during that segment of the photo shoot that David decided to try and break his previously held record for most number of times he’s said the word ‘sorry’.
Someone accidentally moved a cable and it bumped against the toe of David’s shoe.

“Sorry!” he said, immediately. Though it definitely wasn't his fault.
The photographer snapped a photo a few seconds too late.

“Sorry!” David said, again.
And the helpers also gave him a few suggestions on how he could give the camera a better dreamy look.

“Sorry,” he said, smiling softly. Um, sorry for what???

I totally lost count on how many times he apologized for things that were totally not his fault.
I gave up counting after the fourteenth ‘sorry’.

David went to change a third time.
While he was gone, someone started playing music in the background.
I recognized the artist at once. It was Jason Mraz.
And it was the song Wordplay.
I had to smile.

One thing a lot of my friends know about me is my love for music. Even though I might suck hugely at being musical, I loved listening to music – I totally let it govern my life. Music even had an effect on my moods. And, now, listening to Jason Mraz, I was beginning to feel totally calm and carefree where I was.

When David came back in, I looked around casually at him for the first time.
And, oh my gosh, I had to giggle because the second David heard Jason Mraz, his whole face lit up – his beautiful hazel eyes widening, his mouth forming a huge smile – and, right there, he started dancing.

He was doing this cute, little jig – rocking out to the song – and he was practically skipping across the room back to where they were having the photo shoot. He was wearing a light grey shirt, another black vest, black pants, and a light blue and white belt.
And even when he was standing against the wall again, he didn’t stop dancing! He kept moving to the music, tossing his head side to side happily, whirling his arms around, and he was mouthing along to the lyrics. Not singing… yet.

The Seventeen Magazine crew were discussing among themselves about a particular change they wanted to make to David’s outfit.
I watched as one of them went right up to David and – my eyes went a little wide at this – unbuckled the blue and white belt he was wearing, then removed it. David was so into the song, he barely noticed.

They set the belt down on a coffee table nearby.
Again, I had to resist the urge to touch it.

“… is all about the wordplay,” Jason Mraz sang the last line.
There was a moment of silence, as the iPod moved on the next song on the playlist, and I felt my heart flutter when I heard David suddenly sing again, “…is all about the wordplay!”

His voice is AMAZING!!!!

The next song was Life Is Wonderful.

David didn’t rock out so much to this song – because it was a slow one, of course – but I could tell he enjoyed it all the same.

Then the photographer asked him to move around.
“Huh?” David did the cutest thing I’d seen yet – his head tilted to the side, and his eyes widened in puzzlement; it was like what a cute little puppy would do when it didn’t understand what its owner was trying to tell him. Oh my gosh…

It took four people to explain to him that for this session in particular they wanted him to go wild – like, rock out and do crazy poses and stuff.

“Oh! Oh, OK,” David said, smiling again. “Hmmm… maybe I’ll do the salsa…”

And my jaw literally dropped when he started doing this dance move that reminded me of Antonio Banderas – when he acted in Take The Lead, you know? – and then, just as quickly as he’d started it, he stopped and did that embarrassed laugh of his.

OH MY GOSH.

So for the first few minutes David just did some really funny, really whacky poses – throwing his arms about, making funny faces (OH MY GOSH, THAT WAS TO DIE FOR), doing a robot dance… he also tried jujitsu at one point (well, that’s what he called it, ha ha) and tried to aim a kick at the camera.

I burst out laughing.
Like, real loud.

It was embarrassing. About three or four people stared at me.

I don’t know, I guessed it was because I was a black-belt in Tae-Kwan-Do (nothing spectacular here, lots of Asians know martial arts; it’s somewhat required) and seeing David try to act like he knew jujitsu – he couldn’t even get his leg above knee level, actually – was just too hilarious for me.

Am I making any sense here?
OK, never mind…

At one point, David tried to spin – he was only in socks again, so it was easy for him to slide and stuff – but his foot kind of slipped, and he lost his balance and then he was stumbling wildly.
And everyone in the room who was watching him – me, included – went, “Oh!”
For one second, I was SO SCARED that David was going to fall face-first onto the floor.

I was positive that if he did, I’d start screaming and crying.

“I’m OK! I’m OK…” David said quickly, laughing that adorable laugh of his again as he regained his balance.

Whew.

And the photo shoot continued.
Then, a few minutes later, The Remedy started playing.

OH MY GOSH.

The look on David’s face was absolutely priceless. I’d never seen him so thrilled!
“Oh, turn up the volume!” he said, excitedly. “I love this song! Turn it up! It’s my favorite…”
I was closest to the iPod which was hooked up to the stereo system.

I realized the iPod was already on maximum volume.
I felt a tad disappointed, because David was enjoying the music so much.
Then another crew member came over, and she adjusted the volume on the speaker.

Oh. Why didn’t I think of that?

“… and I-I-I-I… I won’t worry my life away… yeaaaah…!”

David started singing along, grooving on the spot again. He just looked so happy rocking out to his favorite tunes.

And I just watched him with the hugest, moronic grin on my face.
After The Remedy came You And I Both, and David asked us to turn up the volume again.
By then, Jason Mraz was just drowning everything out. The music was so loud the other people in the room had to raise their voices in order to make themselves heard.
Wait, Jason Mraz wasn’t drowning everything out. No, there was one voice in the room that was actually drowning Jason Mraz out.

Yup – it was David.
And he was singing effortlessly.

That’s just how POWERFUL his voice was – singing normally, he could still drown out a stereo system that was almost on maximum volume. OH MY GOSH.

A few hundred pictures later, David went out to change again.
When he came back in – wearing a maroon pleated shirt and (oh my heck) suspenders – he paused to listen to the new song that was playing.

“What song is that?” he asked, curiously.
“Plane – by Jason Mraz,” I replied, slightly surprised that he didn’t know.

I was even more surprised when I saw that David had this rueful expression of his face.

“I don’t have Jason Mraz’s A to Z album,” he then said.

Huh?

I stared. David didn’t have Jason Mraz’s album?!
What?! He listened to Jason Mraz’s songs so much, and talked about the artist so much… and he didn’t have his album?!
“My friend has the album – they kept playing it in the car in the summer,” David continued absently. “It was, like, our Album Of the Summer, 2008…”

The way he spoke, it actually sounded like he was… I don’t know… sad?
Like, he really, really, really missed his friends back home.
Awww…

They paused the photo shoot for a while for David to rest – good thing; I had begun to wonder if David was exhausted from posing for so long – and continue his interview with Esther from Seventeen Magazine.

Before that happened, however, David went over to a table… and that was the first time I noticed this huge container – huge as a toolbox – that was filled with… gosh… almonds and walnuts.

Whoa.

That was the hugest supply of nuts I’d ever seen.
David opened the container and popped a walnut into his mouth.
And I giggled again.
Good grief, how was it that even the way David popped a walnut into his mouth was ADORABLE beyond words?!

Even funnier, the song Too Much Food was playing now.

And David sang along while munching on walnuts.
Then Esther asked them to stop the music… because it was causing interference in the interview.

Did they have to?

David’s face fell a little – he was pretty much bummed that the music got cut – but he still smiled as Esther started asking him questions again. Questions that had already been asked before…
And then they played that game.
You know, the one where someone says a word or phrase, and you gotta say the first thing on your mind? OK, for David, he had to sing the first thing on his mind.

Um, Esther? The Snarky Archies already beat you there.

“OK, here’s the first phrase: I can’t live without…?” Esther said.

David giggled – and oh my gosh, it was just so adorable – and started singing,
“I can’t live… if living is without you…! I can’t live…!”

And, WOW, he sang SO HIGH and SO LOUD… and he did it EFFORTLESSLY.

I was stunned. Completely. Just… stunned.
“OK, next phrase: My kind of girl…?”

“Oh. Um…” David paused for quite a long time, then he laughed again and sang, “My girl, my girl… talk about my girl…”

Esther laughed and started snapping her fingers along to the song. “OK, OK…” she chuckled, as David just continued singing. “Thanks, David…”
“Oh, my girl…!” David went on happily, and he hit every note perfectly.

“OK, OK – stop!” Esther said, holding up a hand.

She did NOT just ask him to stop singing.
David did that embarrassed laugh of his again, and mumbled, “Sorry.”

Somewhere during the interview, I needed to use the bathroom.
I got up and asked Seong where the bathroom was.
He simply pointed me to a bathroom just outside the lounge.
“Thanks,” I said, and without thinking much, I hurried into that bathroom.
It was only after I’d closed the door that I realized something.

OH MY GOSH.

This was the same bathroom that David had earlier changed in.
David had changed right in the same bathroom that I was in at the moment.

Two words: MENTAL PICTURES.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!

Not really surprising, but I managed to make it out of there alive.
The interview eventually ended; they shook hands, then David went to pose in front of the white wall again. He looked pretty tired.

But then someone turned the music back on… and played Breakeven by The Script.
Whoa. Talk about instant reaction.

“I love this song!” David gushed, ‘coming to life’ again. I could just feel the energy bursting out of him. “Turn up the volume!” he said, again, as he started dancing all over again to the music. Then he said to everyone and no one in particular, “I love The Script! They’re awesome! I wanna work with them!”
David wanted to work with The Script?
That was new!

So, two new things I’d learned about him – he didn’t have Jason Mraz’s CD (what???!!) and he wanted to work with The Script. Cool.

“… what am I supposed to do when the best part of me was always you… and, what am I supposed to say when I’m all choked up and you’re OK…? I’m falling to pieces…!” David sang.
Oh my gosh.
His falsetto at the end was… was, oh my gosh, absolutely mind-blowing.
It was amazing. It was so strong and perfect and… oh my gosh.

I had to sit down.

Finally, the photo shoot ended, and the make-up artist hurried forward to remove all the make-up he’d put on David’s face. After he was done, David started asking about the clothing stores in the mall – Sunway Pyramid Complex – that was right next to the hotel.

“I gotta get things for my brother and sisters,” he was explaining, and there was this very fond look on his face as he talked about his siblings (awww!). “My sisters are OK with anything, but my brother wants gangster stuff…!”

OK, here was a third new fact about David – his brother, Daniel liked dressing up like a gangster.
Wait, was that new? I’d pretty much guessed Daniel preferred that kind of style, already…
As David left to change out for the last time, and I thought back on what he’d said about getting souvenirs for his siblings, something occurred to me.
My sister is addicted to Japanese anime, see, and it amused me when I found out that David’s sister – Jazzy – liked that kind of stuff, too.

“Um, hey, Esther?” I asked, as she was standing the closest to me. “Kinokuniya (it’s the name of a very popular bookstore located at the Petronas Twin Towers, for those who don’t know) has a lot of anime, right?”
“Yeah. A huge Japanese section,” Esther replied. “Why?”
Ack, ok, this was going to be embarrassing to explain.
“Um, well, David’s younger sister likes anime,” I explained, feeling awkward. “And he was just talking about getting stuff for them, so I thought maybe he’d be interested.”
Esther stared at me, “Good Lord, is there anything you don’t know about him?”
Everyone else in the room broke into laughter.

Oh, well.

“I definitely don’t know his residential number,” I replied, making a lame attempt at humor.
And they all stared at me with similar expressions that said they didn’t know whether to be amused by that or highly disturbed.

Then David came back in, and they immediately hurried him over to the tables where loads of stuff – t-shirts, caps, bags, posters – had been laid out. He was handed a Sharpie, and then he was busy signing everything.

Ray was back – strange, I hadn’t actually noticed when he’d left (gah, I’d obviously been too caught up with David) – and he was talking in whispers with Yuen-See again about some changes to David’s schedule or something.

And then Yuen-See suddenly turned and beckoned to me.
“You can give him your gifts now,” she told me.

For those of you who don’t know, the night before, I’d gone shopping with my friend – Gowri, of course – at Giant Supermarket and we’d bought some stuff for David.
Food, basically.
We picked the things he liked – orange juice, honey, and his favorite cereal, Honey Bunches of Oats (Gowri’s idea, she’s awesome!) – and also added a box of BOH tea and seaweed to the list, as souvenirs.

So now they were finally allowing me to give all those things to David.

I was pretty relieved that they’d left me give him stuff; I was so worried security would be ten times tighter because he was overseas and all that, and they wouldn’t let anything organic come near him. I was also ninety-nine percent sure they’d just throw away everything I’d bought by the end of the day. I mean, seriously, so many people gave David so much stuff, and he couldn’t possibly keep them all. But I bought those gifts anyway, because it’s common courtesy – at least, for me – to bring gifts for someone when you meet them.

“Hi, again!” David said, still with that cheerful smile of his, as I came up to him again.

Like before – NO EYE CONTACT.

I could feel him staring at me. I looked at his forehead and cheeks – oh my gosh, the skin is so FLAWLESS – but never his eyes.
“Yeah, hi,” I replied. I was surprised at how calm my voice sounded now.
Weird.
“Um, well, I bought you some stuff…”
“Aww, really?” David said, looking down at the bag I was carrying. “Aw, thanks…”

I opened up the bag and started showing him the contents. “Well, I know how much you like orange juice…”
David saw the bottle, and he immediately burst out laughing.

OH MY GOSH.
I LOVE HIS LAUGH.
I LOVE IT FO FREAKING MUCH.

“And, I know you’re trying to keep healthy and stuff…” I went on. “So I got you honey, too.”
“Oh, really?” David said, and he sounded so interested, it was just so surprising. He actually took the honey bottle out of the bag and read the label – it was a local brand – with this really fascinated look on his face. “Cool, thanks…”

I showed him the BOH tea, and told him a little about Cameron Highlands – the tea plantation up in the really cold mountains, that was really famous in Malaysia – and then I showed him the seaweed, and that made him and Ray both stare.

“It’s a snack that a lot of the locals like to eat,” I explained.
“It’s a snack?” David repeated, surprised.
“Yeah – it’s kind of crunchy, and salty, and spicy…”
“It’s spicy?” David asked, and he sounded real excited about that.

New Fact #4 – David likes spicy stuff

“A little,” I replied. “But yeah. Oh, and this – ” – I finally brought out the cereal box – “ – my friend suggested I get this for you…”
“Oh my gosh! Honey Bunches of Oats!” David said, laughing again. “Awww, I really, really like those! Thanks!”

Gowri, you are a life-saver.

“Hey, what were you doing at the back earlier?” he asked, after a moment.
Huh? I didn’t get what he was talking about.
“I was watching you earlier, when you were sitting in the back,” he explained. “I was wondering what you were doing.”
I froze.

OH MY GOSH.
No.
NO WAY.

Earlier, when I’d been sitting in the corner, trying to make myself invisible… David was watching?!

The whole time I was thinking – and kind of expecting – David to ignore me, he was actually watching me and wondering what I was doing?!

OH MY GOSH.
Uh oh.
Now what was I gonna say?

“Uh, other than… observing you?” I stammered, without thinking. Then I wanted to die. “OK, that had just sounded absolutely stalker-ish,” I added, and I was actually hanging my head in shame.
“What? No,” David said, frowning at me.
Oh my gosh, some sort of chill went through me when he spoke to me like that. He actually sounded like he was concerned – like he cared and didn’t want me thinking bad about myself.

OH MY GOSH.

“Well, other than that… I was just, um, preparing some questions that I, um, am supposed to ask you later or something,” I added, with an unsure glance at Yuen-See.
“Yes, she’ll be interviewing you later,” Yuen-See explained to David.
“Oh, OK. Cool!” David said, grinning again.
“So, how about we take some pictures of the two of you?” Yuen-See said, holding up a camera.
“OK!” David replied casually, while I stared around like a dummy. I don’t know why, I was suddenly really slow on the uptake.

And then.
AND THEN.

David placed his hand on my back.

OH MY GOSH.

DAVID ARCHULETA’S HAND WAS AT MY BACK.

Did I mention that the blouse I was wearing was made of pretty thin material? I could just feel how hard and warm his hand was.

To my horror, chills went down my spine.
I desperately hoped David didn’t notice anything.

I also knew it’d be awkward as heck if he had his hand at my back and I didn’t put my arm somewhere on him in return. So, hoping I wouldn’t freak him out by doing so, I carefully rested my hand on his back.

My eyes widened.
Whoa.

His back… was… hard, too.
So hard.
Like, solid.
As if there was not one ounce of fat on him; that David’s body was just all muscle.

OH MY GOSH.

And then… it was awkward because there was still, like, a six-inch gap between the two of us, so David shifted closer to me.
I stopped breathing.

OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY –

Whoa. Seriously, whoa.
Like, I could totally feel his side pressed up against mine, and – whoa – the whole side of him was completely hard, too! OK, he was SO completely made out of nothing but muscle; he was just so HARD. Like stone!
Who the heck ever said that David was soft and cuddly?!
Because he was not!

So he might look the most adorable thing on the planet, but, seriously! He was… like, stone!
Really warm stone, too.

“Smile,” Yuen-See said, her finger resting on the shutter.
Gah, I actually hated taking photos. I always hated looking at myself in pictures.
I tried to smile – without looking like someone was actually pointing a gun at me to do it – as Yuen-See snapped a few pictures.

I didn’t breathe the whole time. Seriously.
I was too scared to.

It wasn’t entirely logical, but heck, nothing makes sense anymore when David’s around…
Yuen-See finally lowered the camera, and I immediately dropped my hand from David’s back.
It was stupid, I know, but I kept holding my breath to the point I’d started feeling faint.
Then David stepped away from me, and I finally exhaled.

“OK – um, David’s gonna go back to his room now,” Ray informed us, beckoning to David to follow him. “We’ll come back later, alright?”
“Yeah, sure, alright,” I said, sounding a little too breathless.
“See ya later,” David said, smiling at me.

OH MY GOSH.

After David and Ray left, Yuen-See told me I could go for my lunch break now.
She told me everything would start again around 2.30 pm.
OK, this is where miscommunication can get seriously out of hand.
“OK, sure. Two-thirty,” I replied, nodding.

And, while Yuen-See busied herself with other things, I went out of the room, got into the elevator, went back downstairs, and left the hotel.

I was a few blocks away, almost arriving back at the hotel I’d checked into – I’d called Gowri earlier to tell her I was coming back; maybe we could have lunch at a Thai restaurant or something, and then I could go to Tower Records and buy a copy of Jason Mraz’s CD and pass it to David when I met him again.

Then my phone started buzzing.
Yuen-See was calling.
“Hello?” I said, curious to why she was calling.
“Hey, where are you?” Yuen-See demanded.
“Um, I’m just heading back to the hotel I’m staying in… I’m going for lunch…” I replied, nervous because Yuen-See sounded angry.

“Yvette, you’re supposed to be having lunch with us!” she exclaimed.

OH MY HECK.

“Oh! Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” I gasped, while passers-by on the sidewalk stared at me.
“OK, where are you right now?” Yuen-See demanded.
“Um…” I looked around. I had no idea where I was. I only recognized the landmarks. I was from Penang, which was an island far up north in Malaysia. I’d rarely been to the capital.

“Never mind! We’re at the Dragon-I Restaurant. Do you know how to get there? It’s right in the shopping mall, three floors above the skating rink…”

I’d been in the mall before. I definitely knew where the skating rink was.
“OK, OK! I’m coming! So sorry, again!” I said, spinning on my heel and running back the way I’d come.

Yuen-See hung up.

OH MY GOSH.

I made a call to Gowri, who was already coming to meet me.
“Hey! I’m so sorry, there’s been a change of plans!” I immediately yelled the second she’d picked up the phone. “I’ve gotta get back to the mall!”

“What? Why?” Gowri asked; she sounded so bewildered. Oops.

“I’m… having lunch… with… him!” I panted as I ran like a mad person back towards the Pyramid.
“What?”
“I’m… having… lunch… with… David!”







P/S : Part 2 coming up…