I settle down into a window seat, armed with a fully charged iPod, a big bag of chocolate buttons, a new John Green book and my phone. The rest of the train is empty, our village being so small that everyone knows everyone, and they all had heard about my trip to London. I look out of the window as i start to move, steadily, then getting faster as i yawn, having had to get the 6am train, to arrive in London for the right time.
Each stop, brings about a couple of people onto the train, all looking half asleep and staring blankly at their phones. I laugh inside my head, British trains were exactly the same, all silent, all boring and all so disappointing. Nevertheless, i was over the moon, it had been years since i had last gone to London, let alone go a few miles out of the safety of the village. I remember mum once taking me, we went on the London eye and i cried the whole way round; that was the day i realised that i was scared of heights.
I was going to get the train back after the event finished that evening, but it would be about half two in the morning and mum didn't me on my own at that time of night, so she insisted on paying for a hotel for me and made me promise to ring her when i got back to my hotel room.
Three hours into the journey, and i was bored out of my head. So bad, that i was starting to think that work was better than a train journey. I finish off my bag of buttons, turn the last page of my book and watch as my ipod screen turns black. To keep myself from going mad, i invent a game in my head. It's to look at all the people on the train, and in turn create a back story for them all.
I start with the woman, dressed in a white suit, across from me. She must be an undercover spy, working for Russia, sneaking into London to blow up Buckingham Palace and expose all the Queen's secrets. And the man sitting next to her, an astronaut, just got back from living on a rocket for fifteen months. He's here to mingle with people, trying to remember how to act normally. Oh yes, he's also just fallen in love with the Russian spy.
Lastly we have the hugely suspicious man, who appears to be eating his own mustache. I try and try to think of an explanation for his odd behavior but give up, settling for that he is placed on this train to puzzle people and see what actions put people off.
Finally, we pull into Waterloo and i am the first one to jump off the train and start exploring London. My legs are aching from sitting for so long, so i decide to walk to YouTube, inside of a taxi.
I get there five minutes early, but already there is a large of group of girls in a circle, all chatting away and laughing. There's also another other smaller group of people, full of boys all fighting and yelling. I avoid them and take a seat in the corner, not allowing myself to be put off by the fact that everyone has made friends. I'm not prepared to mess another thing up, just because i am on my own. I'm not five anymore, i can cope with the odd one out.
A woman walks into the room, holding a clipboard, who coughs for attention, it takes a few seconds for the girls to completely settle down. I curse them in my head. "Right, so. I would like to start things off with a massive hello! And a warm welcome to YouTube HQ. I'm sure that you will have seen this place mentioned before in many videos, so you will realise just how lucky and talented you are to be here today. We pick only the best newcomer stars of the small screen and you all have the potential to make it. Of course, some more than others. So today, we would like to other you the chance to improve your video making skills, editing skills and get hints and tips of how to get a larger audience with even better content. So do that, we've called in a few big names of the website to give small talks to you and give you the chance to ask them questions. Just one word of warning though, do not waste this time by fangirling over these YouTubers, because i can assure you, that would be a big waste."
A few giggles go round the room and i start to wonder whether i should just go, do i really want to spend a day with all these teenagers, all hoping to hit that one million subscribers milestone. Or should i just go home, help my mum with the housework keep on making my videos the way i have always done. I mean, i must be doing something right to even get one subscriber.
"Right, lets get started. Please take a seat." She waits for everyone to get seated, the excitement mounting in the room, too late to turn back now. "I would like to introduce our first speaker of the day, someone who needs no introduction, but i'll give you a clue. He's most definitely not on fire!" A few screams go round, mine included as Dan Howell walks calmly into the room, waving and giving us all his smoldering smile.