I didn't mind shelling out money for the Philadelphia Comic Con in my hometown, which I did pretty much every year. I did raise a few eyebrows when my best friend Joel insisted I shell out $350 for two VIP experience tickets, though. It was good for four days, yet Joel was only interested in one day.
On Saturday, June 2, Hayden Panettiere of 'Heroes' fame would be appearing at the Comic Con, and Joel wanted the special VIP Experience tickets to see her that day. According to the website, we would be able to get an 8X10 photo of her, have it autographed and get a photo op with her, and have guaranteed seating at her panel.
As a huge fan of hers, Joel wanted all of this and more -- as well as the $350 for two tickets. Technically he already had $100, but he needed $75 more for his own ticket and suggested I spend $175 for my own. Yet I raised a few concerns first.
"You're really gonna make us both spend that much just to meet her?" I asked like I didn't already know what the answer was.
"Hey, you'd spend that much for Alison Brie, or Emma Stone, or one of your celebrity girls!" Joel pointed out all too accurately. "So help me get to meet mine! You're dumb enough not to drool over her too, but don't take that out on me!"
I rolled my eyes, since I wasn't debating her....drool-worthy capabilities. She just wasn't on my radar of celebrity hotties, yet pointing that out would probably make him madder. Instead I needled him with, "You realize you probably won't get her to fuck you just by taking a picture, right? That only happens in smut fics."
"This isn't about you and your smut fics, okay?" Joel nitpicked. "Just being near her should be enough to get me going. And it'd be nice for you to meet someone famous and hot instead of just writing about fucking them! Even it isn't one of your usual girls!" Damn him for finding some logic at the last minute.
Still, meeting Hayden didn't get me as excited as meeting one of my actual favorites would have. But it was still a beautiful celebrity -- albeit one I didn't pay much attention to -- and Joel wouldn't leave me alone about it. That last part put me over the top and made me pay $350 for the two VIP tickets online.
Not long after, the Philadelphia Comic Con started on May 31 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, and me and Joel did our usual geeking out on that day and the next. When the day of June 2 came, however, Joel did most of the geeking as we got our VIP badges and lithographs, took our photo op and autograph tickets and speed passes at registration, and were among the first to arrive at Hayden Panettiere's Comic Con panel.
I sat next to Joel and occasionally joked/seriously warned that he'd better not start jacking off when she arrived. Joel wasn't that much of a pervert/obsessive fan, yet it was probably good that I was here to keep an eye on him. I felt like a parent who went to his child's favorite non Disney/Pixar movie to pacify him, even though I would get less out of it than he would. Yet maybe that wasn't entirely fair to all of Dreamworks animated films -- and it probably wasn't fair to Hayden either.
It did seem less fair when she finally came out, and I went back and forth between studying her and making sure Joel didn't make my ears bleed.
Just because I didn't follow Hayden's looks too closely didn't mean I couldn't appreciate them. Her sunny blonde hair was down, she had a big bright smile -- fake or not -- her green eyes were just as bright, and the white blouse and pink shirt she had on did flatter a rather lattering figure. Unfortunately, she would be sitting down for the panel, so I couldn't check it out much further. In any case, Joel would likely describe it at length later.
So I sat back and politely paid attention to the panel, her words about 'Heroes' nerd-dom and her career, and an audience Q&A that Joel couldn't quite get to take part in. However, I probably did look like I zoned out once or twice. But it had less to do with Hayden and more due to my own ADD, my memories of the previous few days, fine tuning my schedule for the next two and going over the story ideas rattling in my head. Nevertheless, I didn't draw attention to myself, laughed and applauded at the right places, and cheered at the end while Joel drowned me out.
After that, it was off to stand in line for autographs, and I naturally made sure Joel was in front of me. I was actually behind a few other people, so I couldn't go over what he planned to do or say to Hayden. I was kind of nervous to find out, so I looked away when Joel finally got to the front of the line.
I didn't hear any of them scream and I didn't hear a slap, which was a relief. Still, as I saw Joel leave and give me a big smile while he held up his autographed photo, I did hope he didn't embarrass Hayden. With that, I decided to double check as I got to her booth and held out my photo.
"I hope my friend wasn't any trouble," I said to Hayden while pointing over at Joel -- who thankfully didn't notice.
"Oh, no, he was fine," Hayden as she took my photo. "Was there a chance he wouldn't be?"
"No, no, he's harmless, really!" I corrected, hoping I didn't just screw Joel over. "He's a good guy, he's just a....really big fan of yours. In the harmless way, I mean. But I guess you've had worse." I said before catching myself and trying not to babble in front of Hayden. After all, I risked enough damage to Joel and I was probably holding up the line.
"Well, he didn't get that bad," Hayden assured as she finished signing my photo and smiled, which actually made me smile in response.
"Good. He should be fine at the photo op too, so....thank you. On his behalf and mine, too," I stated as I took the signed photo and hoped I wasn't the one who made her uncomfortable -- irony of all ironies. Yet she thanked me back and smiled winningly, although who knew what kind of creeps she thought we were in her head.
But I finally got out of the line, caught up to Joel and let him rave about his brief time with Hayden. We still had another one on the way since she had photo ops to do afterwards, and I felt safe to let Joel get to the front of the line himself. Again, I stayed a few steps behind, figuring I wouldn't need to take any precautions this time.
Joel finished getting his picture taken, gave me a huge thumbs up afterwards, and soon it was my turn to be near Hayden. "He was fine again, don't worry," she actually said as I got up alongside her.
"Oh, well, I wasn't really worried this time. Not that I should have been before," I stumbled again. Once more, Hayden shook it off and got into position to pose with me. At just over five feet, she was a few inches shorter than me -- although she had been involved with far bigger men, as Joel reminded me a few times over the years. Still, I tentatively put my arm around her and made sure not to tower over her.
I was actually able to feel the bare skin of her shoulder, which was quite smooth to the touch. I looked down and saw her hair near my arm, at the same time I could catch its....summery scent in my nose. I then saw her bright eyes and her big smile light up as she looked at the camera, and found that I would have been tempted to seek a tiny peek at the small but certainly visible cleavage of her blouse. That is, if I didn't have to look at the camera and smile big as well.