What Is It Like to Meet a Member of One Direction?

1 The initial shock that it's happening.

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When someone told us to prepare ourselves for the photos, my brain had a sudden burst of panic. I'm sorry, what was that? I get to what?

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2 Then the excitement when it settles in.

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It's like, OK, this is really going to happen. OK.

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3 The battle within when you're deciding what to say.

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I knew I had about five minutes to come up with something to fill the moments I had with Niall. Think, brain. Think.

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4 The slight panic while you wait.

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The waiting game was rough. I kept watching all these other fans have meltdowns in front of me. I'm not about that life, so I had to keep my panic at bay.

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5 The slowing down of time as you walk over.

When I was motioned over to Niall, I couldn't even look up. I had these brand-new beautiful Saint Laurent boots on with more of a heel than I'm used to, so all I could look at was my feet, because who wants to trip and face-plant in front of someone they adore? Hi, not me.

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6 The sheer bliss of hugging the object of your fangirl obsession.

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Because I'm a lovely human, I asked Niall if I could hug him rather than just charging at him. And because he's the sunshine of the Earth, he said OK.

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7 The quick thinking when you inevitably can’t think of what to say.

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Brain failed me, of course, so I had about five seconds to come up with something brilliantly witty to say to Niall. I thanked him for coming to New York. I have started better conversations with my cats. Thanks, brain.

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8 The pride in yourself at sounding like a mature adult.

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The good news is, I kept it together and spoke clearly and happily. Yay me.

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9 The calm that comes over you in the moment.

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The brief time I had with Niall was so great. It was honestly like talking to any other person, of course, so I shouldn't be surprised that it was easy.

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10 The relief you feel when you don't make a fool of yourself.

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I managed to walk away without tripping over my feet, without crying, and without saying anything dumb. I felt like it was a win.

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11 The holy sh*t moment when it's over.

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When I exited the building and saw all the fans outside who weren't as lucky as I was that day, I had my "holy sh*t" moment. Holy. F*cking. Sh*t. That happened.

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12 The hysteria that sets in later when you share your story.

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I calmly returned to work and my regular life and casually dropped a mention into a conversation later that afternoon and everyone asked how I was so calm. I think it was them asking me about it that made me go a bit crazy. The floodgates opened and all the excitement and hysteria set in.

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13 The joy you feel, knowing a dream came true.

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I'm glad the first time I got to meet one of the 1D boys was a chill interaction and went so well. It gives me a great piece to my 1D memory puzzle and sets up a good foundation to meet the rest of the boys. Because yes, I will meet them all, separately, while they work on their separate projects.

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14 The plotting to make it happen again and again and again.

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Now to meet Liam and Louis and Harry . . . and maybe Niall again.

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