I Don't Belong in This Club - COMPLETED

"This can't be it"

At The Award Ceremony

We got to the arena and the car pulled up front.

"You ready for tonight?" Zach asked, turning and smiling at me.

"No. I'm nervous." I said, taking a deep breath.

"You're gonna win." He said, smiling at me.

"I don't know...my paper's not even that good." I said as he helped me out of the car so I didn't step on my dress.

"Mia, I read that paper. It's amazing." He said, taking my hand as we entered the arena.

"You're just saying that because you're my boyfriend." I told him, laughing.

"No. I'm saying that because it's genuinely good." He said, as we took our seat.

I laughed and shook my head as I fixed my dress.

We sat through the whole ceremony and I held my breath when they got to paper of the year.

"And now, we'd like to announce the recipient of the 2019 Best Long Paper Award."

Zach took my hand in his and squeezed it.

I closed my eyes.

"Mia Tuscan."

My eyes bolted open and Zach turned and smiled at me.

A smile grew across my face as I walked up to the front of the arena.

"Thank you all so much for this award. If you asked me this time last year if I'd ever win an award for my writing I would've probably laughed in your face. But here I am so thank you thank you. Thank you to Ms. Witmore for guiding me through this process, thank you to my family and my friends for being so supportive of me and for staying up with me through the grueling editing process. And of course, thank you to my boyfriend, who's here with me tonight, for continuing to support me even when I would bitch at him when I was cranky after not sleeping for 24 plus hours working on this paper."

Everyone laughed at the last part.

I thanked the audience again and walked back to my seat still beaming.

"You were amazing." Zach said, as I took my seat.

"I know." I said, smiling at him.

After the show

We walked out of the arena, hand in hand. I was beaming with pride in myself and I could tell Zach was beaming with pride knowing his girlfriend had just won an award.

"You wanna go to the reception?" I asked him.

"It's your night babe." He said, laughing, "Whatever you wanna do."

"Why don't we go for a little bit and then head back?" I suggested.

He nodded and we made our way over to the reception.

"ZACH!!" We were stopped near the entrance of the reception by two fans who had recognized Zach.

He looked at me, "I don't know..." He said, shaking his head, confused.

"It's ok. Just take a pic with them and we'll go inside." I said smiling.

He nodded and turned to the girls giving each of them a hug and taking a quick selfie before explaining why he and I were there.

"Oh my god that's so exciting!!! Congrats Mia!!" One of them said smiling at me.

"Thank you." I said, returning the smile.