chapter xxiii.

It was the day of the Spider-Man: Far From Home premiere. And Evie was nervous as hell. She was going to meet the Tom Holland, as well as the rest of the movie cast and whoever else would be attending. After had come out just months ago, and she still hadn't gotten use to the sudden fame from all of that. So going to a majorly anticipated movie premiere was still shocking to her. She was sure how long it took for her hair and makeup to be done, it was pretty subtle and natural apart from the large winged eyeliner. Her hair was curly and wavy and dangled just a little past her shoulder. She was given a shiny red suit type shirt with silk lining the neck line and a low cut at the top, and had matching pants. She just put on a simple pair of black slip on flats to top off the look.

     "Okay, I kinda feel fantastic," she said, Jamey and Mackenzie laughed.

     "I love how you could've had a big, professional team do your hair and make up but you had us do that for you." Mackenzie said as she did final touch ups on her hair.

     "Well, you guys do a pretty damn good job. Like, shit, Jamey you do make up better then I ever could." The three all shared a laughed before Evie stood up from her chair and took a look at herself in a full length mirror.

     "You look so good!" Mackenzie squealed. She rested her head on Evie's shoulder, and Jamey did the same.

     "Our little girl looks so grown up," He said, wiping a fake tear.

     "She really does," Mackenzie responded. Evie pulled away from the two and rolled her eyes in a funny manner.

     "I'm gonna text Tom and let him know I won't be able to text him for the next few hours," Evie said.

     "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about him. How are you guys?" Jamey asked. A grin immediately spread across the girl's face.

     "Things are nice, just yesterday we had a whole conversation on the importance of Dr. Pepper," Evie said, smiling at the memory.

     "Oh wow, he's a keeper." Mackenzie said. The three chuckled, but still nodded in agreement.

     Within minutes, the three were heading downstairs to get into the limo. During the car ride, the three took selfies and Mackenzie and Jamey made sure their masterpieces stayed in tact. They weren't going on the red carpet or to the premiere, but they were apart of the behind the scenes to make sure if she had any touch ups in between locations, she had them.

Evie kept thinking about how excited she was. She was going to meet some of her favorite actors and actresses, some people who inspired her most. She felt like a little girl meeting her idols, but then she remembered that she's an adult and will have to remind herself to keep calm and not come off weird. And god, she couldn't believe she was going to meet Tom Holland. She loved his work and was very attracted to him if she was being honest. She was excited, yet nervous at the same time. And not for the reasons her best friends thought. Over the past few days, she had been talking to Melanie and she told her who she thought Tom was. And her guess was Tom Holland. Evie just laughed it off, telling her she was crazy and moved on. But later she thought about it and the reasons Melanie provided.

"It's gotta be Tom Holland! I have this gut feeling about it, and I have my reasoning!" Melanie had said.

"Psh, you're crazy. There is no way I am talking to Tom Holland." Evie responded with a chuckle.

"No! Just listen to me, I did some research and just think about it— he's from the U.K., he's 23, he has brown hair, he's straight and recently single. Do you know who fits all of those categories? Hm, let me think, oh— Tom Holland." Melanie was convinced after doing her "research" as she called it. Evie had to admit, it kinda did make a little bit of sense. Or a lot of sense, she didn't know. Well, okay, maybe she did know. Kind of. It was all so confusing, she didn't know what to think or how to feel. She knew she could easily do some fact checking on google but that would make this all real, and she didn't think she was ready for reality. She just had this feeling if he knew who she was it wouldn't go over well. Don't get her wrong, she thought he seemed like the sweetest thing ever. But still, she just had this fear he would reject her. Whether in a romantic way or just in a platonic way, she didn't want that.

"EVIE! We're here," she snapped back into reality and quickly prepared herself for the paparazzi. She got out of the limo and walked through the entrance, which was underneath a large spider-man sculpture type thing. Evie has to admit, it was fucking cool. She saw Tom walk across the red carpet as several paparazzi took photos, after him went Jake Gyllenhaal, Samuel L. Jackson, then Marisa Tomei and then it was her turn. She took a deep breath and walked forward, posing several times, looking in all different directions as everyone kept asking for her to look at them. She took pictures with Zendaya, Jake, and even Tom. She met some of the other cast members like Angourie, Jacob, Tony, Jon, etc. She was having a blast and she hadn't even seen the movie yet. They went into the theater and as she was walking in, she noticed Tom eyeing her. She sent a smile his way and went inside and watched the movie.

     Two hours later, she was leaving the movie feeling blown away.

     I found my new favorite movie.

     As she was leaving the theater and getting ready to head off to her ready for the after party, she saw Tom talking to Zendaya, and she decided to walk over. As she approached, Zendaya saw her and waved.

     "Hey! You're Evie Lewis!" She exclaimed. "I know we took pictures and stuff together, but it's nice to officially meet you."

     Evie stuck out her hand and shook the other girl's. "Believe me, the pleasure is all mine."

     "I absolutely loved After, you did a great job! I watched it not too long ago after Tom over became obsessed with it." Zendaya said in a joking manner, elbowing him with a laugh.

     "Thank you so much, that means a lot coming from you." Evie gushed. "Speaking of good movies, wow. You guys fricken killed it with Far From Home. Like, holy shit you absolutely blew the first one out of the water."

     "Thanks, Evie. I'm glad you enjoyed it." Zendaya said, "well, I'm gonna head off. I'll see you at the after party?" She asked, to which Evie nodded and the girl headed off.

     "Dude, you seriously killed it. That scene you did with Jon in the jet? My gosh, I was damn near crying. My little irondad and spiderson loving heart was bawling." Evie rambled to the British boy.

     Tom chuckled, his face heating up a bit. "Why thank you, Darling." The two stood in silence for a few seconds, just staring at one another as they each wondered if it was possibly their online best friend they were talking to. Tom decided to test the waters a little bit in the subtlest way possible.

     "So, I'm assuming I don't necessarily need to introduce myself, but we've never met in person, so hello! I'm Tom the stranger." He said, holding his hand out. Evie's eyes widened, and maybe— just maybe— her sister could have been right. Still, she nervously took the boy's hand and shook it.

     "I'm Evie, nice to meet you, Tom the stranger." She smiled and tried to play it off as if she wasn't screaming on the inside. Soon later, she left the theater and went off to the After party.

She walked in and was instantly stopped by Zendaya, who had changed into a gorgeous olive green dress.

"Wow, you look fantastic! Again!" Evie said.

"Thank you, thank you. You still look great too," Zendaya said.

The two girls engaged in a conversation and Tom watched from a far. He pulled out his phone and texted his best friend, Harrison.

———

Haz
—

Tom
hskdhsjs haz help
[delivered 10:03 p.m.]

Haz
Yes?
[delivered 10:03 p.m.]

Tom
Evie's here annnnnddddddd she's more gorgeous than I thought
[delivered 10:04 p.m.]

Haz
Did you ask her if she's the same Evie you've been texting?
[delivered 10:04 p.m.]

Tom
um about that—
[delivered 10:04 p.m.]

Tom
I didn't do that. But I did subtly drop a hint by referencing something from early on in our friendship
[delivered 10:05 p.m.]

Haz
Well, how did that go?
[delivered 10:05 p.m.]

Tom
She got all wide eyed and all nervous
[delivered 10:05 p.m.]

Tom
I think it's her
[delivered 10:06 p.m.]

Tom
I'm freaking out
[delivered 10:06 p.m.]

Haz
hey it'll be okay man
[delivered 10:06 p.m.]

Haz
Just talk to her, get to know her and if you really and truly feel like it's her, say something. The worst she can do is say that it isn't her
[delivered 10:07 p.m.]

Tom
Thanks, man. I appreciate your help
[delivered 10:07 p.m.]

Haz
Anytime mate. Now go enjoy your premiere😁
[delivered 10:07 p.m.]

Tom
Will do 😜
[delivered 10:08 p.m.]

———

Tom slipped his phone back into his pocket before taking a deep breath. He saw Zendaya had walked away and Evie was standing by the snack bar all by herself. He walked over to the girl, staying quiet as he came up from behind her.

"Looks like we keep running into each other, hm?" He joked. The girl jumped before seeing it was Tom. She then laughed.

"Apparently," she said.

"I saw on Instagram that you have a dog. He's really cute," Tom said.

"Ah yes, I love my son. Winnie is the cutest thing ever. I absolutely love him to bits." She told him. "And Tessa is the cutest bulldog I've ever seen, too. It was so cute when you took her to the premiere for Homecoming."

Tom chuckled at the memory of his dog, "Yeah, she's a cutie."

"What do they call bulldogs in England, again? I know it's blue something, but I can't remember the second part of it to save my life." Evie told him.

"They're called blue staffies. They still have a dangerous reputation in the U.K. but Tessa is the kindest animal I've never known." Tom explained, and that lead to him rambling on and on about how much he loved his pup. They spent practically the entire party together, just talking and laughing. They were most definitely hitting it off, and the more they got along the more Tom wanted to mention the texts.

The night was coming to an end, and after talking it over with Lexi Rabe— who was an excellent listener, if Tom said so himself— he decided he was be blunt and just say something about it. The seven year old gave him a thumbs up as he approached the other actress.

     "Oh, hey, Tom. I was wondering where you went," the girl said as she grinned.

     "Well, here I am." He said, his nervousness slightly lacing itself in his tone.

     "You okay?" Evie asked, raising an eyebrow. Tom stood there for roughly 30 seconds saying nothing. His heart was pumping as he tried to decide what to say. His face was turning red as he began feeling embarrassed for looking like an idiot, just standing there and being silent. He opened and closed his mouth numerous times, it was clear he was trying to get something out.

     "By any chance, are you, erm, Evie? Wow, that sounded dumb. But, Evie as in the Evie who named me wholesome beanie baby recently as a contact?" He rambled out. Evie's jaw dropped and her face went pale. She swallowed hard as her heart rate skyrocketed. She couldn't tell if it was because she wasn't ready for any of this, or if it was because of how blunt it was.

Her mind was screaming at her to run, to deny it, to do something— anything to try to hold fate off a little longer. But she knew running away wouldn't solve anything. It was time to face this head on, it was time to know her online best friend.

—

W o w okay this was really shitty ngl, it's been a hot minute since I've written written a whole chapter. I've gotten so used to social media formats and this almost feels foreign to me. Oh yeah and I don't really know how movie premieres work?? I tried though lmao. I hope you guys like the chapter, my babies finally met!!