THAT TIME WE MET JAMES LAFFERTY

In high school my friend Grace introduced me to the show One Tree Hill. It seemed okay at first, but once I sat down and really got into it, I was hooked. It has been one of my favorite shows ever since. The Scott brothers are my favorite, and many of my friends share the same sentiments. My roommate, Alex, started the series earlier in the summer, and a bunch of us have been re-watching the series with her when ever she has it on.

Lucas Scott and Nathan Scott are played by Chad Michael Murray and James Lafferty...aka our long-time crushes. The premise is that they are half-brothers who are enemies when the series begins, but....well, I won't spoil for you. It's on Netflix, and I highly recommend it.

Chad Michael Murray (left), James Lafferty (right)

I mean, look at these two.

So, flashback to parents weekend of my freshman year when I see this:

Sconsin'

A photo posted by James Lafferty (@thisisjameslafferty) on Sep 21, 2013 at 1:53pm PDT

That's right, folks. James Lafferty went to a badgers game. A BADGERS GAME THAT I WAS ALSO ATTENDING.

Smell no evil.

A photo posted by James Lafferty (@thisisjameslafferty) on Sep 21, 2013 at 4:46pm PDT

Here's James casually sitting outside of State Street Brats, a few measly blocks from my freshman dorm.  Photos of girls snapping pictures with him began surfacing, and my friends and I burned with envy. James Lafferty was at our school, and we had no idea how to find him.

Now, flash forward to my senior year, when James posts this video:

I'm not a superstitious man, but it's hard not to interpret this marching band playing 'Tequila' as I'm checking into my hotel as a good omen for the weekend ahead. #GoBadgers

A video posted by James Lafferty (@thisisjameslafferty) on Sep 15, 2016 at 4:35pm PDT

My friends and I were now determined to find him. All we wanted was one photo with our favorite Scott brother.

Madison, you're pretty.

A photo posted by James Lafferty (@thisisjameslafferty) on Sep 17, 2016 at 4:50pm PDT

After seeing this, my roommate Kenzie and I got ready and decided to scope out the terrace--you know, just in case he might still be there. When we got there we did a quick lap, and we were immediately disappointed, but we still had hope. We waited for our friends, Amanda and Kat, and when they arrived we set out on the adventure of finding James Lafferty.

Amanda admitted she had been trying to find him for years, and now that we are old enough to get into bars, it finally seemed possible. We left the terrace and decided that even if we didn't find him, it would still be a fun scavenger hunt.

We thought this would be what we were doing all night. And then, it happened. He was at the SECOND bar we checked. We only had to check two bars, and there he was sitting watching a video off of some other guy's phone in State Street Brats. Who knew James would be so into Brats.

Since he wasn't surrounded by a giant posse or a line of girls, Amanda was skeptical at first and had to get a second look. But once we determined it was really him, we knew that we had to be those annoying fans or we would regret it forever. So sure enough, we went over to be those annoying fans, and we got the photo that all of us dreamed about--even though all of us wish it it was a more flattering picture of all of us.

And that's the story of the time we met James Lafferty. We stayed for a little bit and laughed a little at all the girls hanging around him once they realized he was here, too. And after we continued our night, knowing we had just peaked. How does it get much better than this, we thought. It was a night than none of us will forget (especially now that we have actual proof it happened).