Being a "fan-friend" is not as glamorous as you would imagine yet for Brianna Bell reaching this status was like winning the lottery. At 20-years-old, while normal college students spend their nights at fraternity parties, Brianna attends Ariana Grande's album release party and the after party that followed in Grande's apartment. "I wouldn't say we have a real friendship. It's not like she tells me what she does every day, but I'm definitely more than a fan. I'm like a fan-friend." This relationship was not built overnight; in fact, it took many long days and sleepless nights, but Bell says achieving the status of "fan-friend," and even becoming Facebook friends with Grande, made it all worth it.
If Ariana Grande is touring the east coast,…show more content… "Knowing where the apartment was already I just had to go there. We park in her garage as usual because we always park there when we are waiting to meet her. So, everyone was expecting us to wait with them and wait to see if she stops to meet everyone and we just walked right in the front door and up the elevator," said Brianna while recalling the after-party experience. Seeing the looks on everyone's faces was a great prize but the night to follow was even better. She spent the night in the company of Ariana's family and close friends, partying, celebrating, and eating cake on the balcony overlooking Times Square, something an ordinary fan does not get the chance to…show more content… "We ran into Ariana's mom and brother in the hotel and they were so happy we made it to the show," Brianna told me while recalling the experience of the Connecticut concert. "During each show, Ariana's mom gives her VIP tickets away to fans and thank god she picked us the one night we had shitty seats. I always like to hang out in the arena after each show just to see what's going on. While we were waiting [Ariana's friend] Mo saw us and invited us backstage. We got to hang out with Ariana for a few hours and give her feedback on her song Focus, which no one had heard yet. When we were walking her to her tour bus, she gave us floor tickets to the show the following night and invited us to eat dinner with her and watch her rehearse. That is kind of when I knew I made
