Chapter 1
“Oh god, no!” I cried out, and not a moment later I was suddenly jump scared by the duck-like animatronic. “Damn it!” I cursed, covering my eyes and leaded back in the chair, completely defeated. “I almost had it!”
It took a couple moments of silence to recompose myself, as I removed the hands from my eyes.
“You may be the King of Five Nights at Freddy’s, but I will come back to steal your crown.” I point at the camera.
But with a sigh, I continued, “That is all I have for today. Hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, please hit like and subscribe! And I will see you in the next video.” I wave at the camera, “Love you all, and stay safe.” With that, the video was done.
“One down and twenty more to go,” I let out an exasperated sigh, turning my body to look at the clock mounted on the wall behind me. It was forty-five minutes after two and I was starving. “Time for lunch.” I stood and walked to the kitchen.
It was then I noticed Ethan at the table, sitting with his eyes glued to the phone in his hand. “Whatcha doing there?” I asked, peaking over his shoulder. His screen shows he was looking through Twitter. He looked spaced out.
The day Ethan and I met, my heart fluttered and I couldn’t stop the blush from rising to my cheeks. I didn't imagine Ethan to look so...unbelievably cute. I couldn’t tell if I was developing a crush on said boy, or if it was something different. I didn’t know, but I played it off like nothing happened.
“Nothing much,” Ethan replied without taking his eyes off the small screen. “Did you finish recording?” He asked, and I nod.
“I did,” I pulled up a chair and sat across from him. “I challenged my brother for his stupid King of Five Nights at Freddy’s crown, but I failed.” His laugh sent my stomach into a frenzy. “What’s so funny?”
“It’s nothing,” he declined while shaking his head. I narrowed my eyes, taking the bite into my mouth as I suspiciously watched him. I open my mouth to question him, but he interrupts with, “Are you ready for next week?”
“No,” I sighed. “I have plenty more videos to record, but how in the world am I supposed to have them ready by next week?” Ethan couldn’t agree more. “Though I’m excited to see a friend!” I beamed.
“I thought I was your friend?”
“Of course you are, dingus!” I playfully punch his shoulder, “I consider you a close friend.” My cheeks burn red but I was quick to play it off. “You’ve been there for me when Mark wasn’t.”
“That’s what friends are for,” Ethan softly smiles, his blue-green eyes meet my brown ones. I return the gesture and smiled back.
“Seriously,” I murmured when my brother walked in the room. I stood from the chair, walked to the sink and rinsed the bowl. "Back to recording." I walk back to my room.
I love my brother and all, but when I’m having a moment, like a second ago, he shows up at the wrong time. Once the moment’s ruined, you can never get it back.
Especially when it comes to Ethan.
Grabbing my phone from the desk, I have a missed call from Cassie. I immediately called back, hoping she wouldn’t go crazy because I didn’t answer her call the first time. If I’m lucky, she could be asleep.
After three rings, she answered.
“About time."
"Yeah, sorry 'bout that," I apologize, nervously rubbing the back of my neck. "I've been busy recording videos to last me a week. I gotta have videos up for people that can't make it, you know."
"Yeah, I bet." She teased, "Speaking of PAX, have you found out how many of us are going? Out of the group, I mean?"
"I'm playing the waiting game," I said and flopped on the bed, sighing. "The only person who reached out was Lizzy. That was it."
"Let me guess? She gave you an excuse to back out?"
"You pretty much hit the nail on the head."
"What is up with her excuses, like… If she doesn't want to go, why does she bother to buy the plane ticket!" Cassie angrily fumed.
"I can't agree more," I breathed. "She ends up wasting money she could use for something she wanted and, honestly, I don't think she cares."
"Oh, I'll give her something to care about when I shove my foot up her--"
"Cassie!" I scold.
"Sorry, sorry!" She takes a minute to calm down. "My anger got the best of me." She spoke calmly.
"Isn't anger management helping you control it?" I ask, "'Cause it doesn't sound like it."
"Yeah, about that…" Cassie's voice traveled off. I shake my head even though she can't see it.
"You did it again, didn't you?" To the sound of her silence tells me she did. "Cassie!" I scolded, "Let me guess -- you were kicked out?"
"I'm sor--"
I cut her off, anger rising in my chest. "You know what? If you don't want to change, then... Fine. Don't come running when you get in trouble! I won't be there to pull your dumbass out of the fire!"
In frustration, I pulled the phone from my ear and ended the conversation, before throwing it across the room. The door to my room swung open and Ethan came to my side.
"Is everything okay?"
Tears had fallen to my eyes. I shook my head. "No," I answer honestly. "Everything's not okay." My voice cracked, and before I knew it, I began to sob.
"Come here." Ethan opened his arms and I fell into his warm embrace, my head buried in the crook of his neck. He rubs circles on the small of my back in comfort. "It's okay, I'm here." He assures softly.
It wasn't long until I cried myself to sleep, and something being pressed against my head, before everything went dark and I fell in a deep sleep.
