The Lift

4

Preston woke up Thursday morning elated to start the day. She was excited to take some test shots for the GoPro projects and she was excited about french fries with David. Though it crossed her mind to check up on his Instagram, she stayed strong.

Breakfast was dinner leftovers as she hadn't gone food shopping yet. She might have to convince David to take her...

After eating, getting ready, and hopping in her car, she sent David a quick text asking about the general dress code for the evening. She knew it couldn't be that fancy because A) it was David Dobrik and B) it was french fries.

David woke up very late Thursday morning. After the excitement of texting Preston, he had burned off his energy on the treadmill. And then he stayed up even later planning vlog bits. He obviously needed footage for Friday's vlog but wasn't about to pressure Preston into filming with him during or after their meal.

He'd woken up late enough that he had to rush to get to the apartment. Forget breakfast or lunch; he'd have to eat Alex's food. On the way out the door he hastily responded to her question with a "Whatever." Smooth, David, he thought to himself. She didn't text back and he tried not to read into it.

When he got to the apartment, everyone else was already there. David apologized to his friends, but they didn't seem to actually care. Alex looked at him funny and David just waved it off. Of course Alex would notice that something was off with David, but at least it was for good news. The filming began quickly after, so luckily David didn't have to explain in front of everyone why he was such a mess that afternoon.

They talked and laughed for hours. Nothing particularly wild happened, but often those vlogs became people's favorites.

Around 6:00 David called it quits, surprising everyone. Usually he wanted more and more time and laughs from people. But he wasn't about to be late picking up Preston.

As he gathered his stuff, Alex played his shadow, not yet saying anything. David said his official goodbyes and walked out with Alex following.

"You're not known for punctuality," Alex said immediately as the door closed, "but even for you that was bad."

David nodded. "Yeah, I know, man. And I really am sorry. I had a late night."

"And what's with the constant apologies?" Alex asked.

David simply shrugged.

"And you're really not telling anyone why you're bolting off before 7:00 the night before you have to post?" Alex asked skeptically.

They were almost to David's car by now and David stopped in the middle of the parking garage. He sighed before looking Alex straight in the eyes. He couldn't lie to Alex. Scott, Todd, and Dom? Sure, he could lie to them for now. But not Jason and not Alex.

"I have plans with someone I met at the airpot," David told him. "I picked her up when Jason bailed and gave her a ride to her hotel."

Alex burst out laughing. "Dude, you don't have to come up with some bullshit excuse."

"It's not an excuse," David groaned. "This is why I didn't want to tell anyone. Why can't I hang out with someone else and make a new friend? She's really great."

Alex was still laughing a bit. "Okay, so she's real and you're hanging out, fine. But are we going to see it in the vlog?"

David started walking toward his car again. "Not a fucking chance. She knows I do YouTube but not anything about how it works or what my channel is like. I'm not throwing her into our world without warning. I only met her Tuesday."