Candid

Chapter 23

Hey Everyone!

Enjoy!

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I stood in front of the floor length mirror and held my phone camera in front of me. I stared at the screen for a second and repositioned my arm, resting my hand in the pocket of my black baggy sweatpants. My lips pursed at the pose, not liking it enough so I placed my arm under the one holding the camera up at the mirror.

My hair didn't look too fantastic after a six hour plane ride followed by a two hour car ride to my Grandmother's house. I grabbed the hood of the hoodie I was wearing and slipped it partially over my hair, leaving a few thick strands positioned in a perfect mess.

My lips were left in a straight line, no smile as I snapped the picture. My tense muscles relaxed as I thoroughly went over every aspect of the picture. The guest bed was behind me but I didn't have to focus on it, as long as the room was in disarray. My parents luggage bags were still sitting in the doorway.

I opened up Instagram and opened the Story Mode option selecting the picture and writing a simple caption in the corner.

It's fucking cold. And then I tagged my location as New York, NY and posted it on my Story.

Within minutes my phone was teemed with private messages of people asking what I was doing in New York or what the temperature was or even that I looked great. I ignored them all and waited another minute.

I had just about given up hope to go join the loud raucous Jackson and Charlotte were creating with my parents and grandmother when my phone screen lit up the ring tone starting a second later.

I bit my lip to stop from smiling so wide at the Caller ID. Breathless, excited laughs left my mouth while the phone continued to ring, I even covered my face from the excitement making me act like a fool.

Right before it went to voicemail I picked up the phone and answered casually. "Hello?"

"You stole my hoodie?" Grayson's voice sounded over the phone from two thousand miles away.

I grinned but schooled my face, people could tell when someone smiled just by the sound of their voice. "What?" I asked my voice the perfect tone of genuine confusion.

"I just saw your Story on Instagram and you're wearing my hoodie, I've been looking for it for days!" He whined, "You hoodie stealer."

I shrugged even though he couldn't see me. "You left it at my house the other day, that's on you," I argued back, my mouth twitching upwards.

He huffed. "You couldn't have left it in your mailbox? I could have picked it up."

"Are you really upset that I'm wearing your hoodie right now?" I asked in a no nonsense tone, waiting patiently for his answer.

It was silent for a few seconds. "No."

I didn't stop my smile this time. "So then why did you call me when we could have had this conversation over text?" I looked around the room, noting the modern furniture decorating the space that was a complete contrast to the old Tudor house I was currently standing in.

"No reason," he trailed off, "How was the flight?" He switched the topic.

"It was good, my phone died before we landed so I couldn't text you and we just got to my grandmothers house and I had only just plugged it in."

"Yeah, that makes sense, it's not like I was sitting by my phone waiting for a check in text, at all," he answered in half-hearted sarcastic tone.