𝐍𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋 ━━ 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘺

𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐢. chapter thirty

thank you for sending me this, it's just what i needed.
i'll give you feedback asap.

✍︎︎

car horns blare from the urban city life below, startling the writer from her concentration. the glass door of the balcony was open for ventilation into the shared apartment. it was a good idea at first, but now, she's regretting the noise pollution.

elle looks up at the time on her computer screen, only an hour has passed, dinner should be ready soon.

drew and austin planned on hosting a bbq for dinner on the roof of derrielle's building, that way they don't have to worry about disrupting their quarantine or bother any of the neighboring tenants due to boys' rowdiness.

it was derrielle's place before they all moved in.
they gotta respect the rules, drew made sure they would.

"dinner's almost ready, derry!" the actor calls to her from the rooftop.

elle smiles to herself, thankful she didn't close it. "okay! just let me finish skimming this one section!" she laughs, realizing that she'll have to tell him what she was reading later. sorry, pate.

"why don't you just text her?" chase asks, eyebrows raised as he laughs at his friend.

"she's right downstairs," he shrugs, taking a sip of his ipa as he makes his way from the edge, and towards the grill where austin and maddie were cooking. "besides, i don't have my phone on me. i'm trying to take a break from tech."

"what's she doin' anyway?" rudy asks, pulling out a beer from its package on a nearby table.

"reading something," drew bites his lip as a warm smile creeps onto his face. it always shows up when he's thinking about her.

"at least she's not looking at the news, that's a good sign," mads chimes in, knowing that he was worried about derry's unhealthy fixation on the influx of COVID cases.

drew nods, putting down his drink and helping austin layout the barbecue chicken.

"do you want me to go get her?" madelyn asks, as she's been done setting the outdoor table.

"sure, thanks sis."

"no problemo, drewsky," the blonde salutes the boys good-bye, races back into the building and into their apartment.

✍︎︎

"hey, dj? where are you?" maddie calls out to her best friend in the living room as she pulls on a sweater from her bedroom. "it's time for dinner! austin made us popcorn chicken, he swears it's a family recipe but i think that's bullshit."

her eyebrows furrow as there is no reply back, just silence swarming her eardrums. it automatically forces the actress to search the apartment in concern. "elle? c'mon! this isn't funny."

"mads, i'm in here," derry answers, unlocking the single bathroom door with a worried expression on her face. "sorry, i just needed a minute alone."

"are you okay?" maddie asks, noticing how red derrielle's eyes were from crying. "what's wrong?"

"nothing," she shrugs, walking out of the bathroom with a frustrated sigh. "i'm just stressed."

"don't tell me you were looking at those numbers again."

"no. no, i wasn't," elle shakes her head, her feet carrying her back to where she ran away from even though her heart couldn't take it anymore.

"you better not be lying to me," madelyn scolds, following her best friend into the open floor plan. "you know, drew's getting really worried about you. we all are."

"i know that, but you guys don't have to be," elle turns, posting herself up on a nearby wall. "and i'm really excited for dinner. lemme just charge my computer in the kitchen."

"nah ah!" the actress yells, holding up her pointer finger into the air as she remembers what her brother on set said ten minutes earlier. "new rule: no more tech."

quickly stepping into the kitchenette, maddie's eyes flock to the stickered-computer case left ajar on the granite countertop. the white sliver of screen luring the girl like flies to a bright light.

"mads, no!" elle yells for her to stop but it's too late.

madelyn quickly opens the laptop, her triumphant smile falling as she realizes it wasn't a virus case tracker, it was a secret document. her mind rereading twelve words over and over again as she tries to figure out what the hell is going on.

THERE WILL BE A LOVE INTEREST
FOR RAFE CAMERON IN SEASON TWO.

END OF ACT ONE.
✍︎︎

fez speaking!!

dun dun dunnnn. 😈😭😫🥺

sorry if it's shorter than you expected,
only 1075+ words.

WOWWW. I CANNOT BELIEVE
WE MADE IT TO THE END OF ACT ONE
HOLY SHITBALLS

TYTY THANK YOU FOR 67K READS
I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH <33
pls remember to vote and comment!!