Can You Handle the Heat?

Chapter 21

I woke up to my phone blaring next to me. I rolled over and tried my best to make the noise stop. Thankfully it does. I feel myself drifting back into sleep, but it starts yelling at me again. I begrudgingly pick it up and see what unlucky person has disturbed my sleep.

A phone call from Eddie was the last thing I expected this morning. It had been a few weeks since I had come back home. My concussion had fully healed, my ankle was doing a lot better. I could actually walk around on it without immense pain. Gaege and I had been making great progress in our relationship. We film together constantly, my vlog from my trip had been uploaded after The Boys videos had been posted. The community showered Gaege and me with support. It was honestly refreshing. I was nervous when the video went up as to what the community response would be. I was relieved to see how positive it had been.

"Hey, so, what are you doing next week?" It was honestly an odd question for him to ask, especially this early in the mor- I look back at my phone it was 12:00, okay so maybe not morning.

"I don't have much planned other than filming for my channel, I also was going to do a video with Gaege." Eddie hums in acknowledgment.

"How would you feel about everyone coming to visit you? Like me, Grant, Josh, Mully, and Gaege? OH, wait also, Grant's new thang from the hospital. The nurse that took care of you, Emily, they've been hitting it off since you got out and she'd probably come. Also, Gabby would be there, Margo and Claire. So, like 10 people?" I don't think my house can fit 10 people. I'd love for everyone to come though. I'll have to figure something out to get everyone in.

"That sound fine but let me figure out how I'll fit everyone in my house." I hear quiet yes's on the other side of the phone. I sat and thought about what I had. My bed could fit me and Gaege, there's a guest room that could fit a couple. I have a couch downstairs that could fit somebody. That leaves 5 people without a bed.

I sat for what felt like far too long until I settled on an air mattress. I could get 3 queens and that would be plenty of space. I could feel the smile grow on my face. I explained my plan to Eddie. I'd have to go to the store today and get some air mattresses. I'll also have to go grocery shopping. This was going to be fun to plan out.

"Why is everyone coming to mine?" It was a question I hadn't thought to ask until that moment.

"Well, there's a bunch of ghost stuff near where you live, and plus you could show us around to some of the cool places near you." The mention of ghost stuff made a shiver run down my spine. The last time I was in a ghost place I sprained my ankle.

Eddie and I talked for about an hour more then we got off the phone. I rose from my bed and began preparing myself to go out into the real world to get things I needed for the big sleepover. I applied makeup today just because I wanted to. I must say that today my eyeliner looks killer, so good in fact that I take a quick selfie for Instagram. I take the picture and post it leaving the caption, 'ready to take on the world'.

I grabbed all of the things I would need for a trip to Walmart. As I drove there, I listened to 'My Love Mine All Mine' and 'Until I Found You'. It was a nice ride, heck, even traffic was cooperating. Once I reach Walmart, I climb out of my car. I walked into the store looking around, it was always interesting to see what they had stocked on their shelves.

My picture on Instagram had done well. It had only been up about 30 minutes, and it already had 20k likes. Gaege had commented on it,

'So cute, eyeliner is popping off today.' It made me smile. I'm glad he picked up on my amazing eyeliner. I noticed that his comments had many replies. Most of them were 'Awwws' some of them were people in agreement. It was a major ego boost to have so many people blowing smoke up my ass. I like Gaege's comment and put my phone back in my pocket. I felt odd though, as I put my phone down. Almost like somebody was watching me. It made me uneasy, so uneasy in fact that I send a text to one of my friends that live nearby. I send them my location and explain the situation to them.

I've always been taught to trust that gut instinct, and right now that instinct was going crazy. Every aisle I went down I felt the same feeling. I opened my contacts and called Gaege. When he answered he was all smiles, until he noticed my unease. I was talking louder than necessary.

"So, baby, when are you getting here to pick me up? Are we still going to the shooting range?" Gaege furrowed his eyebrows at first. Something was off, even if he didn't know what was going on. The fact that you were acting so differently tipped him off to play along.

"Uh, yeah, I should be there in like 3 minutes. I brought my Glocks for us to practice with. I still don't understand why you're wanting to go practice so often, I mean last time we shot you destroyed that target easy." I was so grateful that he played along. The guy who I had determined had been following me around the store, looked away from me. I walked out of the aisle and continued to shop. I stayed on the phone with Gaege the entire time. My nerves were on edge and any person I saw more than once made me uncomfortable. I quickly got the air mattresses I needed and went to check out. I never once hung up on Gaege.

I walked to my car, constantly looking over my shoulders to check for anyone who may be following me. Gaege looked scared to me and the moment I was in my locked car he asked what was up.

"I felt like someone was watching me. I kept on moving to different rows, but I was being followed by some guy. I'm sorry if I scared you." He shook his head in disagreement. He stayed on the phone with me even as I started driving home. The rest of the ride home was filled with conversation between the two of us.

I only finally felt at ease once I was inside my house. I talked a bit longer with Gaege but hung up as I went to cook myself something to eat for lunch and dinner. I enjoyed my dinner in the peaceful silence of my home. When I finished eating, I started cleaning up my home. I was excited for my guests next week and can't let nothing quell that joy.

Hey everyone! So I realize how unbelievably outrageous this is. I haven't stuck to the one a day schedule like I said I was. Again I have to apologize. I do have a compromise though, so I'll leave it up to you all. Do I

a) Just post when I can, but multiple per week

b) Post once a week, but it will be longer chapters

Just let me know what you all would prefer. I'm fine with either. Thank you all for the support! It excites me to see how well this little book of mine is doing. I hope you all are enjoying it, and if there's anything that I can improve upon please let me know. I'm always looking to better my writing, so don't be afraid to leave me a comment about anything you notice that may or may not be hard to read.

:) <3