Holiday Lanes

Twelve

"Hey Alex," I said as he smiled at me through the screen.

"How have you been?!" he exclaimed.

"The last like three days have been amazing in a way I don't even think I can really explain," I admitted, "but I missed you."

"I miss you too. I've been thinking about you a lot lately. And damn, I must say, little Venus has grown up. I remember when you were so tiny and so adorable," Alex said with a laugh.

"Are you saying now I'm big and ugly?" I laughed, "but I called because I was wondering if you had a little time?"

"I will always have time for you. One of these days you'll find yourself out on the west coast and I'll have to fly out there to see you," Alex said as he smiled at me.

"It's funny you should say that," I said as I laid down, "because guess what?"

"No! No way! The big dreamer from Utah finally made it to California!" Alex freaked out.

"Okay calm down," I laughed.

"I can't believe you finally got out of Utah. Anyone new in your life?"

"I mean yeah, but I haven't talked to you in literally more than two years. To be honest, I'm actually really surprised this is still your number," I admitted.

"I know, and I'm sorry that we haven't talked, but that's what happens when you move away from home. Just you wait, you'll be out there for three weeks and already be famous. I'm calling it now."

"What are you talking about?" I asked genuinely confused.

"Venus DeMarco, naturally gifted singer," he said like it was obvious, "hello, am I not talking to the same Venus?"

"No, I don't sing," I insisted.

"Whatever you say Venus, but I have the old videos that say otherwise. But on a real note, I miss my Venus."

"I have missed you too."

My phone went off with the tone that means I got a text message. I looked at my phone and saw that Elton had texted me.

Elton: Hey, are you busy?

Me: No, what's up?

Elton: Can I talk to you about something really quickly?

Me: Well of course you can, I'm just hanging out in the room I'm staying in

Elton: I'll be right there

I put my phone down and looked back to my laptop screen.

"So who was that?" Alex asked with a weird tone in his voice.

"One of the guys I'm in LA with, he's coming up here to talk to me."

"If that's all then why are you smiling like that?" Alex asked with a smirk.

"Shut up," I glared at him a little.

There was a small knock on the door, even though it wasn't shut. I looked up and saw Elton standing there.

"Hey," I said sweetly as Elton walked in.

"I wanted to talk to you about today and some other stuff," Elton said as he sat down next to me.

"Just really quickly, Elton this is an old friend of mine, Alex. Alex, this is Elton," they both said hello to each other.

I turned to the screen and said goodbye to Alex, promising I'd talk to him soon.

"So what's up?" I asked as I closed my laptop and sat up.

"I was talking to Sam a few minutes ago and he told me about Cal-Arts. First, I just wanted to tell you how excited I am for you to show the world what you can do with a camera, but also how happy I am for you that you won't have to go back to your aunt's house."

"Thank you, Elton," I said as I looked at him. He seemed nervous.

"Sam also told me that the move in date for the dorms is in the beginning of January, and I happened to do a little bit of research and I know that your birthday is in the beginning of January. I was wondering if you wanted to take a road trip for your birthday," Elton suggested with a shy smile.

"A road trip to where?" I asked.

"I was thinking Vegas or even just go spend the weekend in a different part of California maybe."

"Elton, that would be so awesome, but I can't ask you to do that. You already changed my life and made it one I actually want to live just by bringing me here," I admitted quietly.

"You're not asking me to do it, I'm offering. I can introduce you on my channel as a friend and I'm sure that something of the fuck it list can be done in Vegas or another part of California. That way you can do something awesome for your birthday and I can get a video out of it. Plus, if we go to Vegas, then I can have fun and drink and not have to worry about Colby doing something stupid and getting arrested," Elton laughed.

"I'm not drinking on my birthday, or ever for that matter, but if you want to film a video and take me along I'm not going to say no. I just don't want you to plan a road trip and spend a bunch of money that you work hard for because of my birthday."

"Okay, now I also wanted to talk to you about something else. Have you ever thought about doing something in social media?" he asked.

"You mean like you and the roommates do? Heck no," I answered honestly, "I do much better behind a camera then I ever have in front of one. Sam tried to take some pictures of me today and I just froze up and stood there awkwardly."

"Okay, I have one last question. What's your favorites color?" Elton laughed.

"Black," I answered honestly with a small laugh.

"Okay, thank you," Elton said before standing up.

"Oh wait, before you leave, I need a little help with something," I said as I turned my camera on and brought up my pictures, "which picture of Sam do you like more?"

I showed two pictures to Elton, one was Sam from his room this morning and the other was of him in the car from our drive to Cal-Arts today.

"That's a hard question, I think I like the one in his room more. Can I ask why you wanted my opinion?" Elton said after he looked at both photos.

"I'm giving the picture to Sam in a collage like the ones I had hanging in my dorm room, but I didn't know which picture to choose," I explained.

Elton left and I opened my laptop again. I opened a new word document and I started making a to-do list. I needed to go back to Utah to get my car, go shopping for school stuff, work on Christmas gifts for everyone, and find a job here.

I went on YouTube and decided to watch some of the guy's videos. I saw the Sam and Colby had posted last Sunday and Elton posted his video from the bowling alley. I watched Sam and Colby's video first, laughing at them from time to time. After the video was over, I liked it and went to watch Elton's video. It started with the guys figuring out where they were going to hide. They decided that Elton was going to hide in the bathroom and after Elton goes to hide, you can hear me turn on the music as I began cleaning. Elton has on film that I go into the bathroom and when I heard it, my heart dropped.